Game of Thrones Recap: The Tyrells, the Unsullied and the Red Wedding, here's all you need to remember from Season 3

By Kritika Mehra

on April 10, 2019

Shivers roll down your spine, eyes dazzle with unending curiosity and you feel the Lord of light beckoning you…yes, we too, are knee-deep into Game Of Thrones references! As much as we try to shake it off, in reality, we’re just your usual fans losing their calm of over the much-anticipated final season.

Today, we recap the third season of the hit drama series. Now, a lot of us can argue about how it was one of the best seasons the series has seen, but again, who are we to judge? The Boltons, the Tyrells and the Freys, Tyrion’s wedding to Sansa and above all, the Red Wedding…let’s catch the breakdown here!

Where we left it…

The crows survive an attack by the White Walkers on their way home from the Fist of First Men and decide to halt at Craster’s before returning to Castle Black. Jon Snow pledges his alliance to Mance Rayder and helps them plan an attack on the Wall, all while he became more involved with Ygritte. #OTP Goals, maybe?

Robb Stark loses alliances after the war of Blackwater Bay. He still marches against the Lannisters and captures Harrenhal. He learns about the fall of Winterfell and Brandon & Rickon’s disappearance but continues to march forward.

On their way to the wall, Bran, Rickon, Osha and Hodor meet Jojen and Meera, who had pledged their alliance to House Stark. Jojen reveals that he shares Bran’s gift of visions and explains about his abilities to see via the eyes of animals. Can we all agree we were a little confused here? No? It was just us? Okay…

In King’s Landing, Margaery is engaged to Joffrey and is shown as a girl who has a mind of her own. She tries to befriend Sansa while she plots against Joffrey and Cersei with the help of her grandmother, Olenna Tyrell, The Queen of Thorns. This feisty, old woman has our heart!

Daenerys Targaryen, the mother of dragons arrives at Astaphor in Essos to buy an army of ‘The Unsullied’ from their master called Kraznys. She is attacked by the warlocks of Qarth when Sir Barristan Selmy, the former Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, rescues her and pledges himself to her.

In the Riverlands, Jamie and Brienne get captured by Roose Bolton’s men, led by their leader named Locke. On the flip side, Arya and Gendry are captured by a group of men called ‘Brotherhood without Banners’, who take them to an inn. These are the same men that captured Sandor Clegane ‘The Hound’, who was once a part of Joffrey’s kingsguard but abandoned it during the Battle of Blackwater Bay. The Hound recognizes Arya and reveals her true identity to their captors. Damn you, snitch!

Theon is captured by Roose Bolton’s bastard son, Ramsey Snow who torture him so much, we almost feel bad for the Greyjoy kid. Theon later learns that his own men had surrendered him for a safe passage home. Karma much?

The plot

Olenna and Margaery befriend Sansa and persuade her to speak about Joffrey’s monstrous nature. Sansa tells them the details but is afraid that this will break Margaery’s wedding to the golden-haired King. To this, Olenna assures her that the union will take place and that they have other plans to deal with Joffrey. Margaery also tells Sansa that when she became the Queen, Sansa will be given refuge in the Highgardens. She also proposed that Sansa marry Loras, her brother and heir to Highgarden, to gain a permanent place in the Tyrell House. Hell, even we almost agreed to this scheme...just get far, far away from Joffrey please!

While being held as captives, Locke’s men try to molest Brienne. Jamie persuades Locke to do against it by stating how she’s the only heir to the Lord of Tarth and that her safe return could make him a rich man. Jamie also tries to scheme his own freedom, but Locke knows that Tywin will never strike a deal with a man like him. So as a memento, Locke cuts Jamie’s sword hand to remind him of how his father would’ve never chosen to help him. *internal screaming*

Robb tries to mend his relationship with Walder Frey by offering the hand of Edmure Tully, his uncle and Catelyn’s brother, in marriage with one of his daughter’s in his stead. He also issues a formal apology for breaking his promise to the Frey father and tries to make amends on their alliance.

Jon climbs the wall with the wildlings and prepares to attack the rear of Castle Black. On their way, they stop at a farmhouse where Mance orders Snow to kill the old man. Jon chooses against it and flees from the spot, leaving Ygritte behind. Can you hear our hearts breaking?

But little did Jon know that Bran was in the tower close to the house and that he saw the whole scene from his direwolf’s eyes.

Stannis is disappointed after the defeat at the Battle of Blackwater Bay. Melisandre, the red witch gives him hope that with some black magic and sacrifices he can still be the king; if only they could find Robert’s child, a.k.a. Gendry. Wasting no time, Melisandre arrives at Riverlands to take Gendry from the Brotherhood of the Bannerless.

In the Riverlands hideout, the Hound is freed from captivity after a battle of combat with Dondarrion, where Arya wishes for his death. Arya, then, whispers her death prayer.

Later, Melisandre takes Gendry in exchange for gold. Arya confronts the priestess, after which the red witch stares into Arya’s eyes. She reveals that she sees a lot of eyes, eyes that Arya will shut forever. Arya calls the brotherhood out on their actions, hurt by the fact that they let Gendry leave, and tries to escape, only to be captured by the Hound who plans on returning the Stark girl to her brother Robb and mother Catelyn, who were at the Twins, for a ransom.

At Craster’s home, Sam Tarly falls for Gilly, one of old man’s wives who just delivered a boy. They try to hide the news and keep it under covers, knowing Crastor’s cruel intentions. Meanwhile, some boiling spat leads to a ranger murdering Craster, the consequence of which killed the Lord Commander. Sam and Gilly take this opportunity and flee into the woods.

But the woods aren’t the safest either! They come face to face with a white walker, who wants to steal the child. Sam slashes him with the dragon-glass dagger he picked from the Fist of First Men and make a run for Castle Black.

Sansa’s wedding to Tyrion Lannister

Tyrion tries to ease Sansa’s apprehension before their wedding, but that does no good. At the celebrations, Joffrey tries to embarrass Tyrion by pulling several antics but Tyrion simply bears it all. At the feast, Tyrion gets extremely drunk, irritating both Sansa and Tywin, and threatens Joffrey when the King tries to embarrass him. Tywin speaks for Tyrion, using his drunken state as an excuse and saves him from punishment. Later in their room, Tyrion tells Sansa that they will not consummate their marriage until she wants to, to which Sansa said, ‘that’ll never happen’.

Daenerys and the Unsullied

The mother of Dragons makes a deal with Kraznys, where he demands for one dragon for the whole army. Dany agrees but she has other plans. Once she acquires the unsullied, she tells the masters that the dragons don’t listen to anyone. She commands the unsullied to kill all the masters while her Dragons incinerate Kraznys. After she wins, she liberates the Unsullied and asks them to follow and serve her on their own will. With this, the mother of Dragons, her three children, her council and the mighty army of Unsullied commence their journey to reclaim the Iron Throne.

Meanwhile, Melisandre performs a magical ceremony using Gendry’s blood. Stannis names the three people he wants dead during the ceremony: Robb Stark, Joffrey Baratheon, and Balon Greyjoy.

The Red Wedding

There is much celebration and drinking, which puts Robb’s army at a disadvantage. Just then, Walder Frey signals an attack on Robb and his army, taking advantage of their weakened state. In what became infamously known as “The Red Wedding,” Robb, his pregnant wife Talisa, and Catelyn are all slaughtered, and Robb’s army is decimated.

Walder Frey, still stung by Robb’s earlier cancellation of his agreement to marry one of his daughters, had struck a deal with Tywin Lannister to betray the Starks. Unaware of these details, Arya and the Hound witness the massacre just outside the Frey castle walls.

The Aftermath

Baelish tries to persuade Sansa to leave for Vale, where he is to marry her aunt Lysa. Sansa refuses the offer, keeping Loras and her future with him in mind.

Tywin, on the other hand, was almost affirmative about Sansa being the only living heir to Winterfell after Robb is killed, as they all assumed Arya, Brandon and Rickon to be dead. He commands Tyrion to wed Sansa, to secure Winterfell and Cersei to marry Loras to strengthen their ties with the Tyrells of the Highgarden.

The Lannisters now held power in the north with their alliances with House Bolton and House Frey. Arya decides to stay with the Hound, as she doesn’t know where she should go next.

Theon is broken by intense torture and physical mutilation at the hands of Ramsay Snow, who now calls Theon “Reek.” Jaime and Brienne arrive at King’s Landing.

Bran meets Sam and Gilly at the Wall. On figuring that he is a Stark, Sam gives his dragon-glass dagger to Bran, to protect himself from the White Walkers.

Meanwhile, Ygritte tries to catch up to Snow and shoot three arrows in his body. Jon is barely alive when he reaches Castle Black.

Daenerys goes to the city of Yunkai to fuel her cause of liberating other slave cities while expanding her followers and army. She tries to negotiate a deal with the Second Sons. Her offer doesn't interest them, but Daario, one of the Second Sons, grows fond of her. The Second Sons decide to assasinate the silver-haired Khaleesi and a flip of coin makes Daario the man of the deed. That night, Daario slips into Daenerys' tent, hold Missandei hostage and makes the Mother of Dragons listen to what he has to say. He presents the heads of his fellow masters and swears the loyalty of his army, his sword and his life to her. She then, frees the city slaves of Yunkai, who start calling her ‘Mysha’ a.k.a. ‘Mother’.