Episode 1: “Winter Is Coming”
Writers: David Benioff and D.B. Weiss
Director: Tim Van Patten
Plot: After the death of his right-hand man, King Robert Baratheon (Mark Addy) traveled north to Winterfell to ask his old friend Lord Eddard “Ned” Stark (Sean Bean) to assume the role. The queen, Cersei (Lena Headey); her twin brother, Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau); and their brother Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage) arrived with the king. The two families intermingled to devastating result: Bran (Isaac Hempstead Wright) — the second youngest of the Stark children — interrupted Jaime and Cersei having incestuous sex, so Jaime pushed him from a tower window to silence him. Across the Narrow Sea in Pentos, exiled prince Viserys Targaryen (Harry Lloyd) forced his sister, Daenerys (Emilia Clarke), to wed Khal Drogo (Jason Momoa) — the leader of a Dothraki tribe — in exchange for an army so he could return to Westeros and reclaim his father’s Iron Throne.
Introduced: Everyone, plus White Walkers (the undead entities that live Beyond the Wall); the Starks’ pet direwolves; their ward Theon Greyjoy (Alfie Allen); and the treacherous prince Joffrey (Jack Gleeson)
Historic moment: Dany received three petrified dragon eggs as a wedding gift.
Grade: A–
Episode 2: “The Kingsroad”
Writers: David Benioff and D.B. Weiss
Director: Tim Van Patten
Plot: Ned and his two daughters, Arya (Maisie Williams) and Sansa (Sophie Turner), left Winterfell for the capital. En route south, Joffrey orchestrated the beheading of Sansa’s direwolf. At Winterfell, Ned’s wife, Catelyn Stark (Michelle Fairley), fought off an assassin at injured Bran’s bedside. Suspicious of the Lannisters’ involvement, she journeyed to King’s Landing to warn her husband. Bran awakened from his coma after she left.
Historic moment: Jon Snow (Kit Harington), Ned’s bastard son, headed north to the Wall — an enormous ice structure separating the Seven Kingdoms from what’s beyond, manned by a military order, the Night’s Watch.
Grade: B+
Episode 3: “Lord Snow”
Writers: David Benioff and D.B. Weiss
Director: Brian Kirk
Plot: In King’s Landing, Lord Petyr “Littlefinger” Baelish (Aidan Gillen), a former childhood friend of Catelyn, helped Lady Stark when she arrived seeking Ned. He claimed Bran’s would-be-assassin’s dagger belonged to Tyrion. Ned and Catelyn enlisted his help to find the truth. Across the Narrow Sea, Dany — now pregnant with her husband’s child — bonded with exiled knight Ser Jorah Mormont (Iain Glen) as she settled into her role as Khaleesi (a Queen of the Dothraki), to her brother’s annoyance. Arya began sword-fighting classes with a renowned trainer from Braavos.
Introduced: The Small Council: a conniving motley crew consisting of the king’s brother, Lord Renly (Gethin Anthony); the eunuch Lord Varys (Conleth Hill); Grand Maester Pycelle (Julian Glover); and the Master of Coin, Littlefinger
Historic moment: We learned that Jaime killed the “Mad King” Aerys Targaryen (Dany’s father), and is therefore known as “Kingslayer.”
Grade: B+
Episode 4: “Cripples, Bastards, and Broken Things”
Writer: Bryan Cogman
Director: Brian Kirk
Plot: Tyrion stopped at Winterfell with a gift for Bran, who was now paralyzed: blueprints for a saddle that would allow him to ride without the use of his legs. Samwell Tarly (John Bradley) arrived at the Wall and Jon took pity on his weakness. At King’s Landing, Ned looked into the previous Hand of the King Jon Arryn’s death. He met an armorer’s apprentice, Gendry (Joe Dempsie), King Robert’s bastard son. On the road back north, Catelyn ran into Tyrion. She accused him of conspiring to murder her son Bran, and announced she was taking him back to Winterfell to await the King’s justice.
Introduced: Gendry: one legitimate heir to the throne, and the suggestion that Robert’s blond-haired offspring were unlikely to have come from his “strong seed”
Historic moment: Dany stood up to her brother.
Grade: B
