Ashwathama

Etymology
The episode is named after the Hindu legend  'Ashwathama' , who was cursed to suffer human life till eternity, in a way making him invincible.

Plot
The first episode of Sacred Games starts off with a dog falling off a high-rise building in Mumbai, a plot element that will be emphasised later on in the season. Following that is the entry of yesteryear gangster Ganesh Gaitonde, who hints that something sinister is about to happen in Mumbai. Running parallel is the story of junior Mumbai Police cop Sartaj Singh (Saif Ali Khan) who is looking for a big case to prove his mettle to the corrupt department he works in. He gets an out-of-the-blue call from Gaitonde himself giving him a tip about something destructive that will happen in Mumbai in the next 25 days. Gaitonde claims to know Sartaj Singh's father.

Sartaj Singh is able to trace Gaitonde's location, and the gangster shoots himself in the head in front of the cop. What follows is a flashback story, narrated by Ganesh Gitonde himself, that focuses on the dark childhood and teenage life of the gangster that led him to become a ruthless criminal.