The Night Lands

Davos and his son Matthos recruit pirate Salladhor Saan and his fleet to join them in the war. Melisandre seduces Stannis, promising him a son if he gives himself to the Lord of Light.

The Small Council ignores Robb's peace terms, as well as the request by the Night's Watch for more men and their report of encounters with the undead. When City Watch Commander Janos Slynt refuses to reveal who ordered the purge of Robert's bastard children, Tyrion exiles him to the Night's Watch, replacing him with Bronn. Cersei confronts Tyrion about exiling Slynt, causing Tyrion to realize that Joffrey ordered the purge without telling Cersei.

Rakharo's horse returns to Daenerys's camp carrying his severed head, leaving Irri devastated and explaining that his soul will never rest with the ancestors since they did not burn his body. Jorah explains it is a message from another khal refusing to accept a woman's rule over a khalasar, and Daenerys vows revenge.

Returning to his homeland, Theon tries to seduce a young woman, Yara. At Pyke, Theon presents his father Balon with Robb's offer that will make Balon King of the Iron Islands. Balon refuses, wishing to take his crown with Yara, revealed to be Theon's sister, at the helm of his fleet. Theon realizes Balon's intention is to take the North for himself.

City Watchmen search the caravan for Gendry but are turned away by Yoren. Gendry tells Arya that he knows she is a girl, and she reveals her name after learning that her father met Gendry before he was executed.

Sam asks Jon about taking Gilly, one of Craster's daughter-wives, with them but Jon refuses. Gilly is pregnant, and Jon wonders what happens to Craster's sons. That night, Jon follows Craster taking a newborn child into the woods, and sees a White Walker retrieve the baby, but Craster knocks Jon unconscious.

The episode was written by series creators and executive producers David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, adapted from original material from George R. R. Martin's A Clash of Kings. It includes most of the plot from chapters Arya II, Tyrion II, Arya III, Theon I, part of Daenerys I, Tyrion III, part of Arya V, part of Tyrion V, part of Jon III and part of Theon II (chapters 6, 8–12, 19–20, 23–25 respectively).^{[citation needed]}

One of the main deviations from the books was the removal of the character of the new commander of the City Watch, Ser Jacelyn Bywater, his role merged with the already introduced Bronn. Another character that was excluded was Aeron Damphair, who was not present to welcome his nephew Theon at the Iron Islands. Instead, he was received by his sister, in a scene that took place much later in the books.^{[citation needed]}

Also, some scenes that are only subtly implied in the original were made explicit in the episode. The scenes depicting Craster delivering a newborn son to the White Walkers and the sexual relationship between Stannis and Melisandre were written into the show by the producers.^[1]

The episode was directed by Alan Taylor, who previously directed "Baelor", "Fire and Blood", and "The North Remembers".^[2]

Theon Greyjoy's extended family is first seen in this episode. The role of his father Balon Greyjoy, Lord of the Iron Islands, went to the English actor Patrick Malahide. The character of his sister was renamed from the original books (from Asha to Yara) in order to avoid confusion with the already established character Osha (the wildling captive at Winterfell), and Gemma Whelan was chosen to play the role.^[3] After seeing Whelan and Alfie Allen (Theon Greyjoy) acting together, the show creators assured that they made "an insanely good pair of siblings".^[4] Lily Allen, an English singer-songwriter and Alfie Allen's sister, claimed that she had been offered the role of Yara Greyjoy but turned it down because the scenes might have been awkward to film.^[5] However, Alfie Allen denied that his sister was ever offered the role.^[6]

Also introduced in this episode are the three caged recruits, traveling with the Night's Watch caravan. The three characters were briefly seen in the last season's finale, played by uncredited extras. For this season they were, Andy Beckwith as Rorge, Gerard Jordan as Biter, and the German actor Tom Wlaschiha as the mysterious Jaqen H'ghar of the free city of Lorath. Wlaschiha had not known of the show before auditioning on tape from Berlin, but was able to screen a few episodes during a meeting with the producers and director Alan Taylor. He quickly became an enthusiast, reading the first books of the series within a couple of days.^[7]

Finally, the part of the Lyseni pirate Salladhor Saan went to Lucian Msamati. Msamati's physical appearance, a Black, British actor of Tanzanian descent, contrasts with Sallahdor's portrayal in the books, where he is described with the typical fair-haired and fair-skinned look of the free city of Lys.^[8]

The episode introduces the new location of Pyke, the Greyjoys' seat of power on the Iron Islands. Scenes set there were filmed at Lordsport Harbour, Ballintoy, in Northern Ireland's County of Antrim.^[9] The filming at the Harbour took place on August 18, 19 and 22, 2011, and from August 15 there was a limited public access to the zone. The local shops and fishermen, who had to temporarily berth their boats at the nearby town of Ballycastle, were compensated by the production.^[10]

Other locations in Northern Ireland were used once again, including the interiors in the Paint Hall studio in Belfast.