‘Game of Thrones’ season 3 spoilers: Notes on episode titles, recap video

We have a couple of important notes to share about what is coming up for “Game of Thrones,” especially as we enter the homestretch leading up to the return of the show with new episodes on HBO March 31.

First, let’s talk episode titles! Winter Is Coming reports via the network’s scheduler that the third episode of the season is entitled “Walk of Punishment,” which is something that you can draw plenty of your own conclusions about, given that there is no direct reference to anything of the sort in the book. This is the first episode of the season to receive a title … and we have a little more information on that below.

Remember how the George R.R. Martin-penned episode (the seventh of this season) was supposed to carry with it the title of “Autumn Storms”? Well, it was changed eventually to “Chains,” and now Martin has said via his blog that the episode no longer has a title at all: “I lost a title, but gained a song.” That, ladies and gentlemen, is what we like to refer to as a rather clever hint.

On a different note, the show has just released a brand-new recap show preview, which we suppose there is so irony in given that there is such a little need to actually preview footage that most of us have already seen. This brief catch-up on the first two seasons of the show will air on Friday, March 9 at 9:45 p.m. Eastern time, which we’re presuming is just after a movie comes to a close.

The hype for “Game of Thrones” season 3 has been enormous thus far, with the show’s first trailer shattering records while the network also unveils a massive promotional campaign revolving around dragons. Expectations are high, but the network has met every single demand thus far.

Photo: HBO