Game of Thrones Episode 7: You Win or You Die

Tywin and Jaime prepare for war, while Ned confronts Cersei about what he has learned about her children. Robert returns from hunting badly wounded, and the struggle over who should rule the realm begins in earnest.

At the start of the episode, Tywin Lannister meets with Jaime and chastises him for failing to kill Ned Stark while Ned held a Lannister prisoner. Tywin sends Jaime off with a large part of the Lannister forces and makes clear that the family is preparing for open conflict.

In King’s Landing, Ned visits Cersei and tells her he knows that her children are not Robert’s, but are the children of Cersei and Jaime. He urges her to leave the capital with her children before he reveals the truth to Robert. Cersei refuses, showing no fear of Ned’s warning.

Meanwhile, Robert comes back from his hunt after being gored by a wild boar and is clearly dying. In a private exchange with Ned, he dictates a will naming Ned Protector of the Realm until Joffrey comes of age. Robert also asks Ned to look after the kingdom and to spare Daenerys Targaryen.

Ned then tries to set Robert’s wishes in motion. He tells several of the king’s men about the will and heads to the throne room expecting to secure control of the city in the name of Robert’s chosen succession. He learns, however, that the political situation has already shifted, and the episode’s central power struggle begins to turn against him.

At the Wall, Jon Snow and the new recruits take their vows to the Night’s Watch. Jon is assigned duty as a steward rather than as a ranger, which leaves him frustrated, but he still completes the ceremony.

In Daenerys’s storyline, she goes to market in Vaes Dothrak with Jorah and her handmaids. Jorah receives a message that warns him Daenerys may be in danger, and he realizes someone is trying to poison her. He intervenes just in time to stop the attempt, and the man behind it is seized and punished.

After the assassination attempt is stopped, Drogo changes his mind about remaining passive. He vows to lead the Dothraki across the sea and take the Iron Throne for Daenerys’s unborn son.

Back in the north, Osha remains a chained captive at Winterfell and continues serving there. The episode also includes brief movement in the wider war effort, with the Lannister side clearly mobilizing for what is coming next.