Game of Thrones Season 3, 'The Rains of Castamere' Recap (SPOILERS): Penultimate Episode's Red Wedding, What to Expect in the Season Finale

The penultimate episode of Game of Thrones' third season ended with silence as the credits rolled. What viewers just witnessed in the last minutes on "The Rains of Castamere" was what readers of the George R.R. Martin fantasy book series were already familiar with: The Red Wedding. The HBO series has strayed away from the books, of course, but most of the bigger plot points are still involved. And as we saw last night, the Stark family is still experiencing incredibly bad misfortune as the series progresses. (SPOILERS to follow)

Despite the Red Wedding being the focus of the episode, we were also treated to some other story lines including that of Jon Snow, Arya, and also Bran and Rickon. With the two youngest sons of Eddard Stark still on the run with the Reeds, Hodor and Osha, they find themselves taking refuge in a nearby tower to wait out a storm. Unfortunately, they soon come in contact with a pack of wildlings that happen to have their half-brother Jon Snow with them.

Snow is also facing some hardships, as his new group of travelers is still ridiculing him. The wildlings decide to steal some horses from a Night's Watch supplier and plan on killing the old breeder. Jon doesn't like this idea so when they are charging the old man's home he makes enough noise to startle the horses, thus warning the old Crow to get out of their. Snow even manages to convince Ygritte not to shoot an arrow into the man.

They eventually catch up to the old man as the storm is at its peak and right outside of Bran and the others' sanctuary. Poor, simple Hodor does not like the thunder and gets very scared. He starts to cause a ruckus, which draws the attention of the warg wildling. But just in time, Bran uses his own warg abilities to make Hodor calm down and pass out. Jojen Reed then tells Bran to warg into his Direwolf, Summer, in order to see what's going on outside. When doing this, he witnesses Jon Snow betray the Wildlings and escape, leaving Ygritte behind. Bran and Rickon split up for the rest of the journey.

Another Stark, Arya, is on her way to her uncle's wedding and to meet up with her mother and brother. She is (comically) accompanied by The Hound. Unfortunately, they arrive in the midst of the Red Wedding.

After watching his uncle marry one of the Frey girls, Robb and his army are ambushed in a bloody massacre. We learn that Roose Bolton plotted out the slaying and we are treated to a brutal display of blood, betrayal and heartbreak. No one is spared, not even Robb's loyal Direwolf Grey Wind. Cat Stark threatens Lord Frey's wife's life but to no avail and watches as her son speaks his last word: "Mother." She too is killed.

What did you think of the highly anticipated Red Wedding scene? What should we be expecting in the season finale?