"Fire and Blood" is the tenth and final episode of the first season of the HBO medieval fantasy television series Game of Thrones.

First aired on June 19, 2011, it was written by series creators and executive producers David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, and directed by Alan Taylor.

At the Stark army camp, Robb vows revenge on the Lannisters after Ned's death, but Catelyn says they must first rescue Arya and Sansa.

Jon attempts to desert the Night's Watch to join Robb and avenge Ned, but Sam, Pyp, and Grenn convince him to return.

The next morning, Jeor, despite knowing Jon attempted to desert, orders him to join him in an expedition beyond the Wall, intended to counter the threats of the wildlings and the White Walkers, and to find Benjen Stark.

By daybreak, Jorah and her remaining loyalists find her unharmed in the ashes, carrying three dragon hatchlings, the first born in over a century.

[2] Like the rest of the first season, it adapts the plot of A Game of Thrones, the first novel in the A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin.

[3] Scenes added for the adaptation include Catelyn and Robb receiving news of Eddard's death, the revelation of Cersei and Lancel Lannister's relationship, as well as interactions between Grand Maester Pycelle, the prostitute Ros, Varys, and Littlefinger.

[8] To shoot the scene depicting the birth of the dragons, director Alan Taylor guided Clarke to show her fear and personal feelings of apprehension and uncertainty of being naked in front of the crew to play her character.

Taylor also insisted Benioff and Weiss change the scene's setting from night to dawn (as stated in Martin's original book) so he could pull back the episode's final shot to reveal the vast landscape as the newborn dragons cried out in a dramatic fashion.

In their commentary on the DVD release of season 1, Benioff and Weiss explained that this was not meant as a political statement, but rather because the production used the prosthetic heads that happened to be at hand.

Following media reports in June 2012, HBO apologized for this shot, which their statement described as "unacceptable, disrespectful and in very bad taste".

The website's critical consensus reads, ""Fire and Blood" creatively provides closure after a shocking penultimate episode while strategically setting up arcs for season two.

Club gave it an "A−", commenting: The series, especially, has shown that it's willing to stretch some of these emotional or philosophical moments out, to really get the most out of the actors' performances and give them scenes where they can expand their characters beyond what's on the page.

And if the creative team can keep up this level of quality, it's hard to imagine HBO shutting things down anytime soon, even with a budget that only figures to get higher.

[21] The episode contains a scene in which Joffrey forces Sansa to look at the severed heads of her father and family household staff, impaled on spikes.