15 years ago, a little show called Game of Thrones premiered on HBO. It was watched by 2.2 million people that Sunday night, a respectable debut for a new fantasy series, but not one that suggested one of the biggest TV series of all time had just launched. The show grew in scale, spectacle, and, of course, budget, and the audience grew with it. It makes looking back at that first episode particularly fascinating all these years later as, aside from feeling extremely old and a little nostalgic, it might even be a little bit underrated.
“Winter is Coming” is rarely talked about among the very best Game of Thrones episodes, but it is an incredible achievement. Indeed, the original, unaired pilot, which was reportedly quite disastrous, highlights how it could’ve all gone wrong. The sheer number of characters it’s balancing, right from the beginning, is astonishing, while plunging viewers into a world with ice zombies, dragon eggs (unhatched, for now), and a rich mythology and history that makes it feel lived in.
There is a lot of exposition, but it handles it all rather deftly, and right from the get-go we get a sense of who these characters are. It might not be fully-formed, but it lays a lot of very strong foundations. That includes some moments that wouldn’t be paid off until years later and, whether deliberate or not, make rewatching the first installment even more fun.
After the first episode’s ice cold open, we’re introduced to the Stark family, with Lord Eddard having no choice but to behead Will for deserting the Night’s Watch. The kids are there to watch and hopefully learn some valuable lessons, but what’s particularly interesting when knowing where the show goes is when Ned says, “King of the Andals and the First Men.” It notably pans to and lingers on both Jon and Bran at that point, teasing both of their futures.
Jon Snow’s real name was Aegon Targaryen, and as the legitimate son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark, he was the rightful heir to the Iron Throne. We know for certain that showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss were aware of this fact by the time of shooting Thrones Episode 1, because when they first met with George R.R. Martin, the question they answered that secured them the gig was, “Who is Jon Snow’s mother?” Because of that, it’s possible that this was a deliberate hint of Jon’s identity, since they knew they’d be getting to that, and might even have thought he’d end up on the Iron Throne.
It’s harder to say the Bran tease could’ve been deliberate. The earliest point at which Benioff and Weiss figured out the endgame – or at least, the key points of it – with Martin that we know of came in 2013, as they had a meeting since, at that point, it seemed clear the show was going to overtake the books.
Bran becoming king at the end of A Song of Ice and Fire is one of the things that came directly from Martin, and there’s no evidence the showrunners knew beforehand, though it’s possible they’d been informed of a few options, or even simply thought it could be Bran. Regardless, when watching the show back, it’s a fun little detail that does add a nice sense of foreshadowing to it.
After the Night’s Watch deserter is dealt with, it’s time for something Ned dreads even more: the arrival of King Robert Baratheon and his royal entourage, including several Lannisters, with the purpose of asking him to be Hand of the King. This leads us to a great scene where Robert greets the Starks, all of whom are lined up to meet him. It packs a lot of character work into a short span of time, but what’s also notable are the only four Starks that the king touches:
What do those four Starks have in common? They’re the ones who die in the show. Apparently the touch of Robert is a curse, which is maybe why Cersei did everyone she could to avoid him. Again, it may not have been a deliberate inclusion in the show, although at that point they would have known that Ned, Cat, and Robb were all going to die, and when (what happens with Rickon in the books is TBC), but it’s another fascinating wrinkle to watching these opening moments back.
Indeed, Robert’s interactions with the Starks who don’t die still loosely fit with their fates. He asks Arya her name, and her story is all about identity (becoming No One and then reclaiming her name). He calls Sansa a “pretty one,” and her arc is about the crushing reality of the life as a Lady she’d always dreamed of. He asks Bran to show him his muscles and tells him he’ll be a soldier, and Bran’s arc, having dreamed of being a knight, is that being taken away from him, and then ending up something greater (and he does almost die at the end of the episode).
Game of Thrones Season 1, Episode 1 is full of fantastic character moments like these, but the foreshadowing in particular makes it so great to revisit, even 15 years later.
Game of Thrones is available to stream on HBO Max.
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