Fire and Blood (Game of Thrones)
Encyclopedia
"Fire and Blood" is the tenth and final episode of season one of the HBO medieval fantasy
television series Game of Thrones
, first aired on June 19, 2011. It was written by the show creators and executive producers David Benioff
and D. B. Weiss
, and directed by Alan Taylor
.
The title of the episode refers to the motto of House Targaryen.
) has Osha (Natalia Tena
) carry him into the Stark family crypt. There, they encounter his brother Rickon (Art Parkinson) and his direwolf, Shaggydog as both brothers had the same dream about their father Ned (Sean Bean
). Osha assures Bran that his dream is nothing more than him missing his father, but Maester Luwin (Donald Sumpter
) solemnly arrives to inform them of Ned's death.
At their camp, Catelyn (Michelle Fairley
) counsels her son Robb (Richard Madden
), who is grieving over his father's death. Robb promises that the Lannisters will pay for what they did, but Catelyn reminds him that they must first rescue Arya (Maisie Williams
) and Sansa (Sophie Turner
). As the Starks sit in counsel with their bannermen and allies over whether they should support Stannis or Renly, both of whom have challenged Joffrey's (Jack Gleeson) claim to the throne, Lord Greatjon Umber (Clive Mantle
) instead suggests the North should secede from the Seven Kingdoms. Theon (Alfie Allen) and the others agree and proclaim Robb as "The King in the North". Later, Catelyn interrogates Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) over why he pushed Bran over the tower, but he refuses to answer.
), who gently wipes the blood off her mouth and tells her not to resist Joffrey for her own safety.
Meanwhile, Arya, after being rescued by Yoren (Francis Magee), disguises herself as a boy named "Arry" in order to escape with Yoren and his new recruits for the Night's Watch. After being picked on by two boys who plan to steal her sword, Arya threatens to kill them until Gendry (Joe Dempsie), King Robert's bastard son, chases them off. After a brief talk between the two, Arya and Gendry leave with Yoren's caravan, bound for the Wall.
) and his allies comment on their recent setbacks as they not only lost to the Starks and had Jaime captured by them, they now face a new threat with the Baratheon brothers. Because his grandson's actions destroyed any hope for peace between the Starks and the Lannisters, Tywin orders Tyrion (Peter Dinklage
) to go to King's Landing in his stead as Hand of the King so they may keep Joffrey under control if Cersei (Lena Headey
) fails. Despite being told not to, Tyrion has Shae (Sibel Kekilli) follow him to King's Landing.
) attempts to desert the Night's Watch to join Robb and avenge his father, despite Sam (John Bradley) telling him not to. After being pursued by Sam, Pyp (Josef Altin) and Grenn (Mark Stanley), Jon tells them to leave, but they convince Jon to come back by reciting their oath. The next morning, Commander Mormont (James Cosmo
) reveals to Jon he knows what he did last night, but nevertheless he wants Jon to join him in leading an expedition over the Wall to deal with the threat of the Wildlings and the White Walkers and find Benjen Stark (Joseph Mawle
).
) awakens, and learns from Ser Jorah (Iain Glen
) that her unborn son died, as his life was used in Mirri's (Mia Soteriou) spell to save Khal Drogo's (Jason Momoa
) life. However, Drogo has been left in a persistent vegetative state
from which he will not recover, leading most of his Khalasar to leave him. Daenerys accuses Mirri of tricking her by not warning her the real price of her blood magic but Mirri retorts that she did it as revenge for her village and its people. Unable to see her husband this way, Daenerys smothers Drogo with a pillow to put him out of his misery.
As Daenerys and her followers build a funeral pyre for Drogo, she places her dragon eggs into the pyre. She then orders Ser Jorah to tie Mirri to the pyre as well. With the pyre burning, Daenerys declares to her followers that they will start a new khalasar with her as their queen. Despite Jorah's worries that Daenerys wants to die with her husband, she tells him not to worry as she steps into the pyre. By the time morning comes, Jorah and the rest of the khalasar are surprised to find that not only does Daenerys survive the fire unharmed, but she is also carrying three baby dragons with her. Amazed to see real dragons, they bow to Daenerys as one of the hatchlings clambers onto her shoulder and lets out a screech.
and D. B. Weiss
, based on the original book
, by George R. R. Martin
. The chapters of the book covered in this episode are part of Arya V, Bran VII, Sansa VI, Daenerys IX, Tyrion IX, Jon IX, Catelyn XI and Daenerys X (Chapters 66 to 73). The episode also includes content from A Clash of Kings
: Arya I (Chapter 1) and part of Catelyn VII (Chapter 56).
felt "Fire and Blood" wasn't exactly a powerful roar of an episode, but that book fans would definitely appreciate the small parts of the second book, A Clash of Kings
, that got included to help set up season two next year. He ended up giving the episode an 8.5 out of 10, indicating "Great." Todd VanDerWerff of the A.V. Club was highly complimentary of the episode, saying, "The series, especially, has shown that it’s willing to stretch some of these emotional or philosophical moments out, to really get the most out of the actors’ performances and give them scenes where they can expand their characters beyond what’s on the page. In a finale that could have felt too scattered — we drop in on every major character of the season who’s still alive — that sense that cooler heads would rather prevent greater war but were thwarted by hotter, younger heads was what united the story". He gave the episode an A-. Lauren Pon of Dead Awesome gave this episode a highly positive review, saying, "After an already strong season, 'Fire and Blood' ended on a note that left me breathless. After a season full of betrayal and despair, rather than kicking us while we were down, the finale gave us something to cheer for. It was a perfect end to an overall amazing first season, teasing just enough about events to come and giving viewers just enough resolution to feel satisfied. One more time, everyone, say it with me: 'is it season two yet?'"
Medieval fantasy
Medieval fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy that encompasses medieval era high fantasy and sometimes simply represents fictitious versions of historic events. This subgenre is common among role-playing games, text-based roleplaying, and high-fantasy literature....
television series Game of Thrones
Game of Thrones (TV series)
Game of Thrones is an American medieval fantasy television series created for HBO by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss. Based on author George R. R. Martin's best-selling A Song of Ice and Fire series of fantasy novels, the first of which is called A Game of Thrones, the television series debuted in...
, first aired on June 19, 2011. It was written by the show creators and executive producers David Benioff
David Benioff
-Early life:Born David Friedman in New York City, he changed his name to David Benioff, his mother's maiden name. He is the youngest of three children....
and D. B. Weiss
D. B. Weiss
Daniel B. Weiss is an American author. His debut novel Lucky Wander Boy was themed around video games and has since been linked with the screen adaptations of various science-fiction and fantasy stories...
, and directed by Alan Taylor
Alan Taylor (director)
Alan Taylor is an American television and film director, television producer, and screenwriter. Taylor has directed for numerous programs on both network television and premium cable, most notably on HBO...
.
The title of the episode refers to the motto of House Targaryen.
In The North
Bran (Isaac Hempstead-WrightIsaac Hempstead-Wright
Isaac Hempstead-Wright is an English child actor. He is known for his role as Bran Stark in the HBO series Game of Thrones.- Filmography :- External links :...
) has Osha (Natalia Tena
Natalia Tena
Natalia Gastiain Tena is a British actress and musician. She sings and plays the accordion in the band Molotov Jukebox. In her acting career, Tena is best known for playing Nymphadora Tonks in the Harry Potter film series, and Ellie in the movie About a Boy.-Life and career:Tena was born in...
) carry him into the Stark family crypt. There, they encounter his brother Rickon (Art Parkinson) and his direwolf, Shaggydog as both brothers had the same dream about their father Ned (Sean Bean
Sean Bean
Shaun Mark "Sean" Bean is an English film and stage actor. Bean is best known for playing Boromir in The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and, previously, British Colonel Richard Sharpe in the ITV television series Sharpe...
). Osha assures Bran that his dream is nothing more than him missing his father, but Maester Luwin (Donald Sumpter
Donald Sumpter
Donald Sumpter is a British actor. He has appeared in film and television since the mid 1960s.-Life and work:One of his early television appearances was the 1968 Doctor Who serial The Wheel in Space with Patrick Troughton as the Doctor. He appeared in Doctor Who again in the 1972 serial The Sea...
) solemnly arrives to inform them of Ned's death.
At their camp, Catelyn (Michelle Fairley
Michelle Fairley
Michelle Fairley is an Northern Irish actress of film, stage and television.-Life and career:Born in Coleraine, Northern Ireland to well known publicans Teresa and Brian Fairley, she grew up in Ballycastle, Northern Ireland she appeared in a range of British television shows including The Bill,...
) counsels her son Robb (Richard Madden
Richard Madden
Richard Madden is a Scottish stage, film, and television actor, known for his work in theatre and for his roles in both film and television.- Background :...
), who is grieving over his father's death. Robb promises that the Lannisters will pay for what they did, but Catelyn reminds him that they must first rescue Arya (Maisie Williams
Maisie Williams
Maisie Williams is a British child actress.Her first and so far only role is that of Arya Stark, a tomboyish young girl from a noble family, in the 2011 HBO fantasy TV series Game of Thrones. Williams received acclaim for her performance in the supporting role, with Zap2it calling her...
) and Sansa (Sophie Turner
Sophie Turner (actress)
Sophie Turner is a British child actress.For her first role in front of the camera, Turner currently stars as Sansa Stark, the eldest daughter of House Stark in the 2011 HBO fantasy TV series Game of Thrones. The natural blonde actress dyes her hair red for the role, which she says lets her avoid...
). As the Starks sit in counsel with their bannermen and allies over whether they should support Stannis or Renly, both of whom have challenged Joffrey's (Jack Gleeson) claim to the throne, Lord Greatjon Umber (Clive Mantle
Clive Mantle
-Early life and education:Mantle was born in Barnet, Hertfordshire. He was a pupil at Kimbolton School, Cambridgeshire and a chorister in St John's College Choir for four years...
) instead suggests the North should secede from the Seven Kingdoms. Theon (Alfie Allen) and the others agree and proclaim Robb as "The King in the North". Later, Catelyn interrogates Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) over why he pushed Bran over the tower, but he refuses to answer.
At King's Landing
Joffrey leads Sansa onto a small wooden bridge at the top of a battlement and forces her to look upon the heads of her father and other members of their household mounted on spikes. When Joffrey tells her his plans to have Robb's head on a spike, Sansa defiantly tells him her brother will kill him instead, for which Joffrey has one of his guards slap her. As Sansa contemplates pushing Joffrey off the bridge, she is stopped by Sandor Clegane (Rory McCannRory McCann
Rory McCann is a Scottish film and television actor.-Career:McCann's first acting work came in an advert for Scott's Porage Oats dressed in a vest and kilt. He was next seen in the 2002 television comedy-drama The Book Group playing a disabled personal trainer, for which he won a Scottish BAFTA...
), who gently wipes the blood off her mouth and tells her not to resist Joffrey for her own safety.
Meanwhile, Arya, after being rescued by Yoren (Francis Magee), disguises herself as a boy named "Arry" in order to escape with Yoren and his new recruits for the Night's Watch. After being picked on by two boys who plan to steal her sword, Arya threatens to kill them until Gendry (Joe Dempsie), King Robert's bastard son, chases them off. After a brief talk between the two, Arya and Gendry leave with Yoren's caravan, bound for the Wall.
At the Lannister Camp
Lord Tywin (Charles DanceCharles Dance
Walter Charles Dance, OBE is an English actor, screenwriter and director. Dance typically plays assertive bureaucrats or villains. His most famous roles are Guy Perron in The Jewel in the Crown , Dr Clemens, the doctor of penitentiary Fury 161, who becomes Ellen Ripley's confidante in Alien 3 ,...
) and his allies comment on their recent setbacks as they not only lost to the Starks and had Jaime captured by them, they now face a new threat with the Baratheon brothers. Because his grandson's actions destroyed any hope for peace between the Starks and the Lannisters, Tywin orders Tyrion (Peter Dinklage
Peter Dinklage
Peter Dinklage is an American film, television and theater actor. Since his breakout role in the 2003 film The Station Agent, he has acted in Elf, Underdog, Find Me Guilty, the 2007 film Death at a Funeral and its 2010 remake, and The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian...
) to go to King's Landing in his stead as Hand of the King so they may keep Joffrey under control if Cersei (Lena Headey
Lena Headey
Lena Headey is an English actress. Headey's performance in a one-off show when she was 17 caught the attention of a casting agent, who took a photo and asked her to audition and eventually she got a supporting role alongside Jeremy Irons and Ethan Hawke in the 1992 British drama film Waterland and...
) fails. Despite being told not to, Tyrion has Shae (Sibel Kekilli) follow him to King's Landing.
At the Wall
Jon (Kit HaringtonKit Harington
Christopher "Kit" Harington is an English film, television and theatre actor.-Early life and education:Harington attended Southfield Primary School between 1992 and 1998. Harington then went on to attend the Chantry High School, in Martley between 1998 and 2003...
) attempts to desert the Night's Watch to join Robb and avenge his father, despite Sam (John Bradley) telling him not to. After being pursued by Sam, Pyp (Josef Altin) and Grenn (Mark Stanley), Jon tells them to leave, but they convince Jon to come back by reciting their oath. The next morning, Commander Mormont (James Cosmo
James Cosmo
James Cosmo is a prolific Scottish actor, with numerous credits in film and television since the late 1960s and Cosmo is still currently acting. Cosmo was born in Clydebank, Scotland, the son of actor James Copeland...
) reveals to Jon he knows what he did last night, but nevertheless he wants Jon to join him in leading an expedition over the Wall to deal with the threat of the Wildlings and the White Walkers and find Benjen Stark (Joseph Mawle
Joseph Mawle
-Biography:Mawle graduated from Bristol Old Vic Theatre School in 2002 in the same year he appeared in the Irish Hurling TV adverts for Guinness. He began work in the theatre prior to training at Bristol mainly for Box Clever Theatre Company and in his own production of 'Solo Hamlet'He landed his...
).
Across the Narrow Sea
Daenerys (Emilia ClarkeEmilia Clarke
Emilia Clarke is an English actress best known for the role of Daenerys Targaryen in the HBO medieval-fantasy series Game of Thrones.-Biography:...
) awakens, and learns from Ser Jorah (Iain Glen
Iain Glen
Iain Glen is a Scottish film and stage actor.Iain Glen was born in Edinburgh, Scotland and trained at RADA where he won the Bancroft Gold Medal. He was married to Susannah Harker from 1993 to 2004; they have one son, Finlay...
) that her unborn son died, as his life was used in Mirri's (Mia Soteriou) spell to save Khal Drogo's (Jason Momoa
Jason Momoa
Jason Momoa is an American actor and model.He is known for his role as Ronon Dex on military science fiction television series Stargate: Atlantis . Most recently, he became recognized for his role as the title character in the sword and sorcery film Conan the Barbarian...
) life. However, Drogo has been left in a persistent vegetative state
Persistent vegetative state
A persistent vegetative state is a disorder of consciousness in which patients with severe brain damage are in a state of partial arousal rather than true awareness. It is a diagnosis of some uncertainty in that it deals with a syndrome. After four weeks in a vegetative state , the patient is...
from which he will not recover, leading most of his Khalasar to leave him. Daenerys accuses Mirri of tricking her by not warning her the real price of her blood magic but Mirri retorts that she did it as revenge for her village and its people. Unable to see her husband this way, Daenerys smothers Drogo with a pillow to put him out of his misery.
As Daenerys and her followers build a funeral pyre for Drogo, she places her dragon eggs into the pyre. She then orders Ser Jorah to tie Mirri to the pyre as well. With the pyre burning, Daenerys declares to her followers that they will start a new khalasar with her as their queen. Despite Jorah's worries that Daenerys wants to die with her husband, she tells him not to worry as she steps into the pyre. By the time morning comes, Jorah and the rest of the khalasar are surprised to find that not only does Daenerys survive the fire unharmed, but she is also carrying three baby dragons with her. Amazed to see real dragons, they bow to Daenerys as one of the hatchlings clambers onto her shoulder and lets out a screech.
Writing
The episode was written by the showrunners David BenioffDavid Benioff
-Early life:Born David Friedman in New York City, he changed his name to David Benioff, his mother's maiden name. He is the youngest of three children....
and D. B. Weiss
D. B. Weiss
Daniel B. Weiss is an American author. His debut novel Lucky Wander Boy was themed around video games and has since been linked with the screen adaptations of various science-fiction and fantasy stories...
, based on the original book
A Game of Thrones
A Game of Thrones is the first book in A Song of Ice and Fire, a series of epic fantasy novels by American author George R. R. Martin. It was first published on 6 August 1996. The novel won the 1997 Locus Award, and was nominated for both the 1998 Nebula Award and the 1997 World Fantasy Award...
, by George R. R. Martin
George R. R. Martin
George Raymond Richard Martin , sometimes referred to as GRRM, is an American author and screenwriter of fantasy, horror, and science fiction. He is best known for A Song of Ice and Fire, his bestselling series of epic fantasy novels that HBO adapted for their dramatic pay-cable series Game of...
. The chapters of the book covered in this episode are part of Arya V, Bran VII, Sansa VI, Daenerys IX, Tyrion IX, Jon IX, Catelyn XI and Daenerys X (Chapters 66 to 73). The episode also includes content from A Clash of Kings
A Clash of Kings
A Clash of Kings is the second novel in A Song of Ice and Fire, an epic fantasy series by American author George R. R. Martin expected to consist of eight volumes. It was first published on 16 November 1998 in the United Kingdom, although the first United States edition did not follow until March...
: Arya I (Chapter 1) and part of Catelyn VII (Chapter 56).
Other
"Fire and Blood" uses a similar opening sequence to that of the second episode. The Twins are removed from the opening credits. Sean Bean's name appears in the opening credits despite the actor not appearing in the episode, with the exception of his head on a spike.Ratings
"Fire and Blood" was the most watched episode of the season, receiving 1.4 million viewers 18–49 and 3 million viewers overall.Critical response
"Fire and Blood" received positive reviews from critics, with much acclaim given to the closing scene. Matt Fowler of IGNIGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
felt "Fire and Blood" wasn't exactly a powerful roar of an episode, but that book fans would definitely appreciate the small parts of the second book, A Clash of Kings
A Clash of Kings
A Clash of Kings is the second novel in A Song of Ice and Fire, an epic fantasy series by American author George R. R. Martin expected to consist of eight volumes. It was first published on 16 November 1998 in the United Kingdom, although the first United States edition did not follow until March...
, that got included to help set up season two next year. He ended up giving the episode an 8.5 out of 10, indicating "Great." Todd VanDerWerff of the A.V. Club was highly complimentary of the episode, saying, "The series, especially, has shown that it’s willing to stretch some of these emotional or philosophical moments out, to really get the most out of the actors’ performances and give them scenes where they can expand their characters beyond what’s on the page. In a finale that could have felt too scattered — we drop in on every major character of the season who’s still alive — that sense that cooler heads would rather prevent greater war but were thwarted by hotter, younger heads was what united the story". He gave the episode an A-. Lauren Pon of Dead Awesome gave this episode a highly positive review, saying, "After an already strong season, 'Fire and Blood' ended on a note that left me breathless. After a season full of betrayal and despair, rather than kicking us while we were down, the finale gave us something to cheer for. It was a perfect end to an overall amazing first season, teasing just enough about events to come and giving viewers just enough resolution to feel satisfied. One more time, everyone, say it with me: 'is it season two yet?'"