SPOILERS for last night’s episode, “The Door.”

You know we were going to be in for some terrible stuff when the “previously on” was so Hodor-intensive. But even I wasn’t expecting that scorched-earth moment from the Bran storyline. Game of Thrones definitely upped the ante with this episode. Other stuff beside HODOR (and the death of another direwolf) happened though, so here are some highlights:

Littlefinger & Sansa. I enjoy that we’re seeing Sansa-as-strategist, involved in the military decisions of how they’re going to take Winterfell. As she’s sewing a new cloak for Jon, she gets a missive from Littlefinger, who made it to the North very quickly, right? So, she and Brienne meet Littlefinger, and it becomes clear that Sansa blames Littlefinger almost entirely for everything Ramsay did to her. My question though: did Littlefinger really know what Ramsay was? I think Littlefinger’s alliance was mostly with Roose Bolton, and Littlefinger genuinely didn’t know that Ramsay was and is such a psycho. Anyway, Sansa sent Littlefinger packing, and now I’m wondering what Littlefinger will plot next. You know he has plans.

The Other Red Woman. I guess all priestesses of the Lord of Light all wear shades of red and age-cloaking amulets. I wanted to ask her, “So how old are you, lady?” Tyrion decides that the people of Meereen need to know that Dany isn’t just the Breaker of Chains, that she’s also responsible for the people’s security and safety. So he decides to invite some high priestess of the Lord of Light to Meereen. And she’s like, “Yeah, I already believe/know that Daenerys Targaryen is the prince who was promised, so I’ll let the people know.” Then she read Varys’ mind and that was the most emotional Varys had ever been. It’s a cool character.

Euron, Yara and Theon Greyjoy. For once, the Greyjoy storyline isn’t totally boring and terrible! The Kingsmoot finally went down, which is how those people “hold elections” and decide who will sit on the Salt Throne. Yara looked like she had it wrapped up, with Theon’s help and campaigning, and then Euron arrives and he’s like, “Yeah, I killed Balon, that’s why I should sit on the Salt Throne.” And everyone was like, “He’s right!” As Euron is taking part in his king ceremony (which involved being drowned), Yara, Theon and their loyalists escape in Euron’s boats. Which was smart, because as soon as Euron recovered, he wanted to kill Yara and Theon. A few more things: Euron’s idea is to take all of the boats across the sea to Daenerys so that she’ll have a fleet. Euron wants to marry Dany! And even though he’s crazy, he’s also hot (RIGHT?) and that marriage would be interesting.

Arya and the play. This part felt Shakespearean, right? The Man (Jaqen H’ghar) gives Arya one more shot at this whole Faceless Assassin thing, telling her that she will not get a third chance at this. Jaqen also says something interesting about the history of the Faceless Men, and how they were never the children of lords and ladies, and it feels as though… Jaqen likes Arya a lot, but he’s trying to gently tell her that she should not be a Faceless Man. Anyway, Arya’s assignment is to kill an actress playing Cersei in this little play about the assassination of Robert Baratheon. The “Ned Stark” character is played as a buffoon and for a second time, Arya witnesses her father’s execution. But Arya figures out how she’s going to kill the actress/Cersei but you can tell she doesn’t want to. Is Jaqen trying to prepare her for the real thing?

Dany & Jorah. Jorah finally tells Dany that he’s got Greyscale and he asks her to send him away and basically says that he’ll commit suicide before it gets too bad. Dany does send him away… to find a cure for Greyscale. Jorah tells Dany that he loves her, and she’s like “You need to be by my side when I conquer the world.”

Tormund is still hot for Brienne. Come on, Brienne, stop rolling your eyes at the giant ginger snap!!! MAKE LOVE NOT WAR.

Brienne & Sansa will be separated. Which I think is an awful idea. I was getting used to Brienne-as-bodyguard, and I wish Sansa had decided to send someone else.

Hold the door. This will make me cry. This was the first episode since Hardhome last year where I was out of my chair, standing in front of the TV, praying that everyone would make it out alive. Bran decides to do some tree-touching off-the-books and he ends up getting a glimpse at the ice zombies/White Walkers. The Night’s King touches him and so now, the Three-Eyed Raven says, the Night’s King is allowed inside the Weirwood Tree. Meera is trying to get everything packed up and ready to go when the Raven and Bran go under again, where Bran sees Hodor as a boy again. The White Walkers come while Bran is under, and Meera and the Children of the Forest are trying to fight. Meera is trying to get Bran to wake up, and while Bran is still “under.” Bran hears Meera in the vision, and is able to warg into Hodor-in-the-tree so Hodor can start to help them escape. The White Walkers kill the Raven. They kill several of the Children. They kill Bran’s direwolf, Summer. Meera, Hodor and Bran make it out of the backdoor and Meera cries out to Hodor, “HOLD THE DOOR.” Within Bran’s vision, the young Hodor sees Bran and collapses in a seizure and cries out “Hold the door, hold the door, hold the door” until the words become scrambled into “Hodor.” The Hodor at the tree gives his life saving Bran and Meera by holding the door, which was always supposed to happen.

Pour one out for Hodor, you guys. And pour one out for Summer. I can’t believe they killed off another direwolf AND Hodor in one episode. This is so g—damn brutal.

Photos courtesy of HBO/GoT.