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The king's family are introduced — his children Joffrey, Myrcella and Tommen, his wife Cersei, her twin brother Jaime; but their younger brother, the dwarf Tyrion Lannister, is nowhere to be found. (Jaime later finds him in a brothel, partaking in the goods, drinking and dispensing snark .)
Game of Thrones is an 8-season HBO series based on George R. R. Martin's epic fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire, which Martin began publishing in 1996. It premiered in April 2011 and concluded in May 2019; it was also aired as a Sunday Evening Drama Series during its run.
- Overview
- Synopsis
- Appearances
- Cast
- Quotes
- Behind the scenes
- In the books
"Winter Is Coming" is the first episode of the first season of Game of Thrones. It is the first episode of the series overall. It premiered on April 17, 2011 on HBO. It was written by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, and directed by Tim Van Patten.
Beyond the Wall
Three rangers of the Night's Watch: Ser Waymar Royce, Will, and Gared depart from the Wall to investigate reports of wildlings in the Haunted Forest which lies to the north, Beyond the Wall. Will, the best scout in the group, discovers a number of wildling corpses dismembered and arranged in a strange, ritualistic fashion on the ground. He also finds a dead wildling girl pinned to a tree. He reports back to the others. Ser Waymar overrides the older Gared's advice that they return to Castle Black to report the situation to Lord Commander of the Night's Watch Jeor Mormont. He instead insists on seeing the corpses for himself to determine what killed them. When they reach the site, the bodies have disappeared. Will scouts around for clues, but Gared finds a bloody piece of clothing buried under the snow. Further investigations are curtailed when a tall, humanoid figure with glowing blue eyes, a White Walker, arrives and kills Ser Waymar with ease. Gared attempts to escape but is caught and killed. Will, in abject horror, sees the dead wildling girl from earlier who is now walking with blue eyes, and also witnesses Gared's death, with the White Walker tossing his severed head at Will's feet.
In Pentos
In the Free City of Pentos, across the Narrow Sea, Viserys and Daenerys Targaryen live in the hospitality of Magister Illyrio Mopatis. Viserys has arranged to wed his sister Daenerys (also called "Dany") to Khal Drogo, the warlord of a Dothraki khalasar of forty thousand warriors. In return, Drogo will give Viserys the army he needs to reclaim the Iron Throne. Viserys prepares Daenerys for meeting the Khal. He tells her what a beautiful young woman she has turned into, and slips off her dress and fondles her breast. She is silent and looks away as if pretending it isn't happening. She steps into a hot bath that has just been drawn. This greatly distresses her maid, who believes the water will scald her. However, Daenerys seems not to notice it and appears to be unharmed. Illyrio and Viserys discuss the quest to sail back to Westeros, and Viserys inquires when the wedding will take place. Daenerys is not pleased with the arrangement and blurts out that she does not want to marry Drogo. Viserys insists that Daenerys will marry him, because in return, Drogo will give Viserys the army he needs to retake their father's throne from Robert Baratheon. Viserys adds that he would let his sister be raped by all forty thousand of Drogo's men and their horses if it meant getting his throne back. A short time later, Drogo arrives at Illyrio's estate. After taking a glance at Daenerys, Drogo rides away without dismounting from his horse. Viserys is concerned, but Illyrio assures him that, if he did not approve of Daenerys, they would have known. Later, Daenerys marries Khal Drogo and a great celebration is held. Several people die in impromptu duels, which Illyrio says is a good sign: "a Dothraki wedding without at least three deaths is considered a dull affair.". The bride and groom receive many gifts, but for Dany, two are particularly interesting. The first is a selection of books containing stories and songs from the Seven Kingdoms, given to her by Ser Jorah Mormont, an exiled knight of House Mormont. Ser Jorah swears fealty to Viserys as King and offers him his support and advice, which is accepted. The second is a box containing three beautiful, scaly stones. According to Illyrio, these are dragon eggs from the Shadow Lands beyond Asshai that have turned to stone with the passing of time. Dany appears to feel some connection with the eggs, but brushes it off for the time being. For his gift, Drogo gives Daenerys a beautiful white mare. Viserys tells his sister to make Drogo happy. Drogo and Daenerys ride down to the shore and consummate their marriage on the beach at sunset. Daenerys is visibly upset and terrified.
In King's Landing
In King's Landing, the capital city of the Seven Kingdoms, the bells ring out to commemorate the death of Lord Jon Arryn, the Hand of the King. As the Silent Sisters prepare his body for burial, Queen Cersei Lannister looks on. She is worried that Jon discovered something he shouldn't have, and may have told someone. She confesses her fears to her twin brother, Ser Jaime Lannister of the Kingsguard, but he tells her not to worry, since if the King knew the truth they'd be dead already. She tells him he should be the new Hand of the King, but he doesn't want the job. He considers it too much work. Cersei accuses him of taking nothing seriously.
Firsts
•Will •Ser Waymar Royce •Gared •Wildling girl •White Walker •Bran Stark •Jon Snow •Robb Stark •Catelyn Stark •Eddard Stark •Rickon Stark •Sansa Stark •Mordane •Arya Stark •Jeyne Poole •Ser Rodrik Cassel •Jory Cassel •Theon Greyjoy •Lady •Grey Wind •Shaggydog •Summer •Nymeria •Ghost •Ser Jaime Lannister •Cersei Lannister •Maester Luwin •Tommy •Joffrey Baratheon •Sandor Clegane •Ser Preston Greenfield •Hodor •Mikken •Robert Baratheon •Tommen Baratheon •Myrcella Baratheon •Tyrion Lannister •Ros •Daenerys Targaryen •Viserys Targaryen •Pentoshi servant •Illyrio Mopatis •Khal Drogo •Qotho •Cohollo •Haggo •Benjen Stark •Ser Jorah Mormont •Mago •Wildling girl (corpse) •Jon Arryn (corpse) •Many wildlings (corpses)
Deaths
•Wildling girl •Many wildlings •Ser Waymar Royce •Gared •Will •Jon Arryn •A Dothraki
Starring
•Sean Bean as Lord Eddard Stark •Mark Addy as King Robert Baratheon •Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Ser Jaime Lannister •Michelle Fairley as Lady Catelyn Stark •Lena Headey as Queen Cersei Lannister •Emilia Clarke as Princess Daenerys Targaryen •Iain Glen as Ser Jorah Mormont •Harry Lloyd as Prince Viserys Targaryen •Kit Harington as Jon Snow •Sophie Turner as Sansa Stark •Maisie Williams as Arya Stark •Richard Madden as Robb Stark •Alfie Allen as Theon Greyjoy •Isaac Hempstead-Wright as Bran Stark •Jack Gleeson as Prince Joffrey Baratheon •Rory McCann as Sandor Clegane •and Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister
Also starring
•Jason Momoa as Drogo
Guest starring
•Donald Sumpter as Maester Luwin •Jamie Sives as Jory Cassel •Ron Donachie as Rodrik Cassel •Joseph Mawle as Benjen Stark •Roger Allam as Illyrio Mopatis •Dar Salim as Qotho •Esmé Bianco as Ros •Susan Brown as Mordane •Bronson Webb as Will •Sir John Standing as Jon Arryn •Rob Ostlere as Waymar Royce •Dermot Keaney as Gared •Art Parkinson as Rickon Stark •Callum Wharry as Tommen Baratheon •Aimee Richardson as Myrcella Baratheon •Kristian Nairn as Hodor •Rania Zouari as a Pentoshi servant •Ian Whyte and Spencer Wilding as a White Walker •Claire Wright as a Wildling girl
Ser Waymar Royce: [to Gared] "Do the dead frighten you?"
Lady Catelyn Stark: [about Bran] "Ten is too young to see such things."
Lord Eddard Stark: "He won't be a boy forever, and winter is coming."
Eddard: [to Bran] "The man who passes the sentence should swing the sword."
Jon Snow: "Lord Stark? There are five pups, one for each of the Stark children. The direwolf is the sigil of your House. They were meant to have them."
Eddard: "You will train them yourselves, you will feed them yourselves, and if they die, you will bury them yourselves."
General
•The episode title is the house motto of House Stark and has widely been used in the marketing of the TV series, the books, and other spin-offs. The motto serves as a warning to be prepared for winter (seasons are extremely unique and last years in Westeros), as it shall bring chaos with it. •The soundtrack playing over the credits is a rendition of the main theme. In the official soundtrack release it is titled "Game of Thrones." •A 15-minute preview of the first episode was shown on April 3, 2011. •First mention of Lord Tywin Lannister, Lady Lysa Arryn and Robin Arryn. •A real dead stag - not a prop - was used for the scene where the direwolf pups are found. The actors found the smell during the filming of the scene revolting, as it had been dead for two days at that point and was decomposing. •The scene in which the Starks find the direwolf pups was the very first scene written by George R.R. Martin in the first book of the A Song of Ice and Fire novel series. It is the second chapter that appears in the book, because the "Prologue" scene with the three Night's Watch scouts being attacked by White Walkers was inserted before it, but the Prologue was written later. •Martin said he didn't even know what kind of book it would be until he wrote that scene. After about three days, he knew it would be fantasy. •This scene foretells the whole first book: the direwolf (sigil of House Stark) has come too far south and gotten in a fight with the stag (sigil of House Baratheon). Just as Eddard goes south with King Robert to be his right hand in the war coming, Robert is disemboweled and dies alone, while Eddard is killed by a blow to the neck and leaves all his young heirs to fend for themselves. •During the scene where the seven Starks welcome King Robert, he hugs Ned and Catelyn, ruffles Rickon's hair and shakes hands with Robb. Interestingly, all the four Starks with whom Robert makes a physical contact - are subsequently killed; the three Starks whom Robert does not touch - survive the show. This strange contrast, which can be dismissed as a mere coincidence, led to a fan theory that Robert's "touch of death" somehow cursed the Starks (similarly to the alleged curse of Harrenhal). •The Winterfell courtyard is normally a car park and gift shop. The setting had to be extensively redressed to make it look like an actual courtyard. •Mark Addy's costume was so heavy that he could not get off his horse without steps and the help of three people. So in editing they had to cut away when he starts to dismount and then cut back to see him drop to the ground. In the book, King Robert is a taller man, but Mark Addy's performance made his character seem imposing. •The crypts under Winterfell are normally a wine cellar and were used in later episodes for a cell under the Red Keep in King's Landing. •The Winterfell gate was damaged by a collision with Cersei's wheelhouse, upon the royal party's arrival, and had to be repaired. •The pool in the Winterfell godswood was filled with black paint, to make it more reflective. •Scenes at Illyrio's manse were shot at the President of Malta's summer residence (later also used for scenes in the Red Keep's garden). The production was not permitted inside the building. In the book Drogo sees Daenerys for the first time at a party inside the manse. The TV series version has Drogo remain on his horse and then leave, but this does not occur in the books. •Daenerys's interior scenes at her bath were done at a different location, in a different city. The scene with her on the balcony looking outside at beautiful scenery was just a painting. Her Pentoshi bath slave was formerly Miss Malta 2006. •Some early scenes in Malta were filmed with Emilia Clarke and Harry Lloyd using violet contact lenses, as in the novels the Targaryens have violet-colored eyes. However, the lenses did not look right and were distracting the actors from their performances, so were dropped. •Filming of the wedding scene on the beach was disrupted by a gale from the sea that partially demolished the set. Maltese authorities were also dubious about the nudity in the scene, but ultimately allowed shooting to continue. •Actors Kit Harington, Alfie Allen and Richard Madden prepared for the haircutting scene - in which all three were shirtless - by engaging in vigorous exercises and holding their breath to enhance their abs, to the hilarity of producer David Benioff. •The broken tower, used for the scene where Bran is pushed out of the window, was later redressed, to serve as Bran's bedroom for the rest of the season. •In the tower sex scene, Lena Headey is replaced by a body double for the nude parts. Lena Headey was pregnant when this episode was shot, so there are a lot of scenes where Cersei is filmed standing or sitting behind a table or wearing a coat with a thick fur trim or dresses with long sleeves that she holds in front of herself. •An earlier version of the episode was shot as the series pilot. While similar, it had several key differences, mostly in casting: •Jennifer Ehle played Catelyn Stark. •Tamzin Merchant played Daenerys Targaryen. •Jamie Campbell Bower played Waymar Royce. •Richard Ridings played Gared. •Another difference is that the pilot featured scenes shot in Scotland (where Doune Castle stood in for Winterfell) and Morocco (where sets left over from Kingdom of Heaven stood in for Pentos), while the final version of the episode was mostly shot in the studio and on location in Northern Ireland and Malta. •The photography of Tyrion's scene with Ros and the prostitutes is also slightly different from the rest of the episode. It becomes apparent when comparing the hair color of Tyrion in different scenes. •The scene with Eddard and Robert in the crypts and later in the courtyard where Robert thanks Eddard are the only complete scenes to survive intact from the pilot shoot. Alfie Allen (Theon) can very briefly be glimpsed with blonde hair in the latter scene. These scenes are shot on film rather than the digital recordings made for the rest of the series, something most notable in the crypt scene. •Some additional shots from the pilot are used and dropped into otherwise re-shot scenes. Sansa's coverage during her discussion with Cersei and Catelyn at the feast is from the pilot (while Cersei and Catelyn's reactions are from the re-shoot), while a single shot of Jamie Campbell Bower as Waymar Royce is left in the prologue sequence. •During Daenerys's wedding feast, when one Dothraki disembowels another, Khal Drogo looks on in approval and utters an unsubtitled line. It was not subtitled because it wasn't part of the developed Dothraki language, but an ad-lib by actor Jason Mamoa. The line he said was "i te waka", which is the refrain from a well-known Maori haka (war dance). Mamoa himself performed a Maori haka in his audition tape for the role of Khal Drogo. To make the line fit within the universe, language consultant David J. Peterson later retroactively established that what Drogo said in Dothraki was "itte oakah", meaning "test your might" - an in-joke reference to the line from the infamously violent Mortal Kombat video game. •To date, this is the only episode to use on-screen titles to establish what a location is, for "Winterfell", "King's Landing: Capital of the Seven Kingdoms", and "Pentos: Across the Narrow Sea." •There is a mistake in the scene where the direwolf pups are first seen, all of the pups are either light gray and white or solid white. One, however, should be black. •The wildlings' corpses are not simply scattered around - they are arranged in a symbolic pattern of a diamond shape, bisected by a vertical line. The significance of this pattern is revealed in the seventh season. In the books, there is no mention of such pattern. •This is the only episode in which the entire Stark family is together. •Lysa's letter and the first conversation between Jaime and Cersei suggest that the Lannisters are responsible for Jon Arryn's death; both, however, turn to be "red herrings", when the truth is revealed ("First of His Name").
Commentary
Executive producers and writers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss provide a commentary for the episode for the DVD and Blu-ray release. •Tim Van Patten had a detailed storyboard for the pre-credits sequence (made by artist William Simpson) which he walked the producers through prior to filming. •The tunnel under the Wall is made of cement. •In the original pilot, the action opened immediately in the Haunted Forest (as in the novel). For the reshoot this was changed to include a shot of the Wall to provide context for the many references to it in the first two episodes. •In original edits of the scene where the Night's Watchmen leave the Wall, shots were used in which it appeared that one of the horses kept changing colors. This was noticed by Mark Hoffman after thirty viewings of the sequence, and alternate takes were substituted to fix the problem. •When the three watchmen ride into the forest, an extra takes Bronson Webb's place as Will, and is just visible as he enters the trees. •For the pilot, the wildlings in the pre-credits sequence were simply piled up. For the reshoot, Benioff and Weiss requested a far more visceral and horrific image. •Some fans have suggested that the dead wildling girl was a dummy or prop of some kind, when in fact she was a 19-year-old actress. •For the Night's Watch, costume designer Michele Clapton went to some length to make the costumes and then destroy them or dirty them down to make them look well-used. Long meetings were held in which each region's different costume requirements were discussed. •Rob Ostlere auditioned for several roles on the show and almost got the role of Viserys Targaryen before finally being cast as Ser Waymar Royce. •David Benioff was in Malta when the pre-credits sequence was shot and was sent the dailies remotely to look over. •The White Walker suits were created by prosthetics specialised Conor O'Sullivan. Though effective, they offered little visibility. •According to the producers, the name 'White Walkers' was substituted for 'Others' out of concern that the viewers would be confused between use of the general term and the specific name for the nonhuman creatures. •The producer's view of the title sequence was a raven flying over a map of Westeros, stopping at locations of interest. The CG team came up with something far more detailed and original. HBO apparently had doubts over the sequence, but Benioff and Weiss fought for it. •Ramin Djawadi came in to do the score quite late in the day. After originally being hired he had to quit due to time commitments, but was able to do the series after all. •The Starks are given a 'lighter' introduction than in the novels (and the original pilot) to establish that they are a relatively normal and happy family, before grim times arrive. •Gemma Jackson built the Winterfell courtyard in a car park. Despite this, the courtyard is a 360-degree set which can be filmed in all directions. •David Benioff cites his meetings with armorer and weaponsmith Tommy Dunne as amongst his favorites, due to a childhood spent playing Dungeons and Dragons and geeking out over swords and daggers. •Benioff and Weiss considered the series only doable if they could find great child actors for the key roles of Sansa, Arya and Bran. Casting director Nina Gold went to impressive lengths to find actors of the right caliber. •The producers used a real dead stag for the scene where the direwolf cubs are found. The stag had been dead for two days and smelt so bad that one of the props organizers threw up on the spot. •David Benioff was hooked on the first novel by the 'things I do for love' scene. He contacted D.B. Weiss, a friend of fifteen years, and suggested he read the books as well. •Jon Arryn's face was shown on the basis that if you have a murder mystery you should show the murder victim on-screen. •The godswood was designed as a more colorful place to stand out amongst the usually grey locations in the North. The godswood pool was filmed with black paint to make it more reflective. •The producers added more scenes and lines for Maester Luwin as they were impressed by Donald Sumpter's performance. •The scene where Arya watches the King's arrival outside the main castle was added at director Tim Van Patten's suggestion to make Robert's arrival more impressive. •Kristian Nairn appears as Hodor in the king's arrival scene with a beard, which the producers chose to remove later on in the season on the basis it made him look like a classics professor. •Mark Addy was the easiest casting in the series after Bean and Dinklage. He ad-libbed the lines where he greets the Stark children, which Benioff and Weiss then wrote into the script. •Benioff and Weiss are unhappy with Arya and Sansa's expositionary voice-overs talking about Cersei and Jaime being siblings, but felt it essential after early viewers were confused about their relationship. •Tyrion was given a new introduction for the TV series, to establish who he is right off the bat. Originally he didn't appear until the scene with Jon and Benjen in the courtyard at night. •The producers were impressed by Esmé Bianco's 'warm' performances, despite normally being nude and freezing cold. Originally Ros was only supposed to be in the first episode, but her role grew throughout the series. •During filming of the scenes in Illyrio's manse, Harry Lloyd pointed out to the producers that a big painting in the rear of the shot showed ships firing cannons, which was anachronistic for the setting. The producers suggest the ships could be using wildfire instead. •Emilia Clarke had to fly to Los Angeles to audition for the producers and the heads of HBO before immediately flying back to London. •Despite the beautiful vistas visible from the Maltese president's summer palace (standing in for Illyrio's manse), the scene with Daenerys, Viserys and Illyrio looking out to sea involved a greenscreen. This was to show the stone archway at the beach for the wedding scene in the distance. •The scene with Catelyn doing Sansa's hair was inserted to give Sansa a more noticeable introduction. •Originally Benjen was introduced at the feast as in the novel, but the new scene between him and Jon was written as a better introduction to Benjen's character. •The scene between Eddard and Benjen at the feast was filmed for the pilot and one of the few scenes to survive to the finished episode. •The girl sitting next to Sansa at the feast is suggested to be Jeyne Poole. •During the confrontation between Eddard and Jaime at the feast, some of the crew were visible over Jaime's shoulder. They were spotted and painted out with CGI. •The scene where Catelyn receives Lysa's letter was originally filmed as in the novels, with the letter sent in a box with a false bottom. However, explaining the box and its false compartment took too much time of the episode and was substituted for just the letter by itself. •The producers claim to have felt lucky in having have gotten Iain Glen as Ser Jorah Mormont, thereby creating more material for him especially. His nickname on-set is 'Jorah the Explorer' due to his expositionary role. •Benioff and Weiss gave one of the dragon egg props to George R.R. Martin and his wife Parris as a wedding gift. •The producers couldn't find a silver horse for use in the series, and have also had difficulty in finding white ravens for use in Season 2. •The producers unequivocally describe the sex scenes between Daenerys and Drogo in the first two episodes as rape. The scene in the first episode was rehearsed between Emilia Clarke, Jason Momoa and Tim Van Patten at length. •A pack of hounds was supposed to ride out with Robert and Eddard, but they spooked the horses, so were removed. •Several versions of the scene where Bran is thrown out the window were shot. An alternate version had a further reaction from Cersei after the push, while another had the camera swooping through the window to follow Bran down, which was pulled for being 'too fancy'. In the final shot, the falling Bran is actually a stuntwoman. •The first season premiered on Sean Bean's (the actor who plays Eddard Stark) birthday (April 17).
•The episode is adapted from the following chapters of A Game of Thrones:
•Prologue.
•Chapter 1, Bran I.
•Chapter 2, Catelyn I.
•Chapter 3, Daenerys I.
•Chapter 4, Eddard I.
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The first season of Game of Thrones is based off Book One of the fantasy novel series A Song of Ice and Fire. The book title, A Game of Thrones, is being used as the overarcing title for the whole TV series.
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