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Game of Thrones – Season 1, Episode 1 Winter Is Coming

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Game of Thrones – Season 1, Episode 1

Winter Is Coming

Aired Apr 17, 2011

Drama

Fantasy

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100%

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16 Reviews

A Night's Watch deserter is tracked down; Lord Eddard "Ned" Stark learns that his mentor has died; Viserys Targaryen plots to win back the throne; Robert arrives at Winterfell with his family; Ned prepares to leave for King's Landing.

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Critics Consensus

"Winter is Coming" is an introduction to a wonderfully bleak journey that honors its source material with stellar execution and an impressive cast.

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Sean Bean

Lord Eddard "Ned" Stark

Mark Addy

King Robert Baratheon

Peter Dinklage

Tyrion Lannister

Lena Headey

Queen Cersei Lannister

Michelle Fairley

Lady Catelyn Stark

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau

Ser Jaime Lannister

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James Poniewozik

TIME Magazine

03/14/2019

And there you have your pilot-a very different one from many first episodes, even on HBO, in that it didn't so much tell a single story or establish symmetries among the subplots. Rather, it just set a very large table.

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Alan Sepinwall

Uproxx

03/12/2019

Many fine actors on display here, who are often required to establish what their character is about in very short order, and usually do.

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Patrick Smith

Daily Telegraph (UK)

03/12/2019

The plot is intentionally complex, too, while the scale of the production is astonishing: with its sumptuous scenery and nifty camerawork, Game of Thrones looks like a Hollywood movie.

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Tony Black

Cultural Conversation

04/02/2022

3.5/5

What we find in Winter Is Coming is a potent and telling mixture of prophecy, portent, symbology and anxiety about a world on the verge of major sociological and historical change.

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Riley McAtee

The Ringer

04/19/2021

The pilot isn't perfect...but it gets the job done more elegantly than it has any right to, and that's before considering all the chaos that was going on behind the scenes.

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TK Burton

Pajiba

04/10/2019

I must say that while it was by no means perfect, HBO certainly appears up to the task.

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Synopsis

A Night's Watch deserter is tracked down; Lord Eddard "Ned" Stark learns that his mentor has died; Viserys Targaryen plots to win back the throne; Robert arrives at Winterfell with his family; Ned prepares to leave for King's Landing.

Director: Timothy Van Patten
Executive Producer: David Benioff, D.B. Weiss, Carolyn Strauss, Guymon Casady, Vince Gerardis, Ralph Vicinanza, George R.R. Martin
Screenwriter: David Benioff, D.B. Weiss
Network: HBO
Rating: TV-MA
Genre: Drama, Fantasy
Original Language: English
Release Date: Apr 17, 2011