In the final episode of Game of Thrones, Tyrion Lannister is brought before the assembled high lords and ladies of Westeros and heads off further conflict by suggesting a new ruler: Bran Stark. “What unites people?” Tyrion asks. “Armies? Gold? Flags? No. It’s stories. There's nothing in the world more powerful than a good story. Nothing can stop it. No enemy can defeat it. And who has a better story than Bran the Broken? The boy who fell from a high tower and lived… He's our memory. The keeper of all our stories. The wars, weddings, births, massacres, famines, our triumphs, our defeats, our past. Who better to lead us into the future?"
Tonight, at the 75th Annual Emmy Awards, actor Peter Dinklage repeated these lines while announcing the nominees for Best Drama, the final award of the night. “There's nothing in the world more powerful than a good story," he said. "Nothing can stop it. No enemy can defeat it. And who has a better story than these eight nominees?"
The award went to Succession, for the record (check out the full list of winners here). It was interesting to hear Dinklage recreate this particular speech, in part because it's widely mocked among members of the fandom who didn't enjoy the way the show ended. There was some snark on Twitter, of course.
bringing Peter Dinklage out for a Game of Thrones tribute and explictly reminding us of "Who has a better story than Bran?"
— Sam Adams (@SamuelAAdams) January 16, 2024
Lol they really had Dinklage say this again pic.twitter.com/nQpaZYdfC8
— Dave Itzkoff (@ditzkoff) January 16, 2024
Peter Dinklage at the Emmys pic.twitter.com/B2YbXqyiPm
— Chancellor Agard 🇬🇾 (@chancelloragard) January 16, 2024
At first blush, this speech does seem like a bit of an odd one to recreate. Then again, the Emmys is about handing out statues to people who tell stories for a living, so no speech from Game of Thrones flatters them like that one.
The Game of Thrones "reunion" didn't happen at the Emmys
Originally, we'd heard that tonight's Emmy Awards would feature a variety of scenes and sketches pulled from famous TV shows, with the casts reuniting to bring them back to life. Executive producer Jesse Collins said they had "a great Game of Thrones moment" in store. That may have been overselling it a bit. Of all the shows paid tribute to tonight, Game of Thrones got the mildest homage. Host Anthony Anderson wore a cloak next to a replica of the Iron Throne, and then Dinklage walked past and recited a couple of lines from Tyrion's speech. No other cast members appeared.
I don't what I was expecting, but I guess I wanted a little more. Actors recreated the chocolate-eating scene from I Love Lucy, the cast of Ally McBeal did a dance, and the cast of Cheers did a bit on a recreation of the old bar set. The Game of Thrones tribute was pretty muted in comparison.
But it was all in good fun. Also, I liked Peter Dinklage greeting the crowd by saying, "Hello, you roomful of hotties." He also tipped his hat to Martin Luther King, Jr. "Happy birthday, Doctor King."
Congratulations to all the winners!
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