RECAP: 'Game Of Thrones' Season 2 Premieres On HBO

04/02/2012

After taunting viewers with a series of cliffhangers last year that included the beheading of Stark family patriarch Ned Stark (Lord of the Rings' Sean Bean), the regrettable ascendancy of illegitimate Joffrey (Jack Gleeson) to the throne, and the fantastical dragon-whispering by Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke), HBO's runaway hit, Game of Thrones, had a lot to live up to upon the return of its second season on April 1.