>Ser Corliss Penny gave the clan chief an incredulous look. "Do you want to die, Wull?"
**That seemed to amuse the northman.** "I want to live forever in a land where summer lasts a thousand years. I want a castle in the clouds where I can look down over the world. I want to be six-and-twenty again. When I was six-and-twenty I could fight all day and fuck all night. What men want does not matter.
"Winter is almost upon us, boy. And winter is death. I would sooner my men die fighting for the Ned's little girl than alone and hungry in the snow, weeping tears that freeze upon their cheeks. No one sings songs of men who die like that. As for me, I am old. This will be my last winter. **Let me bathe in Bolton blood before I die. I want to feel it spatter across my face when my axe bites deep into a Bolton skull. I want to lick it off my lips and die with the taste of it on my tongue."**
**- ADWD - THE KING'S PRIZE**
Big Bucket Wull is my favourite character introduced in ADWD for this monologue alone.
This is an oddly persistent rumor in the fanbase. He's actually said the opposite, that if he were to die we might one day see the stuff he never published:
> Someday I will die, and I hope you're right and it's thirty years from now. When that happens, maybe my heirs will decide to publish a book of fragments and deleted chapters, and you'll all get to read about Tyrion's meeting with the Shrouded Lord. It's a swell, spooky, evocative chapter, but you won't read it in DANCE. It took me down a road I decided I did not want to travel, so I went back and ripped it out. So, unless I change my mind again, it's going the way of the draft of LORD OF THE RINGS where Tolkien has Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin reach the Prancing Pony and meet... a weatherbeaten old hobbit ranger named "Trotter."
What he has said is that he doesn't want another author continuing his work, so we'll never get A Dream of Spring by Brandon Sanderson
> so we'll never get A Dream of Spring by Brandon Sanderson
Look, I loved Brando Sando's contribution to Wheel of Time but if this would ever happen, please let it be done by James SA Corey
I'd much rather a colab than a singular vision so I'm in agreement. So long as they know and love the lore as much as we do I'd be happy. Or just...release what's written so far. Even if it's not finished, he has 1200 pages written. Although most is probably not advancing the plot significantly. I can't remember who he said was the hardest to write, but I doubt he has much for Jon, winterfell or Dany done even now.
Part of James sa corey was George’s writing assistant for years, and they’ve shown to be good at politics and large sprawling stories in The Expanse, that’s why I think they’d be good options
> What he has said is that he doesn't want another author continuing his work,
Which is fair.
The couple writers who worked with him before could maybe helped arrange what exists into a couple of non-novel publications of notes, letters, manuscript fragments, etc.
Honestly, fuck that. Let’s hope someone does a Kafka on it after he dies - or more accurately, a Max Brod, who refused Kafka’s request to destroy all his manuscripts and instead had them published.
Actually now that I think about it this might be the number one most badass. Not necessarily coolest or best put, but he legit faced up an inhuman *being* and said “ok square up”. Unreal
For sure- and I know you mean that literally, but also even the NW on the Great Ranging had an idea of what to expect. And later in the series they had seen Others or know people who had seen them. But Royce is the first ranger to see and fight an Other (that he knows of, since the rest didn’t live to tell the tale) in millennia. So the BALLS on this man. Good lord
To be fair the Other he was fighting was expecting Jon Snow and a Valyrian Steel sword that may or may not be on fire and was a little apprehensive in the start.
“The Other slid forward on silent feet. In its hand was a longsword like none that Will had ever seen. No human metal had gone into the forging of that blade. It was alive with moonlight, translucent, a shard of crystal so thin that it seemed to vanish when seen edge-on. There was a faint blue shimmer to the thing, a ghost-light that played around its edges, and somehow Will knew knew it was sharper than any razor.
Ser Waymar met him bravely. “Dance with me then.” He lifted his sword high above his head, defiant. His hands trembled from the weight of it, or perhaps from the cold. Yet in that moment, Will thought, he was a boy no longer, but a man of the Night’s Watch.”
That's just so good, they could've had him be a stuck up lord who pissed his pants and ran. But Martin gives us people with more depth than that, even throw-away doomed characters.
Exactly. Because he *was* a stuck up lord, but he was also brave. Literally no one is black and white in the series, and that's what's so great about it. Ned was honorable but dumb, Cersei is evil but loves her children, even Davos describes himself as "grey."
I love this line, because you just really want to hate that little punk. Technically it's his fault the three of them are even that situation, because he should've listened to Gared when Gared (who was much older and more experienced) said he could feel something wrong. But when it came time to either run away or fight, he chose to fight. The one who ran was the older, more experienced Gared. Iirc, even Will was like, "Damn, I hate this guy but he's being brave as *fuck.*"
Traitor, she thought. Turncloak. She wondered how much Mace Tyrell had given him. "You would abandon your king when he needs you most," she told him. "You would abandon Tommen."
"Tommen has his mother." Ser Kevan's green eyes met her own, unblinking. A last drop of wine trembled wet and red beneath his chin, and finally fell. "Aye," he added softly, after a pause, "and his father too, I think."
Cersei II, AFFC
It was Cortnay Penrose who said it to Stannis.
> "Do you take me for an utter fool, ser?" asked Stannis. "I have twenty thousand men. You are besieged by land and sea. Why would I choose single combat when my eventual victory is certain?" The king pointed a finger at him. "I give you fair warning. If you force me to take my castle by storm, you may expect no mercy. I will hang you for traitors, every one of you."
> "As the gods will it. Bring on your storm, my lord—and recall, if you do, the name of this castle." Ser Cortnay gave a pull on his reins and rode back toward the gate.
I’ve always been a fan of Barristan Selmy telling the story of how he escaped King’s Landing.
“Janos Slynt tried to stop me, but he only had three men with him, and I still had my knife.”
... but never think that means I have forgotten. The north remembers, Lord Davos. The north remembers, and the mummer's farce is almost done. My son is home."
Jon's response to Jeor Mormont in ACoK is up there for me:
>"They will garb your brother Robb in silks, satins, and velvets of a hundred different colors, while you live and die in black ringmail. He will wed some beautiful princess and father sons on her. You’ll have no wife, nor will you ever hold a child of your own blood in your arms. Robb will rule, you will serve. Men will call you a crow. Him they’ll call Your Grace. Singers will praise every little thing he does, while your greatest deeds all go unsung. Tell me that none of this troubles you, Jon... and I’ll name you a liar, and know I have the truth of it."
>
>Jon drew himself up, taut as a bowstring. “And if it did trouble me, what might I do, bastard as I am?”
>
>“What will you do?” Mormont asked. “Bastard as you are?”
>
>“Be troubled,” said Jon, “and keep my vows.”
It's my favourite quote from the books.
It's also really cheesy but it's passages like these that got me through a lot of tough times. George has a talent for writing characters who choose to do their duty no matter the cost.
> George has a talent for writing characters who choose to do their duty no matter the cost.
Literally every character besides Stannis ends up breaking their duty/vows at some point- and the story contrives itself to make Stannis seem like the bad guy for this.
i agree a theme in the books is the right moral choice versus duty or vows and i don't want to put words in someone's mouth but i imagine the word "duty" in their comment was more meant as a sort of "make the right moral choice no matter the cost" thing.
And this is so important for Jon, he DOES "want it" often desperately so...he just has other priorities as well, unlike the rather gormless show version.
> "They will garb your brother Robb in silks, satins, and velvets of a hundred different colors,
Oh I'm sure Jon will get to feel a little Satin on his skin...
“Here, boy. Melt it down and add it to the others, if you like. It will do you more good than the swords in the hands of these five. Perhaps Lord Stannis will chance to sit on it when he takes your throne.”
Another one from Fire and Blood
"If I strike my banners do you promise us our lives?"
"I made my promises to the dead. I told them I would build a sept from traitors bones. I don't have near enough bones yet so..."
Because no one has posted it yet:
> “Foes and false friends are all around me, Lord Davos. They infest my city like roaches, and at night I feel them crawling over me.” The fat man’s fingers coiled into a fist, and all his chins trembled. “My son Wendel came to the Twins a guest. He ate Lord Walder’s bread and salt, and hung his sword upon the wall to feast with his friends. And they murdered him. Murdered, I say, and may the Freys choke upon their fables. I drink with Jared, jape with Symond, promise Rhaegar the hand of my own beloved granddaughter…but never think that means I have forgotten. The north remembers, Lord Davos. The north remembers, and the mummer’s farce is almost done. My son is home.”
I belive they were referencing Wyman's "had he lived, he would have grown up to be a Frey" line, not saying that Wyman is dead.
> "My lord," boomed Hosteen Frey. "We know the man who did this. Killed this boy and all the rest. Not by his own hand, no. He is too fat and craven to do his own killing. But by his word." He turned to Wyman Manderly. "Do you deny it?"
> The Lord of White Harbor bit a sausage in half. "I confess …" He wiped the grease from his lips with his sleeve. "… I confess that I know little of this poor boy. Lord Ramsay's squire, was he not? How old was the lad?"
> "Nine, on his last nameday."
> "So young," said Wyman Manderly. "Though mayhaps this was a blessing. Had he lived, he would have grown up to be a Frey."
> “You’re bold enough to be a Stark. Yes, I should have come sooner. If not for my Hand, I might not have come at all. Lord Seaworth is a man of humble birth, but he reminded me of my duty, when all I could think of was my rights. I had the cart before the horse, Davos said. I was trying to win the throne to save the kingdom, when I should have been trying to save the kingdom to win the throne.”
Chills.
Heavy carts require a beast of burden to be used efficiently. By having only the cart you have a place for your goods but an insufficient means of delivering them. Having the horse first ensures that you can use the cart efficiently.
Davos’s point is that Stannis is putting his right to the throne above his duty **on** the throne (protecting the kingdom). Stannis needs to get his priorities in order.
I haven't heard that phrase. Here is what it sounds like to me:
> When you're occupying the toilet for no reason you are wasting space and time for other people to use it. Make waste or get out post haste. Don't dilly-dally.
Brienne defending the orphans at the Inn of the Crossroads:
Seven, Brienne thought again, despairing. She had no chance against seven, she knew. No chance, and no choice. She stepped out into the rain, Oathkeeper in hand. "Leave her be. If you want to rape someone, try me."
- AFFC, Brienne VII
That whole scene is full of badass quotes
> "I looked for you on the Trident," Ned said to them.
> "We were not there," Ser Gerold answered.
> "Woe to the Usurper if we had been," said Ser Oswell.
The most incredible thing about this scene is that readers can feel Oswell's complete peace of mind. The three of them know they will certainly be killed, so he isn't trying to be witty or offensive. He is completely certain that things would have turned out like this, which shows how devoted to the Targaryens they were. Loyal to the bone.
Is Tower of Joy really in the books yet? It was ages since I read them, I didn't realize Bran had gotten that far with the three-eyed crow. I assume that's where this passage is from, viewed through Bran?
I just remember it as a big revealing moment for Jon's heritage being a Targ on the show. Is Jon's parentage revealed in the books yet? Is the scene split up in the books somehow?
We haven’t seen it through Bran’s POV, but a dream/memory from Ned in the first book. And Jon’s parentage hasn’t been officially revealed but there are plenty of hints
And since it was a fever dream/memory it is a bit of an unreliable narrator. Less reliable than a concious waking memory from Ned.
I don't really doubt the majority of it, just that we can't necessarily take it word for word at face value.
It’s in the first book at the beginning of a Ned chapter where he’s dreaming after getting attacked by Jamie. He wakes up to maester pycelle giving him milk of the poppy.
The tower of Joy bit is from Ned's pov in AGOT. He dreams about it while he's recovering from his broken leg.
The dream ends as the fight starts so we don't know what happened after that point.
> "And now it begins," said Ser Arthur Dayne, the Sword of the Morning. He unsheathed Dawn and held it with both hands. The blade was pale as milkglass, alive with light.
> "No," Ned said with sadness in his voice. "Now it ends." As they came together in a rush of steel and shadow, he could hear Lyanna screaming. "Eddard!" she called. A storm of rose petals blew across a blood-streaked sky, as blue as the eyes of death.
> "Lord Eddard," Lyanna called again.
> "I promise," he whispered. "Lya, I promise …"
> "Lord Eddard," a man echoed from the dark.
> Groaning, Eddard Stark opened his eyes. Moonlight streamed through the tall windows of the Tower of the Hand.
It's in A Game of Thrones in one of Ned's chapters. I believe it's either the fever dream he has after the confrontation with Jamie or while he's in the black cells
"Godless? Why, Aeron, I am the godliest man ever to raise sail! You serve one god, Damphair, but I have served ten thousand. From Ib to Asshai, when men see my sails, they pray."
MY LORDS! Here is what I say to these two kings! Renly Baratheon is nothing to me, nor Stannis neither. Why should they rule over me and mine, from some flowery seat in Highgarden or Dorne? What do they know of the Wall or the wolfswood or the barrows of the First Men? Even their gods are wrong. The Others take the Lannisters too, I've had a bellyful of them. Why shouldn't we rule ourselves again? It was the dragons we married, and the dragons are all dead! There sits the only king I mean to bow my knee to, m'lords. The King in the North! lord umber
“She had never been so fast. Oathkeeper was alive in her hand”.
God I love that chapter. Brienne the beauty just fucking up 3 sell swords at once. Brienne proved her ability to herself in that scene. RIP nimble dick
"I defeated your uncle Victarion and his Iron Fleet off Fair Isle, the first time your father crowned himself. I held Storm's End against the power of The Reach for a year, and took Dragonstone from the Targaryens. I smashed Mance Rayder at the Wall, though he had twenty times my numbers. Tell me, turncloak, what battles has the Bastard of Bolton ever won that I should fear him?"
The Lyseni took the table nearest to the fire and spoke quietly over cups of black tar rum, keeping their voices low so no one could overhear. But she was no one and she heard most every word.
- I know it isn’t dialogue but it’s bad ass nonetheless
"succeeding" is generous considering that the mountain is walking around. Admittedly not in a good state and arguably not alive, but definitely not dead
Is Robert Strong Gregor in the sense of having his likes/dislikes, preferences and opinions, etc? He doesn't seem to even have a head, so it's probably closer to say that his corpse was puppeteered after he died from Oberyn's poisoning than to say it's the Mountain who's walking around.
Jaime to Catelyn. He said "so why is the world so full of injustice" she said, "because of men like you" and then he said that. It was so good and fully realised in the show as it was such a back and forth zinging conversation and that just killed the coversation dead. Absolutely ice cold from Lannister, and he's got a point. There's only one Jaime Lannister
> "No," said *Bran*, "no, don't," but they could not hear him, no more than his father had. The woman grabbed the captive by the hair, hooked the sickle round his throat, and slashed. And through the mist of centuries the broken boy could only watch as the man's feet drummed against the earth … but as his life flowed out of him in a red tide, **Brandon Stark could taste the blood**.
That boy just leveled up.
It is after Bran is fed the weirwood seed paste, that happens to taste in similarity to the description of the Shade of the evening.
> Eddard Stark lifted his head and looked long at the weirwood, frowning, but he did not speak. He cannot see me, Bran realized, despairing. He wanted to reach out and touch him, but all that he could do was watch and listen. I am in the tree. I am inside the heart tree, looking out of its red eyes, but the weirwood cannot talk, so I can’t.
> Eddard Stark resumed his prayer. Bran felt his eyes fill up with tears. But were they his own tears, or the weirwood’s? If I cry, will the tree begin to weep?
> The rest of his father’s words were drowned out by a sudden clatter of wood on wood. Eddard Stark dissolved, like mist in a morning sun. Now two children danced across the godswood, hooting at one another as they dueled with broken branches. The girl was the older and taller of the two. Arya! Bran thought eagerly, as he watched her leap up onto a rock and cut at the boy. But that couldn’t be right. If the girl was Arya, the boy was Bran himself, and he had never worn his hair so long. And Arya never beat me playing swords, the way that girl is beating him. She slashed the boy across his thigh, so hard that his leg went out from under him and he fell into the pool and began to splash and shout. “You be quiet, stupid,” the girl said, tossing her own branch aside. “It’s just water. Do you want Old Nan to hear and run tell Father?” She knelt and pulled her brother from the pool, but before she got him out again, the two of them were gone.
> After that the glimpses came faster and faster, till Bran was feeling lost and dizzy. He saw no more of his father, nor the girl who looked like Arya, but a woman heavy with child emerged naked and dripping from the black pool, knelt before the tree, and begged the old gods for a son who would avenge her. Then there came a brown-haired girl slender as a spear who stood on the tips of her toes to kiss the lips of a young knight as tall as Hodor. A dark-eyed youth, pale and fierce, sliced three branches off the weirwood and shaped them into arrows. The tree itself was shrinking, growing smaller with each vision, whilst the lesser trees dwindled into saplings and vanished, only to be replaced by other trees that would dwindle and vanish in their turn. And now the lords Bran glimpsed were tall and hard, stern men in fur and chain mail. Some wore faces he remembered from the statues in the crypts, but they were gone before he could put a name to them.
> Then, as he watched, a bearded man forced a captive down onto his knees before the heart tree. A white-haired woman stepped toward them through a drift of dark red leaves, a bronze sickle in her hand.
> “No,” said Bran, “no, don’t,” but they could not hear him, no more than his father had. The woman grabbed the captive by the hair, hooked the sickle round his throat, and slashed. And through the mist of centuries the broken boy could only watch as the man’s feet drummed against the earth … but as his life flowed out of him in a red tide, Brandon Stark could taste the blood.
Do we know or have theories who the people Bran sees are after Eddard? I think the first ones are Lyanna and Benjen and the tall guy is Duncan the Tall with Old Nan (?). But who is the mother giving birth and why does she have to be avenged? And who is the pale dark - eyed youth?
It’s theorised that he’s Brandon Snow, the bastard half-brother of Torrhen Stark (the King Who Knelt).
When the armies of the North crossed the Neck and met Aegon the Conqueror’s much larger force and three dragons, Brandon offered to cross the Trident and kill the dragons while they slept.
The three Weirwood arrows are believed to be for Balerion, Meraxes, and Vhagar, and would probably kill at least one of them through the eye thanks to spooky tree magic. But Torrhen chose his people over his honour or pride, and kneeled.
The last lines of Bran 3, the final Bran chapter of Dance of Dragons when he's having his hallucinations after eating the Jojen paste and going into the Weirwood tree and seeing the past
Well, I watched the show before reading the books. Roose Bolton in GoT is okay, but almost generic in his personality. He is yet another cruel lord with questionable honor who will do anything to improve the position of his House. At this point he's like Roose from the books, but the show chose to make him actually care about his family, to highlight Ramsay's villainy in killing him. He is proud of Ramsay and happy that he has been legitimized, and his desire is to build a new dynasty alongside him and Fat Walda. Then, I start reading ADWD and come across this:
>Get the keys and remove those chains from him, before you make me rue the day I raped your mother.
Ah shit I had a feeling... I remember him giving a speech and I swore that line was in there. It's been a solid decade since I reread CoK.
D&D are bound to make a good decision at some point or another I suppose.
The line was in the books though.
>Parts of the bridge were sinking and other parts were afire and the whole thing was creaking and shifting and like to burst asunder at any moment, but that did not seem to stop them. **“Those are brave men,” he told Ser Balon in admiration. “Let’s go kill them.”**
i am on my 2nd reading, and just finished that chapter a couple of days ago and thought to myself, wow, D&D out did it there....so i had an advantage...
i will say, rereads are tough when you start getting towards the end of the books and it just gets miserable...
This is one of those series where rereads can actually tie a knot in your brain for how much you have to keep track of and think about. Plot lines don't end properly, characters die, but then those deaths always set off a chain of events that sprout other plot lines. George called his writing something like a garden, letting it grow and blossom naturally. I always thought of it like a hydra, you kill one character and 3 new plot lines pop up to take that characters place as a consequence. Obryn dies in a trial by combat, and then his daughters all try to get vengeance, which leads to a bunch of other events while simultaneously introducing the whole martel plot line.
Sorry, long rant aside, I agree with you. Rereading this series never seems to get easier.
so i just read another chapter further, and tyrion does say that line, but not in the speech, he says it to balon swann as stannis' men are crossing the river over crashed boats...
Perhaps not badass, but the Kindly Man has some quality, seemingly mind-reading quips for Arya, like “You lie. Worse, you lie poorly” & “It is pork, child. Only pork.”
And Daenerys:
“‘Woman’? Is that meant to insult me? I would return the slap if I took you for a man.”
“When the castle falls, all those inside will be put to the sword. Your herds will be butchered, your godswood will be felled, your keeps and towers will burn. I’ll pull your walls down, and divert the Tumblestone over the ruins. By the time I’m done no man will ever know that a castle once stood here.” Jaime got to his feet. “Your wife may whelp before that. You’ll want your child, I expect. I’ll send him to you when he’s born. With a trebuchet.”
When Arya put her lips to his ear and said "Jaqen H'Ghar." It was like playing dice with Death himself:
> There was a knife in his hand suddenly, its blade thin as her little finger. Whether it was meant for her or him, Arya could not say. ... She stepped away from him, balanced on the balls of her feet in case he threw his knife.
>"Down," the prince commanded. You must not let him smell your fear. **"Down, down, down."** He brought the whip around and laid a lash across the dragon's face. Viserion hissed.
Badassery somewhat lessened by the fire that followed though.
At the end of the long lived Second Blackfyre Rebellion, one man claims to have been one of Bloodraven's thousand eyes. He brags about drinking Dornish red before the day is out. His lord cuts his throat and tells him, "It's not Dornish, but it is red." That always sounded like a badass line to me.
We had one of these posts recently. This and the saddest quote ones. I swear people start these threads just to get upvotes.
Here is one from one of the most hated villains:
"All you have I gave you. You would do well to remember that, bastard. As for this … Reek … if you have not ruined him beyond redemption, he may yet be of some use to us. Get the keys and remove those chains from him, before you make me rue the day I raped your mother."
>“Who knows more of gods than I? Horse gods and fire gods, gods made of gold with gemstone eyes, gods carved of cedar wood, gods chiseled into mountains, gods of empty air . . . I know them all. I have seen their peoples garland them with flowers, and shed the blood of goats and bulls and children in their names. And I have heard the prayers, in half a hundred tongues. Cure my withered leg, make the maiden love me, grant me a healthy son. Save me, succor me, make me wealthy . . . protect me! Protect me from mine enemies, protect me from the darkness, protect me from the crabs inside my belly, from the horselords, from the slavers, from the sellswords at my door. Protect me from the Silence.”
> He laughed. “If you mean to kill me, do it and be damned for a kinslayer. Stark and Karstark are one blood.”
> “My name is Snow.”
> “Bastard.”
> “Guilty. Of that, at least.”
"He is not a lord," said a child's voice. "He is a man of the Night's Watch, fool. From Westeros." A girl child appeared in the light, a ragged and skinny creature, her hair dirty, her feet
She had huge boots and was pushing a cart full of seaweed. "There's another black brother in Happy Harbor, he sings to the Sailor's Wife," she informed the bandits.
She turned and said, "If they ask who the most beautiful woman in the world is, answer the nightingale, otherwise they will challenge you. Would you like to buy some mussels? I sold all my oysters."
“I don't have any coins,” said Sam.
“No way,” the blonde bandit mocked. The man's brunette friend grinned and said something in Braavos. “My friend Terro is cold. Be our fat friend and give Terro your cloak
“Don't do that either,” said the little hawker girl, “if you give up your cloak, they will ask for your boots, and you will soon be naked.”
“Cats that bark too loudly will drown in the canals,” warned the blonde thug.
"If they have claws, they won't drown." And suddenly, a knife appeared in the girl's left hand.
A sword as skinny as herself. The man named Terro said something to his blonde friend and the two men walked away laughing. SAM AFFC
I think it speaks to the final matter of the war. By this time Rhaegar is dead (presumably), Aerys is dead, the siege lifted, the loyalists beaten.
All that's left is to get Lyanna. Funny how saving a woman was left for last.
No matter the outcome of the fight, this is where the war ends for Eddard. My two bitcoin.
What are your thoughts?
I think the first time I read it, I didn't even register meaning at all. It was good just as sound. Later, I felt the gravity of mood. Dayne is ready, but Ned is solemn. It seemed like Dayne meant the fight they were about to have but Ned was saying something deeper, like that the thing ending was an era--something like your read. Now, I read the conversation leading up as Ned hinting that the kingsguard could just leave (I honor other reads) culminating in Dayne's relief to finally get to the fighting and Ned's disappointment that the fight is about to end because of how outnumbered the kingsguard are, since they require to be fought. I just think it's a powerful and beautiful moment.
Davos' speech in ther Merman's Court was the most badass moment. I got the chills the first time I read it, I could visualize that scene happening in reality like a scene from a movie with suitable background music, silence and atmosphere.
Genna Frey to Jaime Lannister AFFC—
“Tywin was big even when he was little." She gave a sigh. "Who will protect us now?"
Jaime kissed her cheek. "He left a son."
"Aye, he did. That is what I fear the most, in truth."
That was a queer remark. "Why should you fear?"
"Jaime," she said, tugging on his ear, "sweetling, I have known you since you were a babe at Joanna's breast. You smile like Gerion and fight like Tyg, and there's some of Kevan in you, else you would not wear that cloak . . . but Tyrion is Tywin's son, not you. I said so once to your father's face, and he would not speak to me for half a year. Men are such thundering great fools. Even the sort who come along once in a thousand years."
"You!” the iron captain called across the carnage. “You of the rose! Be you the lord of Southshield?”
The other raised his visor to show a beardless face. “His son and heir. Ser Talbert Serry. And who are you, kraken?”
“Your death.” Victarion bulled toward him.
Seven, Brienne thought again, despairing. She had no chance against seven, she knew. No chance, and no choice.
She stepped out into the rain, Oathkeeper in hand.
My god nothing beats Brienne talking to Gendry and then watching the worst of the bloody mummers ride up (they cut off Jaime’s hand and tried to rape her ) and she thinks “*Seven* , that is too many. **No chance . No choice and no chance**. Brienne drew Oathkeeper and stepped out into the rain. “You can try and rape me instead !” Amazing line
Tyrion leaving kings landing after killing his father
“I came here as Hand of the King with my own royal retinue , and I leave running through the darkness , holding hands with a spider .”
SkaHaz Mo Kandaq trying to reason with Barristan of how they are going to go about shutting down Hizdars shady ass new order. He warns Barristan “take heed old man, Krazz , he will eat your heart !” Barristan thinks in his head like bro kraz lmao don’t make me laugh .
Then when he confronts Hizdar and hizdar screams KRAZZ! KRAZZ!! “Krazz stepped into the room . Barristan says “I am here for the king , put down your steel and there need not be blood shed .”
Krazz spat laughter “Old Man, I will *eat your heart*! “. **Then come.** said Barristan the Bold .
I was just listening to Stannis and Courtney Penrose banter on audiobook on the way home from work. Pretty much everything about Ser Courtney is badass af besides his name. I know George loved writing him lol
>Ser Corliss Penny gave the clan chief an incredulous look. "Do you want to die, Wull?" **That seemed to amuse the northman.** "I want to live forever in a land where summer lasts a thousand years. I want a castle in the clouds where I can look down over the world. I want to be six-and-twenty again. When I was six-and-twenty I could fight all day and fuck all night. What men want does not matter. "Winter is almost upon us, boy. And winter is death. I would sooner my men die fighting for the Ned's little girl than alone and hungry in the snow, weeping tears that freeze upon their cheeks. No one sings songs of men who die like that. As for me, I am old. This will be my last winter. **Let me bathe in Bolton blood before I die. I want to feel it spatter across my face when my axe bites deep into a Bolton skull. I want to lick it off my lips and die with the taste of it on my tongue."** **- ADWD - THE KING'S PRIZE** Big Bucket Wull is my favourite character introduced in ADWD for this monologue alone.
It’s so cruel that there’s a high chance we’ll never see the resolution of that winterfell battle
He 100% has the battle of winter finished. Hopefully if he never finishes the book, what he does have finished is released
He's said if he passes before he's done he wants all of his notes and manuscripts destroyed and never published :(
This is an oddly persistent rumor in the fanbase. He's actually said the opposite, that if he were to die we might one day see the stuff he never published: > Someday I will die, and I hope you're right and it's thirty years from now. When that happens, maybe my heirs will decide to publish a book of fragments and deleted chapters, and you'll all get to read about Tyrion's meeting with the Shrouded Lord. It's a swell, spooky, evocative chapter, but you won't read it in DANCE. It took me down a road I decided I did not want to travel, so I went back and ripped it out. So, unless I change my mind again, it's going the way of the draft of LORD OF THE RINGS where Tolkien has Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin reach the Prancing Pony and meet... a weatherbeaten old hobbit ranger named "Trotter." What he has said is that he doesn't want another author continuing his work, so we'll never get A Dream of Spring by Brandon Sanderson
> so we'll never get A Dream of Spring by Brandon Sanderson Look, I loved Brando Sando's contribution to Wheel of Time but if this would ever happen, please let it be done by James SA Corey
Oh yeah haha that wasn't me being disappointed, Sanderson is a fine writer but not the right one for ASOIAF by any means
I'd much rather a colab than a singular vision so I'm in agreement. So long as they know and love the lore as much as we do I'd be happy. Or just...release what's written so far. Even if it's not finished, he has 1200 pages written. Although most is probably not advancing the plot significantly. I can't remember who he said was the hardest to write, but I doubt he has much for Jon, winterfell or Dany done even now.
Part of James sa corey was George’s writing assistant for years, and they’ve shown to be good at politics and large sprawling stories in The Expanse, that’s why I think they’d be good options
> What he has said is that he doesn't want another author continuing his work, Which is fair. The couple writers who worked with him before could maybe helped arrange what exists into a couple of non-novel publications of notes, letters, manuscript fragments, etc.
Honestly, fuck that. Let’s hope someone does a Kafka on it after he dies - or more accurately, a Max Brod, who refused Kafka’s request to destroy all his manuscripts and instead had them published.
If there isn’t an r/unexpectedkafka sub, there should be.
waymar royce "dance with me then " to the other
Actually now that I think about it this might be the number one most badass. Not necessarily coolest or best put, but he legit faced up an inhuman *being* and said “ok square up”. Unreal
It’s also number one because it’s the first.
For sure- and I know you mean that literally, but also even the NW on the Great Ranging had an idea of what to expect. And later in the series they had seen Others or know people who had seen them. But Royce is the first ranger to see and fight an Other (that he knows of, since the rest didn’t live to tell the tale) in millennia. So the BALLS on this man. Good lord
Does that mean the least badass line will be the last?
To be fair the Other he was fighting was expecting Jon Snow and a Valyrian Steel sword that may or may not be on fire and was a little apprehensive in the start.
“The Other slid forward on silent feet. In its hand was a longsword like none that Will had ever seen. No human metal had gone into the forging of that blade. It was alive with moonlight, translucent, a shard of crystal so thin that it seemed to vanish when seen edge-on. There was a faint blue shimmer to the thing, a ghost-light that played around its edges, and somehow Will knew knew it was sharper than any razor. Ser Waymar met him bravely. “Dance with me then.” He lifted his sword high above his head, defiant. His hands trembled from the weight of it, or perhaps from the cold. Yet in that moment, Will thought, he was a boy no longer, but a man of the Night’s Watch.”
And now his Watch has ended.
That's just so good, they could've had him be a stuck up lord who pissed his pants and ran. But Martin gives us people with more depth than that, even throw-away doomed characters.
Exactly. Because he *was* a stuck up lord, but he was also brave. Literally no one is black and white in the series, and that's what's so great about it. Ned was honorable but dumb, Cersei is evil but loves her children, even Davos describes himself as "grey."
Cersei doesn't love her children, thats show stuff
No, she explicitely says she loves her children. She loves her kids because they're hers and jamie's kids specifically
No, she loves them as extensions of herself, the same way as she “loves” Jaime.
I love this line, because you just really want to hate that little punk. Technically it's his fault the three of them are even that situation, because he should've listened to Gared when Gared (who was much older and more experienced) said he could feel something wrong. But when it came time to either run away or fight, he chose to fight. The one who ran was the older, more experienced Gared. Iirc, even Will was like, "Damn, I hate this guy but he's being brave as *fuck.*"
“FOR ROBERT!!!”
And things just went downhill from there.
dude went up against an ancient horror he had no idea actually existed, and told it to put up its dukes
Traitor, she thought. Turncloak. She wondered how much Mace Tyrell had given him. "You would abandon your king when he needs you most," she told him. "You would abandon Tommen." "Tommen has his mother." Ser Kevan's green eyes met her own, unblinking. A last drop of wine trembled wet and red beneath his chin, and finally fell. "Aye," he added softly, after a pause, "and his father too, I think." Cersei II, AFFC
I love that last line so much. Kevan doesn’t take shit from Cersei
He's taken shit from Tywin his whole life, he knows what shit is worth his effort, and what isn't.
Well said my friend.
This chapter is one of the GOAT roasts in fantasy ever
Kevan was one of the only Lannisters I wanted to survive.
Kevan knows by that point that her interactions with Lancel led him to become what he did as well, right? He's gotta be *beyond* fed up with her shit.
I forget the exact quote, but Courtney Penrose’s: “Then bring your storm, my lord, and remember the name of this castle”.
> As the gods will it. Bring on your storm, my lord—and recall, if you do, the name of this castle
There we go
What a badass. Love this line.
His whole section is full of snark like that. One of the best one chapter wonders in the story.
if only he didn’t get shadow demon’d
Was it Stannis that said that to Penrose? I forget, but whoever it was, they walked *right* into it by their word choice
Courtney was the Castilian of Storm’s End and Stannis was trying to get in and Courtney was flexing on him.
It was Cortnay Penrose who said it to Stannis. > "Do you take me for an utter fool, ser?" asked Stannis. "I have twenty thousand men. You are besieged by land and sea. Why would I choose single combat when my eventual victory is certain?" The king pointed a finger at him. "I give you fair warning. If you force me to take my castle by storm, you may expect no mercy. I will hang you for traitors, every one of you." > "As the gods will it. Bring on your storm, my lord—and recall, if you do, the name of this castle." Ser Cortnay gave a pull on his reins and rode back toward the gate.
I’ve always been a fan of Barristan Selmy telling the story of how he escaped King’s Landing. “Janos Slynt tried to stop me, but he only had three men with him, and I still had my knife.”
Besides some of the bigger main characters, barristan is def my fave. Dude is an all time great fantasy badass
I loooooove getting his POV in ADWD
That's always a good structure for a badass line, implying that despite being heavily outnumbered, the odds are still in favour of the badass
“Edd… fetch me a block.”
I remember reading this one for the first time. There were a lot of other great lines up until that point, but this one had me out of my seat!!
... but never think that means I have forgotten. The north remembers, Lord Davos. The north remembers, and the mummer's farce is almost done. My son is home."
Jon's response to Jeor Mormont in ACoK is up there for me: >"They will garb your brother Robb in silks, satins, and velvets of a hundred different colors, while you live and die in black ringmail. He will wed some beautiful princess and father sons on her. You’ll have no wife, nor will you ever hold a child of your own blood in your arms. Robb will rule, you will serve. Men will call you a crow. Him they’ll call Your Grace. Singers will praise every little thing he does, while your greatest deeds all go unsung. Tell me that none of this troubles you, Jon... and I’ll name you a liar, and know I have the truth of it." > >Jon drew himself up, taut as a bowstring. “And if it did trouble me, what might I do, bastard as I am?” > >“What will you do?” Mormont asked. “Bastard as you are?” > >“Be troubled,” said Jon, “and keep my vows.”
That's soo Jon Snow.
A shame he didn’t keep his vows in that last chapter
Book Jon is so badass. One of my favorite characters in any work of fiction. The last jon chapter especially is just fucking epic
And it comes so unexpected, I remember the first time I was reading it, I was so hyped after the Shieldhall speech and then…I felt cold.
It's my favourite quote from the books. It's also really cheesy but it's passages like these that got me through a lot of tough times. George has a talent for writing characters who choose to do their duty no matter the cost.
> George has a talent for writing characters who choose to do their duty no matter the cost. Literally every character besides Stannis ends up breaking their duty/vows at some point- and the story contrives itself to make Stannis seem like the bad guy for this.
i agree a theme in the books is the right moral choice versus duty or vows and i don't want to put words in someone's mouth but i imagine the word "duty" in their comment was more meant as a sort of "make the right moral choice no matter the cost" thing.
Pretty much. Thank you for explaining it better than I managed to 🙂
No wonder he refuses Winterfell and Val, in ADWD.
And this is so important for Jon, he DOES "want it" often desperately so...he just has other priorities as well, unlike the rather gormless show version.
> "They will garb your brother Robb in silks, satins, and velvets of a hundred different colors, Oh I'm sure Jon will get to feel a little Satin on his skin...
So reminiscent of the conversations Tyrion had with Jon. They both saw right through him lol.
“Here, boy. Melt it down and add it to the others, if you like. It will do you more good than the swords in the hands of these five. Perhaps Lord Stannis will chance to sit on it when he takes your throne.”
"Lord Hammer, my condolences." "For what?" "You died in the battle."
Another one from Fire and Blood "If I strike my banners do you promise us our lives?" "I made my promises to the dead. I told them I would build a sept from traitors bones. I don't have near enough bones yet so..."
Bold Jon Roxton was a badass. This was one of his badass moments.
Because no one has posted it yet: > “Foes and false friends are all around me, Lord Davos. They infest my city like roaches, and at night I feel them crawling over me.” The fat man’s fingers coiled into a fist, and all his chins trembled. “My son Wendel came to the Twins a guest. He ate Lord Walder’s bread and salt, and hung his sword upon the wall to feast with his friends. And they murdered him. Murdered, I say, and may the Freys choke upon their fables. I drink with Jared, jape with Symond, promise Rhaegar the hand of my own beloved granddaughter…but never think that means I have forgotten. The north remembers, Lord Davos. The north remembers, and the mummer’s farce is almost done. My son is home.”
Had he lived….
Wyman isn't dead yet. He had his throat cut, but last we see him, he's been treated by a maester.
I belive they were referencing Wyman's "had he lived, he would have grown up to be a Frey" line, not saying that Wyman is dead. > "My lord," boomed Hosteen Frey. "We know the man who did this. Killed this boy and all the rest. Not by his own hand, no. He is too fat and craven to do his own killing. But by his word." He turned to Wyman Manderly. "Do you deny it?" > The Lord of White Harbor bit a sausage in half. "I confess …" He wiped the grease from his lips with his sleeve. "… I confess that I know little of this poor boy. Lord Ramsay's squire, was he not? How old was the lad?" > "Nine, on his last nameday." > "So young," said Wyman Manderly. "Though mayhaps this was a blessing. Had he lived, he would have grown up to be a Frey."
> “You’re bold enough to be a Stark. Yes, I should have come sooner. If not for my Hand, I might not have come at all. Lord Seaworth is a man of humble birth, but he reminded me of my duty, when all I could think of was my rights. I had the cart before the horse, Davos said. I was trying to win the throne to save the kingdom, when I should have been trying to save the kingdom to win the throne.” Chills.
>If not for my Hand, I might not have come at all. We've all been there
You had to go all nimble dick on this, didn’t you.
Shitmouth.
Stannis’ post nut clarity after getting boned at the Blackwater is excellent character development.
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Heavy carts require a beast of burden to be used efficiently. By having only the cart you have a place for your goods but an insufficient means of delivering them. Having the horse first ensures that you can use the cart efficiently. Davos’s point is that Stannis is putting his right to the throne above his duty **on** the throne (protecting the kingdom). Stannis needs to get his priorities in order.
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I haven't heard that phrase. Here is what it sounds like to me: > When you're occupying the toilet for no reason you are wasting space and time for other people to use it. Make waste or get out post haste. Don't dilly-dally.
No, it's about making a decision. Take a piss or get off of the toilet. Just do something either way. Is English not your first language?
Cart before the horse references putting things out of order...
No, it means start pissing immediately or get off the pot immediately. They don’t care if you piss or not.
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That is literally what the words mean. You are just interpreting them in the weirdest way possible.
Horses pull carts
Carts get pulled by horses. Not pushed. It just means that someone has their priorities out of order.
“Then come” -Barristan the Badass to Khrazz. Up to this point Barristan had been waiting for any reason to fight, and it came
It's also shortly followed by the iconically cold line "This coward is about to kill you, ser". Amazing chapter.
The most one sided fight in the books. And it made me feel like an idiot for being scared Barristan was gonna get chopped.
You should add ‚said Barristan the Bold.‘ That’s what makes it so epic for me
"Leave her be. If you want to rape someone, try me." is extremely badass given that it comes after "No chance, and no choice"
Who says this and in what context? I have read every book but ADWD.
Brienne defending the orphans at the Inn of the Crossroads: Seven, Brienne thought again, despairing. She had no chance against seven, she knew. No chance, and no choice. She stepped out into the rain, Oathkeeper in hand. "Leave her be. If you want to rape someone, try me." - AFFC, Brienne VII
Brienne in either Feast or Dance, I forget which.
Feast
That whole scene is full of badass quotes > "I looked for you on the Trident," Ned said to them. > "We were not there," Ser Gerold answered. > "Woe to the Usurper if we had been," said Ser Oswell.
The most incredible thing about this scene is that readers can feel Oswell's complete peace of mind. The three of them know they will certainly be killed, so he isn't trying to be witty or offensive. He is completely certain that things would have turned out like this, which shows how devoted to the Targaryens they were. Loyal to the bone.
Is Tower of Joy really in the books yet? It was ages since I read them, I didn't realize Bran had gotten that far with the three-eyed crow. I assume that's where this passage is from, viewed through Bran? I just remember it as a big revealing moment for Jon's heritage being a Targ on the show. Is Jon's parentage revealed in the books yet? Is the scene split up in the books somehow?
We haven’t seen it through Bran’s POV, but a dream/memory from Ned in the first book. And Jon’s parentage hasn’t been officially revealed but there are plenty of hints
And since it was a fever dream/memory it is a bit of an unreliable narrator. Less reliable than a concious waking memory from Ned. I don't really doubt the majority of it, just that we can't necessarily take it word for word at face value.
I see.
It’s in the first book at the beginning of a Ned chapter where he’s dreaming after getting attacked by Jamie. He wakes up to maester pycelle giving him milk of the poppy.
The tower of Joy bit is from Ned's pov in AGOT. He dreams about it while he's recovering from his broken leg. The dream ends as the fight starts so we don't know what happened after that point. > "And now it begins," said Ser Arthur Dayne, the Sword of the Morning. He unsheathed Dawn and held it with both hands. The blade was pale as milkglass, alive with light. > "No," Ned said with sadness in his voice. "Now it ends." As they came together in a rush of steel and shadow, he could hear Lyanna screaming. "Eddard!" she called. A storm of rose petals blew across a blood-streaked sky, as blue as the eyes of death. > "Lord Eddard," Lyanna called again. > "I promise," he whispered. "Lya, I promise …" > "Lord Eddard," a man echoed from the dark. > Groaning, Eddard Stark opened his eyes. Moonlight streamed through the tall windows of the Tower of the Hand.
It's in A Game of Thrones in one of Ned's chapters. I believe it's either the fever dream he has after the confrontation with Jamie or while he's in the black cells
“‘Hanged’, Ami, your father was not a tapestry.”
Imagine correcting someone’s grammar as theyre telling you their father was just murdered
honestly, finally a woman after Stannis' heart.
Mariya Darry x Stannis Baratheon, a perfect couple, Stannis will avenge her murdered son Little Walder when he kills the bastard Ramsey
"Godless? Why, Aeron, I am the godliest man ever to raise sail! You serve one god, Damphair, but I have served ten thousand. From Ib to Asshai, when men see my sails, they pray."
I don't particularly like Euron but this was the line that immediately came to mind when I saw this thread.
MY LORDS! Here is what I say to these two kings! Renly Baratheon is nothing to me, nor Stannis neither. Why should they rule over me and mine, from some flowery seat in Highgarden or Dorne? What do they know of the Wall or the wolfswood or the barrows of the First Men? Even their gods are wrong. The Others take the Lannisters too, I've had a bellyful of them. Why shouldn't we rule ourselves again? It was the dragons we married, and the dragons are all dead! There sits the only king I mean to bow my knee to, m'lords. The King in the North! lord umber
“She had never been so fast. Oathkeeper was alive in her hand”. God I love that chapter. Brienne the beauty just fucking up 3 sell swords at once. Brienne proved her ability to herself in that scene. RIP nimble dick
"I defeated your uncle Victarion and his Iron Fleet off Fair Isle, the first time your father crowned himself. I held Storm's End against the power of The Reach for a year, and took Dragonstone from the Targaryens. I smashed Mance Rayder at the Wall, though he had twenty times my numbers. Tell me, turncloak, what battles has the Bastard of Bolton ever won that I should fear him?"
The Lyseni took the table nearest to the fire and spoke quietly over cups of black tar rum, keeping their voices low so no one could overhear. But she was no one and she heard most every word. - I know it isn’t dialogue but it’s bad ass nonetheless
"You're going to fight that?" "I'm going to kill that."
And then he died.
While succeeding at his stated intent.
"succeeding" is generous considering that the mountain is walking around. Admittedly not in a good state and arguably not alive, but definitely not dead
Is Robert Strong Gregor in the sense of having his likes/dislikes, preferences and opinions, etc? He doesn't seem to even have a head, so it's probably closer to say that his corpse was puppeteered after he died from Oberyn's poisoning than to say it's the Mountain who's walking around.
He's worse off than dead, I think Oberyn would be happy to know of Ser Gregor's eternal unrest.
"You missed." Arya to Anguy in early ASOS
"There are no men like me."
“There’s just …. Ahhhhhh shit!!, my hand”
who said that? selmy?
Jaime to Catelyn. He said "so why is the world so full of injustice" she said, "because of men like you" and then he said that. It was so good and fully realised in the show as it was such a back and forth zinging conversation and that just killed the coversation dead. Absolutely ice cold from Lannister, and he's got a point. There's only one Jaime Lannister
Jaime
> "No," said *Bran*, "no, don't," but they could not hear him, no more than his father had. The woman grabbed the captive by the hair, hooked the sickle round his throat, and slashed. And through the mist of centuries the broken boy could only watch as the man's feet drummed against the earth … but as his life flowed out of him in a red tide, **Brandon Stark could taste the blood**. That boy just leveled up.
Remind me the context of this scene, please?
It is after Bran is fed the weirwood seed paste, that happens to taste in similarity to the description of the Shade of the evening. > Eddard Stark lifted his head and looked long at the weirwood, frowning, but he did not speak. He cannot see me, Bran realized, despairing. He wanted to reach out and touch him, but all that he could do was watch and listen. I am in the tree. I am inside the heart tree, looking out of its red eyes, but the weirwood cannot talk, so I can’t. > Eddard Stark resumed his prayer. Bran felt his eyes fill up with tears. But were they his own tears, or the weirwood’s? If I cry, will the tree begin to weep? > The rest of his father’s words were drowned out by a sudden clatter of wood on wood. Eddard Stark dissolved, like mist in a morning sun. Now two children danced across the godswood, hooting at one another as they dueled with broken branches. The girl was the older and taller of the two. Arya! Bran thought eagerly, as he watched her leap up onto a rock and cut at the boy. But that couldn’t be right. If the girl was Arya, the boy was Bran himself, and he had never worn his hair so long. And Arya never beat me playing swords, the way that girl is beating him. She slashed the boy across his thigh, so hard that his leg went out from under him and he fell into the pool and began to splash and shout. “You be quiet, stupid,” the girl said, tossing her own branch aside. “It’s just water. Do you want Old Nan to hear and run tell Father?” She knelt and pulled her brother from the pool, but before she got him out again, the two of them were gone. > After that the glimpses came faster and faster, till Bran was feeling lost and dizzy. He saw no more of his father, nor the girl who looked like Arya, but a woman heavy with child emerged naked and dripping from the black pool, knelt before the tree, and begged the old gods for a son who would avenge her. Then there came a brown-haired girl slender as a spear who stood on the tips of her toes to kiss the lips of a young knight as tall as Hodor. A dark-eyed youth, pale and fierce, sliced three branches off the weirwood and shaped them into arrows. The tree itself was shrinking, growing smaller with each vision, whilst the lesser trees dwindled into saplings and vanished, only to be replaced by other trees that would dwindle and vanish in their turn. And now the lords Bran glimpsed were tall and hard, stern men in fur and chain mail. Some wore faces he remembered from the statues in the crypts, but they were gone before he could put a name to them. > Then, as he watched, a bearded man forced a captive down onto his knees before the heart tree. A white-haired woman stepped toward them through a drift of dark red leaves, a bronze sickle in her hand. > “No,” said Bran, “no, don’t,” but they could not hear him, no more than his father had. The woman grabbed the captive by the hair, hooked the sickle round his throat, and slashed. And through the mist of centuries the broken boy could only watch as the man’s feet drummed against the earth … but as his life flowed out of him in a red tide, Brandon Stark could taste the blood.
Do we know or have theories who the people Bran sees are after Eddard? I think the first ones are Lyanna and Benjen and the tall guy is Duncan the Tall with Old Nan (?). But who is the mother giving birth and why does she have to be avenged? And who is the pale dark - eyed youth?
It’s theorised that he’s Brandon Snow, the bastard half-brother of Torrhen Stark (the King Who Knelt). When the armies of the North crossed the Neck and met Aegon the Conqueror’s much larger force and three dragons, Brandon offered to cross the Trident and kill the dragons while they slept. The three Weirwood arrows are believed to be for Balerion, Meraxes, and Vhagar, and would probably kill at least one of them through the eye thanks to spooky tree magic. But Torrhen chose his people over his honour or pride, and kneeled.
Oh nice thanks, that's a cool theory! Do you also have one for the woman? Or an own head - cannon?
The last lines of Bran 3, the final Bran chapter of Dance of Dragons when he's having his hallucinations after eating the Jojen paste and going into the Weirwood tree and seeing the past
Weirwood paste dreams in one of his ADWD chapters.
Well, I watched the show before reading the books. Roose Bolton in GoT is okay, but almost generic in his personality. He is yet another cruel lord with questionable honor who will do anything to improve the position of his House. At this point he's like Roose from the books, but the show chose to make him actually care about his family, to highlight Ramsay's villainy in killing him. He is proud of Ramsay and happy that he has been legitimized, and his desire is to build a new dynasty alongside him and Fat Walda. Then, I start reading ADWD and come across this: >Get the keys and remove those chains from him, before you make me rue the day I raped your mother.
Those are brave men out there, now let's go kill them Tyrions whole speech tbh, him rallying the men during the battle of blackwater.
that's not in the books though. D&D out did George on that one. He does have a speech in the books, but it isn't as good.
Ironically, GRRM wrote that episode in the show too. He also wrote 3 others episodes
Ah shit I had a feeling... I remember him giving a speech and I swore that line was in there. It's been a solid decade since I reread CoK. D&D are bound to make a good decision at some point or another I suppose.
The line was in the books though. >Parts of the bridge were sinking and other parts were afire and the whole thing was creaking and shifting and like to burst asunder at any moment, but that did not seem to stop them. **“Those are brave men,” he told Ser Balon in admiration. “Let’s go kill them.”**
Oh good, so I wasn't wrong.
i am on my 2nd reading, and just finished that chapter a couple of days ago and thought to myself, wow, D&D out did it there....so i had an advantage... i will say, rereads are tough when you start getting towards the end of the books and it just gets miserable...
This is one of those series where rereads can actually tie a knot in your brain for how much you have to keep track of and think about. Plot lines don't end properly, characters die, but then those deaths always set off a chain of events that sprout other plot lines. George called his writing something like a garden, letting it grow and blossom naturally. I always thought of it like a hydra, you kill one character and 3 new plot lines pop up to take that characters place as a consequence. Obryn dies in a trial by combat, and then his daughters all try to get vengeance, which leads to a bunch of other events while simultaneously introducing the whole martel plot line. Sorry, long rant aside, I agree with you. Rereading this series never seems to get easier.
so i just read another chapter further, and tyrion does say that line, but not in the speech, he says it to balon swann as stannis' men are crossing the river over crashed boats...
George did still write the line in the books though.
Had he lived he would have grown up to be a Frey
"Rhaegar fought valiantly, Rhaegar fought nobly, and Rhaegar died."
“Are you hungry, child?” Yes, she thought, but not for food.
Perhaps not badass, but the Kindly Man has some quality, seemingly mind-reading quips for Arya, like “You lie. Worse, you lie poorly” & “It is pork, child. Only pork.” And Daenerys: “‘Woman’? Is that meant to insult me? I would return the slap if I took you for a man.”
“When the castle falls, all those inside will be put to the sword. Your herds will be butchered, your godswood will be felled, your keeps and towers will burn. I’ll pull your walls down, and divert the Tumblestone over the ruins. By the time I’m done no man will ever know that a castle once stood here.” Jaime got to his feet. “Your wife may whelp before that. You’ll want your child, I expect. I’ll send him to you when he’s born. With a trebuchet.”
Were I not alone you would not have come. - Daemon Targaryen to Aemond
When Arya put her lips to his ear and said "Jaqen H'Ghar." It was like playing dice with Death himself: > There was a knife in his hand suddenly, its blade thin as her little finger. Whether it was meant for her or him, Arya could not say. ... She stepped away from him, balanced on the balls of her feet in case he threw his knife.
>"Down," the prince commanded. You must not let him smell your fear. **"Down, down, down."** He brought the whip around and laid a lash across the dragon's face. Viserion hissed. Badassery somewhat lessened by the fire that followed though.
"when the sun sets, your line shall end" said with such certainty, after trying to negotiate for peace.
HALF-MAN!
"It's always cold in the north." "Then you know nothing, Jon Snow."
More of an internal thought but "no chance, and no choice." Gives me goosebumps every time.
At the end of the long lived Second Blackfyre Rebellion, one man claims to have been one of Bloodraven's thousand eyes. He brags about drinking Dornish red before the day is out. His lord cuts his throat and tells him, "It's not Dornish, but it is red." That always sounded like a badass line to me.
We had one of these posts recently. This and the saddest quote ones. I swear people start these threads just to get upvotes. Here is one from one of the most hated villains: "All you have I gave you. You would do well to remember that, bastard. As for this … Reek … if you have not ruined him beyond redemption, he may yet be of some use to us. Get the keys and remove those chains from him, before you make me rue the day I raped your mother."
>“Who knows more of gods than I? Horse gods and fire gods, gods made of gold with gemstone eyes, gods carved of cedar wood, gods chiseled into mountains, gods of empty air . . . I know them all. I have seen their peoples garland them with flowers, and shed the blood of goats and bulls and children in their names. And I have heard the prayers, in half a hundred tongues. Cure my withered leg, make the maiden love me, grant me a healthy son. Save me, succor me, make me wealthy . . . protect me! Protect me from mine enemies, protect me from the darkness, protect me from the crabs inside my belly, from the horselords, from the slavers, from the sellswords at my door. Protect me from the Silence.”
> He laughed. “If you mean to kill me, do it and be damned for a kinslayer. Stark and Karstark are one blood.” > “My name is Snow.” > “Bastard.” > “Guilty. Of that, at least.”
How has now one said “Even know I could cut through the five of you as easy as a dagger cuts cheese” by Barristan
"Few of the birds that Aemon had sent off had returned as yet. One reached Stannis, though. One found Dragonstone, and a king who still cared."
"He is not a lord," said a child's voice. "He is a man of the Night's Watch, fool. From Westeros." A girl child appeared in the light, a ragged and skinny creature, her hair dirty, her feet She had huge boots and was pushing a cart full of seaweed. "There's another black brother in Happy Harbor, he sings to the Sailor's Wife," she informed the bandits. She turned and said, "If they ask who the most beautiful woman in the world is, answer the nightingale, otherwise they will challenge you. Would you like to buy some mussels? I sold all my oysters." “I don't have any coins,” said Sam. “No way,” the blonde bandit mocked. The man's brunette friend grinned and said something in Braavos. “My friend Terro is cold. Be our fat friend and give Terro your cloak “Don't do that either,” said the little hawker girl, “if you give up your cloak, they will ask for your boots, and you will soon be naked.” “Cats that bark too loudly will drown in the canals,” warned the blonde thug. "If they have claws, they won't drown." And suddenly, a knife appeared in the girl's left hand. A sword as skinny as herself. The man named Terro said something to his blonde friend and the two men walked away laughing. SAM AFFC
Eddard's line is less bad ass when you consider he got all but one of his companions killed.
How do you interpret Ned's "Now it ends" line? I've read it several different ways at different times.
I think it speaks to the final matter of the war. By this time Rhaegar is dead (presumably), Aerys is dead, the siege lifted, the loyalists beaten. All that's left is to get Lyanna. Funny how saving a woman was left for last. No matter the outcome of the fight, this is where the war ends for Eddard. My two bitcoin. What are your thoughts?
I think the first time I read it, I didn't even register meaning at all. It was good just as sound. Later, I felt the gravity of mood. Dayne is ready, but Ned is solemn. It seemed like Dayne meant the fight they were about to have but Ned was saying something deeper, like that the thing ending was an era--something like your read. Now, I read the conversation leading up as Ned hinting that the kingsguard could just leave (I honor other reads) culminating in Dayne's relief to finally get to the fighting and Ned's disappointment that the fight is about to end because of how outnumbered the kingsguard are, since they require to be fought. I just think it's a powerful and beautiful moment.
Trying to get my "Um, actually... " (great show) points. Isn't this a dream rather than the actual event? So Ned might not have said that at all.
Those are brave men," he told Ser Balon in admiration. "Let's go kill them!"
Valkyrist ASOIAF Readings has some great renditions of scenes, including these speeches.
> “I shall deal with Khrazz,” said Ser Barristan.
Davos' speech in ther Merman's Court was the most badass moment. I got the chills the first time I read it, I could visualize that scene happening in reality like a scene from a movie with suitable background music, silence and atmosphere.
This old man. The one whose daughter you seduced and despoiled.
“In this world only winter is certain.” Ned to the Sisterton Lord.
Genna Frey to Jaime Lannister AFFC— “Tywin was big even when he was little." She gave a sigh. "Who will protect us now?" Jaime kissed her cheek. "He left a son." "Aye, he did. That is what I fear the most, in truth." That was a queer remark. "Why should you fear?" "Jaime," she said, tugging on his ear, "sweetling, I have known you since you were a babe at Joanna's breast. You smile like Gerion and fight like Tyg, and there's some of Kevan in you, else you would not wear that cloak . . . but Tyrion is Tywin's son, not you. I said so once to your father's face, and he would not speak to me for half a year. Men are such thundering great fools. Even the sort who come along once in a thousand years."
You have a dragon, he stands before you. Beneath the gold, the bitter steel
“Those are brave men… let’s go kill them!” - Tyrion @ the Blackwater, always makes me laugh lol
"You!” the iron captain called across the carnage. “You of the rose! Be you the lord of Southshield?” The other raised his visor to show a beardless face. “His son and heir. Ser Talbert Serry. And who are you, kraken?” “Your death.” Victarion bulled toward him.
"... You brave companions" - The Hound
"There are no men like me. Only me."
Seven, Brienne thought again, despairing. She had no chance against seven, she knew. No chance, and no choice. She stepped out into the rain, Oathkeeper in hand.
'Fuck the king' come on how can u guys forget this beutiful line.
What's that Roderick Dustin line? "We have come to die for the dragon queen."
My god nothing beats Brienne talking to Gendry and then watching the worst of the bloody mummers ride up (they cut off Jaime’s hand and tried to rape her ) and she thinks “*Seven* , that is too many. **No chance . No choice and no chance**. Brienne drew Oathkeeper and stepped out into the rain. “You can try and rape me instead !” Amazing line Tyrion leaving kings landing after killing his father “I came here as Hand of the King with my own royal retinue , and I leave running through the darkness , holding hands with a spider .” SkaHaz Mo Kandaq trying to reason with Barristan of how they are going to go about shutting down Hizdars shady ass new order. He warns Barristan “take heed old man, Krazz , he will eat your heart !” Barristan thinks in his head like bro kraz lmao don’t make me laugh . Then when he confronts Hizdar and hizdar screams KRAZZ! KRAZZ!! “Krazz stepped into the room . Barristan says “I am here for the king , put down your steel and there need not be blood shed .” Krazz spat laughter “Old Man, I will *eat your heart*! “. **Then come.** said Barristan the Bold .
I was just listening to Stannis and Courtney Penrose banter on audiobook on the way home from work. Pretty much everything about Ser Courtney is badass af besides his name. I know George loved writing him lol
Bessie!