SPOILERS: Don’t read this review if you have not yet seen or don’t want to know details from the latest episode of Game of Thrones.   

This one’s for the girls!  The women get highlighted in the second episode of the HBO series.  Catelyn (Michelle Fairley) learns the fate of her father; the men of the North (loyal to Robb) travel to Riverrun for the funeral.  Bran and Rickon could be in great danger (or worse).  Catelyn reveals more of her story (and character) by recalling Jon Snow’s illness as a child.  (I loved the piece of music that accompanied the scene!)

We meet the tough, straight-talking grandmother of Margaery (Natalie Dormer), Lady Olenna (veteran British actress Diana Rigg) who asks for a chat with Sansa.  With some coaxing from the ladies, the innocent and sensitive Sansa reveals her true feelings for Joffrey.  To sum it up: “He’s a monster.”

Margaery, who’s a clever young woman, listens to Sansa very carefully as she talks about the king.  (The wheels are spinning in her head, no doubt.)  Recall how she tried to make things work with Renly (who preferred her brother, Loras)?  Later, we get the scene with Margaery, Joffrey, and a very fancy crossbow.  Yes, she really wants to be “the queen.”

Arya (Maisie Williams), Gendry (Joe Dempsie), and Hot Pie (Ben Hawkey) meet some of the men from the Brotherhood without Banners in the woods not far from Riverrun (the ancestral home of House Tully).  Their leader says that they don’t fight for any lord, but want to protect the forest.  In the tavern, Arya’s true identity is revealed by The Hound, who left the royal court during the Battle of Blackwater Bay.

Another new character is Meera Reed (Ellie Kendrick from The Diary of Anne Frank), who protects her brother Jojen (Thomas Brodie-Sangster from Love Actually) on the quest to find Bran (Isaac Hempstead Wright).  They are the children of the man who saved Ned Stark’s life during the Targaryen rebellion.

Let’s not forget Brienne (Gwendoline Christie) and Jaime’s (exciting) fight on the bridge!  They are getting to know each other (a little) and have good chemistry.  They are both knights, but have very different values.