Second Sons

In the episode, Tyrion Lannister and Sansa Stark are married in King's Landing; Gendry arrives at Dragonstone with Melisandre; Stannis Baratheon frees Davos Seaworth from the dungeons and reinstates him as his Hand; Arya Stark and Sandor "The Hound" Clegane travel through the Riverlands on their way to the Twins; Samwell Tarly and Gilly camp north of the Wall, and Daenerys Targaryen meets with the mercenary company of the Second Sons before the walls of Yunkai.

The episode was acclaimed by critics, with many praising the scenes showcasing Tyrion and Sansa's wedding and the performances, and achieved a viewership of 5.1 million during its initial broadcast.

Fearing a return to King's Landing, Arya is relieved as they head for the Twins, where the Hound intends to ransom her to Robb Stark, who is attending his uncle's wedding to Walder Frey's daughter.

In the Sept of Baelor, Cersei threatens Margaery with the story of House Reyne, former Lannister vassals whom Tywin exterminated when they rebelled against him.

"Second Sons" was written by the show creators and executive producers David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, based on material from George R. R. Martin's novel A Storm of Swords.

[4] The episode introduced the mercenary captains in service of Yunkai: Mark Killeen was cast as Mero (known as the Titan's Bastard), Ed Skrein the recurring role of Daario Naharis, and Ramon Tikaram the part of Prendahl na Ghezn.

Most of the scenes of the episode were shot in the Belfast studios of The Paint Hall, including the wedding of Tyrion and Sansa that was filmed at the huge semicircular set of the Great Sept of Baelor in mid September 2012.

The website's critical consensus reads, "'Second Sons' shines through efficient storytelling -- and a comparatively low number of storylines to keep track of this week.

[8] Writing for IGN, Matt Fowler rated the episode a 9.0/10, and wrote "This week's well-crafted and wonderfully acted Game of Thrones gave us a cold wedding, a hot bath and a blood-letting."

It’s come a long way from the 'sexposition' days of season one, when it sometimes seemed like the series would toss some breasts into the background of a scene just in case we got bored of hearing somebody talk at length.