I'll even go so far as to say it's LORD OF THE RINGS-ISH. And not just because of Sean Bean.

I've tried watching Mad Men and Boardwalk Empire before, and though I'm sure they're both great series, those shows just didn't really hold my interest. But Game of Thrones is right up my alley.

Fav characters of the first season:
Khaleesi - Her character development is maximum. She's starting to tiptoe into the dark side, though, which is worrying.
Arya Stark - She's gonna grow up to be the most badass of all the kid characters.
Joffrey - J/K LOL. I don't think anyone likes this little shit.
Tyrion Lannister - This guy is The Man. He OWNS his dwarfness and doesn't take shit from anyone. Especially not from Joffrey.

Honorable Mentions
The Bastard Jon Snow - Has "Meant for Greatness" written all over his face.
Rob Stark - For someone so under the radar for the first half of the series, he really got everyone's attention in the last few episodes.

One of my fav non-spoiler scenes, feat. Little Arya. As for fav spoiler scenes... let's just say the episode Golden Crown is aptly named. xDDDD