# Winter Is Coming
**"Winter Is Coming"** is the first episode of the HBO fantasy television series *Game of Thrones*, first broadcast on April 17, 2011. Written by [David Benioff](https://www.edgepedia.org/david-benioff) and [D. B. Weiss](https://www.edgepedia.org/d-b-weiss) and directed by Timothy Van Patten, it adapts the opening of [George R. R. Martin](https://www.edgepedia.org/george-r-r-martin)'s 1996 novel *A Game of Thrones*, the first book in the series *A Song of Ice and Fire*, and takes its title from the motto of House Stark.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/game_of_thrones/s01/e01) • [2](https://ecency.com/%40drax/television-review-winter-is-coming-game-of-thrones-s1x01-2011)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Series | Season 1, Episode 1 of *Game of Thrones* (HBO), drama and fantasy[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/game_of_thrones/s01/e01) |
| First aired | April 17, 2011[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/game_of_thrones/s01/e01) |
| Writer / director | David Benioff and D. B. Weiss (screenwriters); Timothy Van Patten (director)[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/game_of_thrones/s01/e01) |
| Source material | Adapts the opening of Martin's 1996 novel *A Game of Thrones*; the cold open mirrors the book's prologue, and the episode covers the novel's first 85 pages[3](https://www.medievalists.net/2011/04/A-GAME-OF-THRONES-WINTER-IS-COMING-SE01-EP01/) • [2](https://ecency.com/%40drax/television-review-winter-is-coming-game-of-thrones-s1x01-2011) |
| Initial viewership | About 2.2 million viewers on first broadcast; six additional same-night airings added 1.2 million more[4](https://winteriscoming.net/2021/04/03/how-game-of-thrones-beat-the-odds-get-made/) |
| Critical reception | 100% Tomatometer score from 16 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes; consensus calls it "an introduction to a wonderfully bleak journey that honors its source material with stellar execution and an impressive cast"[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/game_of_thrones/s01/e01) |
| Ending shock | Bran Stark, age 10, catches Jaime Lannister with Queen Cersei and is pushed from a tower window[3](https://www.medievalists.net/2011/04/A-GAME-OF-THRONES-WINTER-IS-COMING-SE01-EP01/) |
## Story and structure
The episode opens beyond the Wall, where three rangers of the Night's Watch, Ser Waymar Royce, Gared, and Will, ride out from Castle Black on a scouting mission north of the Wall.[5](https://winteriscoming.net/2022/08/26/house-of-the-dragon-vs-game-of-thrones-which-had-the-better-series-premiere/) In a snow-covered forest one of the men finds bodies strewn as grisly trophies, and when the corpses reanimate with pale skin and glowing blue eyes, the White Walkers attack.[3](https://www.medievalists.net/2011/04/A-GAME-OF-THRONES-WINTER-IS-COMING-SE01-EP01/) A survivor flees and deserts, and the episode's first scenes at Winterfell follow [Ned Stark](https://www.edgepedia.org/ned-stark) as he executes the deserter for abandoning the Watch, a lifetime post whose desertion is punishable by beheading.[3](https://www.medievalists.net/2011/04/A-GAME-OF-THRONES-WINTER-IS-COMING-SE01-EP01/) One reviewer notes that the opening is identical to the prologue of the book, a choice that leaves questions unanswered and draws viewers into the story.[3](https://www.medievalists.net/2011/04/A-GAME-OF-THRONES-WINTER-IS-COMING-SE01-EP01/)
At Winterfell the episode introduces the Stark household: Lord Eddard (Ned) Stark, his wife Catelyn, their children Robb, Sansa, Arya, Bran, and Rickon, and Ned's bastard son [Jon Snow](https://www.edgepedia.org/jon-snow-character). The boys find a dead direwolf, an animal never seen south of the Wall, with pups beside her body; Jon argues that the sigil of House Stark was meant for the Stark children, and keeps for himself a sixth, white runt of the litter.[3](https://www.medievalists.net/2011/04/A-GAME-OF-THRONES-WINTER-IS-COMING-SE01-EP01/) Catelyn brings news that Jon Arryn, the Hand of the King, has died of a fever, and that King Robert Baratheon is riding north from King's Landing with his queen, [Cersei Lannister](https://www.edgepedia.org/cersei-lannister), and their family.[3](https://www.medievalists.net/2011/04/A-GAME-OF-THRONES-WINTER-IS-COMING-SE01-EP01/)
**Three plotlines.** The premiere sets the show's major storylines in motion simultaneously. In the north, Robert asks Ned to serve as the new Hand of the King, and Ned accepts, while a letter from Catelyn's sister Lysa warns that Jon Arryn was murdered by the Lannisters and that Robert is in danger.[3](https://www.medievalists.net/2011/04/A-GAME-OF-THRONES-WINTER-IS-COMING-SE01-EP01/) Across the Narrow Sea, the exiled [Viserys Targaryen](https://www.edgepedia.org/viserys-targaryen) plans to regain the Iron Throne, lost to Robert seventeen years earlier, by marrying his sister Daenerys to the Dothraki warlord Khal Drogo, who promises an army in return.[3](https://www.medievalists.net/2011/04/A-GAME-OF-THRONES-WINTER-IS-COMING-SE01-EP01/) The episode closes with Bran climbing a tower at Winterfell and discovering the queen and her twin brother Jaime in an incestuous relationship; Jaime pushes the boy from the window, saying "The things I do for love."[3](https://www.medievalists.net/2011/04/A-GAME-OF-THRONES-WINTER-IS-COMING-SE01-EP01/)
## The title phrase as a story promise
The episode's title comes from the warning of House Stark, and the phrase recurs throughout the series. Screenwriting analysis describes those three words as a slow-burn element planted in the pilot that could not pay off until the final episode, a promise the show kept when winter, in the form of an invasion from the snowy lands north of Westeros, arrived at the cliffhanger ending of season seven.[6](https://www.finaldraft.com/blog/all-the-write-moves-game-of-thrones) The phrase also gives the episode a structural oddity noted by analysts: it is unusual and commercially risky for a pilot not to deliver a conventional three-act structure within a single hour.[7](https://savethecat.com/beat-sheets/game-of-thrones-pilot-winter-is-coming-beat-sheet)
## Reception
Contemporary reviews were largely positive. [The Daily Beast](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-daily-beast) recalls that reviews at the time were "entranced by the scope of production, if slightly dismissive of the series as too niche and directed at a certain fantasy-fan demographic."[8](https://www.thedailybeast.com/game-of-thrones-was-the-hbo-shows-pilot-actually-any-good/) Patrick Smith of the Daily Telegraph wrote that the plot is "intentionally complex" and that the production scale "is astonishing," making the show "look like a Hollywood movie."[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/game_of_thrones/s01/e01) James Poniewozik of TIME described a pilot that, unlike many first episodes, did not tell a single story but "just set a very large table."[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/game_of_thrones/s01/e01) [The A.V. Club](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-a-v-club) later argued that the premiere "does the impossible" in adapting Martin's material, and noted its movie-quality costumes and props.[9](https://www.avclub.com/how-did-we-ever-get-so-swept-up-in-game-of-thrones-jus-1846663465)
The episode's roughly 2.2 million first-broadcast viewers were respectable for HBO at the time but gave no hint of the record-shattering audiences later seasons would reach.[4](https://winteriscoming.net/2021/04/03/how-game-of-thrones-beat-the-odds-get-made/) When the eighth and final season opened in 2019, its premiere "Winterfell" was framed as a deliberate callback to the series premiere, gathering all surviving Stark siblings under one roof for the first time since season one.[10](https://time.com/5570434/game-of-thrones-season-8-episode-1-review/)
## References
1. [Game of Thrones – Season 1, Episode 1: Winter Is Coming, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/game_of_thrones/s01/e01)
2. [Television Review: Winter Is Coming (Game of Thrones, S1X01, 2011)](https://ecency.com/%40drax/television-review-winter-is-coming-game-of-thrones-s1x01-2011)
3. [A Game of Thrones: "Winter is Coming" – SE01 EP01, Medievalists.net (Sandra Alvarez, April 18, 2011)](https://www.medievalists.net/2011/04/A-GAME-OF-THRONES-WINTER-IS-COMING-SE01-EP01/)
4. [How Game of Thrones beat the odds to get made, Winter is Coming (site)](https://winteriscoming.net/2021/04/03/how-game-of-thrones-beat-the-odds-get-made/)
5. [House of the Dragon vs Game of Thrones: Which had the better series premiere?](https://winteriscoming.net/2022/08/26/house-of-the-dragon-vs-game-of-thrones-which-had-the-better-series-premiere/)
6. [All The Write Moves: 'Game of Thrones', Final Draft blog (Peter Hanson)](https://www.finaldraft.com/blog/all-the-write-moves-game-of-thrones)
7. [Game of Thrones Pilot – "Winter Is Coming" Beat Sheet, Save the Cat!](https://savethecat.com/beat-sheets/game-of-thrones-pilot-winter-is-coming-beat-sheet)
8. ['Game of Thrones': Was the HBO Show's Pilot Actually Any Good?, The Daily Beast](https://www.thedailybeast.com/game-of-thrones-was-the-hbo-shows-pilot-actually-any-good/)
9. [How did we ever get so swept up in Game Of Thrones? Just look to the pilot, The A.V. Club](https://www.avclub.com/how-did-we-ever-get-so-swept-up-in-game-of-thrones-jus-1846663465)
10. [The Game of Thrones Season 8 Premiere Was Like a Dysfunctional Family Reunion That Never Ends, TIME](https://time.com/5570434/game-of-thrones-season-8-episode-1-review/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Fictional worlds and series reference apparatus › Episode lists, seasons, and broadcast lifecycle › Series premieres and finales*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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