1Winter Is Coming
A Night's Watch deserter is tracked down outside of Winterfell, prompting swift justice by Lord Eddard "Ned" Stark and raising concerns about the dangers in the lawless lands north of the Wall. Returning home, Ned learns from his wife Catelyn that his mentor, Jon Arryn, has died in the Westeros capital of King's Landing, and that King Robert is on his way north to offer Ned Arryn's position as the King's Hand. Meanwhile, across the Narrow Sea in Pentos, Viserys Targaryen hatches a plan to win back the throne, which entails forging an allegiance with the nomadic Dothraki warriors by giving its leader, Khal Drogo, his lovely sister Daenerys' hand in marriage. Robert arrives at Winterfell with his wife, Queen Cersei, and other members of the Lannister family: her twin brother Jaime, dwarf brother Tyrion and Cersei's son and heir to the throne, 12-year-old Joffrey. Unable to refuse his old friend and king, Ned prepares to leave for King's Landing, as Jon Snow decides to travel north to Castle Black to join the Night's Watch, accompanied by a curious Tyrion. But a startling act of treachery directed at young Bran may postpone their departures.
2The Kingsroad
Bran's fate remains in doubt. Having agreed to become the King's Hand, Ned leaves Winterfell with daughters Sansa and Arya, while Catelyn stays behind to tend to Bran. Jon Snow heads north to join the brotherhood of the Night's Watch. Tyrion decides to forego the trip south with his family, instead joining Jon in the entourage heading to the Wall. Viserys bides his time in hopes of winning back the throne, while Daenerys focuses her attention on learning how to please her new husband, Drogo.
3Lord Snow
Arriving at King's Landing after his long journey, Ned is shocked to learn of the Crown's profligacy from his new advisors. At Castle Black, Jon Snow impresses Tyrion at the expense of greener recruits. Suspicious that the Lannisters had a hand in Bran's fall, Catelyn covertly follows her husband to King's Landing, where she is intercepted by Petyr Baelish, aka "Littlefinger," a shrewd longtime ally and brothel owner. Cersei and Jaime ponder the implications of Bran's recovery; Arya studies swordsmanship. On the road to Vaes Dothrak, Daenerys finds herself at odds with Viserys.
4Cripples, Bastards, and Broken Things
Ned looks to a book for clues to the death of his predecessor, and uncovers one of King Robert's bastards. Robert and his guests witness a tournament honoring Ned. Jon takes measures to protect Samwell from further abuse at Castle Black; a frustrated Viserys clashes with Daenerys in Vaes Dothrak; Sansa imagines her future as a queen, while Arya envisions a far different future. Catelyn rallies her husband's allies to make a point, while Tyrion finds himself caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.
5The Wolf and the Lion
After the joust, Ned visits the dead body of Ser Hugh. He wonders who determined the uneven draw.He and Ser Bannister talk about their admiration for Ned's father.Ned is bothered that Hugh was a squire until a few months ago and was now wearing a fancy suit of armor. Where did he get the money to afford such finery?Ned visits King Robert trying to squeeze into his suit of armor. Robert taunts his squire cousin Lannister, sending him on a fool's errand to look for a "breast plate stretcher". Ned tries to explain to his king that anyone he jousts with will let him win.Robert explains Cersei made him take the young Lannister on as a squire. He's drunk, as usual, and Ned has to remind him to get dressed before he goes back out.At the next match, Ser Loras Tyrell, the Knight of the Flowers, presents one to Sansa but makes eyes at Lord Renly Baratheon (the king's brother). He's up against Ser Gregor, "the Mountain."
Sansa worries that the knight is toast.Instead, they race at each other and Loras wins, knocking the Mountain of a man down to everyone's surprise. Loras used a bit of trickery by riding a mare in heat which agitated the stallion that Gregor was on.Petyr makes a crack about Loras' being gay, but before that goes any further a very angry Gregor picks up his giant sword and cleanly beheads his losing horse.Then he goes after the man who beat him, but soon his brother The Hound steps in. They fight until the King calls a stop to it.Ser Loras Tyrell thanks him for saving his life and lifts the Hound's hand in victory.A tied-up Tyrion Lannister is brought before Catelyn Stark. They're not on the King's Road, to Westeros. He realizes they're going to the Vale, to her sister's. Tyrion says her sister is a bit "touched."Tyrion asks what kind of imbecile arms an assassin with his own blade.They're interrupted by rocks flying out of the hills and an attacking horde.Catelyn and Tyrion duck for cover and she acquiesces to his request that she untie him. He's about to jump on a horse when he sees Lady Stark is about to be attacked. He steps in with a shield and whacks her attacker, knocking him down. He beats him senseless, pounding his face to a bloody pulp.When it is over only a handful of Lady Stark's people remain. One of them looks at Tyrion appreciatively and suggests that after a fight they should visit a whore house. Tyrion glances at Catelyn and jokes "I'm willing if she is."At Winterfell, Bran practices his recitations of the Houses, their sigils and their words with Maester Luwin. Bran is hurt that his mother left.He watches Theon Greyjoy practice archery and wonders if he'll ever shoot again.Later Theon enjoys the company of a young woman. He compares himself to Tyrion, then brags about the House of Greyjoy. The whore reminds him he's Ned Stark's ward because his father rebelled against King Robert.Varys the eunuch has a private moment with Ned, telling him the king is a "fool" and "doomed" unless Ned saves him. After a month, Varys finally trusts him. He says the King is at risk from the same thing that got to Jon Arryn, a clear tasteless poison. He says someone he trusted gave it to him. Ned guesses it was Ser Hugh. Ned asks who paid him and why, after Arryn had been the hand for 14 years.
"He started asking questions," Varys says.Arya chases a cat down into the cellar and overhears Varys telling someone that Ned is getting closer to the truth. He mentions "the fools tried to kill his son," but botched it.
"We will be at war soon," Varys says.
The man he's talking to (Illyrio) suggests another hand could die, but Varys says Ned isn't like Arryn. Illyrio says Khal Drogo won't attack until his son is born.Varys slinks up on Petyr in the throne room. Petyr invites him to visit his brothel and they use the conversation to show off who knows more about various unnamed people's sexual peccadilloes. Who's got more intel and dirt.Varys lets Petyr know he has eyes on him. He mentions that it would be bad if word got out that he helped convince Ned that the Lannisters were behind the injury to Bran.He thinks he has the upper hand, but then Petyr mentions he saw him talking with Ned that morning and then later with a certain "foreign dignitary" (Illyrio... the man from the first episode with Daenerys and Viserys)."Of course you would have friends from across the Narrow Sea," Petyr says. He mentions vaguely how bad it would be if that word got out.They're interrupted by Lord Renly.Varys says there's disturbing news from far away. "Hadn't you heard?" he taunts.Arya follows the secret exit from the castle out onto the shore and back into the castle. Two guards think she's a beggar boy, but she threatens to turn them over to her dad.She tells Ned what she heard. She's not sure who said it but she thinks one was fat. She relays that they said he found the bastard and something about a savage and about the wolf fighting the lion.They're interrupted by a Night's Watchman, looking for recruits. He says he came for Benjen's sake and that the whole city will know by tomorrow.He wants to speak in private. He tells Ned that his wife has "taken the imp."Catelyn runs into Lady Arryn's guards. She identifies Tyrion as her prisoner and they head off to the Eyrie.Ned is summoned to see the king and the council, he just learned Daenerys is pregnant. He wants her and her baby and her brother Viserys killed. Ned argues that would make them no better than the Mad King and questions where Varys got his information.
He says Jorah Mormont told him. Ned mocks that the information came from a traitor. Ned isn't worried about the Dothraki crossing the Narrow Sea. King Robert is apoplectic. Maester Pycelle argues killing her might stave off war. The council is all for it, but Ned tells the king he won't do it.
The King tells him to do as he commands or he'll find a Hand who will. Ned removes his sigil and resigns. The king bellows at him, running him off back to Winterfell.Back in his room, Ned packs furiously. Petyr visits, saying if Ned stick around until night he'll take him to see the last person Jon Arryn spoke with before he fell ill.
Ned orders his daughter's protected as he goes with Petyr.At Lady Lysa Arryn's, Tyrion and Catelyn try not to stare as Lysa, Jon Arryn's widow, nurses her much-too-old-for-nursing son, Robin. Lysa rants about all Lannisters being liars. Robin wants to see him "fly."Catelyn reminds her nutty sister that Tyrion is her prison. The men of the Vale take Tyrion to a dungeon that opens up to open sky and shows just how impossibly high up they are.Renly complains to his lover Loras that his brother the king doesn't consider him a man because he hasn't been to war. He thinks Robert will forgive Ned. He thinks killing Daenerys is the way to go. Renly thinks Robert became king because he was good at killing things. Loras suggests that Renly would make a good king, even though he doesn't love killing.Cersei gloats to her husband about Ned leaving. Robert worries about the Dorthraki crossing the sea. She reminds him Dothraki don't sail.
But he's still worried about their skilled, united army.
He wonders what keeps their back-stabbing kingdom together.
"Our marriage," she suggests. They share a good laugh.
"How long can hate hold a thing together?" he asks.
"Well, 17 years is quite a long time," she says. Cersei asks what "she" was like, the first time she's ever asked. She says there's no harm Lyanna Stark's memory could do that they haven't done to each other already.
Robert responds with, "someone took her away from me and Seven Kingdoms couldn't fill the hole she left behind."
Cersei says she felt something for him once, before their first boy died. She asks if he feels the same. No.
But that doesn't make her feel anything.Ned meets with the mother of King Robert's illegitimate daughter. She says Jon Arryn only wanted to know if she was happy. Ned asks Petyr why Arryn tracked down all the king's bastards. He doesn't really have the answer.Jamie Lannister rides up outside the brothel. He asks Ned what happened to Tyrion. Ned says he was taken on his command. Jamie draws his sword. He orders Ned taken alive and his men killed. Jory fights Jaime, who draws a dagger and stabs him through the eye.
Jaime and Ned fight fiercely until one of Jaime's men skewers Ned through the back of the leg. Jaime responds by knocking his own man out.
"My brother, Lord Stark, I want him back," Jaime says and rides off.
6A Golden Crown
Reinstated as the Hand, Ned sits for the King while Robert is on a hunt, and issues a decree that could have long-term consequences throughout the Seven Kingdoms. At the Eyrie, Tyrion confesses to his "crimes," and demands that Lysa give him a trial by combat. Joffrey apologizes to Sansa; Viserys receives his final payment for Daenerys from Drogo.
7You Win or You Die
Explaining that the future of the Lannisters is at stake, Tywin presses Jaime to "be the man you were meant to be" as they prepare for battle. Ned confronts Cersei about the secrets that killed Jon Arryn. With the fate of the missing Benjen very much on his mind, Jon Snow takes his Night's Watch vows, though not with the assignment he coveted. After Ser Jorah saves Daenerys from treachery, an enraged Drogo vows to lead the Dothraki where they've never gone before. An injured Robert takes pains to ensure an orderly transition at King's Landing.
8The Pointy End
The Lannisters press their advantage over the Starks; Robb rallies his father's northern allies and heads south to war.
9Baelor
Ned makes a fateful decision; Robb takes a prized prisoner; Daenerys finds her reign imperiled.
10Fire and Blood
A new king rises in the north; a Khaleesi finds new hope.
1The North Remembers
Winter is coming as the Night Watch go to meet the threat north of the Wall, the standoff between the Stark and the Lannisters boils with new rumors of King Joffrey's birthright and the rise of the Baratheon brothers in the warfare. All the while Dany leads her band of broken things through the dead lands barely hanging on. Trust...Joffrey will do whatever it takes to keep his crown.
2The Night Lands
In the wake of a bloody purge in the capital, Tyrion chastens Cersei for alienating the king's subjects. On the road north, Arya shares a secret with Gendry, a Night's Watch recruit. With supplies dwindling, one of Dany's scouts returns with news of their position. After nine years as a Stark ward, Theon Greyjoy reunites with his father Balon, who wants to restore the ancient Kingdom of the Iron Islands. Davos enlists Salladhor Saan, a pirate, to join forces with Stannis and Melisandre for a naval invasion of King's Landing.
3What Is Dead May Never Die
At the Red Keep, Tyrion plots three alliances through the promise of marriage. Catelyn arrives in the Stormlands to forge an alliance of her own. But King Renly, his new wife Margaery and her brother Loras Tyrell have other plans. At Winterfell, Luwin tries to decipher Branʼs dreams.
4Garden of Bones
Joffrey punishes Sansa for Robb's victories, while Tyrion and Bronn scramble to temper the king's cruelty. Catelyn entreats Stannis and Renly to forego their ambitions and unite against the Lannisters. Dany and her exhausted khalasar arrive at the gates of Qarth, a prosperous city with strong walls and rulers who greet her outside them. Tyrion coerces a queen's man into being his eyes and ears. Arya and Gendry are taken to Harrenhal, where their lives rest in the hands of "The Mountain," Gregor Clegane. Davos must revert to his old ways and smuggle Melisandre into a secret cove.
5The Ghost of Harrenhal
The end of the Baratheon rivalry drives Catelyn to flee and Littlefinger to act. At King's Landing, Tyrion's source alerts him to Joffrey's flawed defense plan and a mysterious secret weapon. Theon sails to the Stony Shore to prove heʼs worthy to be called Ironborn. In Harrenhal, Arya receives a promise from Jaqen H'ghar, one of three prisoners she saved from the Gold Cloaks. The Night's Watch arrive at the Fist of the First Men, an ancient fortress where they hope to stem the advance of the wildling army.
