Game of Thrones Refresher: Season 1 recap
Game of Thrones season one, a groundbreaking, breathtaking series that launched careers and captivated millions of fans worldwide.
Who doesn’t need a refresher for each and every Game of Thrones season? So much happens in the episodes that it’s virtually impossible to remember all the details.
Westeros and Essos, a landscape replete with centuries of struggle and war, where the former has powerful families vying for The Iron Throne, and the latter is a foreign land that shelters vestiges of the overthrown former ruling family. Teeming with mystery and danger, the frozen land north of an icy fortification carries rumors of an undead threat that may make power struggles moot.
Season Intro
This is where it all started. Game of Thrones introduced staged the landscape fraught with peril. White Walkers emerged as a looming enemy, and families jockeyed for position and stature. Clear morality is established (Ned Stark), and pure evil looms. The town Winterfell becomes literal, and nobody knew how important, metaphoric, and prophetic the saying “Winter is coming” would become.
Episode Highlights
A+. <ul><li>At Winterfell Ned becomes King Robert Baratheon’s “Hand”</li><li>Viserys pimps Daenerys to Khal Drogo in Pentos</li><li>Bran Stark witnesses Lannister incest and goes skydiving</li></ul>. Game of Thrones. S1E1. Winter is Coming
A+. <ul><li>Daenerys and Drogo sexy-time in the Dothraki sea</li><li>Joffrey is slapped, and his evil is exposed</li><li>Jon Snow, Tyrion Lannister, and Benjen Stark head to the Wall</li></ul>. Game of Thrones. S1E2. The Kingsroad
If you weren’t hooked after the first two episodes, check your pulse. Intrigue, excitement, and Tyrion slapping Joffrey over and over again. The slap alone is worth watching Game of Thrones for the remainder of the first season.
B+. <ul><li>The Starks suspect the Lannisters as Bran awakens and Arya gets the Needle</li><li>Dany carries the Stallion Who Mounts the World</li><li>Jon Snow pisses off the Wall and the other novice Night’s Watchman</li></ul>. Game of Thrones. S1E3. Lord Snow
S1E4. Cripples, Bastards, and Broken Things. A+. <ul><li>The Three-Eyed Raven, Hodor, and Samwell Tarly make first appearances</li><li>The Lannisters are investigated by Ned Stark, and Tyrion is captured by Catelyn</li><li>Daenerys asserts her position as Khaleesi against Viserys</li></ul>. Game of Thrones
Watching Jon Snow’s ascendance has been a fun ride for most Game of Thrones fans. These last two episodes are where it all began. He asserts his dominance at the Wall and starts recruiting followers, namely Samwell.
The real family drama of the show really pulls you as well. The Lannisters realize their incestuous secret is about to be discovered, whether by Bran or Ned, and they plan to go down swinging. Considering Ned’s investigation and position as the Hand, Cersei and Jamie rightfully consider the entire Stark family a threat. At this point, one has to wonder if their squabbling is a pointless effort before the Dothraki eventually attack.
B+. <ul><li>Varys may have initiated the brewing Lannister (Lion) and Stark (Wolf) war</li><li>Tyrion kills a man to defend Catelyn, but still ends up as Lysa Arryn’s prisoner</li><li>Jamie Lannister and men, angered by Tyrion’s imprisonment, confront and wound Ned Stark</li></ul>. Game of Thrones. S1E5. The Wolf and the Lion
A Golden Crown. A+. <ul><li>Ned Stark is the Hand again, wages political war on the always blonde Lannisters</li><li>Bronn defends Tyrion’s honor, avoids breastfeeding Robin Arryn’s Moon Door execution</li><li>Khal Drogo gives Viserys Targaryen a golden crown</li></ul>. Game of Thrones. S1E6
You Win or You Die. A+. <ul><li>Ser Jorah saves Daenerys from Baratheon assassins, sparking Khal Drogo</li><li>Robert Baratheon is filled with Lannister wine and mauled by a boar</li><li>Eddard reveals that he knows the incestuous truth, and Cersei replies with a warning about playing “the game of thrones”</li></ul>. Game of Thrones. S1E7
Episodes 5-7 of the first season really escalated the game aspect of Game of Thrones. The Starks are against the Lanninsters; the Arryns are against the Lannisters; the Baratheons are against the Targaryens; and the Drogos are against all of Westeros.
There were also some very key moments in the first season. The Moon Door and Tyrion’s freedom. The golden crown cemented Daenerys as more Khaleesi than Targaryen, despite the anti-Targaryen assassination attempt. The king’s death/murder was absolutely critical to story development and the brewing battle in what Cersei named “the game of thrones,” because it allowed Cersei to insert Joffrey as de facto ruler, and tip the scales against the Starks.
S1E8. The Pointy End. A+. <ul><li>Arya flees the Stark purge at King’s Landing, letting Needle’s pointy end taste blood</li><li>Robb Stark gathers bannermen, quashes any dissension, and gains respect</li><li>Khal Drogo leads Dothraki, but Daenerys causes dissension which leads to Drogo’s wound</li></ul>. Game of Thrones
Game of Thrones. S1E9. Baelor. A+. <ul><li>Tyrion’s previous prostitute marriage is revealed as a ploy by Jamie</li><li>Catelyn Stark and Walder Frey forge a bond through arranged marriages</li><li>Joffrey proves his petulance, betrays Sansa, and orders Ned Stark’s execution</li></ul>
Game of Thrones. S1E10. Fire and Blood. A+. <ul><li>Robb Stark’s King of the North, but Stannis and Renly Baratheon both claim the Iron Throne</li><li>A witch is immolated after cursing/killing Rhaego, and leaving Khal Drogo vegetative</li><li>Daenerys walks into the pyre, but emerges from the ash as the Mother of Dragons</li></ul>
House Rankings
- Lannister – Possession is 9/10 of the law
- Baratheon – Rightful claim to the crown
- Targaryen – Baby dragons, doo doo, doo doo doo doo
- Stark – Literally lost head of household, others in disarray
- Greyjoy – Isolated but strong, linked to Starks
- Tyrell – Laying in wait, strategizing
- Frey – Movin’ on up! Key geographic positioning
- Martell – Out of sight, out of mind
- Arryn – Weak leader, neutered troops
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Game of Thrones returns to HBO Sunday, April 14 at 9/8c.