Theories of GRB Early Afterglow

The rapid follow-up of gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglows made possible by the multi-wavelength satellite Swift, launched in November 2004, has put under a microscope the GRB early post-burst behavior, This is leading to a significant reappraisal and expansion of the standard view of the GRB early afterglow behavior, and its connection to the prompt gamma-ray emission. In addition to opening up the previously poorly known behavior on minutes to hours timescales, two other new pieces in the GRB puzzle being filled in are the the discovery and follow-up of short GRB afterglows, and the opening up of the $z\simg 6$ redshift range. We review some of the current theoretical interpretations of these new phenomena.