4 Things You Need to Know Before Playing Telltale's Game of Thrones: Iron From Ice

Before you jump straight into Telltale’s latest episodic series, Game of Thrones, there are four major things you should know. These include little background stories of some of the characters from the books and the Game of Thrones TV show, as well as brief overviews of major events that have taken place in the story so far. Do note that this list contains spoilers from season 3 of the TV series, so read it at your own risk.

1. House Forrester

You take control of three members of House Forrester, a minor House from the north that controls a forest called the Wolfswood. They’re known for producing Ironwood and making sturdy shields for their soldiers to wield. Though they have no screen-time on the Game of Thrones TV show and they’re barely even mentioned in the books, it is known that the Forresters have been loyal bannermen to House Stark for a pretty long time. They also answered the call when Robb Stark named himself the King in the North and marched towards King’s Landing to avenge his father’s death.

The three protagonists you’ll get to know throughout Game of Thrones are Gared, Mira, and Ethan. Gared serves as a squire to Lord Forrester, Mira is currently in King’s Landing serving as handmaiden to Lady Margaery, while Ethan is back home playing hide-and-seek with his siblings.

2. The Red Wedding

This first episode, titled Iron From Ice, takes place between seasons 3 and 4 of Game of Thrones. In fact, the story picks up right in the middle of the Red Wedding. Here’s a little refresher on what exactly occurred during the Red Wedding.

Robb Stark went back on his promise with Walder Frey and refused to marry his daughter. Lord Frey then demanded that his daughter be married to Robb’s uncle instead. The Starks and all the Northerners gathered at The Twins (the Freys’ household) for the wedding. However, unbeknownst to the Starks, Lord Frey ordered his men to mercilessly massacre Robb, his family, and as many of his men as possible once they were all dead drunk from all that wedding alcohol.

3. The Nature of Ramsay Snow

Roose Bolton was one of Robb’s bannermen before he betrayed them at the Red Wedding so he could be named as Warden of the North. In Roose’s absence, his son Ramsay Snow is now in control of the north instead. Now the thing you need to know about Ramsay is that he is one crazy son of a bitch. And that’s an understatement. Don’t let him fool you into thinking he’s the kind of guy who can be reasoned with. Ramsay does whatever the hell he wants and he does it for the sake of enjoyment.

You will have a few encounters with Ramsay Snow in this first episode. Without spoiling any crucial plot points, here’s a word to the wise: he doesn’t care if you’re a friend or foe. If he wants you dead, he’ll make it happen. Make of that what you will.

4. Margaery Tyrell

Lady Margaery is a pretty complex character and it isn’t always easy to read what her true intentions are. Coming from House Tyrell, Margaery had originally planned to marry Renly Baratheon and become Queen of the Seven Kingdoms. Well, that was until Renly got killed by a shadow baby. So Margaery turned to Joffrey instead, since he’s already seated on the iron throne.

While it’s clear that Margaery isn’t the biggest fan of House Lannister and their tyrannical ways, you definitely shouldn’t forget that her ultimate goal here is to gain as much power as possible for herself and her house. You might trust Margaery with some of your secrets, but it might not be the wisest move to tell her everything that’s going on behind her back in Game of Thrones.