Bran
Bran is taking in the crisp morning air as he rides with a group of men to "see a man beheaded". Twenty men rode out and Bran is described as nervous with excitement. We learn Bran is only seven years old and his "lord father" and his brothers are with him to go see this beheading. And summer has lasted nine years.
So the seasons are completely unlike that of our reality. And it's been hinted at that summer is nearing its end.
Robb, Bran's older brother, had told Bran prior to this that the man to be beheaded had sworn himself to the King-beyond-the-Wall, Mance Rayder. Bran then starts fretting about tales Old Nan used to tell them to frighten them. But when he sees the man, Bran thinks of him as old and scrawny and he notes that he's lost both ears and one finger to frostbite. He was dressed all in black like those of the Night Watch. So Gared has been captured and returned.
Eddard Stark, Bran's father, dismounts and begins the execution process. Bran recalls little of the process, and then we learn of Ice, Eddard's sword. Made with Valyrian steel, spell-forged, and as dark as smoke, the two handed greatsword was as wide across as a man's hand and "taller even than Robb". Bran compares things to Robb a lot.
We learn of two more characters, Theon Greyjoy, who is Eddard's ward, and Jory Cassel, the captain of Eddard's household guard. Eddard commits the man to death, for reasons left forgotten by Bran, and then he lops off his head, but not before Jon Snow, Bran's bastard half-brother, insists that Bran keeps his pony under control and not to look away, because their father will know if he does.
Bran watches intently.
Robb comments on the fact that at least the "deserter" died bravely, but Jon Snow pipes up saying that it was not courage, but fear and he was already long dead before his head was cut off. Robb commits Jon to a race to the bridge, and they tear off.
Bran remains behind, knowing his pony would not keep up, and though deeply of the man's eyes. Eddard notices and asks if Bran is okay, to which Bran responds he is fine. But then he quests Robb's comments. Eddard asks Bran what he thinks, promoting self-thought, and Bran asks a very odd question to be coming out of a seven year old boy.
"Can a man still be brave if he's afraid?"
To which Eddard responds so properly with, "That is the only time a man can be brave". He further pushes Bran to think, asking him why he had to behead the man.
Bran believes it was because he was an evil wildling who steal women and sell them to the Others. We learn from Eddard that Old Nan likes to tell stories, and that the man was a deserter of the Night Watch. He then restates his question, asking why Eddard himself had to behead the man. Bran doesn't know how to respond, since King Robert has his own Headsman.
Eddard explains that because they follow the ways of the old blood, the man who deals the sentence also swings the sword. And this is because you owe it to the condemned to look in to his eyes and hear is final words. If you're incapable of that, then the committed might not deserve to die. Very well said Lord Stark.
After this Robb and Jon shout from the bridge for Eddard and Bran to come and see what they've found. Lying dead in the snow is a full grown direwolf (and the direwolf is the symbol of House Stark). About the direwolf is a full litter of pups. Robb has one in his arms and allows Bran to touch it. When Eddard asks what killed it, Robb notes there's something stuck in the lower jaw of the beast.
Eddard removes a foot of shattered antler from the animal. And then something weird happens. Everyone gets quiet, and even Bran can sense their fear.
Thus far, all I've been doing here is summarizing (albeit in quite a bit of detail) this first true chapter of the book. And an antler stuck in a wolf's jaw brings pause to the party (no pun intended)? My brain came to a screeching halt and I said "LET'S FIGURE IT OUT."
(To finish summarizing, everyone kind of ignores the omen, Robb wants to take a direwolf pup with him, Jon says yes, this is a good idea because there's two female pups and three male pups, and each of Eddard's children [excluding himself] can have one, two daughters and three sons. Eddard says okay after some banter about signs and omens, and when they go to leave, Jon hears something, rounds back, and finds an albino mute pup pushed away from the corpse of the mother. Jon says "This one is mine" and then they ride off in to the sunset happily ever after the end).
Post-Dead-Direwolf-With-An-Antler-Sticking-Out-Of-Its-Jaw Thoughts
Alright so my immediate thoughts turned to the House symbol of Stark, the direwolf. A stag killed the direwolf. So some House with the symbol of a stag is going to kill someone, most likely several members, in House Stark. Sound good? Does to me.
This whole chapter felt like setup more than anything. A good intro in to the main family (as far as I can tell), and we know a little about Eddard and his family's home of Winterfell.
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