--- title: Games of Phones Recaps Game of Thrones Season Three with Emoji description: Game of Phones uses smartphone emoji to recap season three of Game of Thrones, in preparation for the debut of season 4 on April 16. canonical: https://time.com/48263/need-to-catch-up-on-game-of-thrones-try-this-emoji-recap/ author: Kyle Chayka article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-04-03T15:45:44.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:08:27.811Z og:title: Game of Thrones Recapped Using Emojis og:description: Watch out for Melisandre og:url: https://time.com/48263/need-to-catch-up-on-game-of-thrones-try-this-emoji-recap/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blted53cafb819f5290/698688ae1eebf748d13702e8/gameofthrones_emoji.png?branch=production&width=348&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 348 og:image:height: 196 og:image:alt: gameofthrones_emoji og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Game of Thrones Recapped Using Emojis twitter:description: Watch out for Melisandre twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blted53cafb819f5290/698688ae1eebf748d13702e8/gameofthrones_emoji.png?branch=production&width=348&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Need to Catch up on Game of Thrones? 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It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=afef60d3-7ba8-4809-b059-405981d6c631&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1) by [Kyle Chayka](https://time.com/author/kyle-chayka/) ## Kyle Chayka Apr 3, 2014 3:45 PM UTC  Cara Rose DeFabio / YouTube by [Kyle Chayka](https://time.com/author/kyle-chayka/) ## Kyle Chayka Apr 3, 2014 3:45 PM UTC The swashbuckling, death-filled, sex-obsessed TV show _Game of Thrones_ is returning on April 16, and the new season is [just as dramatic](http://time.com/47347/game-of-thrones-season-4-review/) as the last. But wasn’t that plot too complicated to remember? Enter [Game of Phones](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0SYKT4FgGU&feature=youtu.be). This convenient video recaps all of season three in just over one minute and thirty seconds using the universal language of our time: emoji. What’s so impressive about this feat of TV-recapping art is that the emoji needed to tell the story aren’t even very complex. Each of the show’s dynastic families are represented by their patron animal, and as the various family members kick the bucket, their faces are replaced by emoji skulls. There are a lot of skulls—this is _Game of Thrones_, after all. Of particular note is the pitch-perfect interpretation of Melisandre and retelling of the Red Wedding. Emoji spoiler warning. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/48263/need-to-catch-up-on-game-of-thrones-try-this-emoji-recap/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/48263/need-to-catch-up-on-game-of-thrones-try-this-emoji-recap/"},"headline":"Need to Catch up on Game of Thrones? 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