Game of Thrones (2011–2019)
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The Kingsroad 

While Bran recovers from his fall, Ned takes only his daughters to King's Landing. Jon Snow goes with his uncle Benjen to the Wall. Tyrion joins them.

Director:

Timothy Van Patten (as Tim Van Patten)

Writers:

David Benioff (created by), D.B. Weiss (created by) | 3 more credits »
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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
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Storyline

Although his son Bran is lying in bed unconscious from his fall, Ned Stark must return with King Robert to King's Landing. His wife Catelyn stays behind in Winterfell, though there appears to be little hope of Bran's recovery. The King has agreed that his son Joffrey and Ned's daughter Sansa should marry, uniting their families forever. Problems arise when Joffrey challenges the butcher's boy who is out playing with Sansa's younger sister Arya. Joffrey is injured when Arya's pet wolf attacks him. The King's justice is swift but fair even if his wife Cersei doesn't agree. Meanwhile, Ned illegitimate son heads north to join the Night Watch. Across the Narrow Sea, Daenerys is having some difficulty accommodating herself to married life. She turns to one of her servants, a slave whose job it once was to pleasure men, to learn how she could make her husband happy. Written by garykmcd

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis


Certificate:

TV-MA | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

View content advisory »
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Details

Country:

USA | Ireland | UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 April 2011 (USA) See more »

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Box Office

Budget:

£6,000,000 (estimated)
See more on IMDbPro »

Company Credits

Show more on IMDbPro »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | Dolby Atmos (Blu-ray release)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1
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Did You Know?

Trivia

The episode title refers to the longest and grandest highway in Westeros, running from Castle Black at the Wall all the way south to the capital city of King's Landing, passing Winterfell along the way. Many of the characters, among them Eddard and Jon, travel on this road throughout the episode. See more »

Goofs

In Game of Thrones: Winter Is Coming, Jon and Robb are clean-shaven. At the beginning of this episode, which starts at the point the previous episode ended, they have completely regrown their hair and stubble. See more »

Quotes

Jon Snow: First lesson: stick 'em with the pointy end.
Arya Stark: I know which end to use.
See more »

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. See more »

Connections

Referenced in Game of Thrones: Dragonstone (2017) See more »

Soundtracks

Main Title
(uncredited)
Written and Performed by Ramin Djawadi
See more »

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User Reviews

 
An Emotional Episode with a Character Focus!
3 April 2019 | by gab-14712See all my reviews

After the rather tragic ending of Game of Thrones series premiere, we are right back at it with "The Kingsroad." In terms of character development, this episode does a better job showing us the dimensions of these characters and getting us to care about them. We learn more about the relationship between Ned Stark and his wife, Cat and their history together. We learn just how manipulative and evil the Lannisters can be. The back half of this episode will drive that point home. One of my chief complaints about the first episode was that Daenarys Targaryen was not developed enough. The show does start to develop her character here and her dragon eggs that were given to her as a wedding gift is going to be of some significance. The atmosphere of this episode is tense, and that might be too kind of a word. The characters are brooding and in general, a sad bunch. Considering the events of the first episode, you can hardly blame them. This is an episode that is heavy-handed on character development, but it is a necessity. I was very eager to learn more about these characters.

"A Winter is Coming" ended with the tragic fall of Bran Stark after witnessing unpleasantry between the Jaime and Cersei Lannister. Bran now lies unconscious in his Winterfell home. Catelyn stays at his bedside day and night despite little hope for his recovery. Despite his son's injury, duty calls for Ned as he must leave Winterfell to travel to King's Landing with King Robert. The king and Ned agree that Sansa and the repulsive Joffrey must marry, which would unite their families. Ned brought his daughters with him and trouble happens with Arya is playing with a butcher's boy. Joffrey challenges the boy and that ends with the prince attacked by Arya's direwolf. King Robert passes fair punishment, although Cersei does not agree with his judgement. Meanwhile, Jon Snow travels to the Wall with his Uncle Benjen and Tyrion Lannister. Finally, we head across to the Narrow Sea where Daenarys is having trouble adjusting to married life. She recruits the help of a slave to learn how she could please her husband.

This episode is great to watch and is also emotional at times. The scene with Arya's direwolf attacking Joffrey and the aftermath is hard to watch. This scene also shows how villainous Cersei can be. After the attack, Arya runs to the woods with her wolf and sets him free. In retaliation, Cersei demands that Sansa's direwolf to be punished instead. That was an emotional scene. Sansa's personality enables all of this to happen, but wow Cersei is quite the b...h. In defense of his daughters, Ned gives a rousing speech about how the direwolves are a symbol of the North but to no avail. And it is up to Ned to perform this nasty deed and as he does so, he realizes how his daughter was involved in a death of an innocent. Of course, we all blame Joffrey too.

Overall, this episode is fantastic and full of character developments. We learn more about the history whether it's from Ned and Robert talking about why they waged war against the Mad King Targaryen or Tyrion describing how the Lannisters came into power. The acting is fantastic! Peter Dinklage delivers his dialogue in such an amazing way. Jack Gleeson, Lena Headey, Kit Harington, and Maisie Williams are all standouts in this episode. Plus, the episode ends with another cliffhanger regarding Bran. After these two great episodes, consider me hooked!

My Grade: A-


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