'Game of Thrones': Guess Who's Back

— -- (SPOILERS AHEAD!)

In Sunday night's "Game of Thrones," we saw the return of an old frenemy whose fate was left unclear last season: Sandor Clegane, aka the Hound. We also saw one of our heroes, Arya, wounded badly ... perhaps even mortally. Here's how it all went down.

An Unidentified Piece of Countryside

We see a group of people building a sept out of logs, under the watchful eye of Ray, a former soldier who got tired of murdering, found religion and is now something of a traveling preacher. One of the people helping is none other than the Hound, whom we last saw near death after a fight with Brienne. We learn that Ray found him and has given him a chance to build a new life. Ray tells the Hound that it's never too late to stop killing and start helping people, which touches him deeply. Soon afterward, though, some men the Brotherhood Without Banners slaughter the rest of the group, including Ray. The Hound then grabs an ax and goes after them.

Braavos

After not assassinating Lady Crane, Arya approaches a ship's captain from Westeros and arranges for passage home. But the Waif, in the guise of an old woman, sneaks up on her and stabs her several times in the gut. To escape her, Arya jumps off a bridge, and when she emerges from the water, she's bleeding badly. We see her staggering through the streets, clutching her stomach and bleeding but being ignored by everyone.

The North

Jon, with some help from Tormund, persuades the wildling army — all 2,000 of them — to join his cause: take back Winterfell from the Boltons and prepare to battle the Night King and his army of the dead. Then Jon, Sansa and Ser Davos go on a tour of the great Northern houses, which are all supposed to be loyal to House Stark. Unfortunately, they manage to persuade only a handful of houses to give them fighting men. Despite being outnumbered, Jon feels they need to attack now, but Sansa disagrees. We see her writing a letter toward the end of the episode. Could she be telling Lord Baelish, whose help she previously rejected, that she has reconsidered?

As King Tommen ordered, Jaime, along with Ser Bronn and the entire royal army, show up at Riverrun to help the hapless Freys take the castle back from its rightful owner, Catelyn Stark's uncle Brynden "the Blackfish" Tully. As we heard in previous episodes, the Blackfish retook the castle from the Freys, who had received it as payment for helping arrange the Red Wedding. Jaime and the Blackfish have a tense meeting, but Brynden refuses to surrender, boasting that he can withstand a siege for two years. "Do you have two years, Kingslayer?" he taunts.

King's Landing

Queen Margaery continues to behave like a true convert to the High Sparrow's point of view, praying constantly and memorizing scripture. The High Sparrow advises her to tell her grandmother Olenna Tyrell, an "unrepentant sinner," that she should leave King's Landing before the Faith Militant throw her in prison. In the presence of a septa, Margaery meets with Olenna, saying all kinds of pious things and insisting that she leave the city. Olenna protests, but after Margaery slips her a scrap of paper and gives her a significant look, Olenna relents. On the scrap is House Tyrell's symbol, a rose, assuring Olenna that Margaery is just acting. Cersei urges Olenna to stay, but Olenna reminds Cersei that the mess they're in is all her fault, since she's the one who let the religious fanatics take over the city and throw Loras and Margaery in prison.

En Route From the Iron Islands to Mereen

Yara, Theon and their loyalists are in what appears to be a tavern for a brothel, and Theon is uncomfortable, having had his parts cut off by Ramsay Bolton. Yara — who, as her behavior with a prostitute makes clear, is a lesbian — demands that Theon get a grip because she needs him by her side. Yara plans to sail their fleet to Mereen and make a pact with the "Dragon Queen," Daenerys, before their uncle Euron can get the chance.