You Win or You Die

"You Win or You Die"
Game of Thrones episode
The scene from which the title of both the series and the episode stem was filmed at the cloister of a cathedral in the Maltese village of Rabat.
Episode no.	Season 1 Episode 7
Directed by	Daniel Minahan
Written by	David Benioff D. B. Weiss
Featured music	Ramin Djawadi
Cinematography by	Matthew Jensen
Editing by	Martin Nicholson
Original air date	May 29, 2011 (2011-05-29)
Running time	57 minutes
Guest appearance(s)
Donald Sumpter as Maester Luwin Conleth Hill as Lord Varys James Cosmo as Ser Jeor Mormont Owen Teale as Ser Alliser Thorne Charles Dance as Lord Tywin Lannister Ian McElhinney as Ser Barristan Selmy John Bradley as Samwell Tarly Peter Vaughan as Maester Aemon Julian Glover as Grand Maester Pycelle Gethin Anthony as Lord Renly Baratheon Dominic Carter as Janos Slynt Natalia Tena as Osha Esmé Bianco as Ros Mark Stanley as Grenn Josef Altin as Pyp Luke McEwan as Rast Amrita Acharia as Irri Roxanne McKee as Doreah Elyes Gabel as Rakharo Dar Salim as Qotho Brian Fortune as Othell Yarwyck
Episode chronology
← Previous "A Golden Crown" Next → "The Pointy End"
Game of Thrones (season 1) List of Game of Thrones episodes

"You Win or You Die" is the seventh episode of the HBO medieval fantasy television series Game of Thrones. It was written by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, and directed by Daniel Minahan. Set to air May 29, 2011, the episode was released in advance immediately following the conclusion of "A Golden Crown" to HBO customers with access to HBO Go.

The episode furthers the story line of deterioration of the political balance of the Seven Kingdoms, with Eddard Stark revealing what he has discovered to Cersei Lannister while King Robert is still away on a hunt. The title of the episode is part of a quote from Cersei Lannister during the final confrontation with Eddard: "When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die. There is no middle ground." The catchphrase has been frequently used during the promotion of both the books and the television series.

The episode was generally well received by critics for its well-acted dramatic tension, but with several criticizing the coupling of exposition and nudity as "sexposition." In the United States, the episode achieved a viewership of 2.4 million in its initial broadcast.

Like previous episodes, "You Win or You Die" interweaves action happening in multiple separate locations within and around the Kingdom of Westeros. While the dramatic center of this episode is in the capital of King's Landing, where the title quote is issued, ongoing events at The Wall and Winterfell in the north and with the Dothraki across the Narrow Sea continue, and events at the Lannister army's camp are depicted as well.

Lord Tywin Lannister (Charles Dance) talks with his son Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) while the former is skinning a stag, symbolic animal of the house Baratheon. While Tywin chastises Jaime for causing the recent troubles with the Starks, he nevertheless believes this war is the perfect opportunity for the Lannisters to set up a dynasty as the new rulers of the Seven Kingdoms. Tywin gives half of his forces to Jaime to attack Riverrun, the seat of House Tully and Lady Catelyn's childhood home, in retaliation for Catelyn's seizure of Tyrion.