In return, Drogo will give Viserys the army he needs to reclaim the Iron Throne. Viserys has arranged to wed his sister Daenerys (also called "Dany") to Khal Drogo, the warlord of a Dothraki khalasar of forty thousand warriors.
In the Free City of Pentos, across the Narrow Sea, Viserys and Daenerys Targaryen live in the hospitality of Magister Illyrio Mopatis. Will, in abject horror, sees the dead wildling girl from earlier who is now walking with blue eyes, and also witnesses Gared's death, with the White Walker tossing his severed head at Will's feet. Gared attempts to escape but is caught and killed. Further investigations are curtailed when a tall, humanoid figure with glowing blue eyes, a White Walker, arrives and kills Ser Waymar with ease. Will scouts around for clues, but Gared finds a bloody piece of clothing buried under the snow. When they reach the site, the bodies have disappeared. He instead insists on seeing the corpses for himself to determine what killed them. Ser Waymar overrides the older Gared's advice that they return to Castle Black to report the situation to Lord Commander of the Night's Watch Jeor Mormont. He also finds a dead wildling girl pinned to a tree. Will, the best scout in the group, discovers a number of wildling corpses dismembered and arranged in a strange, ritualistic fashion on the ground. Three rangers of the Night's Watch: Ser Waymar Royce, Will, and Gared depart from the Wall to investigate reports of wildlings in the Haunted Forest which lies to the north, Beyond the Wall. But a startling act of treachery directed at young Bran may end up postponing their respective departures. Unable to refuse his old friend and king, Ned prepares to leave for King's Landing, as Jon Snow decides to travel north to Castle Black to join the Night's Watch, accompanied by a curious Tyrion. Robert arrives at Winterfell with his wife, Queen Cersei, and other members of the Lannister family: her twin brother Jaime, dwarf brother Tyrion, and Cersei's son and heir to the throne, 12-year-old Joffrey. Meanwhile, across the Narrow Sea in Pentos, Viserys Targaryen hatches a plan to win back the throne by forging an allegiance with the nomadic Dothraki warriors by giving its leader, Khal Drogo, his lovely sister Daenerys's hand in marriage. Returning home, Ned learns from his wife Catelyn that his mentor, Jon Arryn, has died in the Westeros capital of King's Landing, and that King Robert is on his way north to offer Ned the position as the King's Hand. A Night's Watch deserter is tracked down outside of Winterfell, prompting swift justice from Lord Eddard 'Ned' Stark, and raising concerns about the dangers in the lawless lands north of the Wall.