If there’s a single episode of “Game of Thrones” where everything changes, it’s probably “Baelor,” the penultimate episode of the first season. After following Ned Stark all season as he gradually realizes the layers of treachery and deceit in King’s Landing, he is arrested under false charges and begins “Baelor” awaiting his trial. Despite being innocent, he is convinced to make a false confession in order to save his daughter.
Meanwhile, in Lhazar, Khal Drogo is succumbing to an infected wound, while Daenerys nears the end of her pregnancy. Desperate to save him, she asks a witch to heal him using blood magic, but doesn’t realize it will cost her the life of her unborn child, while also not restoring Drogo in the way she’d hoped. And in the Riverlands, Robb Stark handily defeats Jaime’s army and takes him captive, marking a major shift for all of the central families.
But no family is changed as much by the events of “Baelor” as the Starks. Although Ned is promised mercy for him and his family if he confesses to treason and bends the knee, once Joffrey has his confession, he instead orders his execution. As his daughters watch, Ned is beheaded with his own sword, revealing to both the characters and the audience that the stakes of the games being played are much higher than anyone thought.
