The episode opens with one of two dialogue-free scenes, in which not a word is spoken, and yet so much is told. We’re in Riverrun (finally!) and Catelyn is attending the funeral of her father, alongside Robb, her brother Edmure and their uncle Brynden (the Blackfish).

Game of Thrones introduces so many characters that it can get a little wearing, but – while we do get spoken scenes with Tobias Menzies and Clive Russell later in the episode – this quiet introduction instantly helps us feel like we’ve known them for ages. In Edmure’s failure to light the funeral pyre – and in the Blackfish’s instant success at the same task – we learn everything we need to know about the pair and their relationship.

Edmure tries hard and wants to be one of the big boys, but is hopelessly out of his depth, while the Blackfish is experienced, competent and confident – note that he doesn’t even wait to see if the arrow hits the mark before walking away.

Down in King’s Landing, there’s another scene played beautifully without dialogue, as the members of the Small Council (Littlefinger, Varys, Maester Pycelle, Cersei and Tyrion) play out the politics of their little group in choosing where to sit – or not sit – around the table. It’s a hilarious scene, and one that leads to a sub-plot for Tyrion that’s so far used mainly for comic-relief.

Promoted (or demoted?) to Master of Coin, Tyrion teaches Bronn about finance, uses his position to reward loyal squire Podrick, and comes to realise quite how far in debt the kingdom is. And with Tyrion holding the purse-strings, there’s surely trouble to come for our favourite Lannister.

And if Tyrion is everyone’s favourite Lannister, who ever would have thought that we’d have come to like Jaime Lannister so much? Certainly he began as a straight villain when he was busy throwing poor innocent Bran out of a window back in the first episode, but we understand him better now, and Coster-Waldau’s entertaining performance draws us to him. As has become par for the course recently, the best scenes again revolve around Jaime.

He and Brienne have been playing off each other for a while now, and since they’ve both become captives, they seem to have developed a curious respect for one-another. He’s hardly polite about it, but Jaime advises her how best to navigate her captors, and is noble enough to step in and use that silver tongue of his to prevent her being raped.

While it appears that Jaime has talked his way out of trouble yet again – Coster-Waldau is so good at the charm-offensive – things take a dire turn, as Robb’s banner-men teach him a lesson about his station in life, and relieve him of his right hand. Presumably it’s not a wound that will kill him, but Jaime Lannister – the Kingslayer – is what he is because of his sword-fighting prowess. Is a Jaime without a sword-hand as good as dead anyway?

It’s an episode brimming with self-assurance, from those silent sequences, to a fantastically staged horse-back chase (has the show ever done one before?) as Theon tries to escape his captors, only to nearly suffer the same fate as Brienne. He, too, is saved from the worst – in this case by the mysterious Iwan Rheon. Quite who his character is has yet to be explicitly revealed, but the clues are all there for those willing to see them…

And if the episode is filled with horrible events that intentionally leave a bad taste in the mouth, there is at least one moment of bittersweet joy amidst all the near-rape and torture, as young Hot Pie finds his place in the world.

Remaining behind at a pleasant inn as their new baker, Hot Pie may only have been a minor character – Arya and Gendry’s chubby travelling companion – but it’s nice to think that sometimes people land on their feet, and his goodbye gift to Arya is wonderfully sweet.

Elsewhere, Danaerys asserts herself and steps up her campaign to recruit the army of Unsullied, Sam and the Night’s Watch pass back through Craster’s Keep, and Mance Rayder details an assault on The Wall that should give Jon Snow a few headaches in the weeks to come (and, while it’s difficult to use this word to describe a scene of mutilated horse corpses, those mutilated horse corpses were kind of beautiful, huh?)

It’s an episode that begins in silence, and ends with a scream – along with an anachronistic punk-song in The Hold Steady’s cover of ‘The Bear And The Maiden Fair’, which plays as a darkly comic, upbeat choice given the moment it follows – and the whole hour just bleeds confidence.

As one of the show’s masterminds, Benioff has such a great handle on the material, and that really shows here. Game of Thrones is already blessed with a great roster of television directors, and it looks like it just added another.

Aired at 9pm on Monday 15 April on Sky Atlantic.

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