Game of Thrones Recap: Did We Just Lose Another Major Character?

Let's be honest with ourselves -- Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) didn't actually die on this week's Game of Thrones. There's just no way, which made that cliffhanger a lot less gasp-worthy than normal. The rest of the episode, on the other hand? Totally gasp-worthy.

First and foremost, little Arya Stark (Maisie Williams) finally returned to Winterfell (reminder: she hasn't seen her ancestral home since the second episode of Season 1), but she didn't get the grand welcome Bran (Isaac Hempstead Wright) did. When she finally got sick of the two guards hassling her about not really being Arya Stark, she ghosted and snuck down to the catacombs to stare forlornly at her father's statue.

That's when the real magic happened.

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Bran's reunion with Sansa (Sophie Turner) might have been stilted and awkward, but Arya's was pure sweetness. Someone should honestly look into harnessing the power of Stark hugs as a renewable energy source.

Unfortunately, the sisters' sweetness didn't last too long before Sansa returned her focus to the task at hand, if her reaction to Arya's sparring match with Brienne (Gwendoline Christie) is any indication. It's hard to tell what Sansa was thinking while staring so intently at Arya fighting. Was she upset that her sister had to learn these skills in order to survive? Maybe. Did she disapprove of a woman wielding a blade? Unlikely. Did she just want Littlefinger (Aidan Gillen) to stop being such a creepy lurker? Let's hope so.

Most probably, Sansa was taking Littlefinger's advice and fighting a new potential battle in her mind. Only an idiot wouldn't notice what a useful weapon Arya has become. She's a harmless-looking little girl who can slit your throat the second you turn your back. She's essentially become a wolf in sheep's clothing (pun totally intended).

It's hard to imagine Sansa ever choosing to put her siblings in danger, especially after all they've been through already, but it's not impossible to believe she might be adding a few names to Arya's list for her own reasons.

Back at Dragonstone, Jon (Kit Harington) finally got Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) to believe that White Walkers exist, thanks to some cave paintings near the dragonglass supply. She then promised to help him fight for the North... right after he bends the knee.

SERIOUSLY?! The survival of the human race is hanging in the balance and we're still hung up on this stupid chair? Ugh.

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It was nice, however, to see Dany ask Jon for advice after losing yet another battle to the Lannister forces. The sooner these two learn to work as a team, the sooner they can get down to spraying a ton of fire on the army of the dead.

Speaking of fire, Drogon laid down some pretty awesome pyrotechnics on the Lannister army transporting their haul from Highgarden, which has been her first real success of this war so far. We're also secretly relieved that Cersei's (Lena Headey) dragon-killing weapon didn't work as planned, because if Drogon had died, there would literally be riots in the streets.

After that epic battle, Jaime is either dead (again, unlikely) or captured, which could be tricky for Tyrion (Peter Dinklage). As we've learned before, Jaime is a good prisoner of war to have in your custody, even more so now that he's the only bargaining chip Cersei cares about. Mostly, though, we're just wondering what that brotherly reunion is going to look like now that Jaime knows for certain Tyrion didn't kill Joffrey (Jack Gleeson), but he definitely did kill Tywin (Charles Dance).

Game of Thrones airs Sundays at 9/8c on HBO.