The Most Badass ‘Game of Thrones’ Quotes You Need to Revisit

With just days to go until the season seven finale, Game of Thrones has been delivering some fierce lines this year and we can’t lie, plenty have given us chills.

Whether big or small though, the critically acclaimed HBO series features incredible moments supported by strong, complex characters who have delivered some phenomenal one-liners throughout the series. When it comes to the writing, author George R.R. Martin and showrunners David Benioff and DB Weiss have accomplished an inimitable mix of profound quotes, witty humor, sarcastic one-liners, and just plain badass moments.

To get you excited for the season finale this Sunday, we look back at some of the most badass, definitive quotes from the series that resonate with the plots of season seven. Keep in mind, these lines don’t have to just be for the people of Westeros — we’re sure there are plenty of real-life scenarios that could benefit from these perfect responses.

Season 1, Episode 1: “Winter is Coming”

Tyrion Lannister: “Let me give you some advice, bastard. Never forget what you are. The rest of the world will not. Wear it like armor, and it can never be used to hurt you.”

This first meeting between Tyrion and Jon is one that sticks out in memory, making it one of the most iconic moments from the series. In the pilot, Tyrion is introduced as a brothel-loving dwarf with no interest in the rest of the world. But his line gives immense depth of character, proving to viewers he’s more than his title. The best part to this quote comes from Jon’s defensive reply asking what he the Lannister knows about being a bastard, to which Tyrion responds, “All dwarves are bastards in their father’s eyes.”

Ned Stark: “The man who passes the sentence should swing the sword.”

The Stark patriarch was one of the greatest characters on the series, but his sense of ethics, honor and duty did not exactly help him stay alive. In the pilot, his character is immediately established with this lesson he shares with his son, Bran, revealing that no leader should give an order or make decisions he wouldn’t carry out himself. In this meaning, it connects the person to their choices, pointing out that if someone is sentenced to death, be sure it’s the right choice to kill him yourself.

Season 1, Episode 7: “You Win or You Die”

Cersei Lannister: “When you play the Game of Thrones, you win or you die. There is no middle ground.”

And she’s right. The show has proved you either win or you don’t, and for those that don’t, death follows. Spoken by Cersei to Ned after he discovered her incestuous relationship, the line is a significant one that has played throughout the series as everyone had competed for the throne. But as the saying goes, “Valar marghulis,” because all men must die. Eventually.

Season 2, Episode 3: “What Is Dead May Never Die”

Lord Varys: Power resides where men believe it resides. It’s a trick. A shadow on the wall. And a very small man can cast a very large shadow. 

According to Varys, power is an idea and it’s subjective, but it is also something even the smallest man can accomplish — say someone like Tyrion or even Jon Snow, who is small in status considering he’s a “bastard.” But in the exchange between with Tyrion, Varys reassures the Lannister that he could a bigger role in the ruling of Westeros. This acknowledgement that Tyrion is a real player in the “game of thrones” is also a warning that unlike most people, Varys takes Tyrion seriously and will not underestimate his actions, especially with how he is now advising Daenerys.

Season 3, Episode 6: “The Climb”

Littlefinger: “Chaos isn’t a pit. Chaos is a ladder. Many who try to climb it fail and never get to try again. The fall breaks them. And some are given a chance to climb, they cling to the real or the gods or love. Only the ladder is real. The climb is all there is.”

This interesting quote was initially shared between Littlefinger and Varys, but resurfaced in season seven’s episode, “The Spoils of War” after Bran reiterated those words to Littlefinger. While Littlefinger was schooling Varys in the season three episode, Bran was basically schooling him and letting him know he was definitely on to him and his wise games. For those who might forget, Bran has seen literally everything in the Seven Kingdoms, including Littlefinger’s games and presumably also knows of the role he played in his father, Ned’s death.

Season 3, Episode 3: “The Walk of Punishment”

Ser Jorah Mormont: “There’s a beast in every man, and it stirs when you put a sword in his hand.”

Early on, Ser Jorah served as an advisor to Daenerys and shared some pretty solid gold one-liners that made for a certain kind of sage-like wisdom. While speaking with her about the Unsullied and the nature of war, he notifies her of the inevitable violence involved, and his commentary of human nature and destruction is sadly accurate and foretelling of what is to come, especially with the White Walkers that they have all now witnessed.

Season 4, Episode 4: “Oathkeeper”

Littlefinger: “A man with no motives is a man no one suspects. Always keep your foes confused. If they don’t know who you are or what you want, they can’t know what you plan to do next.”

This is a solid survivor strategy, but it’s also very telling of Littlefinger’s personality. Since season one, we’ve seen Lord Baelish’s influence on major events in King’s Landing and beyond, but his conniving power and manipulation of Sansa is one that will most probably get him caught, especially if Arya sees to it.

Season 4, Episode 7: “Mockingbird”

Arya Stark: “Nothing isn’t better or worse than anything. Nothing is just nothing.”

After everything the youngest Stark daughter has seen, she is one of the more defiant characters in the series, taking a rather nihilistic view of the world. In the episode, Arya shares the words with a strange man she meets who is slowly dying. But the words are not mean to be of comfort, they’re more about her cluing into the reality of death by looking it right in the face. Witnessing death and destruction everywhere she turns, Arya’s words prove she used her fears as means of strength.

Season 5, Episode 8: “Hardhome”

Tyrion Lannister: “A ruler who kills those devoted to her is not a ruler who inspires devotion.”

These first words shared between Tyrion and Daenerys in “Hardhome” have echoed throughout season seven too, with a means to foreshadow the mindset of the “Mother of Dragons.” When she asks him to advise her in season five in what do with Jorah after her betrayed her, he acts like a real leader and plays to his strengths (and gratitude), advising to send him away instead of killing him. It goes back to an earlier quote in season three, episode two where Tyrion says it is important to “know as many people as I can. You never know which one you’ll need.” 

The Game of Thrones season seven finale airs Sunday, Aug. 28 at 9/8 CST only on HBO.

Photo credit: HBO / Warner Bros. Television