S1·E6 — A Golden Crown
The hour retold
Two thrones, two trials, and a crown that isn’t gold at all. In King’s Landing, Ned sits the Iron Throne as Hand while Robert hunts, hears what the Mountain’s raiders did in the riverlands, and — in full view of the court — sends Beric Dondarrion to bring the king’s justice and summons Tywin Lannister to answer for his dog. It is exactly the sort of thing the office exists to do, and exactly the sort of thing one does not do to Tywin Lannister. In the Vale, meanwhile, Tyrion talks his way out of a sky cell by demanding trial by combat, and a sellsword named Bronn wins it by declining to be chivalrous: Ser Vardis, in his fine armor, goes through the Moon Door, and Bronn’s answer to the scandalized court — he didn’t fight with honor, no; the dead man did — is the whole series in one exchange.
The title belongs to Essos. In Vaes Dothrak, Daenerys eats a raw stallion’s heart in front of the crones and keeps it down; her son is proclaimed the Stallion Who Mounts the World while Viserys watches from the crowd and understands, finally, that the khalasar follows her. His response — a drawn sword in the sacred city, a hand on his sister’s belly, a demand for the crown he was promised — earns him Drogo’s idea of a coronation: molten gold, poured over the head of a man everyone has stopped being afraid of. Dany watches without flinching and pronounces the verdict: he was no dragon, because fire cannot kill a dragon. It is the first time she says something like that. It will not be the last.
What happens
- Robert forces the badge back onto Ned and goes hunting.
- Sitting the throne, Ned sends Beric Dondarrion to bring the Mountain's head and summons Tywin to court.
- Tyrion demands trial by combat; the sellsword Bronn fights for him and Ser Vardis falls through the Moon Door.
- In Vaes Dothrak, Daenerys eats the stallion's heart; the crones name her son the Stallion Who Mounts the World.
- Viserys draws a sword in the sacred city — Drogo crowns him in molten gold.
The people of the episode
Tyrion Lannister — Confesses everything except the crime — and walks free.
Daenerys Targaryen — Watches her brother die and does not look away.
Eddard Stark — Reads Baratheon history and finally does the sum: black of hair.
Catelyn Stark — Watches her sister's justice fail her family.
Arya Stark — "Syrio says every hurt is a lesson."
Khal Drogo — "A crown for a king." Gold, molten, poured.The fallen — spoilers
- Ser Vardis Egen — The Eyrie's champion, sent through the Moon Door by Bronn's patience.
- Viserys Targaryen — The beggar king got his golden crown at last.
- Stiv — Wildling deserter, an arrow through the chest for holding a knife to Bran.