'Game of Thrones' season 1 episode guide

As your Game of Thrones watch begins, here's an episode-by-episode breakdown of everything you need to know from season 1. (Check out our guides for seasons 2–8 and our list of essential episodes down below.)

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

Episode 5: "The Wolf and the Lion"

Writers: David Benioff and D.B. Weiss

Director: Brian Kirk

Plot: Catelyn took Tyrion to the Eyrie where her sister/Jon Arryn's widow, Lysa (Kate Dickie), resided. Lysa had become unhinged and still breastfed her preadolescent son. At King's Landing, Varys warned Ned that Robert's life was in jeopardy, believing Jon Arryn was poisoned. The king heard (via Jorah, who was trading secrets in exchange for a pardon) that Dany was pregnant and called for her assassination. Ned refused to have any part in it and gave up his position as Hand. He planned to leave for Winterfell, but first visited a brothel on Littlefinger's suggestion, where he found another of Robert's nonmarital children. On leaving, Ned was surrounded by Jaime — angry that Catelyn had taken his brother prisoner — and his men.

Introduced: Ser Loras Tyrell (Finn Jones), the "Knight of Flowers" and Renly Baratheon's lover

Historic moment: The Stark/Lannister tension came to a head when Jaime and Ned fought, almost to the death.

Grade: B+

Episode 6: "A Golden Crown"

Writers: Jane Espenson, David Benioff, and D.B. Weiss

Director: Daniel Minahan

Plot: Ned wanted Jaime brought to justice for butchering his men, but Robert wouldn't act against his source of wealth. Ned was reinstated as Hand and summoned the Lannister patriarch, Tywin (Charles Dance), to court to answer for attacking the Riverlands. Bran was set upon by Wildlings in the woods but saved by his older brother Robb (Richard Madden) and Theon. Tyrion demanded a trial by combat and a champion to fight on his behalf; the mercenary Bronn (Jerome Flynn) volunteered, fought dirty, won, and Tyrion was freed. Elsewhere, Dany proved herself to be one of the Dothraki by eating a horse's heart. A jealous Viserys drunkenly demanded a crown from Khal Drogo. Drogo poured molten gold on Viserys' head, thereby crowning and killing him — painfully.

Introduced: Osha (Natalia Tena), a Wildling who later looked after the younger Stark children

Historic moment: Viserys' death proved he was no dragon; fire can't kill a dragon.

Grade: B+

Episode 7: "You Win or You Die"

Writers: David Benioff and D.B. Weiss

Director: Daniel Minahan

Plot: Having discovered Cersei's children were born of incest, Ned told her to flee and escape Robert's wrath. However, the king was maimed by a boar during a hunt and later succumbed to his injuries. Robert's dying wish — that Ned serve as Lord Regent until the king's rightful heir comes of age — was ignored by Cersei, who had Ned seized. Ned realized Littlefinger had double-crossed him when the city guard didn't come to his aid. Renly fled the city. Dany was saved from an assassin by Jorah, and her near-death was enough to convince Drogo to cross the sea and claim the throne. Benjen Stark (Joseph Mawle), Ned's brother, went missing north of the Wall, and Lord Commander Jeor Mormont (James Cosmo) — Jorah's father — requested Jon as his personal steward.

Introduced: Tywin Lannister, who sent Jaime and half of his forces to attack Riverrun, thereby beginning a war

Historic moment: Jon and Sam took their oath to join the Night's Watch. Jon's direwolf appeared with a severed hand to add flair to the occasion.

Grade: B+

Episode 8: "The Pointy End"

Writer: George R.R. Martin

Director: Daniel Minahan

Plot: After Ned's arrest, Arya narrowly escaped, and Cersei forced Sansa to write to her family, telling Robb to swear fealty to Joffrey. Robb called for his bannermen to march on King's Landing instead. Catelyn met Robb on the road, while Tyrion joined his father at the Lannister encampment. King Joffrey named his grandfather, Tywin, his Hand and uncle/dad, Jaime, Lord Commander of the Kingsguard. The Dothraki sacked a village to help fund Drogo's throne quest. Dany saved some women from rape, and Drogo was injured defending her honor.

Introduced: Sam's knowledge that White Walkers can be killed by fire

Historic moment: Two dead rangers were brought back to Castle Black. They reanimated as wights (zombie-like beings), and Jon saved Commander Mormont from their attack.

Grade: B+

Episode 9: "Baelor"

Writers: David Benioff and D.B. Weiss

Director: Alan Taylor

Plot: Robb was granted permission by the gross Lord Walder Frey (David Bradley) to cross his fortified bridge if he married one of Frey's daughters. Commander Mormont gifted Jon a Valyrian steel sword. Jon's loyalty to the Watch was tested when he learned Robb was marching south. Tywin's army (including Tyrion) defeated the northern men with ease, but elsewhere, Robb crushed Jaime's men, taking the Kingslayer captive. Drogo was close to death from his infected wound and the Dothraki were restless, ready to claim his position as Khal. Desperate, Dany asked the "maegi" (witch) to use bloodmagic to save him and went into premature labor.

Introduced: A sex worker named Shae (Sibel Kekilli), for whom Tyrion fell

Historic moment: In a bid to save his daughters' lives, Ned confessed to his "sins" and acknowledged Joffrey as king. Joffrey had him beheaded nonetheless.

Grade: A

Episode 10: "Fire and Blood"

Writers: David Benioff and D.B. Weiss

Director: Alan Taylor

Plot: Disguised as a boy, Arya was drafted into the Night's Watch alongside Gendry. Jon rode to meet Robb — who had just been crowned King in the North by his bannermen — but was convinced to return to the Wall by Sam & Co. The Night's Watch went beyond the Wall to find Benjen. Dany's son died, his life having been traded for Drogo's by the witch's spell. Drogo's tribe had left, with their leader alive but in a vegetative state. Dany smothered him with a pillow.

Introduced: Jaqen H'ghar (Tom Wlaschiha), a prisoner also recruited for the Night's Watch

Historic moment: Dany burned Drogo's body, her dragon eggs, and the witch. She climbed onto the pyre herself, later emerging from the ash unscathed, holding three baby dragons: Drogon, Rhaegal, and Viserion.

Grade: A

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