Game of Thrones 1/4 Cripples, Bastards and Broken Things

The episode opens with Bran walking through a courtyard, a crow leading him towards some secret. It turns out that this is a dream sequence, and as the boy awakes we are aware that his memory of his fall remains elusive. Will the dreams lead him to the truth of what happened?

Then Tyrion Lannister turns up at Winterfall and seeks an audience with the serving Lord Stark. He is received coldly but thanked for his kindness when he presents the plans for a special saddle that will allow the cripple, Bren to ride a horse.

 We're almost at the mid season point and the makers are laying on twist after twist, as the plot deepens. We also see much more of Jon's involvement with the Night's Watch and he becomes a friend and protector to a useless recruit, Sam Tarly. The provides for some great character moments between the two and we learn a lot about Jon's character from a conversation about women that the two men share.

During all this Ned Stark is starting to dig deeper into the death of the previous King's Hand Jon Arryn and he comes across a book Arryn had requested from the city library shortly before his death. The book is a history of the great families.Later Littlfinger warns Ned to keep the details of  his investigation a secret. Does Littlefinger know what is going on and why Jon Arryn was killed?

The episode ends with Tyrion Lannister captured by Catalyn Stark who is convinced Tyrion is guilty of the attack on her son.

Although we get a lot of info dumps in this episode, the story still manages to move forward and also introduces a few new characters. The climax of the episode is excellent and contains plenty of that, 'WOW' factor that only the best shows have. 9/10 for this one.