Recap: Game of Thrones Season 1 Episode 1 "Winter is Coming" part 1

We ended the episode about halfway through. Robert asking Ned to be the Hand of the King was a good place to stop, because this action was the apex of the episode itself.

Jon Arryn's death is the main instigator for the series. It's important to note Queen Cersei's conversation with her twin brother Jaime concerning Arryn's death, and that she's concerned he may have told someone about something.

The Starks get their direwolf pups and Bran witnesses his first beheading, with surely many more to come. Jon is not a true Stark himself, made evident by Catelyn’s unabashed glare, but he’s still a brother to Bran and comforts him after the beheading.

We caught a glimpse of the White Walkers in the very beginning. White Walkers are a children's tale of frozen zombies beyond the magical Wall built to protect Westeros against them.

Game of Thrones Season 1 Episode 1: Winter is Coming.

Thankfully, not in real life.

In Westeros, however, a long summer will draw to a close and bring the foreboding chills of winter. In George R.R. Martin's enormously complex fantasy world, seasons can last years and as the smallfolk say, a long summer means a longer winter.

The TV series Game of Thrones and its accompanying book series have enthralled millions of fans across all ages and cultures. There's something about (*SPOILERS*) betrayal, gruesome murders, dragons, incest, watching Sean Bean die, and Kit Harington that really brings people together.

The show’s popularity stems not only from loyal reads of the A Song of Ice and Fire series it’s based on, but the quality ofthe show’s writing, production and actors.

In this first episode, we’re introduced to the different highborn families contending for control of their medieval, magic-shadowed land.

Main characters mean nothing to Martin’s ruthless pen, because when you play the game of thrones, you win or you die.