Winter Is Coming

"**Winter Is Coming**"
"Winter Is Coming"
Game of Thrones episode
Episode no.	Season 1; Episode 1
Directed by	Tim Van Patten
Written by	David Benioff; D. B. Weiss;
Featured music	Ramin Djawadi
Cinematography by	Alik Sakharov
Editing by	Oral Norrie Ottey
Original air date	April 17, 2011
Running time	61 minutes
Guest appearances
	Donald Sumpter as Maester Luwin; Jamie Sives as Jory Cassel; Ron Donachie as Rodrik Cassel; Joseph Mawle as Benjen Stark; Roger Allam as Magister Illyrio; Dar Salim as Qotho; Esmé Bianco as Ros; Susan Brown as Septa Mordane; Bronson Webb as Will; John Standing as Jon Arryn; Rob Ostlere as Waymar Royce; Dermot Keaney as Gared; Art Parkinson as Rickon Stark; Callum Wharry as Tommen Baratheon; Aimee Richardson as Myrcella Baratheon; Kristian Nairn as Hodor; Rania Zouari as a Pentoshi servant; Ian Whyte and Spencer Wilding as a White Walker; Claire Wright as a Wildling girl; Jason Momoa as Khal Drogo;

"Winter Is Coming" is the series premiere of the HBO medieval fantasy television series Game of Thrones. The first episode of the first season, it was written by series creators David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, in an adaptation of the first chapters of George R. R. Martin's book A Game of Thrones. The episode was directed by Tim Van Patten, redoing the work done by director Tom McCarthy in an unaired pilot.

As the first episode of the series, it introduces the setting and the main characters of the show. The episode centers on the Stark family, and how Ned Stark gets involved in the court politics after King Robert Baratheon chooses him to replace his recently deceased chief administrator ("Hand of the King"). The episode received largely positive reviews, with major praise going to the acting performances and production values, and was seen initially by 2.2 million viewers. A week before the episode first aired, HBO made the first 15 minutes available as an Internet preview.

The title of the episode is the motto (referred to as "House Words" in-universe) of House Stark, which is spoken several times in the episode and the series.