'Game of Thrones' Finale: More Shockers and Girl Power in 'Fire and Blood'

"Game of Thrones" ended its first season with a bang, but still leaving us wanting more (as any HBO show worth its salt knows how to do). But with a few small exceptions, the action centered around the female leads of the show which has, up until this point, mostly focused on the men.

But before we get into that, be warned: here be SPOILERS!

After all, we are talking about the season finale here, folks.

While there were some good bits with Jon Snow and his buddies at the Night's Watch (honor and so on and such...oh, and also zombies), and while I can't get enough of the antics of Samwell, it was the ladies that ruled this episode. The poor Stark girls caught in King's Landing had to deal with the fallout of their father's beheading in their own ways.

Arya was informed to lay low and pose as a boy. She runs into some trouble after being dropped in an orphan's camp, but scares her bully right off by showing him the "pointy end" of Needle. It looks like Arya got her wish of not being treated like a girl anymore, though not how she had hoped.

Things are looking even bleaker for Sansa, who is still to be married (and impregnated, ick) by Joffrey. The villainous king gets more despicable with each minute that goes by in this show, first ordering a bard with an offensive song to have his tongue cut out and then taking the already distraught Sansa to see the head of her father impaled on a pike. She does give him some lip though, and it looks like she might be planning a murder. Oh, do I hope she kills him. That would be deliciously satisfying.

Catelyn has a couple of powerful scenes as well, first consoling Robb after news of Ned's death reaches them, then confronting Jamie about Bran's fall...and beating him with a rock while she's at it.

But the bad-ass of the night award goes to Daenerys, whose attempt to save Drogo's life backfired horribly. Not only did she unintentionally sacrifice her son to save Drogo's life, but the former Khal was restored only to a catatonic state. A shocking twist has Dany suffocating Drogo to death to save him from this fate, knocking off yet another likeable character. Damn.

But later, Dany is redeemed: she places Drogo, along with her three dragon eggs, on top of a funeral pyre (and ties the witch to it for good measure), and walks through the flames herself. When the morning comes, Dany sits among the ashes, naked and reborn, with three tiny baby dragons perched around her. In other words, Dany is about to seriously wreck some s***.

Sadly, that's all we get for this first season. "Game of Thrones" has already been renewed though, so we'll be seeing more in spring of 2012.