…Stannis Baratheon correcting the grammar of an overzealous Night’s Watchmen. All hail the one true king of grammar! “Less enemies for us!”
This was one of those moments most people probably predicted would win. Game of Thrones isn’t famous for its comedy, but this bit hit a chord with fans, many of whom repurposed it or used it as a springboard for articles. It went, as the kids say, viral, and that gave it an edge over some of the other contenders in our poll, although the passive-aggressive standoff between the two queens of Westeros and the realization that there are such things as “cock merchants” in this world put up good fights.
Also, it’s worth noting that that the Funniest Moment poll had around twice as many votes as our Most Dramatic Moment poll, so it would seem that people were very passionate about Stannis’ grammar Nazism.
On top of capturing the grammar-obsessed zeitgeist of a nation, the “fewer” moment works because it’s a good old-fashioned piece of character-based comedy. Stannis is a rule-follower by nature, and the notion that he’s so devoted to doing things properly that he couldn’t let it go when a random Night’s Watchmen had a slip of the tongue underlines just how deep his obsession with order goes.
And yet, Stannis does let his consternation pass when Davos asks for clarification. After all, Davos made the same grammatical error earlier in the series, and if he didn’t learn then, he’s not going to learn now. In an odd way, this foreshadows the rest of Stannis’ Season 5 journey. He may be a stickler for doing things the right way, but there are a few circumstances when he’s willing to compromise his convictions.
Or it’s just a throwaway moment that happened to blow up.
Before we gear up for the next poll (Best Action Scene of Game of Thrones Season 5), I want to give a shout-out to a few funny moments that got left off the last one, either because we forgot them or because the poll was getting overly crowded. In the words of our lovely readers:
"The Red Lady: Yes! I think Olenna’s comment about KL’s stench was the funniest moment and should have been on the poll.WorfWWorfington: Ghost showing up to help Gilly and Sam cracks me up because I always add dialogue for Ghost in Samuel L. Jackson voice. “I’ve about had it with these f—ing rapes on this f—ing show!”Juicycapoochie: Can’t believe nobody mentioned Olenna and Cersei’s battle of wits. “The famous tart, Queen Cersei,” was one of the best lines in the whole series. What about Tyrion claiming his Valyrian is “a bit nostril”?"
Incidentally, feel free to suggest things to include in the “Best Action Scene” poll. We’ve got the big ones, but there’s a chance we might miss something. “Best Line” is going to be a doozy. Very subjective, that one.
Next: Game of Thrones viewership at series high for Season 5