Game of Thrones Season One Ultimate Unofficial Guide: The Game of Thrones Season 1

families locked in a generational struggle for influence and control. Each character operates under an individual moral code pursuing personal interests, no matter the cost. The close weaving of interactions among so many complex characters guarantees conflict in any plot. The draw for the audience is watching events unfold as personal agendas clash. There is no shortage of ulterior motives, deceptive loyalties, and secret initiatives in The Game of Thrones .
The Big Picture
    The first season of Game of Thrones takes the audience on an unforgettable journey through Martin’s legendary kingdom and into the lives of several of its ruling families. The story opens with the death of Jon Arryn, King Robert Baratheon’s most trusted advisor. The king travels from King’s Landing, the Capital of the realm, to Winterfell in The North for the first time since taking the throne seventeen years ago. There he asks his childhood friend, Ned Stark, to take Arryn’s place. An offer is also made to join their two Houses through a marriage between Ned’s daughter and Robert’s son, Prince Joffrey. Ned is obliged to accept Robert’s offer and leave Winterfell for the Capital after learning that Arryn’s death may have actually been murder. Just before leaving with his two daughters, his young son, Bran, becomes bedridden after a fall from the castle walls. Ned’s wife, Catelyn, and their eldest son, Robb, are left in charge of Winterfell.
    Ned settles in at King’s Landing with his new job duties and sets out to investigate the conspiracy resulting in Arryn’s death. While he is away, an attempt is made to murder Bran in his sleep and Cat suspects there is more to his “fall” than originally thought. What nobody except for viewers knows is that Bran discovered Cersei Lannister, the queen, having sex with her twin brother. Bran was pushed from the tower in hopes he would die. Cat travels discreetly to see Ned at King’s Landing to discuss the matter. There they are told that the knife used in the attack on Bran belonged to Tyrion Lannister, dwarf younger brother of the Queen, leading them to assume he orchestrated the assault.
    Meanwhile, living in exile across the Narrow Sea in Essos, the last remaining siblings of the Targaryen family plan maneuvers enabling them to usurp the Iron Throne, which they feel rightfully belongs to them. Their ancestors used dragons to subjugate the once separate regions into one kingdom under their rule. Their reign of terror lasted 300 years until Robert Baratheon conquered the throne. The Targaryen brother, Viserys, marries his sister into the Dothraki horse lord culture in hopes of using their large army for his conquest. As his sister gains power in her new position as queen of the Khal, Viserys loses control over her and his grip on reality. Impatient for his promised crown, he brings about his own demise after threatening Daenerys and her unborn baby in front of her husband, Drogo. Daenerys uses her newfound strength and confidence to guide her own future and discovers that she, not her brother, is the Last Dragon of the Targaryen bloodline.
    At King’s Landing, Ned delves deeper into the mystery behind Arryn’s death and traces steps made by Arryn in his last days, discovering several of Robert’s bastard children who live in the Capital. Cersei grows increasingly paranoid about Ned’s presence, but is reassured by her twin, Jaime, that he will do whatever it takes to keep their secret safe. On her way home, Cat encounters Tyrion and takes him captive on charges of conspiring to kill Bran. Tyrion willingly goes with her and is eventually freed after he is successfully represented in a trial by fight. He ends up at his father’s war camp with Wildling clans he met on his journey and is ordered to fight with them at the front of the battle line against the Starks.
    Ned ultimately uncovers the truth over which Arryn lost his life. Cersei’s three children actually belong to her twin brother Jaime, not Robert. Ned realizes that this means the rightful heir to Robert’s throne would be Robert’s brother, not any of the children. He feels an obligation to set the record straight. Before telling Robert, he warns the queen that he knows her secret, a move that shows he sorely underestimates the ruthlessness of Cersei. Ned is unable to tell Robert this awful truth because Robert dies after suffering a boar injury during a hunt, leaving Ned and his family vulnerable to the Lannister