What quote most spoke to us from Game of Thrones Season 6? Read out takes, tell us yours, and vote in our poll!
DAN: There was a lot of terrific dialogue in Game of Thrones Season 6, but one line stood out to me the second I heard it. Tyrion said it in “Book of the Stranger” after striking a deal with the Masters that gave them an additional seven years to phase out slavery, provided they cease their attacks on the population of Meereen. Missandei and Grey Worm didn’t approve, and Tyrion defended his decision:
"Slavery is a horror that should be ended at once. War is a horror that should be ended at once. I can’t do both today."
I like this line because it harkens back to the earlier seasons, when the characters made a habit of wandering in moral gray areas. Yes, Missandei absolutely has a point that Tyrion doesn’t know what it’s like to be a slave, and that even another hour spent in bondage is too long, to say nothing of another seven years. But I think Tyrion also has a point, and that a concession may be preferable to a war in which all the citizens of Meereen—free and slave—likely would have died. The situation was complicated, and this line summed it up very well.
In the end, I think Tyrion made the right decision. Without that deal, the Slavers probably would have attacked much earlier, before Daenerys had time to get control of the Dothraki and head home. She returned to a city at war, but she might have returned to one in ruins.
Mostly, I was just happy the show engaged in some twisty political theater. It’s eased off that stuff as we head toward an epic conflict between the living and the dead, but it’s an important part of what makes Game of Thrones great. Lines like this remind us of that.
COREY: For me, the dialogue in Season 6 was never better than in the finale, “The Winds of Winter.” We were treated to wonderful exchanges throughout the episode, from Margaery sparring with the High Sparrow to Jon and Sansa on the battlements of Winterfell. The dialogue and delivery was top-notch.
So it was from this episode that I drew my favorite line, from the one and only Ser Davos Seaworth:
- I loved that girl like she was my own. She was good, she was kind, and you killed her!
The confrontation between Melisandre and Davos was one of the highlights of the season for me, and Liam Cunningham knocked it out of the park. Cunnigham is one of the most underrated actors on the show, and in this scene his delivery is everything. Cunningham spits fire, pain, and fury delivering this line, and I know I was cheering him along. We waiting for this confrontation all season. It lived up to expectations, and the dialogue was a big reason why.
This line, among others, conveys Davos’ pain and anger at both at Melisandre and at Stannis, whom Davos trusted above all. The dialogue brings the audience in, helps us empathize with Davos, and rage against the monsters who murdered Shireen. I can only hope Cunningham is given the same kind of quality dialogue in Seasons 7 and 8. (Assuming he makes it that far.)
KATIE: So much of Sansa’s dialogue this season struck me to my very core. This year was a major turning point for her. Although she showed up later to the game than most, she’s done so in a really profound way. Much of what she says conveys her pain and resilience impeccably. The writers really came through for her; she doesn’t have a bad line in the bunch.
That being said, nothing sends a chill down my spine quite like:
"You’re going to die tomorrow, Lord Bolton. Sleep well."
Smalljon Umber has just thrown Shaggydog’s head at her and Jon’s feet, and Sansa knows that Rickon is lost to them. The Boltons have taken so much away from her—Catelyn, Robb, so many Stark soldiers and loyalists. Ramsay repeatedly raped and abused her, locked her up and tried to terrify her into submission. He treated her like one of his toys and she’s remained a person. Now, Sansa knows that he’ll take Rickon away from them before he’s through. And she’s had enough. She cuts through the rest of his trash talk and threatens him without breaking eye contact. She promises his death and, what’s more, she delivers.
This line, coupled with what she says to him prior to his death, really cuts to Ramsay’s fears. Because despite all sadistic appearances, he does have them. They’re more or less the same fears as any villain of Ramsay’s caliber (think Voldemort): Death, insignificance, powerlessness. Sansa honed in on that weakness and used it to denigrate Ramsay within an inch of his life.
Sansa’s ability to face her abusers—Joffrey and Ramsay alike—has always been indicative of her strength. She never fails to stand her ground beneath the shadow they cast over her. Here, telling Ramsay that his death and consequent irrelevance are imminent is just the icing on the “Sansa Slays” cake. And it’s delicious.
ANI: Picking the best quote is always one of the hardest tasks of these “Best of the Season” retrospectives. So many good one-liners. So many fun memories or great scenes. But one stuck out to me more than any other, from one of the greatest scenes of the entire run of the show.
"Tyrion to Rhaegal and Viserion: “I’m here to help. Don’t eat the help!”"
Don’t eat the help! If there’s one scene in Season 6 that Peter Dinklage should have been given an Emmy for, it’s this one. Stuck in Meereen with only Varys, who trusts his decisions, a war he can’t win, and two dragons he can’t control, Tyrion decides to face the last one of those head on. It could have been suicidal. As far as anyone knew—book-reader or show-watcher—the only human who could get any of those dragons to listen was Dany, and sometimes she had trouble. Rhaegal and Viserion are definitely the beta boys of the dragon dragon brood, but Tyrion isn’t nearly as fearsome as their big brother. Hell, most full sized humans don’t respect him enough to listen, so why should dragons?
And yet, in the most tender and touching scene of the year, Tyrion went down and faced his terror and fulfilled a lifelong dream at the same time. And they didn’t eat the help. Instead they bowed their necks and asked him to free them. And he did.
It’s not an accident that that scene happened before Tyrion stood up to the masters and made peace, and then stood up to Missandei and Greyworm and told them he was doing what he could with what he had. If he could face dragons and not be eaten, he could face anything. He could make dragons recognize and respect the help. Making everyone else respect and recognize him was easy after that.
(And all that, and the dragons didn’t even really exist. And yet I dare you to watch that scene without a lump in your throat and a pain in your heart. It’s a masterful performance on Dinklage’s part.)
RAZOR: As much as I would love to go with Tyrion saying, “That’s what I do. I drink and I know things,” there is a quote from the final episode of Season 6 that, as a book-reader, I had been looking forward to since I read A Dance with Dragons.
In the books, this line goes to someone else. But even altered, it still had the desired effect. I was gleefully delighted to hear it uttered on screen.
The scene: Grand Maester Pycelle has followed a child into Qyburn’s laboratory under false pretenses. Waiting, Qyburn confronts the older man:
- This pains me, My Lord. Whatever your faults, you do not deserve to die alone in such a cold, dark place. But sometimes before we usher in the new, the old must be put to rest.
That line, delivered by actor Anton Lesser and accompanied by Ramin Djawadi’s score, instantly became my personal favorite from the season.
RICHARD: So much great dialog. I agree with Ani that Tyrion’s plea to the dragons—”I’m here to help. Don’t eat the help.”—was special, and I think it earned my biggest belly laugh of the year. As we can see from the choices below, great lines are embedded in great emotional cinematic moments. For me, one of the blue ribbon speeches came in “The Winds of Winter” when Dany makes Tyrion her Hand of the Queen. Finally honored for his talents by the one person in whom he’s chosen to believe, Tyrion experienced a profound catharsis, and it made tears well up in my eyes:
"For what its worth, I’ve been a cynic for as long as I can remember. Everyone is always asking me to believe in things: family, gods, kings, myself. It was often tempting until I saw where belief got people. So, I said ‘no thank you’ to belief. And yet, here I am. I believe in you. It’s embarrassing, really. I’d swear you my sword but I don’t actually own a sword."
This scene drives home a major theme of Game of Thrones: that leaders must make people believe in them, whether it be through heroism, persuasion, coercion or deceit, in order to gain power. And Peter Dinklage can rock a speech, that’s for sure.
This poll ended up having a lot of options, so feel free to choose up to three.
What was the best quote/exchange from Game of Thrones Season 6?