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The effects which create castles and cities are of a high standard and the opening scene involving a foreboding, snow-covered wood was hauntingly beautiful. Visually this is on a par with many a cinematic effort. Game of Thrones offers an epic on the scale of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings and doesn't dumb-down the subject matter this is fantasy for grown-ups. He arranges for his pretty sister Daenerys to marry warlord Khal Drogo. Meanwhile, in the land across the narrow sea, Viserys Targaryen needs an army to attack King's Landing and retake the throne that he believes is rightfully his. Ned accepts but his young son Bran accidentally sees something he should not have and suffers a serious fall as a result. The King wants Ned to return with him to his capital, King's Landing, and become the King's Hand. Along with them are Cersei's two brothers, the handsome Jaime and Tyrion, a dwarf with very large appetites. She was killed before they could marry and he wed Cersei Lannister who has given him a son, Joffrey. They also welcome the arrival of Ned's good friend King Robert who was once betrothed to Ned's sister. Later, Ned and his sons find animals slain in the woods, including a she-wolf whose six pups they keep, one for each of Ned's children. A deserter from the Night Watch, the guardians of the giant ice wall at the northern boundary of their territory, says he's seen the white walkers. At the castle Winterfell, Lord Ned Stark begins to believe that something is amiss.