Pigeon pie wasn't the end of the weird pie recipes, however, as the Westerosi also dabbled into making lamprey pies. For those who aren't familiar with the animal, lampreys are eel-like fish that suck blood from bigger fishes. One would think that a dish made out of a hideous bloodsucking animal is for the downtrodden peasants but no.

Avon, Massachusetts

For my parents, Kevin and Lourdes.

This book is unofficial and unauthorized. It is not authorized, approved, licensed,
or endorsed by George R. R. Martin, his publishers, or HBO.

“Winter is coming … ”

That’s enough to give you goosebumps, isn’t it? The House of Stark’s words put a chill in the air, a sensation of icy wind and perhaps even snow, of chapped lips and cold hands seeking warmth. Even if Winterfell is just in our imagination, it can still
feel
real.

George R. R. Martin has filled his series A Song of Ice and Fire with simple phrases and vivid passages that flood our minds with a torrent of feelings. Whether we’re reading the books or watching the show, we’re
in
Westeros in our minds. We envision ourselves sitting in the castles and fortresses of the Lannisters or the Starks. We ride with the Dothraki across a dreamscape. We feel the winds that blow at the top of the Wall, the bitter cold and the thinner atmosphere that somehow makes us more alert that out there, north of what we’ve come to know of the world, are creatures that should not exist and, worse, have taken notice of us.

Humans, no matter what nation they are from or what kind of family raised them, are innately sensual. We always find ways to carry ourselves to places and times beyond our physical reach. Indeed, food can whisk us away in one sip, one bite, one breath. The moment we open a bottle of well-aged wine, we are breathing in the air of those long-ago times, air that was inadvertently trapped by whoever bottled the wine in the first place. When we eat a meal “from the old country,” we can imagine — in some corner of our mind where imagination keeps its best knick-knacks and mementos — that we are transported back, whether we’ve been there or not. We can imagine some aspect of how our ancestors lived because we know their food. We hunger for the fanciful and sate it with a bite of reality — so why not do the same for the fantasy of Westeros?

Silently as a cat, Arya Stark disguised herself and appeared in Walder Frey's hall with a tasty meat pie for the old man to eat for dinner. So what did Arya feed Walder Frey on Game of Thrones? Let's just say Arya has picked up a recipe or two, along with her mad assassin skills.

We set the scene with a huge feast at Riverrun, in celebration of Walder Frey retaking it from the Blackfish with the help of the Lannister armies. In return, of course, Frey pledges Riverrun to the Iron Throne and declares a new alliance between House Frey and House Lannister. (They even coin themselves a new catchphrase: 'The Freys and the Lannisters send their regards.') During the celebration, an attractive young woman lingers on Jaime while serving him wine. We later see the same woman serving Walder meat pies in the empty hall.

He notices that she isn't a lady of his court — 'too pretty' he remarks, before landing one of his token creepy butt-smacks. He assumes she's from the Lannister camp and has simply been sent up with his food. Walder demands to know where his sons are. He's eating in an empty hall at night, and they were supposed to arrive at midday. The woman keeps repeating that 'they're here,' and Walder is understandably confused. Until, that is, the woman points out the meat pie sitting on his plate.

Walder Frey Actor

He pulls back the crust and sees that his sons have been baked into the pie, which is literally a scene straight out of Titus Andronicus.

'They weren't easy to carve,' the woman flippantly remarks, before — obviously — pulling off her face to reveal that she is, in fact, Arya Stark.

Walder Frey Dies

'My name is Arya Stark,' she calmly says. 'I want you to know that. The last thing you're ever going to see is a Stark smiling down at you as you die.'

Game Of Thrones Pigeon Pie Walder Frey Die

She then slits his throat easily and patiently holds his head back, smiling all the while, for him to bleed out as efficiently as possible. Jaime seems to have escaped the Great Arya Butchering of 2k16, since we see him arrive back at King's Landing just before Cersei is crowned queen. But I'm betting nothing can kill Arya's buzz off of avenging the Red Wedding. Well played.