High Sparrow (Game of Thrones episode)

[2] In the episode, Cersei Lannister meets with the High Sparrow, the leader of a growing religious movement; Tommen Baratheon marries Margaery Tyrell; Petyr Baelish reveals to Sansa Stark that he has betrothed her to Ramsay Bolton; and Jon Snow chooses to stay at the Wall and rule as Lord Commander of the Night's Watch.

Across the Narrow Sea, Arya Stark proves her loyalty to the Faceless Men, and Tyrion Lannister and Varys travel through Volantis.

[3] The episode achieved a viewership of 6.71 million in the United States, and received positive reviews from critics, who mainly praised Jon Snow's role and development, as well as the final scene.

Stopping at Moat Cailin, Brienne recalls Renly Baratheon's assassination and her intent to kill Stannis, whom she holds responsible.

Jon refuses Stannis' offer of legitimization, and assigns new positions to his brothers, making Alliser First Ranger and giving Slynt charge of restoring Greyguard.

[7] In what Forbes called "the biggest surprise in Sunday night's episode," Sansa Stark goes to Winterfell to marry Ramsay Bolton, a role that is played in the book by a minor character impersonating Arya.

"[7] In an interview, show writer David Benioff explains that Sophie Turner's strength as an actress was one of the reasons that they decided to give her character more dramatic scenes and Bryan Cogman added that it made more sense to give the Winterfell storyline to a proven actress who was already popular with viewers than to bring in a new character.

Based on 30 critic reviews, the episode received a 100% rating score approbation in Rotten Tomatoes from 30 reviews with an average score of 8.1 out of 10 and with the consensus "'High Sparrow' expertly weaves together characters from Game of Thrones' sprawling stories, though the episode ultimately belongs to Jon Snow, whose new position highlights unexpected qualities.

Critics seemed to be reserving judgment on the decision to bring Sansa to Winterfell, but Entertainment Weekly commentator Hilary Busis described this as "massively gross to watch [Tommen's] TV counterpart sleep with Margaery knowing that in A Feast for Crows, he’s still playing pretend with his beloved kitty,"[7] but Myles McNutt of A.V.