RULED BY: House Bolton

PREVIOUSLY RULED BY: House Stark

PRIMARY THREAT: The White Walkers

NOTABLE DEATHS: Ygritte & Jojen Reed

THE REGION'S MOST GAME OF THRONES MOMENT:

Easy: Craster raping his own daughters and then giving the resulting male children to the White Walkers so they can turn them into baby White Walkers.

WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON, SHORT VERSION:

The Starks are gone, and now we're just rooting for Jon Snow to save Westeros.

WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON, NERD VERSION:

The North has dominated the show in many ways so far, starting with the Starks' rise and bloody fall at their stronghold, Winterfell. Currently, House Bolton holds the reins to the North (and Winterfell) after helping the Lannisters and the Freys slaughter most of the Starks at the Red Wedding. Now they're busy securing the North from the ironborn and trying to make sure all the Stark children are dead. That second thing isn't going so well for them.

Elsewhere in the North, war is raging. At the end of Season 4, Castle Black fell under attack from the wildlings in a siege led by their "king," Mance Rayder, but with help from Eternal Good Guy Jon Snow, the Night's Watch defended the Wall and were able to overcome the wildlings. After the battle, as Jon Snow was attempting (and failing) to broker peace with Mance Rayder, an unexpected ally arrived in the form of Stannis Baratheon, his army, and the Mother of Smoke Babies, Melisandre. This is a temporary respite however, because the threat of the White Walkers is not going anywhere (and only Samwell Tarly, the comic relief character, has been able to kill one). As we've been told over and over again, "Winter is coming," and Jon, Stannis, and the wildlings may be facing it head on.