Game Of Thrones: The Meaning Behind Every Episode Title (Season 2)

Episode 6 €“ The Old Gods And The New

"The Old Gods and the New" pertains to the religions of both the north and south, who believe in the old gods and new god respectively. The old gods, also known as the old gods of the forest, are a myriad of spirits of nature, whose mythology is not well known at this point in the series. The old gods were, historically, the main religion in Westeros, and heart trees ( the weirwood trees with faces carved in them) once covered all of Westeros, until they were chopped down in the South at some point in the past; supposedly inhibiting the old gods' power in the south. Around about this time the new gods became the prevailing belief in most places outside of the North, the Iron Islands and beyond the wall, with the heart trees in the south believed to have been chopped down by followers of the new god who found them blasphemous. The new god is a seven-faced god, whose believers are known as followers of the faith of the seven. Each of the faces represent a different part of life, and are known as: the Father, the Mother, the Warrior, the Smith, the Maiden, the Crone, and the Stranger. The title refers specifically in this case, to the oath made between Catelyn Stark and Brienne of Tarth at the end of the previous episode, which was sworn "before the old gods and the new", and consisted of Brienne swearing an oath of fealty to Catelyn, and Catelyn promising to allow Brienne to take her revenge on Stannis, who she (accurately) blames for Renlys murder.