Heartwarming / A Game of Thrones

• King Robert Baratheon is normally a Large Ham and Boisterous Bruiser. However, when he first gets to Winterfell, the first thing he does is pay his respects to his lost love Lyanna Stark. Whether you view Robert as a good man or a bad one, his love for Lyanna and for the Starks as a whole, is genuine.
• The direwolves, Ghost and Nymeria, of the two 'odd' Stark children, Jon Snow (an illegitimate child) and Arya (the tomboy) bond just as closely as Jon and Arya do.
• Jon giving his little sister Arya the sword Needle as a parting gift, as they are among the closest siblings to each other (aside from Robb and Jon, raised side by side as brothers and best friends) and know that they probably won't see each other again for a long time. Plus, of course, "stick them with the pointy end".
  • When Ned discovers Arya has Needle he askes her where she got it but she will not betray Jon and doesn't answer until Ned gives up. Ned then lets her keep it and arranges lessons for her under the guise of a dancing instructor.
• When Tyrion is hanging out with the men of the Night's Watch, Maester Aemon calls Tyrion a "giant among men." Tyrion is almost too touched to say anything.
• Ned's conversation with Arya on her behavior: "(Arya) had never loved him so much as she did in that instant."
  • When Arya brought flowers to Ned and he carried her and kissed her lovingly. Knowing Lyanna was also fond of flowers, and Arya resembles her a lot (as stated by Ned) this makes the moment even more tender in hindsight.
• Tyrion showing a newly crippled Bran how he can still learn to ride a horse. And Tyrion doing so because Bran's brother Jon asked Tyrion to help Bran in whatever way he could.
• The Hound winning the tournament by saving Ser Loras' life, and the crowd cheers for him for the first time ever. By extension, Ser Loras forfeiting the joust and giving the Hound the victory (and prize money) in return.
• Jon helping Sam out, befriending him, and making him feel at home among the Night's Watch, specifically this line: "We're not friends, we're brothers." And it's not just Jon who shows such sentiments. After a devastated Jon makes a desperate attempt to desert following his father Ned's execution so that he can join his brother Robb and avenge their father, Pyp, Grenn, Halder, and the rest of Jon's friends work together to find Jon and bring him back before he can be arrested for desertion. Remember, a few weeks ago, Pyp, Grenn, and Halder didn't even like Jon because they thought Jon was a snooty high & mighty lordling before they and Jon became True Companions, along with Sam. Now they are prepared to risk being mistaken for deserters themselves all just to bring one of their own back to safety. And they succeed, making Jon realize his place is with them.
• The entire passage where Jon now views all of these boys as his brothers now — creating their own found family of misfits:
  "We're not friends," Jon said. He put a hand on Sam’s broad shoulder. "We're brothers."
  And so they were, he thought to himself after Sam had taken his leave. Robb and Bran and Rickon were his father’s sons, and he loved them still, yet Jon knew that he had never truly been one of them. Catelyn Stark had seen to that. The grey walls of Winterfell might still haunt his dreams, but Castle Black was his life now, and his brothers were Sam and Grenn and Halder and Pyp and the other cast-outs who wore the black of the Night’s Watch.
• Syrio Forel does not mind teaching a girl how to fight and, in fact, is willing to be hired for a longer term and travel all the way to north to Winterfell to continue tutoring Arya.
• Jon’s elated reaction to learning his brother Bran is going to live when his brother Robb writes to him. The way it was set up makes this even better. When he realizes the letter is about Bran, he thought that Bran had died and ran all the way to Jeor Mormont, prepared for the worst. When he learns the truth — that though Bran is crippled, he is alive — Jon is just so happy that Bran is going to live.
  "He woke up," [Jon] said. "The gods gave him back." "Crippled," Mormont said. "I'm sorry, boy. Read the rest of the letter." He looked at the words, but they didn't matter. Nothing mattered. Bran was going to live... Jon ran down the stairs, a smile on his face and Robb's letter in his hands. "My brother is going to live," he told the guards. They exchanged a look. He ran back to the common hall, where he found Tyrion Lannister just finishing his meal. He grabbed the little man under the arms, hoisted him up in the air, and spun him around in a circle. "Bran is going to live!" he whooped.
• Lord Mormont giving Jon his family's sword.
• Ser Brynden Tully's first scene, at the Bloody Gate:
  Catelyn: Your home is in my heart.
• An often overlooked one: Hoster Tully, in one of his more lucid moments, talks about the Battle of the Camps
  Hoster: I saw. Last night, when it began, I told them...had to see. They carried me to the gatehouse...watched from the battlements. Ah, that was beautiful...the torches came in a wave, I could hear the cries floating across the river...sweet cries...when that siege tower went up, gods...would have died then, and glad, if only I could have seen your children first. Was it your boy who did it? Was it your Robb?”
  Catelyn: Yes, It was Robb...and Brynden. Your brother is here as well, my lord."
• Catelyn's love for her children is obvious, but particularly sweet- "I am ''always'' proud of Bran."
• When the fierce Khal Drogo asks Dany why she chose "Rhaego" as their son's name, she tells him she named him after her brother, who was killed before she was born. The Khal thinks for a moment, smiles at Dany, and tells her that he thinks it's a good name.
• The Hound tells Sansa the story of how his brother burned his face when they were children. Sansa, who was previously terrified of him, feels pity for him.
  The silence went on and on, so long that she began to grow afraid once more, but she was afraid for him now, not for herself. She found his massive shoulder with her hand. “He was no true knight,” she whispered to him.
• While Arya is at a minimum antagonistic towards her for a good portion of the book, Sansa in her introduction is seen covering for Arya when the latter attracts Mordane's attention, tries to include her in the conversations and later is implied to be jealous of Arya spending more time with Mycah than herself. It isn't talked about much but Sansa does love her sister as much as Arya loves her.
  • Sansa and Jeyne are quite adorable together. In what was probably the last time of fun and innocence they (especially poor Jeyne) got to enjoy, they steal extra dessert after supper to eat on the stairs as they gossip and swap secrets. Right then, they were just two little girls who loved each other's company.
• When the Lannister men come to seize Arya, Syrio Forel tells her to run and holds them off, alone, with only a wooden sword. He has only been serving the Starks for a short while, but he is ready to give his life to save Arya. Even if he survives, as some fans speculate, it's still heartwarming.
• This exchange between Ned and Robert when the latter is on his deathbed:
  "Robert," Ned said in a voice thick with grief, "you must not do this. Don’t die on me. The realm needs you."
  Robert took his hand, fingers squeezing hard. "You are... such a bad liar, Ned Stark," he said through his pain. "The realm... the realm knows... what a wretched king I’ve been. Bad as Aerys, the gods spare me."
  "No," Ned told his dying friend, "not so bad as Aerys, Your Grace. Not near so bad as Aerys."
  Robert managed a weak red smile.
• For an arranged marriage that got off to a very rocky start thanks to Ned... her and Catelyn have a deep love that is quite possibly one of the few truly happy marriages in the whole series. They have many romantic quotes, constantly yearn for one another while apart, and take strength each other. It's very telling that despite living in such an inherently sexist culture, Ned trusts his wife's intelligence and skill as a ruler when he leaves for King's Landing to investigate Lord Arryn's murder, which many men in the books would not have done.
• Arya always remembering Mycah, and Jory, and the other smallfolk/Stark household that died during the book. The smallfolk are treated like crap in the series, barely anyone mourning their deaths, so it's potent to note the few characters that do.
• Even after Arya attacks Sansa when she sides with Joffrey over her, Arya immediately chews out Cersei once she orders Lady to be killed since Nymeria ran away.
  Lady wasn't there! You leave her alone!