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Game of Thrones

You Win or You Die

Season 1, Episode 7, Aired May 29, 2011

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Ned and Cersei have a meeting about Jon Arryn's death. Jon Snow takes his vows to become a man of the Night's Watch. Khal Drogo has an abrupt change of mind after an assassination attempt on Daenerys. King Robert is severely injured by a boar and must make decisions on the future of his kingdom.

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Cast & Crew

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GUEST STAR
Simon Lowe

Wine Merchant
GUEST STAR
Sahara Knite

Armeca
GUEST STAR
Graham Charles

Varly

Sean Bean

Eddard Stark "Ned"
Mark Addy

Robert Baratheon
Nikolaj Coster Waldau

Ser Jaime Lannister
Lena Headey

Cersei Lannister
Emilia Clarke

Daenerys Targaryen "Dany"
Iain Glen

Ser Jorah Mormont

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Fan Episode Reviews (12)

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You Win or You Die

8.5

"Great"

By AJLane-TCP, Apr 10, 2012

The Good:
-"When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die. There is no middle ground."
-"We only make peace with our enemies...that is why it is called making peace."
-"I did warn you not to trust me."
The Bad:
-The scene in the brothel borders on gratuitous. Petyr's background is revealed, but the story is an interesting one even without the prostitutes practicing their trade in the corner.moreless
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The game of thrones begins to heat up. (There's some spoilers here, just to warn.)

8.8

"Great"

By JaCkKbAuEr2424, Dec 12, 2011

"Game of Thrones" has really surprised me. Sure, there's a lot of long dialogue driven scenes and episodes that are sometimes not as intense as one would hope. However, the last few episodes have absolutely proven that it's a show that knows one hundred percent how to tell a story, make anearly every character equally interesting and raise the stakes when it needs to be done. This episode, leaving us with three left until the finale, takes just about every plot and complicates them, but not too much to confuse or buden us. Instead, it's just some good old dramatic storytelling with only a few missteps.

The situation in the King's Landing grows even more dire after King Robert Baratheon is gored by a boar and ends up dead by episode's end. The problem is, Joffrey would technically be the next to replace him, and as we learned last week, he's a Lannister, not a Baratheon, This means, just as cersei and Jaime originally wanted, the Lannister family would be in charge of the throne. And finally, the Targarian/King's Landing plots are dangerously close to colliding, something I've been waiting for for awhile. Baratheon's attempt to assassinate Daenerys fails, which puts Khal Drogo in a state of fury as he agrees to finally cross the narrow sea in order to attack Baratheon and take back the throne for Daenerys. This puts Westeros and the West on a path to chaos. It's also important to remember that Tywin Lannister, father of Cersei, Jaime and Tyrion, has a thirst for the throne. If there's any episode that perfectly encapsulates the idea of men and women competing in a "game" for the throne, it's this one.

We also get, after a two episodes absence, the return of Jon Snow. I was a fan of this plot for the first four episodes and the absence was noticeable and unfortunate. However, its return was also a bit lackluster. Sure, it's intriguing that benjin has gone missing and that Jon was cast as a squire instead of a ranger (we get some funny lines here as well), but I'm still waiting for all that pent-up chaos of the first ten minutes of the premiere to pay off. Remember those zombie/vampire creatures from the premiere? I'm waiting for a reappearance.

And I also feel like the show make a misstep in killing off Baratheon off-screen. Mark Addy did a great job in the role, so why is his character being given such low-key death? They could've handled it a bit better, despite the repercussions of it being awesome.

The next episode brings author George R.R Martin's first writtten episode. It should be interesting to see what he does with his own work.moreless
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"I warned you not to trust me."

9.5

"Superb"

By ZaleIsBackAgain, Dec 07, 2011

Rarely does honor ever fail a character in a story; we are taught great things will happen to you if you stick with it. Game of Thrones isn't like the stories you grew up with that you were told as a child (that much was obvious with the lesbian sex scene near the beginning). Ned Stark is the type of character who prevails in most normal medieval stories because he fought for what he believed in. In the world of Westeros, he's the one on the wrong end of the blade on Littlefinger's dagger. In the previous episode I talked about Game of Thrones producing so much story development that we need to be relieved of it with a big splash. We got it, and in supremely dramatic fashion, not only with the story in King's Landing, but also with Daenerys Targeryan and to a lesser extent, Jon Snow and the Wall.
It was one event after another; Ned Stark confronts Cersei about her incestuous relationship with her twin brother Jaime Lannister, King Robert dies, Ghost finds a severed hand, Renly means to seize the throne, Khal Drogo vows to rule Westeros, and of course, Ned Stark is betrayed by Littlefinger. The suspense just built up into one final explosion, and of course the brilliant acting should never fail to be mentioned. The poisoner at the markets did a remarkable job selling his part, better than how it was done in the books. Samwell Tarly, despite his cowardice, shows redeeming qualities that especially shines in this episode. And although the show has made you hate them, Joffrey does a wonderful job of portraying a guy you would want to see die a million deaths, and Littlefinger always walks a stride that makes it impossible to read his character. This episode could have done for a season finale, and yet there are 3 more left.moreless
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107

6.0

"Fair"

By thefanof, Dec 07, 2011

When you play the Game of Thrones you either win or die.....but you be entertained is not guaranteed. I did not plan on watching this show, but I heard the hype and decided to give it a shot. It was okay, and this episode was okay, but I am just not getting into these characters. There was not one scene that really stood out tonight and I think the actors are being overlooked by the great set design. There are some good actors on the show, some good acting on display tonight, but nothing is that great and I feel like if I didn't watch this show anymore I wouldn't be missing out on anything. Not a good feeling for a show.

Maybe it will get better next week, but I know that tonight's ep was fairly mediocre.moreless
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You Win or You Die

10

"Perfect"

By TrueTvWatcher, Aug 17, 2011

You Win or You Die was a perfect episode of Game of Thrones because it had so much character and plot development, action and drama, intrigue and suspense! I liked how every thing played out in this episode. It was great to see the Lannister patriarch givingSer Jaime Lannister advice on how a true Lannister should act in such a circumstance while skinning an elk. I also liked how Lord Stark confronted the Queen and gave her an ultimatum only to have to confront those loyal to her in the end. I thought the tree that Snow and his fat friend swore their Knight Watch oath under was cool. Joffrey was quite the little momma's boy on the throne and I look forward to seeing how the throne room show down plays out because when you play the Game of Thrones you play to Win!!!!!!!moreless
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TRIVIA (1)
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- The dead stag Tywin Lannister is skinning in the beginning of the episode is a real dead stag, which the actor, Charles Dance, was actually skinning over and over again over multiple takes of the scene.
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QUOTES (3)
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- Petyr Baelish: (to Eddard Stark while holding a dagger to his throat) I did warn you not to trust me.
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- Petyr Baelish: (to Eddard Stark) We only make peace with our enemies, My Lord. That's why it's called making peace.
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- Cersei Lannister: (to Eddard Stark) When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die. There is no middle ground.
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NOTES (1)
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- Original International Air Dates
  Australia: Sunday, August 21, 2011 on Showcase
  Austria: Wednesday, December 14, 2011 on TNT Serie
  Belgium: Friday, October 14, 2011 on Telenet Prime Series
  Canada: Sunday, May 29, 2011 on HBO Canada
  Cyprus: Sunday, March 4, 2012 on NovaCinema
  Denmark: Wednesday, June 15, 2011 on Canal+ Series
  Finland: Wednesday, June 15, 2011 on Canal+ Series
  Fox Life Baltic in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania: Thursday, October 20, 2011
  Fox Life Russia in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan: Thursday, October 20, 2011
  France: Sunday, July 17, 2011 on Orange Cínema Séries
  Germany: Wednesday, December 14, 2011 on TNT Serie
  Greece: Sunday, March 4, 2012 on NovaCinema
  HBO Asia in Brunei, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Macau, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam: Sunday, September 18, 2011
  HBO Central Europe in Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Kosovo, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, and Slovenia: Monday, May 30, 2011
  HBO Latin America in Argentina, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bonaire, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Curaçao, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Saint Lucia, Saint Martin, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, and Venezuela: Sunday, June 19, 2011
  HBO South Asia in Bangladesh, India, Maldives, and Pakistan: Sunday, October 2, 2011
  Iceland: Sunday, October 2, 2011 on Stöð 2
  Israel: Thursday, June 2, 2011 on Yes
  Italy: Friday, December 2, 2011 on Sky Cinema 1
  Netherlands: Monday, March 26, 2012 on HBO1 (Ziggo)
  New Zealand: Monday, December 5, 2011 on Soho
  Norway: Wednesday, June 15, 2011 on Canal+ Series
  Orbit Showtime Network in Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Sudan, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Western Sahara: Wednesday, June 1, 2011 on OSN First / OSN First HD
  Portugal: Monday, November 21, 2011 on SyFy
  Republic of Ireland: Monday, May 30, 2011 on Sky Atlantic / Sky Atlantic HD
  South Africa: Monday, November 7, 2011 on M-Net Series / M-Net HD
  Spain: Monday, June 20, 2011 on Canal+ Spain
  Sweden: Wednesday, June 15, 2011 on Canal+ Series
  Switzerland: Wednesday, December 14, 2011 on TNT Serie
  Turkey: Sunday, October 30, 2011 on CNBC-e
  United Kingdom: Monday, May 30, 2011 on Sky Atlantic / Sky Atlantic HD
  US Armed Forces: Saturday, June 4, 2011 on American Forces Network
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ALLUSIONS (0)
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