History Recap / GameOfThronesS1E5TheWolfAndTheLion

* GetOut: King Robert when Ned resigns, followed by GivingThePointerFinger.

* {{Epheophile}}: Littlefinger takes Ned to meet the mother of the most recent of King Roberts bastards, a very young whore implied to be a ReplacementGoldfish for Lyanna Stark.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero

** The gold cloaks realising the street urchin they've been abusing, and who heard them commit lèse-majesté against the Queen, is the daughter of the King's Hand.

* MeaningfulLook: Loras and Renly share a lingering one at the Tourney of the Hand, and it's our first clue that these two characters are more than friends.

* KnightInShiningArmor: The Knight of Flowers.

* SpoiledBrat: Renly reveals that his brothers consider him to be a spoiled child. Loras' facial expression and his silence strongly indicate that he agrees. Renly then points out that Loras (whose family is richer than his) is overly-pampered as well.
-->'''Renly''': And how much did your father pay for that armour of yours?

* NecessarilyEvil: Why most of the Small Council supports Robert's decision to kill Daenerys. Even Grand Maester Pycelle, the wisest of them, thinks it might be necessary to save thousand of lives.

** Loras cuts Renly with a blade and tells him, "It's just blood, [...] sometimes a little spills." [[spoiler:Renly dies in Season 2 after he is stabbed through the heart by a magical shadow "sword," his blood oozing out in copious amounts]].

Varys, meanwhile, goes on to have a conversation with Littlefinger in front of the Iron Throne, in which Baelish reveals he knows about Illyrio's brief visit and Varys taunts him with ''his'' knowledge of the weird fetishes Littlefinger's brothels accomodate, not to mention his lingering crush on Catelyn. Each has the other over a barrel, and both of them know it, but neither is able to act on their threats before ''real'' news arrives from abroad. "[[BerserkButton The WHORE is pregnant]]," Robert growls. The information is from Varys's spy, Ser Jorah Mormont, a slaver and a man of questionable repute, but Robert is too angry to be wise. He gives orders to have the Targaryens slain, and the small council falls in line. When Eddard sees that he will have no support, he resigns his Handship in protest, and departs the chamber with Robert's furious rants echoing behind him.

*** MythologyGag:It's a quite funny nod to the books, which don't mention the specific lyrics, but do say that after a while, Tyrion was starting to getting pretty sick of listening to him trying to come up with more words that rhymed with "imp."

** MythologyGag:It's a quite funny nod to the books, which don't mention the specific lyrics, but do say that after a while, Tyrion was starting to getting pretty sick of listening to him trying to come up with more words that rhymed with "imp."

** It's a quite funny nod to the books, which don't mention the specific lyrics, but do say that after a while, Tyrion was starting to getting pretty sick of listening to him trying to come up with more words that rhymed with "imp."

[[quoteright:192:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/timecover_jpg_967.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:192: Lady Arryn and Robin.]]

* ReallyGetsAround: Robert has fathered an awful lot of bastards. One of them's an infant, and the mother (a prostitute) seems little more than a teenager. [[labelnote:From the books]]His eldest, Mya Stone, was cut from the season entirely: she was fathered while Robert was growing up in the Vale and is now a wilderness guide helping people to and from the Eyrie (the perilous ascent to which was also cut).[[/labelnote]]

* StraightGay: Lord Renly Baratheon has a more masculine appearance and demeanour than his lover.
** Yet the slightly campier Loras is more battle tough and Renly is the one who squirms at the sight of blood.
* SwipeYourBladeOff: Averted -- Bronn sheathes his sword without cleaning off the blood, a noticeable error in a series that prides itself on realism.

* ThisIsThePartWhere: Averted; Robert think Cersei has come to ask that her brother become Hand. Cersei, who already knows Jaime doesn't want the job, replies that he's not serious enough for the position.

* [[WhatTheHellHero What The Hell Robert?]]: Ned calls out Robert on ordering a hit on a pregnant Daenerys.

* [[WhiteStallion White Mare]]: As befitting a KnightInShiningArmor, Loras rides a white horse.

* SnipeHunt: Robert sends Lancel Lannister off to find a "breastplate stretcher." Sadly we don't get to see his efforts.

* RuleOfSymbolism: The only time we see Renly garbed in something other than black in Season 1 is at the Tourney of the Hand. He covers himself with a green brocade cloak (green is one of the colours of House Tyrell) when he watches Loras joust to subtly display his affection and support for the man he loves. Renly is essentially copying the Westerosi wedding practice of the bride being draped in a cloak featuring the colours of her husband's sigil, so his richly decorative green cape is a symbol of his commitment to Loras.

* BloodKnight: Just look at the smile on Jaime's face when he realises Ned can hold his own.
** However, when his enemy starts getting the better of the exchange, Jaime's smile starts turning into a scowl of rage and fear.

*** Even further, she chases it into a room in the dungeons containing a dragon skull. In the previous episode, Viserys and Doreah pondered what happened to the dragon skulls that lined the Red Keep.

*** Even further, she chases it into a back room containing a dragon skull. In the previous episode, Viserys and Doreah pondered what happened to the dragon skulls that lined the Red Keep.

As dawn breaks on the second day of the tourney, Lord Eddard Stark, Hand of the King, comes down to visit the corpse of Ser Hugh of the Vale, slain the day before in a joust with Ser Gregor "The Mountain" Clegane. Ned is not only concerned over the body receiving proper treatment, but is curious as to how this boy Hugh, knighted only a few months ago, could afford a new suit of armor. However, Ned is soon distracted from his detecting by the news that Robert plans to enter the lists. Ned is able to dissuade him only by pointing out that all the knights in the kingdom will lose to him in the hopes of currying favor. (He's also [[AdiposeRex too fat for his jousting armor]].) Ned also gets another disquieting clue by noticing that Robert's squire Lancel is, of course, a Lannister, foisted on him by Cersei.

The next tilt shown is between Ser Gregor Clegane against Ser Loras Tyrell, called "The Knight of Flowers," by universal acclaim the [[{{Bishounen}} prettiest]] knight in the Seven Kingdoms. He wins by riding a mare in heat, causing Clegane to have trouble controlling his stallion. Whilst Littlefinger and Sansa debate whether this makes Loras a CombatPragmatist or a cheater, The Mountain deals with his recalcitrant horse by [[OffWithHisHead hacking off its head]] and then going after his opponent. He is stopped only by the intervention of his brother The Hound, and then the booming commands of his king. For his decisive action, Sandor Clegane is proclaimed the hero of the day.

On the eastern road, Tyrion is unbound and discovers that Catelyn is taking him to the Eyrie, ruling seat of her sister, Jon Arryn's widow Lysa, despite having announced ("often, and loudly") that they were making for Winterfell. The ragged party, including a sellsword named Bronn and a singer named Marillion, are almost immediately waylaid by one of the Mountain Clans of the Vale, and Tyrion first shows his BadassBookworm side by beating one of them to death with a shield. Tyrion ends the battle in much better state than he began: no longer tied up, a bit of rapport with Bronn, and doubts planted in Catelyn's mind after he points out, correctly, that had he sent a mercenary after Bran, he would not have armed the man with his own blade.

At Winterfell, Bran plays MisterExposition as Maester Luwin quizzes him on the major houses of Westeros. Bran's resentment over his now-MissingMom comes out, but there's a spark of hope as well when Maester Luwin mentions that the Dothraki are excellent mounted archers. Theon, meanwhile, works out ''his'' resentments over his family issues by mounting Ros from behind. He's a hostage of House Stark and hasn't seen his actual family for more than a decade. This will be important next season.

Ned consults with Varys. Varys, as per usual, bears bad news: the king is in great danger and Eddard Stark is the only one who can save him. Varys, like the queen, has bided his time to try and get the measure of their new Hand, and Varys (at least) has come to trust him. He reveals that Lord Arryn was killed by a poison called "the tears of Lys," and implies that the poisoner was the former squire, Ser Hugh. When asked why Lord Arryn was killed now and not any time in the seventeen years of his Handship, Varys only replies, "He started asking questions."

Catelyn's audience with her younger sister Lysa goes rather differently than anyone expected--except maybe Tyrion, who warned her that Lysa has changed since Catelyn last saw her. For one, Lysa is absolutely paranoid and is cowering in the Vale from perceived enemies. For two, her son is a spoiled and creepy brat--he's eight and she's still breastfeeding him. Lysa tells Catelyn that her letter was a warning, not an invitation... but now that she's ''got'' Tyrion, she accuses him of slaying Lord Arryn as well. ("Oh!, did I kill him too?" Tyrion replies with [[DeadpanSnarker enviable sarcasm]] (He basically [[DeadpanSnarker hits every note short of telling Lysa to go drink some Hershey's syrup so the kid can have chocolate milk]]). "I've been a ''very'' busy man.") Tyrion is locked up in the sky cells despite Catelyn's protests.

And now: [[DistractedByTheSexy Distraction By Sexy]]! Loras and Renly have a ShirtlessScene! Loras is shaving Renly's chest! They're both petulant, whining and complaining about how unfair life is! Loras thinks Renly would be a much better king! Renly gets faint at the sight of blood! ...Seven hells, Loras is going down on Renly! Unlike the books, we're not gonna need WordOfGay about ''these'' guys any time soon! Boy, that's some noisy stuff going on down there! ...Sorry, where were we?

!Tropes

* YouMonster: Loras calls Joffrey a monster, and it's one the main reasons why he wants to crown Renly as king.