A more sedate episode, yes, but it still opens with fire and blood. It’s a curious decision to begin the episode with a climactic duel between The Hound and Lord Beric Dondarrion, leader of the Brotherhood; it feels as if they had to excise it from last week due to time concerns. Whatever the reason, it remains a savage spectacle.

As one who has already been “kissed by fire”, the Hound’s reaction to Beric’s flaming sword is one of horror, and yet his success despite that fear stands as testament to his fighting skill. Or does he have the Lord of Light to thank? We know he’s guilty, but he’s set free when he wins the duel. If the Lord of Light truly sat in judgment, he didn’t do a very good job. Or, as Beric suggests, is it possible that The Hound still has a part to play in this complex tapestry?

When Stannis and Melisandre were the only proponents of the Lord of Light, we could be forgiven for thinking that this God was the force of evil, what with their murderous shadow babies and all, but the Brotherhood here are presented as good guys under the same god. Perhaps it was merely Melisandre who was the questionable one?

Here, in her absence, we’re introduced to Stannis’ wife Selyse, who’s even more of a religious zealot, and his disfigured-but-sweet daughter Shireen, who’s kept hidden away in a tower. In a show full of disturbing imagery, the sight of Selyse’s still-born sons kept in jars is particularly grim, and marks her out as a seriously unstable woman.

While the amount of time spent with Stannis has proved troublesome, the introduction of his family has finally humanised the character somewhat, and not before time; suddenly we see the man and get a sense of his past, rather than just a pawn of Melisandre and a steely, would-be-king.

Up in the North, Jon Snow and Ygritte finally resolve the sexual tension that’s been building between them for a while, and if Jon’s reluctance to break his vows is indicative of the sense of honour Ned Stark instilled in his bastard son, his defences don’t last long. All season Jon has been playing the part of turn-cloak with the Wildlings, but he doesn’t look like he’s too conflicted when it comes to Ygritte. Where exactly do his loyalties lie now?

While Jon’s making a connection, poor Arya Stark is losing all of hers, and her loneliness is only growing. Hot Pie has already departed, and here Gendry decides to remain with the Brotherhood.

Maisie Williams is always good, and though she’s been through a lot, here we’re reminded that she’s very much a child. When she asks Thoros if the Lord of Light could bring back a man without a head, even just once, it’s heartbreaking; she’s lost her real family, and now even her surrogate one is disbanding.

And if Ned Stark is gone, his legacy lives on in Robb Stark, who is every bit his father’s son these days. It’s been a while since Catelyn let Jaime Lannister go free, and Rickard Karstark has been bristling ever since. Here things come to a head, as Karstark loses his.

His slaughter of two children unfortunate enough to bear the Lannister name puts Robb in a difficult position, but he goes against the advice of his closest allies and follows his heart. Or rather, he follows the path that his father set him on; unable to let things slide for the greater good, he acts on his honour and serves up justice, wielding the sword himself, and stubbornly gives half of his force cause to up and leave him. His hopes now rest on prickly old Walder Frey; and given Robb’s snub of marrying someone else, rather than Frey’s daughter, he’s unlikely to be a willing ally.

In King’s Landing, Cersei employs Littlefinger to find out what the Tyrells are up to, while Sansa Stark is happier than we’ve seen her in a long time at the promise of marrying Loras. Poor Sansa; not only do we know she’s pining after a homosexual man, but now Tywin plans to marry her to Tyrion Lannister.

Tyrion might be the decent Lannister, but Sansa’s unlikely to see him that way. Tyrion may be unhappy about the arrangement (just look at Peter Dinklage glower!), but he’s got nothing on Cersei, who’s smug self-satisfaction is erased instantly when Tywin decrees that it’s her who will marry Loras. Definitely a bad week to be a Lannister.

And if his worst week is behind him, Jaime Lannister still has to go through the agony of having the rotting flesh from his stump cut away. But the real meat of this episode comes from his recounting of the incident that made him infamous; his murder of the Mad King Aerys. Branded ‘Kingslayer’ and ‘Oathbreaker’, it turns out that Jaime slew the King after all attempts at reason had failed, and to prevent the mad-man setting fire to an entire city full of innocents.

We like Jaime Lannister; we can’t help it. He’s handsome, smart and funny, and Nicolaj Coster-Waldau is doing fantastic work week-in, week-out. But our views on Jaime are always tempered with the knowledge that he’s a Bad Man.

While we’ve seen him kill men – Torren Karstark, for one, and nothing can redeem what he did to poor Bran in the first episode – who’s to say that he was always that way? His murder of Aerys was for the greater good, but nobody else saw it that way, and it’s poisoned his life ever since.

Perhaps without the label and reputation of ‘Kingslayer’ thrust upon him, Bran might still have his legs and Rickard Karstark his head. “Jaime… my name is Jaime…” he pleads to Brienne. If only it had always been so.

Aired at 9pm on Monday 29 April 2013 on Sky Atlantic.

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