Game of Thrones has a habit of getting better with each episode, and The Old Gods and the New is by far the best so far.

Things start on an exciting note, as Maester Luwin rushes to send a raven off, while the music surges and the sounds of battle rattle through the castle. It’s clear that something bad has happened at Winterfell, but what?

Theon Greyjoy, in a surprise attack, has taken the castle that he was raised in by force, asserting his authority and making Bran officially yield Winterfell to his rule.

“Did you hate us the whole time?” asks Bran. He didn’t; but for whatever reason, he never felt at home there. We never saw Ned Stark guiding Theon into adulthood, but whatever he did – or didn’t do – he’s left Theon a broken boy, outwardly confident, but inwardly insecure and alone, bereft of home, people and place; and taking Winterfell is his way of rallying against that.

It goes well for him so far, but when it comes to making a point and executing Ser Rodrik Cassel, Theon again proves he’s not quite cut out to be a main player in this game, as it takes him several, increasingly frustrated hacks to remove Rodrik’s head from his shoulders. Bran (Isaac Hempstead-Wright)’s impassioned pleas for mercy and desperate yelps as he watches on helplessly are heartbreaking. And never mind that the people of Winterfell are against him, what about when his “brother” Robb finds out?

Theon isn’t the only character that recalls the parentage of Ned Stark this week, as his bastard son Jon Snow continues his adventure north of The Wall and finds himself faced with doling out an execution of his own on Ygritte, a wildling girl he takes captive. Where Theon hacks away and makes a hash of it, he at least does the deed.

Jon, however, has too much of Ned Stark’s honour about him, and instead lets the girl escape, which gives director David Nutter license to stage a dramatic foot-chase set against the stunning Icelandic scenery that the show is revelling in. When Jon eventually catches up, reluctantly having to snuggle up to her for warmth, her seductive wriggling suggests that Ygritte will likely be trouble – but she might just be the fun kind.

Arya and Tywin Lannister, meanwhile, continue to dance around each other marvellously, with each seemingly impressed by the fierce intelligence of the other. They may unwittingly be on opposite sides of this war, but they seem to be forming an unlikely bond. Arya’s dance is made a little more complicated with the arrival of Littlefinger at Harrenhal, and it’s left delightfully ambiguous as to whether he recognises the Stark girl, who makes every effort to hide her face from his gaze.

Masie Williams continues to dazzle as Arya, and when she over-steps her bounds and gets caught out by Ser Amory Lorch, it leads to arguably the season’s most hilarious, laugh-out-loud moment of physical comedy, courtesy of one of Jaqen’s poisonous darts.

The Old Gods and the New also gives us this year’s best action sequence, as the people of King’s Landing finally snap and rally against King Joffrey and the other highborn people at court. The riot is incredible; both exciting and terrifying, from the ironic cheers for Joffrey, to the horrifying near-rape of poor, embattled Sansa Stark.

Rory McCann as The Hound demonstrates that he is NOT a man to trifle with, as he goes on a devastating rampage, cutting a swath through the rioters to rescue Sansa. Quite what his motivations are remains unclear, but he’s a tremendous presence.

The sequence also gives Peter Dinklage a different note to play. It’s well established that he owns the role of Tyrion completely, but his skill with one-liners and clever manoeuvring of others take a backseat here, as Dinklage gets to play anger – and boy is he good at it!

It’s about time someone took Joffrey down a peg or two, and while Tyrion may be small of stature, there’s no arguing with him when he lets fly at the vicious, idiot-king. Great work all around.

Overseas and the Danaerys storyline has improved of late, but still feels too detached from other proceedings. She’s shot down in her quest for ships by the cold pragmatism of the spice merchant, but with the murder of her people and the theft of her dragons (our money is on the blue-lipped warlock, introduced last week), it looks like things are finally hotting up in Qarth.

The Old Gods and the New is a particularly focussed episode, with every location packed with action, incident and effective character beats. This is Game of Thrones firing on all cylinders.

Aired at 9pm on Monday 7th May 2012 on Sky Atlantic.

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