Three men of the Night's Watch ride out beyond the Wall after receiving reports that lawless tribes of wildings have been sighted near the border. Will, a slight ranger, verifies this information when he finds the dismembered corpses of the group's men, women and children scattered in a frozen glade. He carries the news back to his comrades, Gared and Ser Waymar Royce, but before they can investigate further, the bodies disappear. As Will searches the area, the forest fills with Royce's screams and the gallop of the group's bolting horses. Will races through the trees and comes face to face with Gared - moments before a shadowy creature with glowing blue eyes severs his friend's head and tosses it at Will's feet.

In the courtyard of Winterfell, young Bran Stark struggles with archery practice as his family looks on. His tomboy sister, Arya Stark, abandons her training in needlework to fire a shot over Bran's shoulder with her own bow, skewering the target's center and sending the Starks into laughter. Their mirth is cut short, however, by news from Ser Rodrick Cassel, the house's Master at Arms: "The guards rode in from the hills. They've captured a deserter from Night's Watch." Lord Ned Stark knows immediately what he must do, and orders his boys to saddle their horses.

On a hillside outside the castle walls, the ranger Will stands before Ned, understanding that his sentence is death but swearing that he saw White Walkers. Ned draws his family's ancient blade, called Ice, and metes out the punishment as his sons - even young Bran - look on. Afterward, he tells his the boy: "Our way is the old way. The man who passes the sentence should swing the sword." When Bran asks his father if the deserter really saw the White Walkers, Ned assures him that they've been gone for thousands of years.

On their return to Winterfell, the party comes across a dead direwolf - a monstrous creature rarely seen south of the Wall. The wolf birthed a litter of pups before her death, and Jon Snow, bastard son to Ned, convinces his father that it's an omen: The direwolf is the sigil of House Stark, and Ned's five true-born children are meant to have the pups. As they walk away, Jon spies an albino runt cast to the side and takes it for himself.

Tyrion Lannister wakes up hungover and filthy in the Starks' dog kennel, with his nephew Prince Joffrey Baratheon standing outside mocking him. Tyrion orders Joffrey to offer his sympathies to their hosts following Bran Stark's fall. The prince laughs at the idea, and Tyrion slaps him hard across the face ... several times. Speechless, Joffrey rushes away.

Tyrion joins his brother and sister, Ser Jaime Lannister and Queen Cersei Baratheon, for breakfast. He tells them that he plans to ride to the Wall ... and that the maester says that Bran will live. Cersei looks concerned, but Jaime seems mostly miffed, saying that he'd prefer a good clean death, rather than living as a crippled grotesque. "Speaking for the grotesques," Tyrion replies, "I'd have to disagree ... I hope the boy does wake. I'd be very interested to hear what he has to say."

Lady Catelyn Stark stands vigil over her unconscious son. The queen visits and tells the story of an infant she lost to a battle with fever. She promises to pray to the Mother for Catelyn, who unknowingly thanks the woman who's responsible for nearly killing her son.

The bastard Jon Snow is preparing to leave for the Wall when Jaime Lannister approaches him at the forge. He shakes Snow's hand and sneers while thanking him for protecting the realm against "white walkers and whatnot." Jon shakes off the insult and visits Arya Stark in her chambers, where she packs her belongings for the journey to King's Landing. Jon gives her a slender sword, which she names "Needle." He hugs his half-sister and gives her a simple primer on swordplay: "Stick them with the pointy end."

Jon visits Bran in his bedchamber to say farewell to the boy, who may never wake up, as Catelyn glares at him. Ned walks in just in time to hear her order Jon to leave the room. She tells her husband she can't bear to stay behind while he rides south again, like he did during the war. But Ned knows there's no alternative. "You can," he tells her. "You must."

Jon and Ned leave Winterfell with the king's riders, and soon the time comes for them to part ways. Jon asks his father if his mother is still alive, and Ned tells him, "Next time we see each other, we'll talk about your mother. I promise." Ned turns south with the king while Jon follows Benjen and Tyrion toward the Wall.

On the trip north, Jon meets some other Night's Watch recruits and learns that the more typical members of the brotherhood are rapers and murderers who've chosen the Wall over the gallows. Amused but sympathetic, Tyrion asks Jon if he really believes that the Watch protects the realm from "grumpkins and snarks" that live beyond the Wall. The young man no longer has an answer.