Television shows have a recurring habit of dragging out the point, but "Game of Thrones" didn’t do that this week. Oh no; they gave it to you straight. This was an episode that I expected to happen well into the season, not the second episode in. 

For one: Brandon Stark is back! The last time we saw Bran, he had just met the Three-Eyed Raven and all of his pixies to begin the ultimate training. Bran has the ability to peek into the past, and the Raven allowed him to peek into a moment from his father’s childhood. The throwback moment included Ned and his older siblings, Ben and Lyanna, as well as Willis the stable boy. Bran’s teacher cut the flashback short and stated, "It’s beautiful beneath the sea, but if you stay too long, you’ll drown." This lets us know that it’s important for Bran to learn what happened with his family years ago, but the weight of the situation is too heavy for him to bear all at once. The present is too dangerous – and the past too intoxicating – to linger long. However, we were there long enough to see that Willis is actually Hodor and that he used to talk. What the heck happened to Hodor?

Back at Castle Black, the evil Alliser Thorne was ready to bust into the protected room with Jon Snow’s body. The Wildlings (along with one of their giants) arrived just in the knick of time to burst through the gates of Castle Black and stop Alliser from killing Davos and the rest of Jon Snow’s protectors. The men of the Night’s Watch laid down their arms and surrendered, and Alliser is locked away. I was upset that Alliser wasn’t stabbed over and over again, but you can’t get everything you want in life.

Meanwhile, it was a sad day at King’s Landing. Myrcella’s funeral was set to take place, but Cersei was banned from attending per the King Tommen’s orders. How dare he keep her from laying her daughter to rest! This little boy has no business being anyone’s king or husband; he’s like five years old. His apology to her was juvenile in itself, full of excuses as to why he did nothing in her time of need. To make it even worse, Tommen is probably Cersei’s least favorite child because of his lack of backbone. He’s literally the worst king ever – behind the Mad King, of course. There’s no way this kid is going to last.

Jaime had quite the run-in with the High Sparrow at Myrcella’s funeral. Jaime called out the High Sparrow on his bold decision to show up and would’ve definitely killed him if the priests didn’t show up as well. The High Sparrow made a very valid point that him and his priests may be poor and powerless, but together, they can overthrow an empire. Honestly, it could happen. If all the poor people of Westeros got together, they could take the Iron Throne with ease; however, they’ve seem to forgotten about the White Walkers. So, the High Sparrow’s point isn’t as valid as I thought.

In Meereen, Tyrion is making his usual bold moves. Despite the high risk of being a hungry dragon’s dinner, he went down in the caves and unchained them. He spoke with them, and they understood. They seemed to respect him for coming down there and connected with him even further. Could Tyrion be a candidate to ride the dragons in the ultimate battle? I think so.

Poor Aria got her ass handed to her again, a moment that made me very upset. Her humiliation wasn’t for nothing, though, because Jaqen H’ghar told her that she’s no longer a beggar. It’s time to become the beastiest lady with no name, Aria, and I can’t wait to watch it happen.

Meanwhile, Ramsay Bolton caught news of Sansa and Theon getting away, but he doesn’t seem to know that Sansa now has the help of Brienne of Tarth. Oh, I hope Brienne kills him good. Ramsay has killed so many people – now adding his father, little brother and sister-in-law to the list in this episode alone. What kind of sick animal has a woman and her baby mauled by hounds? Ramsay, that’s who.

Theon is going to head back to his family, a decision that has come at just the right time. His father was just assassinated, and his sister, Yara Greyjoy, is about being pushed out of the loop. She has a right to be queen, but no woman has ever been queen of the Iron-Born. With Theon’s return, she’ll probably get her chance at running things. Yara is smart, and she deserves a chance at being queen, at least.

Davos Seaworth went to Melisandre about bringing the Lord Commander back, something that she doesn’t believe she can do. She performs some ritual with Jon Snow’s body and – ta da! – after months of speculation, Jon Snow lives! I KNEW IT! The question is: Will he be the same Jon Snow we once knew and loved? He has to be, because if he’s not, then I don’t know what the hell the plan is. 

Now that Jon Snow is up and running again, it’s time for everyone to fall in line. I can’t wait for Ramsay to see that he’s alive; I wonder what he’ll try to do. Hopefully, Jon won’t give him the chance to exhale before chopping his head off. A girl can only dream.