10 best moments from the Game of Thrones series premiere

Winter is Coming

The ominous Stark family motto that we first hear Ned Stark utter in the first episode is both a metaphorical and actual harbinger of the tragedy coming for the family and for Westeros.

The phrase is a warning to the young who have only known the pleasant weather of summer that another years-long winter is, indeed, coming. The motto also teases the events that will eventually destroy the Stark family.

The first episode is the first and last time we see all the Starks together in one place, mostly content with their lives as the younger among them nurse dreams of becoming lord of Winterfell, valiant knights or distinguished ladies. Knowing how their lives change dramatically even by the time the episode is over, the innocence and naivety on the faces of the Stark children in “Winter Is Coming” is all the more bittersweet.

The children who survive to the end — Sansa Stark, Arya Stark, Bran Stark and Jon Snow — beat the game of thrones and chose their own destinies and titles they’ve earned, bringing the Stark-focused series full circle.