North of the Wall, three rangers of the Night's Watch discover a camp of wildlings slaughtered and arranged in a ritual pattern by an unknown force. A White Walker kills two of the rangers; the survivor, Will, flees south. In Winterfell, Lord Eddard Stark, Warden of the North, executes the deserter Will for abandoning his post, bringing his sons Robb, Bran, and his bastard Jon Snow to witness the justice. On the ride home, the Stark children find a dead direwolf with five pups and an orphaned albino runt; Ned allows each child to keep one, and Jon claims the runt he names Ghost. A raven arrives at Winterfell carrying news that Jon Arryn, Hand of the King, has died, and that King Robert Baratheon rides north. Robert arrives with his queen, Cersei Lannister, their children including Prince Joffrey, Cersei's twin brother Jaime Lannister of the Kingsguard, and their brother Tyrion Lannister, a sharp-witted dwarf. Robert visits the crypt beneath Winterfell to pay respects to Lyanna Stark, Ned's dead sister and Robert's former betrothed, then asks Ned to serve as the new Hand of the King. Robert also proposes a marriage between Joffrey and Ned's eldest daughter Sansa Stark. Ned hesitates, but his wife Catelyn Stark urges caution rather than refusal. In Pentos, across the Narrow Sea, exiled prince Viserys Targaryen arranges the marriage of his younger sister Daenerys to Khal Drogo, the powerful leader of a Dothraki horde, in exchange for Drogo's army to reclaim the Iron Throne. Daenerys, terrified and powerless, submits to the arrangement. At the wedding, the exiled knight Jorah Mormont presents himself to Daenerys and offers her books of Westerosi history. Catelyn receives a secret letter from her sister Lysa Arryn, Jon Arryn's widow, claiming the Lannisters murdered her husband. This accusation transforms Robert's offer from an honor into a duty: Ned decides he must go south to investigate. Bran Stark, climbing the towers of Winterfell, stumbles upon Cersei and Jaime in a sexual embrace. Jaime pushes the boy from the window to protect their secret, leaving Bran broken on the ground below.