Editing Winter Is Coming (section)

===In the North===
[[File:The Wall.png|thumb|left|The rangers leaving the [[Wall]].]]
The episode opens with three rangers of the [[Night's Watch]] scouting beyond [[the Wall]], following the track of a group of wildings. After finding their mutilated corpses, they are surprised by the White Walkers. Two of them are killed, while the youngest is able to flee, seemingly at the will of the White Walker.

After the opening sequence, the Starks of Winterfell are introduced. [[Eddard Stark|Lord Eddard "Ned" Stark]] ([[w:Sean Bean|Sean Bean]]) is informed that a deserter of the Night's Watch, the young ranger from the prologue, has been captured. Men of the Night's Watch are sworn never to desert their northern posts, upon penalty of death. Lord Stark takes with him his heir [[Robb Stark|Robb]] ([[w:Richard Madden|Richard Madden]]), his bastard son [[Jon Snow]] ([[w:Kit Harington|Kit Harington]]), and his ten-year-old son [[Bran Stark|Bran]] ([[w:Isaac Hempstead-Wright|Isaac Hempstead-Wright]]) to come with him to witness the execution. Upon their return, the Starks find the pups of a dead [[direwolf]]. Given that the direwolf is the sigil of the family and there are as many pups as the Stark children (even an albino runt for Jon), they take the pups with them.

Back at [[Winterfell]], Lady [[Catelyn Stark]] ([[w:Michelle Fairley|Michelle Fairley]]) informs her husband that a raven has come bearing a letter that announces the death of [[Jon Arryn]], The [[Hand of the King]] and Eddard's old mentor. The message also reports that the king himself is coming to Winterfell. Winterfell receives the royal court where King [[Robert Baratheon|Robert]] ([[w:Mark Addy|Mark Addy]]) confides to his old friend Ned that he doesn't trust anyone around him. He decides to name Ned as the new Hand of the King, and to solidify the alliance between the two families he suggests that Ned's daughter, [[Sansa Stark]] (Sophie Turner) be betrothed to his son and the heir of the crown, Prince [[Joffrey]] (Jack Gleeson). At night, Catelyn receives a troubling message from her sister, Lord Arryn's widow. She suspects her husband Jon was murdered by the king's family-in-law, the powerful [[House Lannister|Lannisters]]. Ned, who at first was reluctant to accept the position of Hand of the King, finally does so in order to protect his old friend.On an abandoned section of Winterfell, young Bran enjoys climbing on the walls where he stumbles on Queen [[Cersei Lannister]] ([[w:Lena Headey|Lena Headey]]) having sex with her twin brother [[Jaime Lannister]] ([[w:Nikolaj Coster-Waldau|Nikolaj Coster-Waldau]]). In order to keep the incestuous relationship a secret, Jaime shoves the boy out of the high window.