Winter is Coming

King Robert Baratheon majestically arrives in Winterfell, the home of his old and trusted friend, Eddard Stark, Warden of the North, with an important offer.

On the eastern continent, the exiled Princess Daenerys Targaryen is promised to Khal Drogo, a warlord of the Dothraki with tens of thousands of warriors at his command. Her brother, Viserys, callously plans to win Drogo's allegiance with the marriage, so that he may return home to Westeros and reclaim the Iron Throne, which was seized by force from his father, the mad King by Robert. In the frozen lands, beyond the Wall, the wildlings are on the move to the alarm of the Night's Watch. But
something else is stirring even further north.

The show opens with the men of the Night's Watch who have departed from the wall to investigate wildlings, the crow's natural enemies. Right from the off, the show gripped me because they presented some disturbing corpses and it was dead silent. This eerie nature confirmed my immediate liking for the show because I love thrilling types of scenes like that of Game of Thrones. The men investigated the bodies themselves, but when they returned to visit them, they had disappeared. Enter white walkers, gruesome looking things and better zombies than those in the Walking Dead. As you know, all hell broke loose, the white walkers killed two men of the Night's Watch and the other fled because he most likely dropped a bomb in his pants that would have probably killed the white walkers had he not been born a coward.

Back in House Stark, Brandon is practicing archery but can't seem to hit his mark. His half brother, Jon Snow, reminds little Bran that his father's watching. He tries to shoot again and misses his mark. 17-year old Rob Stark does not hide his laughter along with Jon. Another genre that I love watching is comedy and I was pleased to see that there were aspects of comedy involved as well. Eddard Stark, more commonly known as Ned, has news that one man deserted his post at the Night's Watch and should be executed. Ned brings his two true-born sons along with his bastard son, Jon Snow and his ward, Theon Greyjoy. Enter the first beheading on Game of Thrones. Quick and painless. Sometimes these gruesome deaths are never really enjoyable, so I avoid them. On their way back to Winterfell, they see a dead direwolf who gave birth to 5 pups. One for each Stark children. Then Jon Snow discovers a 6th direwolf and its fur is as white as snow, Greyjoy says that ones for him. I'm no fan of dogs, but those pubs were adorable!

In King's Landing, Jon Arryn, the Hand of the King, is dead. The Queen, Cersei Lannister Baratheon is concerned about Jon knowing something he shouldn't have known, but her twin brother, Ser Jamie Lannister reassures her. This has got the audience very interested indeed, and we all long to know what it is that Jon Arryn knew about the Lannisters.

King Robert Baratheon and his Queen with her two brothers journey to Winterfell to name Lord Ned Stark as the new Hand of the King, Winterfell begins to dress up for the occasion. Robert says to Ned that they should join houses by uniting Prince Joffery and Ned's daughter, Sansa Stark. They all attend a feast as Ned accepts the King's offer to become his new hand. A joyous occasion for all, although all the Starks are reluctant to join into the festivities. One Stark is rather ecstatic about her moving to King's Landing, Sansa - she's somewhat attracted to the Prince. He seems like a nice little boy from this opening episode.

Across the Narrow Sea, Viserys Targaryen is hungry for his throne. Stripped of his father's wealth, army and home that was taken by King Robert by force, he sells the one thing that is of any value to him, his sister Daenerys or Dany. Dany marries Khal Drogo and in return, Viserys will get his army of 40,000 Dothraki nomads. Dany is forced into this marriage and her brother would let her be raped by all of Drogo's men and his horses if that's what it took to get his throne back. What a dick. I complain of having the worst brothers imaginable, but I can agree that her's is worst. On her wedding day, it looks as if she sold her soul, that poor soul.

Brandon climbs up the walls, which he does on a daily basis. He hears something coming from the tower on which he was climbing. He peaks through the window and sees the Queen and her brother engaged in a sexual act. Unnatural! Ser Jamie, as cold as the upcoming winter, pushes ten-year old Bran out of the window, hoping for his death so that the Queen and her brother's dark secret remains hushed. After years of climbing and never falling, they should change the name of Winterfell to Brandon-fell.