Winter Is Coming (17 Apr. 2011)

Jon Arryn, the Hand of the King, is dead. King Robert Baratheon plans to ask his oldest friend, Eddard Stark, to take Jon's place. Across the sea, Viserys Targaryen plans to wed his sister to a nomadic warlord in exchange for an army.

Director:

Timothy Van Patten

Writers:

David Benioff (creator), D.B. Weiss (creator),

Stars:

Sean Bean, Mark Addy, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Sean Bean	...	Eddard 'Ned' Stark
Mark Addy	...	Robert Baratheon
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau	...	Jaime Lannister
Michelle Fairley	...	Catelyn Stark
Lena Headey	...	Cersei Lannister
Emilia Clarke	...	Daenerys Targaryen
Iain Glen	...	Jorah Mormont
Harry Lloyd	...	Viserys Targaryen
Kit Harington	...	Jon Snow
Sophie Turner	...	Sansa Stark
Maisie Williams	...	Arya Stark
Richard Madden	...	Robb Stark
Alfie Allen	...	Theon Greyjoy
Isaac Hempstead Wright	...	Bran Stark
Jack Gleeson	...	Joffrey Baratheon

Storyline

In the land of Winterfell, Lord Ned Stark begins to believe that something is amiss. A deserter from the Night Watch, the guardians of the giant ice wall at the northern boundary of their territory, says he's seen the white walkers. Later, Ned and his sons find animals slain in the woods, including a she-wolf whose six pups they keep, one for each of Ned's children. They also welcome the arrival of Ned's good friend King Robert who was once betrothed to Ned's sister. She was killed before they could marry and he wed Cersei Lannister who has given him a son, Joffrey. Along with them are Cersei's two brothers, the handsome Jaime and Tyrion, a dwarf with very large appetites. The King wants Ned to return with him to his capital, King's Landing, and become the King's Hand. Ned accepts but his young son Bran accidentally sees something he should not have and suffers a serious fall as a result. Meanwhile, in the land across the narrow sea, Viserys Targaryen needs an army to attack King's ...

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Plot Keywords:

king | deserter | castle | queen | little sister | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Fantasy

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Certificate:

TV-MA

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 April 2011 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Malta

Company Credits

Production Co:

Home Box Office (HBO), Television 360, Grok! Studio

Technical Specs

Runtime:

62 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

16:9 HD

Did You Know?

Trivia

The episode title "Winter Is Coming" is the motto of House Stark.

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Goofs

When Khal Drogo places Daenerys Targaryen on her horse after the wedding, he clearly places her side saddle. The next shot shows her straddling the horse, with no time for her to have moved to that position.

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Quotes

Tyrion Lannister: [to Jon Snow] Never forget what you are bastard, for surely the world will not.

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Crazy Credits

The cities and places featured in the opening credits change as the series progresses. For example, in the first episode, Pentos is shown whereas in later episodes, because it is not pertinent to the episode's narrative, it is not.

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Soundtracks

"Main Title"
(uncredited)
Written and Performed by Ramin Djawadi

User Reviews

Excellent beginning...

The Pilot for Game of Thrones was all around a success. It built many characters nicely and also had touches of both humor and darkness, not to mention the amazing production. The art direction is superb as is expected, but the cinematography is just brilliant. Cinematography isn't just capturing 'pretty' things, but also camera angles, lighting, and tone, and this show's cinematography is pretty much perfect. The performances are pretty good, what is expected for a show like this.

I can say that this pilot was better than Boardwalk Empire's for sure. Although that pilot was good, it was heavily flawed, whereas I think this pilot was much more successful and intriguing. I am definitely sticking with this show.