The Tale of the Rat Cook
One of the long abandoned fortresses lining The Wall is The Nightfort. Long ago, when The Night's Watch still held the Nightfort, the Andal king came to visit with his son. In response to some slight, the cook murdered the king's son and baked him into a pie. He then fed the pie to the king. The king loved the taste of the pie so much, he asked for a second slice. The Old Gods were outraged at the cook. They punished the cook by turning him into a great white rat unable to eat anything but his own young. And he is always famished, doomed to forever eat his own children. The gods did not punish the cook for murder, or for turning the king into a cannibal, but for harming a guest under his own roof. Some say that the Rat Cook still lives at the Nightfort.
This fairie-tale is told to children in the north to teach them never to violate the law of guest-right, which the Northmen hold more sacred than any other law. Arya Stark of Winterfell would have heard this tale many times from her nurse, Old Nan. Thus it was that when Arya Stark arrived at The Twins, she wore the face of a serving girl and cooked the sons of Lord Walder Frey into a pie and served it to him before killing him; for he had murdered the King In the North, who was a guest under his roof.
Meanwhile, Brandon Stark, who is now the last Greenseer, follows Ned Stark into The Tower of Joy, and we follow him, and we finally learn the thing that we thought we knew, but needed to learn for sure...
Which brings us to Jon, who has a long needed family conversation with Sansa on the battlements of Winterfell before meeting his lords bannermen where the surviving great houses of The North pledge themselves to Winterfell. It is here that Lady Mormont rises and says. "I know no king but the King in the North, and his name is Stark". The meeting of the northern lords puts a crimp in Littlefinger's plans to sit on the Iron Throne with Sansa at his side, but those plans will be soon enough be completely dashed by the Targaryan queen sailing from across the sea.
My first thought upon hearing the cheers of "The King in the North" was, "Oh, shit, he's fucked". But, Jon is more ready than Robb was and has Sansa's hard earned wisdom to turn to, if he will listen to it. When the time comes to marriage, I might suggest doing the safe Targaryan thing and just marrying his cousin to ensure a Stark heir. We already know he likes readheads.
And what of Jon Snow, who's Stark blood comes, not through Eddard, but, lady Lyanna Stark? How does this affect his claim to be the King in the North? With two Stark sons dead, and one a green-seer Winterfell Falls upon either Jon or Sansa, and either one has earned their place. How will Jon learn of his lineage? There are three possibilities. We know from the books that Bran has the ability to communicate with people through the Weirwood tees, and could talk to Jon and Sansa in Winterfell's Godswood. Sam could dig up the true story of of The Tower of Joy at the library in The citadel. Thirdly, there is still one living witness to the Tower of Joy, Lord Howland Reed.
Fun Game of Thrones fact:
On her days off, Lyanna Mormont enjoys making Chuck Norris cry like a baby.
So, how DID Varys return from Dorne to Meereen so quickly? Maybe he didn't, and maybe it wasn't really so quick. To be fair, he may have caught up with the Targaryan fleet any place between Sunspear and Meereen. Also, he amount of time covered by an episode can be very long. We often see journeys of several months contained in a single episode, such as Jon and Sansa's traveling the length and breadth of The North to raise their banners.
Meanwhile, in Kings's Landing:
I know that there is a theory going around that Tyrion is really the son of Aerys II, but if anyone in House Lannister is a Targayan, it has to be Jamie and Cersei. Cersei is just too bonkers not to be one. At Baelor's Sept, Margaery, realizing that the jig is up, says "We all have to leave, Now!", but the High Sparrow, who has been waiting to become a martyr, looks upon her with pity. His look simply said "Poor girl, don't you understand?". Tommen, unable to protect his Margaery, unable to protect his subjects, unable to cope with his failure as a king, throws himself out his tower window. Cersei gets the power that she always wanted, but, heavy is the head that wears the crown. And Jamie, who took upon himself the title of oathbreaker to keep Areys from using wildfire on the city saw his own sister use it. What must he be thinking? This must be the time when he realizes his relationship with Cersei is poison and refuses to protect her anymore. he didn't look happy to be back.
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