You Win or You Die 

Robert has been injured while hunting and is dying. Jon and the others finally take their vows to the Night's Watch. A man, sent by Robert, is captured for trying to poison Daenerys. Furious, Drogo vows to attack the Seven Kingdoms.

Director:

Daniel Minahan

Writers:

David Benioff (created by), D.B. Weiss (created by)

Stars:

Sean Bean, Mark Addy, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Sean Bean	...	Eddard 'Ned' Stark
Mark Addy	...	Robert Baratheon
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau	...	Jaime Lannister
Lena Headey	...	Cersei Lannister
Emilia Clarke	...	Daenerys Targaryen
Iain Glen	...	Jorah Mormont
Aidan Gillen	...	Petyr 'Littlefinger' Baelish
Kit Harington	...	Jon Snow
Alfie Allen	...	Theon Greyjoy
Jack Gleeson	...	Joffrey Baratheon
Rory McCann	...	Sandor 'The Hound' Clegane
Donald Sumpter	...	Maester Luwin
Conleth Hill	...	Lord Varys
James Cosmo	...	Jeor Mormont
Owen Teale	...	Alliser Thorne

Storyline

Ned confronts Cersei about her children but she dismisses his allegations. The head of the Lannister clan tells his son Jaime to be a leader and sends him to rescue Tyrion. Ros, the prostitute from Winterfell begins working for Littlefinger in King's Landing. At the wall, a riderless horse belonging to Jon Snow's uncle Benjen returns to the wall. Jon takes his vows as a Night's Watchman but is disappointed to not having been named a Ranger but Sam sees it differently. King Robert is injured while out boar hunting with his brother. He knows he will not survive and names Ned Lord Regent until Joffrey comes of age. Knowing that Joffrey is not Robert's son, he feels Robert's brother should succeed him but Littlefinger counsel's otherwise. A wine vendor tries to poison Daenerys and Drogo promises to put their son on the throne of the Seven Kingdoms.

---

Plot Keywords:

succession to the throne | death of king | cage elevator | bloody wound | fealty | 

---

Genres:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Fantasy | Romance

---

Certificate:

TV-MA

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 May 2011 (USA)

Also Known As:

You Win or You Die

Box Office

Budget:

£6,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Television 360, Grok! Studio, Generator Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

58 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Dolby Atmos (Blu-ray release)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This is the only episode in the series where the phrase "game of thrones" is spoken.

---

Goofs

When Tywin Lannister is speaking to his son Jaime while butchering a deer carcass, it's obvious that the carcass has already been prepped. This is especially noticeable when he begins skinning it, as the hide around the foot of the animal is seen to peel back a little bit when he grabs hold of it and has a clean edge, showing that it's already been cut before he ever puts his knife to it.

---

Quotes

[Littlefinger instruct the whores Ros and Armeca how to pleasure men]
Petyr 'Littlefinger' Baelish: [to Ros] Play with her ass.

---

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.

---

Connections

Referenced in Game of Thrones: The North Remembers (2012)

---

Soundtracks

Main Title
(uncredited)
Written and Performed by Ramin Djawadi

User Reviews

Twists and turns

Another good episode. "When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die," Cersei says - which in time will prove to be quite accurate. For now, some are better at playing this sort of game than others, it seems ...