Game of Thrones Recap: Winter is Coming

The Gate opens and three men on horses go down a dark ominous tunnel, they emerge on the other side of a giant wall of ice. From the looks of things winter isn’t coming, it’s here, as the men dismount and investigate, one finds an entire wildling village slaughtered, with heads in pikes, and a child hanging from a tree. The bodies are laid out in a circle with a line down the middle. He tells the others. The leader wants to know how they died, though the others would rather go back. They go back to the camp, but all are gone. They go to find where the bodies have gone, when they’re attacked. The leader is cut down first, and the horses run. The child is spotted, and the young man who originally saw the camp runs in fear. He sees the last member of his group beheaded.

A large group on horseback find the wandering man, they capture him with swords drawn. A single rider goes to the keep.

Young Bran practices his archery as his mother and father watch. Ayra practices her stitching bored as she listens to her brothers. Bran gets coaching from his brothers, and Ayra surprises everyone when she shoots a perfect bulls eye from further back. Lord Eddard Stark, Ned, gets news of the deserter, and sends someone to tell the boys, including 10 year old Bran to come for the execution. The deserter mumbles to himself. He doesn’t cry for absolution, just tells Stark that he saw white walkers, and to warn his family that they are coming. Stark softly gives his sentence and them swings his large sword and beheads the man. Bran is told by his brothers to not look away, and he doesn’t. Stark tells his son that the white walkers have been gone for a thousand years when Bran asks, but he doesn’t sound so sure.

Upon investigating a carcass on the road home, the party come across a liter of direwolf puppies, and their dead mother. Stark thinks to put them down, but Bran begs otherwise. Bastard son, John says that there are five pups one for each of his children, as the direwolf is a symbol of the household. He hands off the pups, and then he finds a sixth pure white pup, just like his last name Snow.

The bells ring, the hand of the king has died. Jamie Lannister tries to comfort his sister the Queen. She fears that John Arryn told someone their secrets that could lead to their beheading. But he thinks otherwise, knowing they’d already be dead if he had.

Catelyn Stark goes to her husband, Ned and tells him of his brother in law’s, John’s death, and that the king rides toward their home Winterfell. He knows that can only mean that he’s going to be offered the job.

The Stark boys prepare for the arrival, and climber Bran warns his mother of their imminent arrival. His mother makes him promise no more climbing, and he does, but she knows he is lying.

The Starks await the Royal party, Sansa with her eye on the prince. When the King finally arrives, it’s a tense moment with he and Stark. The king says “You’ve got fat.” And Stark merely looks at the King’s waist, both embrace each other. The King looks over the children, talking to each, and the Queen finally makes her way over when the King takes Stark off to the crypt to pay his respects to Stark’s sister, his first love. The King offers Ned the job, but Stark is unsure. The King tells him that they will join their houses via his son and Stark’s daughter.

Jamie goes looking for his brother, and he finds Tyrion in a whorehouse nearby. He relays their sister’s summoning.

The King still feels the loss of Ned’s sister at the hands of the Targaryen. The Targaryen’s hide away on a nearby island. Viserys exposes his sister’s, Daenerys, body, caressing her, telling her that he needed her to be perfect today or that she’d wake the dragon. Gross. After the dirty groping she plunges herself into hot steaming bath. Bathed and ready the Targaryen’s await the Dothraki horsemen. Visery tells his that her intended husband Khal Drogo has never been defeated in battle. She walks to meet him, he eye fucks her, and rides off. Visery’s plots his return to the Iron throne. Daenerys doesn’t want to be Queen, but Visery makes her understand that he will do what he needs to, to regain his crown. Telling her “I would let his whole tribe fuck you, all 40,000 men and their horses too if that’s what it took.”

Sensa wonders if Prince Joffrey will like her. She begs her mother to talk her father into taking the King’s offer so that she may marry the prince.

At the King’s feast Caitlyn and the Queen sit together. Outside, Snow practices his sword, he wasn’t invited to the feast to avoid insulting the Lannisters. His uncle talks of the wall, and Snow begs to be taken when he goes back, but his uncle tells him to think what he’s really giving up. Tyrion, the Imp, gets to know Snow. He gives the bastard some advice, knowing how it feels to be an outcast.

Ned speaks to his brother about the deserter that he beheaded which leads to talk of the strange events that have occurred recently. The Queen Cersei talks with Catelyn and Sensa. She compliments Sensa, and even as she says all the right things, Catelyn looks uneasy. Jamie makes taunts Ned, who holds his own, making it clear there is no love loss between the two.

Later alone, the Starks receive a letter from Catelyn’s sister. She says that her husband was murdered, and that Lannister’s conspire against the throne, which makes the decision on the hand offer. Ned will take the job to protect the king, even if it means his life.

At the wedding, Daenerys receives a box of snakes.. Visery’s continues to whine about his crown, and there is a death which pleases Khal Drogo. To the Dothraki, it is a good omen for the marriage. Daenerys looks at it all in horror. She finally receives a gift she actually likes, three petrified dragon’s eggs from the Magister. The Khal leaves, and Daenerys slowly follows behind, fear etched on her features. He leads her to a white mare, asking how to say thank you in Dothraki, but there is no word. The Khal lifts her onto her horse, her brother tells her to “make him happy” before they ride off. Alone after the sun has set, Khal strips her down. She weeps, but he doesn’t speak much of her language, and he takes her from behind.

The Starks prepare for a hunt. The king thanks Ned for accepting the job, his last loyal friend. Bran takes to climbing again, this time some ruins, with his direwolf watching down below. He hears some sounds coming from inside, and goes to investigate. Jamie Lannister has his sister bent over, moaning like a whore.  They catching the peeping Bran, and Jamie throws him out of the high window.