Game of Thrones is an American fantasy drama television series created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss. The series is based on George R. R. Martin's series of fantasy novels, A Song of Ice and Fire. The series takes place on the fictional continents of Westeros and Essos, and chronicles the power struggles among noble families as they fight for control of the Iron Throne of the Seven Kingdoms. The series starts when House Stark, led by Lord Eddard "Ned" Stark (Sean Bean), is drawn into schemes surrounding King Robert Baratheon (Mark Addy).^[1]

The series premiered on April 17, 2011, on HBO. David Benioff and D. B. Weiss both serve as executive producers, along with Carolyn Strauss, Frank Doelger, Bernadette Caulfield, and George R. R. Martin.^[2][3] Filming for the series has taken place in a number of locations, including Croatia, Ireland, Iceland, and Spain.^[4][5][6] Episodes were broadcast on Sunday at 9:00 pm Eastern Time,^[7][8] and the episodes are between 50 and 82 minutes in length.^[9] The first seven seasons are available on DVD and Blu-ray.

The series concluded with its eighth season, which premiered on April 14, 2019, and consisted of six episodes.^[10][11][12] The show's episodes have won numerous awards including three Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series.^[3] During the course of the series, 73 episodes of Game of Thrones aired over eight seasons.

In the continent of Westeros, Warden of the North Eddard "Ned" Stark becomes "Hand of the King" (chief adviser) to King Robert Baratheon. When Ned's son Bran stumbles upon Queen Cersei having sex with her twin brother Jaime Lannister, Jaime cripples Bran. After moving to King's Landing, the capital of the Seven Kingdoms, Ned discovers that Prince Joffrey and his siblings were incestuously fathered by Jaime. When King Robert dies, Ned does not recognize Joffrey as the rightful heir and is executed. Ned's bastard son Jon Snow joins the Night's Watch, an ancient brotherhood sworn to watch over the massive Wall in the North, which separates the Seven Kingdoms from hostile tribes known as "Wildlings" and mythological humanoid creatures known as "White Walkers". In the continent of Essos, the exiled Viserys Targaryen, son of King Aerys who was deposed by King Robert, marries off his sister Daenerys to the Dothraki warlord Khal Drogo, in exchange for an army to return to and take over Westeros. Eventually Drogo kills Viserys and Drogo later dies himself. After Drogo dies, Daenerys manages to hatch three dragons.

Ned's oldest son Robb has declared war on the Lannisters and holds Jaime prisoner. However, his mother Catelyn secretly frees Jaime to ransom her daughters, Sansa and Arya, believed to be captives in King's Landing. Sansa is being regularly abused by her betrothed King Joffrey, while a disguised Arya escapes Lannister forces in Harrenhal. Ned's ward, Theon Greyjoy sides with his father and seizes Winterfell, the Starks' ancestral home, though Bran and his brother Rickon escape. Meanwhile, Stannis and Renly Baratheon, brothers of the deceased King Robert, claim the throne for themselves. Stannis has the support of Melisandre, a Red Priestess of the Lord of Light. Stannis kills Renly and attacks King's Landing, whose defense is successfully led by Tyrion Lannister, the acting Hand of the King and Queen Cersei's younger brother. On a ranging beyond the Wall, Jon Snow manages to gain the trust of Wildlings, while other members of the Watch come under attack by an army of White Walkers and their reanimated corpses. In Essos, Daenerys and her khalasar find refuge in Qarth. After foiling an attempt to steal her dragons, Daenerys leaves the city.

After Robb breaks his vow to marry one of Lord Walder Frey's daughters, Frey arranges the massacre of Robb, his mother, his wife, his unborn child and his bannermen, during a wedding feast. The northern House Bolton, which had liberated Winterfell from Theon at Robb's request, also betrays the Starks. After Robb's death, Lord Roose Bolton is appointed the new Warden of the North by Lord Tywin Lannister, the head of House Lannister and new Hand of the King. In Dreadfort, the Boltons' ancestral castle, Theon is tortured by Roose Bolton's bastard son Ramsay Snow. Further north, Jon Snow climbs the Wall with a Wildling party and ends up on its south side, but then betrays them. In the capital, King Joffrey has decided to marry Margaery of House Tyrell, setting Sansa aside. Lord Tywin, however, arranges Sansa's marriage with his son Tyrion. Jaime reaches King's Landing, having had his dominant hand cut off. In Essos, Daenerys acquires "The Unsullied", an army of eunuch slave soldiers. She also joins forces with the "Second Sons", a company of mercenaries, and takes over two cities.

In King's Landing, Lady Olenna secretly poisons King Joffrey at his wedding with her granddaughter Margaery, but Tyrion is falsely accused of the murder by his family, and is found guilty. However, Jaime and Varys conspire to smuggle Tyrion to Essos. Tyrion kills his father Tywin before leaving. Petyr Baelish smuggles Sansa into the Vale, ruled by her aunt and his lover, the widowed Lysa Arryn. Baelish marries Lysa but later kills her. After attempting to reunite with her family, Arya takes a ship bound for Braavos, in Essos. Having returned to the Night's Watch, Jon Snow defends Castle Black against an army of Wildlings, who are superior in strength. The Watch is rescued by the arrival of Stannis Baratheon and his forces. A crippled Bran with newfound powers travels north beyond the Wall with a few companions. Beneath a weirwood tree, he finds the Three-eyed Raven, an old man with the ability to perceive future and past. In Essos, Daenerys takes control of Meereen and abolishes slavery. When she discovers that her trusted advisor, Ser Jorah Mormont, had spied on her for Robert Baratheon, she exiles him.

In King's Landing, Margaery marries the new King Tommen Baratheon, Joffrey's younger brother. The Sparrows, a group of religious fanatics, impose their views upon the city, imprisoning Margaery, her brother Loras, and Cersei for committing various sins. Jaime travels to Dorne to take back Myrcella Baratheon. However, Oberyn Martell's lover, Ellaria and his bastard daughters kill Myrcella as revenge for Oberyn's death. In Winterfell, the new seat of House Bolton, Baelish arranges Sansa's marriage with the now-legitimized son of Roose Bolton, the sadist Ramsay. Stannis's unsuccessful march on Winterfell, which leads to his death, allows Sansa the opportunity to escape with Theon. At the Wall, as the newly elected Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, Jon Snow forms an alliance with the Wildlings to save them from the White Walkers and their army of reanimated corpses. However, Jon is stabbed to death by some brothers who see him as a traitor. Arya arrives in Braavos, where she finds Jaqen H'ghar whom she had previously helped escape, and begins training with the Faceless Men, a guild of assassins. In Essos, Tyrion becomes an advisor to Daenerys. Ser Jorah saves the life of Daenerys against a revolt of slavers, who flees Meereen on Drogon's back.

At the Wall, Melisandre resurrects Jon. Jon reunites with Sansa and leaves the Night's Watch. Aided by the Wildlings, loyalists and the Knights of the Vale, they defeat the Boltons and Jon is proclaimed the King in the North. Beyond the Wall, Bran trains with the Three-eyed Raven but they come under attack by the White Walkers. The Three-eyed Raven is killed and succeeded by Bran, who escapes with the help of Hodor, who dies in the process. Bran realizes Jon is in fact the son of his deceased aunt Lyanna Stark and Crown Prince Rhaegar Targaryen. In King's Landing, Cersei kills the High Sparrow, Margaery, Loras and many others by blowing up the Great Sept with wildfire. Tommen kills himself after witnessing the events, and Cersei is crowned Queen. In the Iron Islands, Euron Greyjoy usurps leadership by killing his brother and Theon's father, Balon. Ellaria seizes control of Dorne, and joins Olenna Tyrell in an alliance with Daenerys, who forgives Ser Jorah, takes control of the Dothraki and defeats the slavers. Daenerys sails for Westeros, joined by Theon and his sister Yara. In Braavos, Arya continues her training with the Faceless Men, but eventually leaves them.

Daenerys arrives in Westeros and takes over Dragonstone. She plans to overthrow Cersei, but Jon arrives to instead save Westeros from the White Walkers. The Night King, leader of the White Walkers, kills and reanimates Daenerys' dragon Viserion. Jon and Daenerys attempt to persuade Cersei to join their cause by showing the existence of a wight they had captured, but she has her own plans to increase control over the continent. At Winterfell, Sansa is reunited with her siblings, Arya and Bran. When Lord Protector of the Vale Petyr Baelish begins to turn the Stark children against one another, they manage to have him executed. In a vision, Bran sees that his aunt, Lyanna, was, in fact, married to Prince Rhaegar, and that Jon's real name is Aegon Targaryen, making him the true heir to the Iron Throne. After his sister Yara is kidnapped by his uncle Euron, Theon sets out to save her. The Night King demolishes a section of The Wall with the help of the reanimated Viserion, allowing the White Walkers and Army of the Dead to pass into the Seven Kingdoms.

Jon and Daenerys learn the Army of the Dead has breached the Wall. Theon rescues Yara, then returns to Winterfell. Sam reveals to Jon that he is actually Aegon Targaryen. Jaime arrives at Winterfell, revealing Cersei won't help defeat the Army of the Dead. Jon reveals his Targaryen lineage to Daenerys, who wants it kept a secret. After a battle, Arya kills the Night King, destroying the Army of the Dead. Euron's navy kills Rhaegal and Cersei executes Missandei who had been captured, enraging Daenerys, who, after her army takes King's Landing, destroys much of the city indiscriminately. Cersei and Jaime, who returned to Cersei, are killed. Tyrion denounces Daenerys and is imprisoned for treason to await execution. Jon, unable to stop her, kills Daenerys. Bran Stark is proclaimed king, allowing the North to secede as an independent kingdom. Bran appoints Tyrion as his Hand. Jon is sentenced to the Night's Watch, Sansa is crowned Queen in the North, and Arya sets sail to explore west of Westeros.

The first season averaged 2.5 million viewers for its first Sunday-night screenings and a gross audience (including repeats and on-demand viewings) of 9.3 million viewers per episode.^[121] For its second season, the series had an average gross audience of 11.6 million viewers.^[122] The third season was seen by 14.2 million viewers, making Game of Thrones the second-most-viewed HBO series (after The Sopranos).^[123][124] For the fourth season, HBO said that its average gross audience of 18.4 million viewers (later adjusted to 18.6 million) had passed The Sopranos for the record.^[125][126]

By the sixth season the average per-episode gross viewing figure had increased to over 25 million, with nearly 40 percent of viewers watching on HBO digital platforms.^[127] In 2016, a New York Times study of the 50 TV shows with the most Facebook likes found that Game of Thrones was "much more popular in cities than in the countryside, probably the only show involving zombies that is".^[128] By season seven, average viewer numbers had increased to 32.8 million per episode across all platforms.^[129][130]

The series set records on pay-television channels in the United Kingdom (with a 2016 average audience of more than five million on all platforms)^[131] and Australia (with a cumulative average audience of 1.2 million).^[132]