Winter Is Coming 

Eddard Stark is torn between his family and an old friend when asked to serve at the side of King Robert Baratheon; Viserys plans to wed his sister to a nomadic warlord in exchange for an army.

Director:

Timothy Van Patten (as Tim Van Patten)

Writers:

David Benioff (created by), D.B. Weiss (created by)

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

At the castle 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 | man undressing a woman | body parts arranged in a pattern | woman wearing a sheer dress | 

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Fantasy | Romance

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Certificate:

TV-MA

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 April 2011 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Malta

Box Office

Budget:

GBP10,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

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

Technical Specs

Runtime:

62 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Dolby Atmos (Blu-ray release)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Lena Headey was pregnant while filming this episode, so many scenes show her either wrapped in furs, sitting down, standing behind something, or only in close facial shots to conceal the pregnancy.

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Goofs

After the wedding, Drogo places Daenerys on her mare, on a side-saddle. However, the next shot shows Daenerys sitting on her mare astride.

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Quotes

Jon Snow: There are five pups. The direwolf is the sigil of your house. They were meant to have them.
Eddard Stark: You will train them yourselves. You will feed them yourselves. And if they die, you will bury them yourselves.

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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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Connections

Referenced in Game of Thrones: Blood of My Blood (2016)

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Soundtracks

Main Title
(uncredited)
Written and Performed by Ramin Djawadi

User Reviews

Late to the party

This is my first time viewing Game of Thrones, so I am slightly aware of the main plot and some story lines, but really not enough to have predicted anything that was going to happen.

It moves at a pretty quick pace, the plot development is easy to follow and I thought they established character development through various and dialogue from several different viewpoints, which helps make connection with the characters from early on. Plenty of shock that comes from the subplots that aren't over the top or too obnoxious for what has already been developed.

A regular amount of nudity, and some strong language, although not too over the top by any means. Some graphic scenes.

I would say that basing everything I've heard about the series off a 60 minutes episode, I look forward to moving along and I am curious to see where things go from here. 10/10, would recommend for a friend.