A Scene of Ice and Fire

It's a King's Landing party for the latest podcast, as Andrew and Manu continue the season 2 premiere. Tyrion and Shae discuss the dangers of King's Landing, Cersei asserts her power over Littlefinger in trying to locate Arya, and Joffrey subsequently turns the tables on Cersei by threatening her after she smacks him for a rude comment about Robert's affairs. The worst part comes at the end of the episode, when Joffrey has all of Robert's bastards brutally executed (unlike in the books, where Cersei does it; more on that in the podcast), save for one smith's apprentice, who happens to be traveling with Arya on the way to The Wall. Wuddya know! Don't worry, Stannis Crew, we have a special episode coming very soon on everything surrounding his introduction to the series.

"The North Remembers" continues with the two eldest remaining Stark men (not counting the AWOL Benjen). Jon and the Night's Watch have arrived at Craster's Keep, and it turns out that dude is a real incestuous shithead! You hate to see it. He gets a tough lesson from Jeor Mormont about why they're working with such a detestable dude, but it leaves us plenty of room to critique. Further south, Robb and his Northern army are deciding their next best course of action. He sends the Lannister cousin Alton back to King's Landing to give Joffrey & Cersei his terms, which are understandably steep. Then, much to Catelyn's chagrin, he listens to Theon's suggestion of sending him to try to align with his father, Balon Greyjoy. This will not end well. There are some great nuggets in here about Robb and Jon (to a lesser extent) asserting themselves in leadership roles. Tune in.

Andrew and Manu roll along in their second podcast on "The North Remembers," where the red comet that tracks everyone throughout the episode first seen over Bran, who is presiding as acting lord of Winterfell with Luwin and Osha close by. We see how he's growing and dealing with the new responsibilities, as well as his first exposure to wolf dreams. A world away, Daenerys and the Dothraki also hover under the red comet, but it's just about the furthest thing from their minds. Survival in the Red Waste is proving to be an arduous task, but an intriguing podcast topic (#congrats to us, I guess). Starvation is a brutal enemy. Dany sends her bloodriders off in different directions to find some hope. Emilia Clarke's New Yorker piece on

At long last, it's come time for Andrew and Manu to hit the books on Game of Thrones season 2. Expectations were high on the show following a breathtaking initial run that ended in shock with the death of Ned Stark. The sophomore season shows the aftermath of this turn of events, as kings rise and fall throughout the Seven Kingdoms while trying to truly take control of Westeros. The second book of the series is called "A Clash of Kings" for a reason. We begin in King's Landing, where Joffrey is sadistically enjoying his name day with some casual violence and we see how the captive Sansa to trying to maintain her dignity in this tough situation. Joffrey's smiles turn to unease when Tyrion marches in with Bronn and the Hill Tribes, and he quickly takes the leading seat of the Small Council as Acting Hand of the King, much to Cersei's chagrin. Thus begins Peter Dinklage's absolute tour de force of this season of Game of Thrones. To paraphrase Michael Jordan, "we're back."

Andrew and Manu reach the end of road of one part of their journey. "Game of Thrones" aired its finale, "The Iron Throne" on Sunday, and offered a glimpse at the new future of Westeros. This is definitely a time to reflect on how fascinating characters like Arya, Daenerys, Sansa, Tyrion, Jon, Brienne, and more wrapped up their arcs. We touched on pretty much every major plot point of the finale before offering some last thoughts. Of course, you're not done with us just yet. (At least we hope you're not!) Soon, we'll jump back in time and begin our normal scene-by-scene coverage of season 2. We can't wait and we can't thank you enough for joining us in our journeys through the final season.