A Golden Crown (22 May 2011)

While recovering from his battle with Jamie, Eddard is forced to run the kingdom while Robert goes hunting. Tyrion demands a trial by combat for his freedom. Viserys is losing his patience with Drogo.

Director:

Daniel Minahan

Writers:

David Benioff (creator), D.B. Weiss (creator),

Stars:

Sean Bean, Mark Addy, Michelle Fairley

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Sean Bean	...	Eddard 'Ned' Stark
Mark Addy	...	Robert Baratheon
Michelle Fairley	...	Catelyn Stark
Lena Headey	...	Cersei Lannister
Emilia Clarke	...	Daenerys Targaryen
Iain Glen	...	Ser Jorah Mormont
Aidan Gillen	...	Petyr 'Littlefinger' Baelish
Harry Lloyd	...	Viserys Targaryen
Richard Madden	...	Robb Stark
Sophie Turner	...	Sansa Stark
Maisie Williams	...	Arya Stark
Alfie Allen	...	Theon Greyjoy
Isaac Hempstead Wright	...	Bran Stark
Jack Gleeson	...	Joffrey Baratheon
Peter Dinklage	...	Tyrion Lannister

Storyline

A calmer King Robert mends fences with Ned Stark and reinstates him as the King's Hand despite the objections of his wife Cersei. While he goes hunting with his brother Renly he puts Ned on the throne. A group of farmers complain of having been attacked by a Knight and his army and knowing the culprit orders him stripped of all titles and lands. Ned decides to send Arya and Sansa back to Winterfell for their protection. Sansa in particular doesn't want to leave saying she wants to marry Joffre and have blond babies. Her offhand remark leads Ned back to the book his predecessor was so interested in and he now understands why John Arryn was visiting King Robert's bastard children. Meanwhile, Daenerys and her brother Viserys have yet another confrontation but this one is settled by Drogo himself. An imprisoned Tyrion Lannister demands to be tried and asks for trial by combat.

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Plot Keywords:

trial by combat | queen | dragon's egg | dragon | book | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Fantasy

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Certificate:

TV-MA

Details

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 May 2011 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Television 360, Grok! Studio, Generator Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

53 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

16:9 HD

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Viserys Targaryen tries to steal the dragon eggs, he mocks Ser Jorah Mormont who blocks his path by saying "And yet here you stand", to which Mormont replies "And yet here I stand." According to semi-canon sources, "Here We Stand" is the motto of House Mormont. It is not clear whether this is an intentional reference.

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Goofs

When Robb is fighting off the bandits, his sword's blade is already bloodied before he's able to cut anyone down, though the blade was clean when he removed it from the scabbard.

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Quotes

[Tyrion is brought before Lysa, after asking to confess his crimes]
Lysa Arryn: You wish to confess your crimes?
Tyrion Lannister: Yes, My Lady. I do, My Lady.
Lysa Arryn: [smiles triumaphantly] The sky cells always break them! Speak, Imp. Meet your gods as an honest man.
Tyrion Lannister: [meekly] Where do I begin, my lords and ladies? I am a vile man, I confess it. My crimes and sins are beyond counting. I have lied and cheated, gambled and whored. I'm not particularly good at violence, but I'm good at convincing others to do violence for me. You want ...
[...]

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Crazy Credits

The sun tells an important part of the series back story, on its panels. It does so in three segments. First, as the credits start up, the sun depicts how the Targaryens and their dragons conquered Westeros. The second time the sun is shown, a dragon is depicted in a mortal struggle with 3 other animals: The Stag, the Lion and the Wolf. It is a very literal way to show how Robert Beratheon and Ned Stark rebelled, with Tywin Lannister reluctantly supporting them, in the end. Finally, the third time the sun is shown, before the series title enter the scene, a lion (among other animals) is shown "kneeling" to a triumphant Stag. Just as Robert was crowned King after winning the war.

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Soundtracks

"Main Title"
(uncredited)
Written and Performed by Ramin Djawadi

User Reviews

Entertaining parallel stories revolving around a wonderful and dark Daenerys but sharp editing and greedy writing

The previous installment Stark versus Lannister driven story was thrilling but it had a drawback. Indeed it revealed one flaw of the show, its editing. I just found the numerous switches between arcs a little annoying because the transitions weren't smooth enough. Compared to Lost's season 6 for example it lacked some creativity, original ideas to link them instead of sharp cuts. I love Arya and her dancing session in Lord Snow was fantastic but here it felt slightly misplaced or at least not well staged. It's probably the issue when dealing with so many parallel stories, they just can't be all properly covered in one single episode. In my opinion their mistake was to even tell the anecdotic ones like the prostitute flying away or the king hunting. Of course their purpose was to feed the more important ones but I can't help thinking that they should have better arranged them. Or maybe I was just disappointed that it wasn't a special Daenerys installment. I mean she's such a fascinating and ambivalent character ! The Queen of Dothraki literally stole the screen and her few scenes were both shocking and intriguing. One reference that stroke my mind ? Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom ! Yes because Lady Stark, her strange sister and the dwarf were back too. The dungeon is apparently full of surprises and as a roleplayer I'm already dreaming of giant dragons and wicked pitfalls ! If only the show's format was more elegant, like in Fringe's season 3 for instance. Still it didn't change the fact that most story arcs, because I was a bit disappointed by Ned's one, were excellent. As for the ending it confirmed again that Game of Thrones is not for the faint of heart. Long live the King !