Fire and Blood

"Fire and Blood" is the tenth and final episode of the first season of Game of Thrones. It is the tenth episode of the series overall. It first aired on June 19, 2011. It was written by executive producers David Benioff & D.B. Weiss and directed by Alan Taylor.

Synopsis
As tragic news spreads across the Seven Kingdoms, Bran and Rickon share a prophetic dream, Catelyn interrogates Jaime about her sonʼs fall, and Robbʼs destiny is forever changed. After a surprising decision by his father, Tyrion heads south. Arya assumes a new identity in an attempt to escape Kingʼs Landing, and Sansa is terrorized by Joffrey. At the Wall, Jon is forced to choose between the Nightʼs Watch and the family he left behind. Across the sea, Dany pays a terrible price for her love, but finds new hope.

Recap
At the Great Sept of Baelor in King's Landing, Eddard Stark has been executed by beheading; The great sword Ice is covered in blood, and Sandor Clegane standing next to Ser Ilyn Payne, the royal executioner, holds Lord Eddard's head up to the adulation of the baying crowd. Sansa Stark has fainted. In the crowd, Yoren drags Arya away, making a point of calling her "Boy". Once he gets her out of the courtyard, he cuts her hair off with a knife. He tells her that he will get her out of King's Landing and to Winterfell as a recruit of the Night's Watch, but he warns her not to trust the other recruits, since apparently half would hand her over to Cersei for a pardon, while the other half would do the same, but only after raping her first.

At Winterfell, Bran has another dream of the three-eyed raven. He wakes up and tells Osha about how the dream always ends with the bird flying into the crypts under the castle, and he tells her he thinks his father is in the tombs. Osha takes Bran down there, and Bran tells her about the histories of some of the ancestors entombed there. They are then surprised by Shaggydog, Rickon's direwolf, who leaps out at them from the empty future tomb of Eddard Stark. Rickon calls Shaggydog off, then reveals to Bran that he had the same dream. Making their way out, Osha is still trying to tell Bran that it could be a coincidence, but outside they see Maester Luwin, who holds a letter and looks at them with such sadness that it is obviously the news of Eddard's death.

At Robb's camp, Catelyn walks through the encampment and receives the condolences and respect of the northern bannermen, who bow to her as she passes. Stiff and unemotional she makes her way into the woods around the camp where she collapses against a tree and begins to cry. Hearing something from deeper in the woods, she finds Robb hacking at a tree in anger and grief. Lady Catelyn calls to him and tells him he is ruining his sword. Robb drops the sword and falls into her arms, saying he wants to kill them all. Catelyn vows that they will first rescue his sisters from the clutches of the Lannisters, and then "We will kill them all."

In King's Landing, Joffrey is holding court. A singer is brought before him, charged with making up an 'amusing' but offensive song about Robert and Cersei. The song says that the boar might have killed King Robert, but the lion in his bed had previously castrated him. The singer turns out to be Marillion, who Catelyn and Ser Rodrik met at the Inn at the Crossroads, and who accompanied them and Tyrion to the Vale of Arryn. Joffrey asks Marillion if he wants to keep his hands or tongue, and when Marillion, confused by the questions chooses his hands, Joffrey gleefully orders Ilyn Payne to carry out the sentence on the spot. Joffrey then takes Sansa up to the walls to see her father's head and makes her look at it. He cruelly mocks her that he will give her Robb's head next. However, when she suggests that Robb might give her Joffrey's, he has Ser Meryn Trant beat her (as Cersei has told him that a king shouldn't hit a woman). Unexpectedly, Sandor Clegane offers some kind words to her, and dabs the blood off her lip with a handkerchief; he intervened when he realized Sansa was moving up behind Joffrey and was preparing to shove him off the walkway to his death. This would have meant Sansa's death too, as she would have been executed for murder and treason.

At Robb's camp, Robb and his bannermen debate what to do in the war against King Joffrey. It is suggested they forge an alliance with either Stannis or Renly Baratheon, but there is no agreement as Renly has greater forces, but Stannis is elder and next in line of succession (if Cersei's children are discounted). Greatjon Umber becomes irritated and questions why the northerners should be told what to do by rulers in the south at all. He declares there is only one king worthy of his respect and allegiance and bows before Robb, calling out, "The King in the North!" The other northern bannermen take up the cry.

Catelyn visits the captive Jaime Lannister who taunts her, saying widowhood suits her and suggesting that if she is lonely, he can serve her as a lover. She picks up a rock and hits him in the head. Jaime says that if she keeps hitting him, she can kill him and that he doesn't fear death, though Jaime probably realizes that the Starks won't kill him as long as his sister holds Sansa and Arya hostage. When she talks about how he has gone against the rules of man and gods, he asks her where her husband's gods were when his head was cut off (he questions the existence of all gods, the Old and the New). She says injustice in the world is because of men like him. Jaime responds, "There are no men like me, only me". He then admits to pushing Bran from the tower, but doesn't reveal why.

In King's Landing, Cersei Lannister has taken a new lover, her cousin Lancel who was King Robert's squire. She also receives a letter informing her of Jaime's capture. Lancel is naked in Cersei's bedroom. The thought of being at war is exciting to him, as he has just been made a new young knight. He asks for the news of the war and asks what their next move is, but Cersei tells him to shut up and get back in bed.

At the Lannister camp, Lord Tywin is holding a strategy meeting with his generals, and is furious that Jaime has been captured by the Starks. Both Stannis and Renly have claimed the Iron Throne, meaning the Lannisters are now faced with fighting a two-front war against the Starks to the north and the Baratheons to the south. Tywin's commanders are uncertain what to do, arguing about whether to strike while they still can, fall back and raise reinforcement armies, or sue for peace. Tyrion points out that any chance of negotiating with Robb Stark died along with his father Eddard. The Lannister army is now exposed, so Tywin decides to retreat to Harrenhal, the great castle on the northern shores of Gods Eye, and use it as a base of operations. Reluctantly impressed by Tyrion's astute judgement of the situation, Tywin orders his son to go to King's Landing and serve as Acting Hand of the King in Tywin's stead. He is to bring Cersei and Joffrey to heel and prevent the young king from making more idiotic mistakes. Tywin also tells him to deal with Baelish, Varys, and Pycelle if he gets so much as a hint of treachery from any of them. However, he orders Tyrion to leave his whore behind.

In the wastelands beyond Lhazar, Daenerys wakes up to terrible news from Ser Jorah Mormont. Her son, Rhaego, is dead. He was born dead and deformed, covered with scales. The khalasar has also moved on, leaving them behind. However, Drogo lives. Ser Jorah says she should rest, but Mirri Maz Duur takes Daenerys to see her sun and stars, only to find him a catatonic vegetable. Daenerys demands to know why, and Duur explains that when Daenerys "saved" her, she'd already been raped three times and the temple she served had been burned and defiled by the Dothraki. They had sacked her village, looted all they owned, and those not killed were enslaved. She has now gotten her revenge, not only on Drogo, but on Daenerys' child Rhaego; now her "Stallion Who Mounts the World" can burn no cities and slaughter no innocents. Duur agrees that Daenerys saved her life, but she says to ask Drogo what life is worth when all else is gone.

At the Wall, Jon Snow learns of his father's death. He saddles a horse and prepares to leave to join Robb's army, ignoring Samwell's pleas to stay and fulfill his oaths.

In the Lannister camp, Tyrion complains about his father to Shae, then decides to defy Tywin and take Shae to court anyway.

Jon leaves Castle Black, but is pursued. One of his pursuers hits a tree branch and is unhorsed, and Jon realizes it was Sam. He turns back to help him. The other riders are Grenn and Pypar. He tells them to go back or they will get in trouble too, but they say they can't go back without him. They surround him and recite their oath to the Night's Watch, and Jon realizes they are right: leaving would make him a deserter and oathbreaker, something his father would never countenance if he were alive, and Jon doesn't even know if Robb would accept his help or turn him over to the authorities. He agrees to return to the Wall with them.

It is night, and Daenerys is in their tent tending to Drogo. She baths him, talks to him, even tries to seduce him, but nothing she does reaches him. She realizes he is no longer there, and seeing him in his vegetative state breaks her heart. Crying, Daenerys kisses him goodbye, then smothers him with a pillow.

In King's Landing, Grand Maester Pycelle takes the prostitute Ros to bed, revealing that he is actually far less frail than he appears. He boasts to Ros of the several great kings he has served, lamenting first how Aerys Targaryen devolved from a charming young man into a paranoid lunatic obsessed with fire, next remarking on how Robert Baratheon was a great soldier, but perhaps not so ideal a king, before displaying his sycophantic loyalty to Joffrey.

Yoren has assembled a band of new recruits for the Night's Watch. Pretending that Arya is a boy by the name of "Arry", he has her join the group. Also in the group are Hot Pie, Lommy Greenhands, and Gendry, who is King Robert's bastard son and had worked for Tobho Mott. With Robert dead, the secret funds being sent to Mott stopped, so he fired Gendry and told him he had to join the Night's Watch. Hot Pie and Lommy try to bully Arya into giving up Needle, but she angrily draws the sword, warning that she "has already killed one fat boy" and will happily do it again. Gendry breaks up the argument by taking Arya's side, threatening the boys with violence to keep them from picking on Arya later. Yoren now has to get them all to the Wall, a thousand leagues away, through the war-torn Riverlands. They set out.

Lord Commander Jeor Mormont is aware of Jon's attempt to desert and dismisses it, saying many have fled the Wall, only to think better of it and return. If they executed everyone who did that, they'd have no men left. Mormont tells Jon that the war between the Lannisters and Starks is less important than what they face now, a renewed threat from the wildlings, White Walkers, and wights. Mormont means to lead the Night's Watch in force into the Haunted Forest to learn more of their foe, to prepare to battle against them, and to find the missing Benjen Stark. Jon agrees to commit himself fully to the Night's Watch and all that lies ahead.

In the east, Daenerys and her small retinue prepare a funeral pyre for Drogo. She makes a speech to the few who are left saying that if they wish to go they may, but if they stay with her she will lead them into a glorious future. She frees those of them who are slaves and asks that they stay as equals. The maegi smirks as some people begin walking away. At Daenerys' command, Rakharo places the dragon eggs on the pyre, and Mirri Maz Durr is tied to a stake next to the pyre as well. Ser Jorah believes that Daenerys intends to kill herself and pleads for her to reconsider, as they can sell the eggs and travel far away. Ignoring Jorah's pleas, she strokes his cheek, and sets the pyre alight. Daenerys then calmly walks into the flames. She stands below the pyre as flames appear to consume her.

At dawn, the fire dies down. Jorah and the rest of the khalasar awake to find Daenerys sitting among the still smoldering embers, with three newly-hatched baby dragons crawling over her. Her clothes have burnt away and her body is covered in ash, but she is completely unharmed. One dragon nuzzles in her arm, another climbs her leg, and the third pulls itself up to sit on her shoulder. At the sight of the mythical animals born anew, an amazed Jorah and the remaining Dothraki kneel and swear their allegiance to the Mother of Dragons. After she slowly stands up from the ashes, the black hatchling on her shoulder rises, spreads its wings and screams, announcing the return of dragons to the world.

First Appearances

 * Hot Pie
 * Lommy Greenhands
 * Addam Marbrand
 * Rickard Karstark
 * Jonos Bracken
 * Jaqen H'ghar
 * Rorge
 * Biter

Deaths

 * Rhaego
 * Khal Drogo
 * Mirri Maz Duur

Starring

 * Sean Bean as Lord Eddard Stark (credit only)
 * Michelle Fairley as Lady Catelyn Stark
 * Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Ser Jaime Lannister
 * Lena Headey as Queen Cersei Lannister
 * Emilia Clarke as Princess Daenerys Targaryen
 * Iain Glenas Ser Jorah Mormont
 * Aidan Gillen as Petyr 'Littlefinger' Baelish
 * Kit Harington as Jon Snow
 * Richard Madden as Robb Stark
 * Sophie Turner as Sansa Stark
 * Maisie Williams as Arya Stark
 * Alfie Allen as Theon Greyjoy
 * Isaac Hempstead-Wright as Bran Stark
 * Jack Gleeson as King Joffrey Baratheon
 * Rory McCann as Sandor Clegane
 * and Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister

Guest starring

 * Donald Sumpter as Maester Luwin
 * Conleth Hill as Varys
 * Jerome Flynn as Bronn (credit only)
 * James Cosmo as Lord Commander Jeor Mormont
 * Ron Donachie as Ser Rodrik Cassel
 * Charles Dance as Lord Tywin Lannister
 * Francis Magee as Yoren
 * John Bradley-West as Samwell Tarly
 * Julian Glover as Grand Maester Pycelle
 * Emun Elliott as Marillion
 * Sibel Kekilli as Shae
 * Natalia Tena as Osha
 * Esme Bianco as Ros
 * Clive Mantle as Greatjon Umber
 * Wilko Johnson as Ser Ilyn Payne
 * Mark Stanley as Grenn
 * Josef Altin as Pypar
 * Mia Soteriou as Mirri Maz Duur
 * Amrita Acharia as Irri
 * Elyes Gabel as Rakharo
 * Ian Gelder as Ser Kevan Lannister
 * Kristian Nairn as Hodor
 * Eugene Simon as Lancel Lannister
 * Joe Dempsie as Gendry
 * Ben Hawkey as Hot Pie
 * Eros Vlahos as Lommy Greenhands
 * Art Parkinson as Rickon Stark
 * Ian Beattie as Ser Meryn Trant
 * Steven Blount as Lord Rickard Karstark
 * Gerry O'Brien as Lord Jonos Bracken
 * Vinnie McCabe as Lord Leo Lefford
 * B.J. Hogg as Ser Addam Marbrand
 * Faolan Morgan as a Stark guard

Uncredited
 * Mark Coney as Galbart Glover
 * Unknown as Jaqen H'ghar
 * Unknown as Rorge
 * Unknown as Biter

Cast notes

 * Sean Bean is credited, but does not appear in the episode, only a prosthetic head using his likeness.
 * Although credited, Jerome Flynn does not appear in this episode.
 * Mark Coney makes an uncredited appearance as Lord Galbart Glover, shouting out from the crowd of Northmen that Renly is not the right king. He previously appeared uncredited in The Pointy End, where he had no dialogue.
 * Pre-season casting announcements suggested that Vincent McCabe was playing Rickard Karstark. However, in the episode he plays one of the Lannister bannerman (the one who has Harys Swyft's lines from the book), whilst Karstark is actually played by Steven Blount, who is credited as such. However, Blount's character is never identified on-screen. John Stahl debuts in Season 2 playing Lord Karstark and is identified by name in dialogue. This leaves the matter open whether Blount and Stahl are playing the same character, or whether Blount is playing a separate (and unidentified) northern lord.
 * At the end of the episode, during Arya's escape from King's Landing, a wheeled cage is shown as part of Yoren's entourage, with two men and a hooded figure inside. Fans have speculated that the hooded figure is supposed to be JaqenH'ghar, his face hidden because he was played by an extra in this episode and was not cast (with German actor Tom Wlaschiha) until Season 2, and that the other men are the book characters Rorge and Biter. However, none of this has yet been confirmed by HBO.

Commentary
Writers D.B. Weiss and David Benioff and director Alan Taylor give a commentary on the episodes on the Blu-Ray and DVD releases.


 * It was the idea of Angus Wall, the creator of the title sequence, that it should change every episode based on the location of the characters.
 * One idea was that the map would be visited within the episode whenever there was a change of location, but this was dismissed as it would yank the viewer out of the episode.
 * The idea of an astrolabe and mechanical globe was perhaps a little bit too late for the time period Westeros exists in. Some fans have called it 'monkpunk' (an allusion to steampunk).
 * The writers showed Ned's severed head at the start of the episode to ensure everyone was clear that he was dead and not coming back.
 * The producers looked at over 200 actresses for the role of Arya, the biggest number for a single role in the series. They found Maisie Williams quite late in the day.
 * The scene where the dream sequence transitions to Bran riding on Osha's shoulders was inspired by the Andrei Tarkovsky movie Stalker, where the main character's crippled daughter rides on his shoulders. This was suggested by director of photographer Alik Sakharov to David Benioff, who used it in the script.
 * The scene where Bran was riding on Osha's shoulders also featured real snow, as it was filmed late in the schedule just as the UK's worst winter in decades was beginning.
 * Rickon was another tricky role to cast, as he had few lines in the first season but had to make his presence felt. They lucked out in finding a local boy, Art Parkinson, who could sell the role well. However, Dan and David incorrectly refer to Art Parkinson as being from Northern Ireland. Parkinson is from County Donegal which in fact a part of the Republic of Ireland.
 * Michelle Fairley liked to hang out with the crew between takes rather than retreating to her trailer, no matter the weather.
 * Richard Madden had had a big party in his hotel room the night before the scene between him and Michelle Fairley at the start of the episode, adding to Robb's tired and distraught appearance.
 * Jack Gleeson developed a perfect posture for Joffrey to sit on the Iron Throne. The producers removed later references to how he should be sitting as they knew Gleeson would do it justice on his own.
 * The producers brought forward Marillion's mutilation from the third season to the first because they wanted a character the audience had met before to be punished by Joffrey rather than a random newcomer who doesn't appear before or after. They note Ilyn Payne's professionalism in remembering to cauterise Marillion's wound.
 * The producers reiterate there will be more developments to come in the second season between Sansa and Sandor.
 * The producers confirm the older woman at Robb's proclamation scene is Maege Mormont.
 * Alan Taylor's children are fans of Eugene Simon's children's TV series, House of Anubis and wanted to see him in Game of Thrones. Taylor is holding off on showing them the series as they are too young (and Simon appears naked in this episode).
 * Benioff and Weiss were inspired by Charles Dance's performance in Bleak House and did not audition anyone else for the role of Tywin.
 * Charles Dance was drinking grape juice rather than wine in the scene between him and Tyrion.
 * Harrenhal will be a major location in Season 2.
 * The scenes in the Red Waste were filmed on Malta, with the ocean replaced by a desert landscape via CGI. The actors had to be positioned in such a way that the background could be replaced as easily as possible.
 * At one point David Benioff and Daniel Minahan were in Belfast working on shoots for an earlier episode whilst D.B. Weiss and Alan Taylor were in Malta working on another, and swapping dailies at the end of every day. Season 2 is being filmed in a similar manner.
 * The producers are aware of the criticisms that the direwolves don't appear as much as in the book, but every time they were put in a scene it would double the shooting time, so they had to be used economically. More impressive direwolves will appear in Season 2.
 * The scene where Jon flees from Castle Black caused several injuries, with a stuntwoman running into a tree by accident and another stuntperson falling off their horse. Benioff and Weiss judged it worth it just to hear Samwell Tarly's 'girly scream'.
 * The scene where Pycelle limbers up and shows that his infirmity is an act was inspired by the Kaiser Soze reveal in The Usual Suspects.
 * The producers love Aidan Gillen and Conleth Hill's performances so much that they wrote scenes with just the two of them verbally sparring for the sheer joy of it.
 * As Arya leaves King's Landing, she looks back at the skyline. The plan was that the Great Sept of Baelor would be CGIed into the background and Arya would be remembering her father. However, it was felt that this drew attention away from Arya as the focus of the shot so the sept was not painted in.
 * The producers lament the costs of building the Castle Black and Eyrie sets and then having to leave them unused for the entirety of Season 2.
 * There was no question that the final scene of the book would be the final scene of the season. The producers confirm that the dragon on Daenerys' shoulder is Drogon.
 * To shoot the final scene, the team did not have enough time at 'magic hour' (the moment surrounding sunrise) to get everything done in one go, so it was shot over three days.
 * The music for the final scene was recorded live with a big orchestra in Prague, one of only two times this was done for the score.
 * During the filming of the pursuit of Jon Snow through the woods, a lighting generator failed, causing a stuntwoman to crash into a tree. She required eight stitches.
 * For the scene where Joffrey shows off the severed heads of his enemies to Sansa, specially-made replicas of Sean Bean and Susan Brown's heads were used. However, for the other heads the prop-makers scrambled to find existing replica heads from stocks. One of the other heads is actually George W. Bush in a wig, which the producers stress was not a political statement.

Memorable quotes
Jaime Lannister: "If the gods are real, why is the world so unjust?"

Catelyn Stark: "Because of men like you."

Jaime: "There are no men like me. Only me."

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Mirri Maz Duur: "Why don't you take a look at your khal? Then you will see exactly what life is worth when all the rest has gone."

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Joffrey Baratheon: "I tell you what. I'm gonna give you a present. After I raise my armies, and kill your traitor brother, I'm going to give you his head as well."

Sansa Stark: "...or maybe he'll give me yours."

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Jeor Mormont: "When dead men, and worse, come hunting for us in the night, do you think it matters who sits on the Iron Throne?"

Jon Snow: "No."

Jeor Mormont: "Good. Because I want you and your wolf with us when we ride out beyond the Wall tomorrow."

Jon Snow: "Beyond the Wall?"

Jeor Mormont: "I will not sit meekly by and wait for the snows. I mean to find out what's happening. The Night's Watch will ride in force against the wildlings, the White Walkers, and whatever else is out there. And we will find Benjen Stark, alive or dead. I will command them myself. So I will only ask you once, Lord Snow, are you a brother of the Night's Watch, or a bastard boy who wants to play at war?" ___________________________________________________

Daenerys Targaryen: "I am Daenerys Stormborn of House Targaryen, of the blood of old Valyria. I am the dragon’s daughter, and I swear to you that those who would harm you will die screaming."

Mirri Maz Duur: "You will not hear me screaming."

Daenerys: "I will. But it is not your screams I want. Only your life."