All In The Game

Game Of Thrones has returned, and after watching "Valar Dohaeris" all I can say is it's good to be back in Westeros.  I don't know if I'll be doing recaps for each episode (ditto for next week's Mad Men), but I know I'll be watching.  As always, the hour ended too soon.

The premiere mostly set the scene for future action, but then, this show is as much about people planning as it is about cutting off heads.  So what happened (spoilers)?

Well, Jon Snow gets to meet Mance Rayder and live, the Night's Watch retreats in preparation for the big fight, Tywin Lannister is rather cold to his son Tyrion's request for almost anything, Margaery is promising to be more First Lady than Queen, Joffrey seems to have settled down a bit, Ser Davos is still alive and after making his way back to brooding Stannis insults Melisandre and gets tossed in a dungeon, Littlefinger offers Sansa a way out of King's Landing, Robb Stark comes to an empty Harrenhal and has his mom put under house arrest, and Daenerys considers buying a slave-army while avoiding an assassination attempt.

If that sounds like a lot, don't forget we didn't even see Theon, Arya, Brienne, Jaime, Bran, Osha, Varys or the Hound.  I suppose that'll be next week.