Season synopsis
Contains spoilers for this season and earlier seasons.
At Winterfell, Eddard Stark accepts King Robert Baratheon’s offer to become Hand of the King and travels south with daughters Sansa and Arya. Before they leave, Bran sees Queen Cersei and Jaime Lannister together; Jaime pushes him from a tower, leaving him unconscious. Catelyn stays with Bran, then follows a clue about the attempted killing to King’s Landing. Ned investigates the death of the previous Hand, Jon Arryn, and discovers that Robert’s supposed heirs are Cersei’s children by Jaime. Across the Narrow Sea, Viserys Targaryen trades his sister Daenerys in marriage to Khal Drogo, hoping to gain an army for his claim to the throne.
The fragile peace breaks after Robert dies from a hunting wound. Ned tries to prevent Joffrey from taking the throne, but the City Watch turns on him; Joffrey has Ned executed despite promising to spare him. Robb Stark marches south to rescue his father, wins victories and is proclaimed King in the North, while Arya escapes the capital disguised as a boy and Sansa remains a hostage. At the Wall, Jon Snow joins the Night’s Watch and learns that a danger beyond the Wall is real. Daenerys loses Drogo and their unborn child, but walks into his funeral pyre with three dragon eggs; at dawn, she emerges alive with three newly hatched dragons.