Jon SnowWe're here to say goodbye to our brothers and sisters. To our fathers and mothers. To our friends. Our fellow men and women, who set aside their differences, to fight together... and die together, so that others might live. Everyone in this world, owes them a debt that can never be repaid. It is our duty and our honor, to keep them alive in memory, for those who come after us, and those who come after them... for as long as men draw breath. They were the shields that guarded the realms of men. And we shall never see their like again.
[Walking down a path near the riverbank, they find the body of a full-grown female direwolf with five direwolf pups huddling close to her]
It's a direwolf. Tough old beast.
There are no direwolves south of the Wall.
Jon Snow
Now there are five. You want to hold it?
[Bran takes the pup immediately and wraps it in his cloak.]
They don't belong down here.
Better a quick death. They won't last without their mother.
[Theon draws his dagger and grabs the pup from Bran.]
I take orders from your father, not you.
Jon Snow
Lord Stark? There are five pups, one for each of the Stark children. The direwolf is the sigil of your House. They were meant to have them.
You will train them yourselves, you will feed them yourselves, and if they die, you will bury them yourselves.
Jon Snow
I'm not a Stark. Get on.
[He notices something at the base of a tree and heads towards it.]
[Jon straightens up, holding a sixth direwolf pup, an albino.]
Ah, the runt of the litter! That one's yours, Snow.
Jon Snow
You're Tyrion Lannister? The Queen's brother?
My greatest accomplishment. And you, you're Ned Stark's bastard, aren't you?
[Jon walks away]
Did I offend you? Sorry. You are the bastard, though.
Jon Snow
Lord Eddard Stark is my father.
And Lady Stark is not your mother, making you … the bastard. 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.
Jon Snow
What the hell do you know about being a bastard?
All dwarfs are bastards in their fathers' eyes.
[Tyrion and Jon Snow watch as several captured criminals are brought in by the band of Watchmen and fed]
Ah, rapers. They were given a choice, no doubt: castration, or the Wall. Most choose the knife. Not impressed with your new brothers? Lovely thing about the Watch. You discard your old family and get a whole new one.
Jon Snow
Why do you read so much?
Look at me and tell me what you see.
Jon Snow
Is this a trick?
What you see is a dwarf. If I had been born a peasant, they might've left me out in the woods to die. Alas, I was born a Lannister of Casterly Rock. Things are expected of me. My father was the Hand of the King for twenty years.
Jon Snow
Until your brother killed that King.
Yes. Until my brother killed him. Life is full of these little ironies. My sister married the new King, and my repulsive nephew will be King after him. I must do my part, for the honour of my House. Wouldn't you agree? But how? Well, my brother has his sword, and I have my mind, and a mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone. That's why I read so much, Jon Snow. And you? What's your story, bastard?
Jon Snow
Ask me nicely, and maybe I'll tell you, dwarf.
A bastard boy with nothing to inherit, off to join the ancient Order of the Night's Watch. Alongside his valiant brothers-in-arms.
Jon Snow
The Night's Watch protects the Realm from--
Ah, yes, yes, against grumpkins and snarks, and all the other monsters your wet-nurse warned you about! You're a smart boy, you don't believe all that nonsense.
Jon Snow
You can't fight. You can't see. You're afraid of heights and almost everything else, probably. What are you doing here, Sam?
On the morning of my eighteenth nameday, my father came to me. "You're almost a man now, he said, but you're not worthy of my land and title. Tomorrow you're going to take the black, forsake all claims to your inheritance and start north. If you do not," he said, "then we will have a hunt, and somewhere in these woods, your horse will stumble and you'll be thrown from your saddle to die. Or so I will tell your mother. Nothing would please me more."
Tell me, did you ever wonder why the men of the Night's Watch take no wives and father no children?
Jon Snow
No.
So they will not love. Love is the death of duty. lf the day should ever come when your lord father was forced to choose, between honour on the one hand and those he loves on the other, what would he do?
Jon Snow
He...He would do whatever was right. No matter what.
Then Lord Stark is one man in 10,000. Most of us are not so strong. What is honour, compared to a woman's love? And what is duty, against the feel of a newborn son in your arms? Or a brother's smile?
Jon Snow
Sam told you?
We're all human. Oh, we all do our duty when there's no cost to it. Honour comes easy then. Yet, sooner or later in every man's life, there comes a day when it is not easy. A day when he must choose.
Jon Snow
And this is my day? ls that what you're saying?
Oh, it hurts, boy. Oh, yes. I know.
Jon Snow
You do not know. No one knows. I may be a bastard, but he is my father and Robb is my brother!
The gods were cruel when they saw fit to test my vow. They waited until I was old. What could I do when the ravens brought the news from the South? The ruin of my house. The death of my family. I was helpless, blind, frail, but when I heard they had killed my brother's son, and his poor son, and the children. Even the little children!
Jon Snow
Who are you?
My father was Maekar, first of his name. My brother Aegon reigned after him, when I had refused the throne, and his son was Aerys whom they called "The Mad King."
Jon Snow
You're Aemon Targaryen!
I am a Maester of the Citadel, bound in service to Castle Black and the Night's Watch. I will not tell you to stay or go. You must make that choice yourself and live with it the rest of your days, as I have.
You think we're savages because we don't live in stone castles. We can't make steel as good as yours, it's true, but We're free. If someone tried to tell us we couldn't lie down as man and woman, we'd shove a spear up his arse. We don't go serving some shit king who's only king because his father was.
Jon Snow
No. No, you serve Mance Rayder, the King Beyond the Wall.
We chose Mance Rayder to lead us. He was a crow, same as you, but he wanted to be free. Now, you could be free, too. You don't need to live your whole life taking commands from old men. Wake up when you want to wake up. I could show you the streams to fish, the woods to hunt. Build yourself a cabin and find a woman to lie with in the night. [gets closer to Jon] You're a pretty lad. Girls will claw each other's eyes out to get naked with you.
Jon Snow
Walk.
I could teach you how to do it.
Jon Snow
I know how to do it.
You know nothing, Jon Snow.
BLord of Bones
We killed his friends. Thought you'd want to question this one.
What do we want with a baby Crow?
This baby killed Qhorin Halfhand.
That halfhanded cunt killed friends of mine. Friends twice your size.
Jon Snow
My father taught me big men fall just as quick as little ones if you put a sword through their hearts.
Plenty of little men tried to put their swords through my heart. And there's plenty of little skeletons buried in the woods. What's your name, boy?
Jon Snow
Jon Snow... Your Grace.
"Your Grace?" Do you hear that? From now on, you'd better kneel every time I fart.
Jon Snow
[about The Wall] Have you ever climbed it before?
No, but Tormund's done it half a hundred times. You're afraid.
Jon Snow
Aren't you?
Aye. Well, it's a long way up, and a long way down, but... I've waited my whole life to see the world from up there. [she pulls out a set of climbing spikes] Here, sit down, brought a pair for you. They're too big for you, but they're good.
Jon Snow
You kill someone for them?
Nah. I didn't kill him, but I bet his balls are still bruised. He wasn't good to me, the way you're good to me. And he didn't do that thing you do with your tongue.
Jon Snow
Hey, can we not talk about that here?
"Can we not talk about that here? I'm Jon Snow. I've killed dead men and Qhorin Halfhand, but I'm scared of naked girls!"
Jon Snow
Did I seem scared the other day?
[laughs] Oh, you were tremblin' like a leaf.
Jon Snow
Only in the beginning.
Only in the beginning. You're a proper lover, Jon Snow. And, don't worry, your secret's safe with me.
Jon Snow
What secret?
D'you think I'm as dumb as all those girls in silk dresses you knew growing up? You're loyal, and you're brave...You didn't stop being a Crow, the day you walked into Mance Rayder's tent. But I'm your woman now, Jon Snow. You're goin' to be loyal to your woman. The Night's Watch don't care if you live or die. Mance Rayder don't care if I live or die. We're just soldiers in their armies, and there's plenty more to carry on if we go down. But it's you and me that matters. Me and you. Don't ever betray me.
Jon Snow
I won't.
Because, I'll cut your pretty cock right off and wear it 'round me neck.
[walks up] Sink your metal deep and make sure it holds, before taking your next step. And, if you fall, don't scream. You don't want that to be the last thing she remembers, eh?
Jon Snow
'Bout a week, I think.
You think? You don't know?
Jon Snow
When we went to Castle Black, we took the Kingsroad.
You and your roads. Is that how you lot do your fighting? You march down a road, banging drums and waving banners?
Jon Snow
Most of the time, yes.
How do the men holding the banners fight?
Jon Snow
They don't, really. It's a great honor to carry a house sigil.
And the drummers? Is that a great honor too?
Jon Snow
Usually, it's the young boys bangin' the drums.
Jon Snow
They help the men march.
Jon Snow
Well, it's, it's the rhythm.
[laughing] What, you mean, right foot, left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot? What, you need help remembering that? When Mance gives the signal and we hit Castle Black, we won't be banging on drums to let 'em know we're coming.
Jon Snow
No. No, you're just gonna light the biggest fire the North has ever seen, to let them know you're coming.
You know nothing, Jon Snow.
Jon Snow
Ygritte, you know I didn't have a choice. You always knew who I was, what I am. I have to go home now. I know you won't hurt me.
You know nothing, Jon Snow.
Jon Snow
I do know some things. I know I love you. I know that you love me. But I have to go home now!
[He turns away and Ygritte fires an arrow into his shoulder, knocking him down in agony. Jon staggers over to his horse, climbs on and rides away, but not before Ygritte shoots him twice more. She watches him go, sobbing.]
So you admit you murdered Qhorin Halfhand?
Jon Snow
I didn't murder him.
No? You put your sword through a brother of the Night's Watch. What do you call that?
Jon Snow
He wanted me to kill him.
A bastard son of a traitor. What would you expect?
Jon Snow
The Halfhand believed our only chance to stop Mance was to get a man inside his army.
Don't talk about the Halfhand as if you knew him. He was my brother.
Jon Snow
Then you'd know he'd do anything to defend the Wall. The free folk would have boiled him alive, but letting me kill him...
The free folk? Listen to him. He even talks like a wildling now.
Jon Snow
Aye, I talk like a wildling. I ate with the wildlings. I climbed the Wall with the wildlings. I...I laid with a wildling girl.
You admit to breaking your vows, then?
Jon Snow
I do.
The law is the law. The boy must die.
If we beheaded every ranger who lay with a girl, the Wall would be manned by headless men.
There's a difference between sneaking off to the Mole's Town brothel and sleeping with the enemy.
Jon Snow
While we sit here, debating which rules I broke, Mance Rayder marches on the Wall with an army of a hundred thousand.
Impossible. You can't get fifty wildlings together before they start killing each other.
Jon Snow
One hundred thousand. He's united the Thenns, the Hornfoots, the ice-river clans, there's giants fighting for him.
Jon Snow
Have you ever been beyond the Wall, ser?
I commanded the City Watch of King's Landing, boy.
Jon Snow
And now you're here. You must not have been very good at your job.
Jon Snow
There's a band of wildlings south of the Wall already, led by Tormund Giantsbane. I killed their warg and three others. They shot me full of arrows. Their orders are to attack Castle Black from the south when Mance hits it from the north. The signal for the attack will be a bonfire. Mance said it would be the greatest fire the North has ever seen. That's the truth. All the truth. Do you intend to execute me or am I free to go?
None of us are free. We are men of the Night's Watch. But we won't be taking your head today, Jon Snow.
Jon Snow
We lost four brothers?
[stares at Locke's horribly broken neck] What in Seven Hells could do that to a man?
Jon Snow
I count ten dead mutineers. Locke said there were eleven of them.
WWatchman
Here's another!
[glances up and sees Ghost appear at the gate] Jon?
Jon Snow
[smiles] Where in Seven Hells?! Come here! I've missed you, boy.
[indicates Craster's surviving daughter-wives] What should we do with this lot?
Jon Snow
It's not safe for you out here on your own. Mance Rayder has an army heading this way, and there's worse out there than Mance. Come with us to Castle Black. We can find you work, keep you safe.
CSCraster's first wife
Meaning all respect, Ser Crow. Craster beat us, and worse. Your brother Crows beat us, and worse. We'll find our own way.
Jon Snow
You want to stay here? In Craster's Keep?
CSCraster's first wife
[looks up at the hall and spits] Burn it to the ground and all the dead with it.
[about Ygritte] What was she like?
Jon Snow
She...she had red hair.
[sarcastically] Oh? How big were her feet?
Jon Snow
What do you want me to say?
I want you to tell me what it was like to have someone, to be with someone, to love someone and have them love you back. We're all gonna die a lot sooner than I planned. You're the closest I'll ever get to knowing.
Jon Snow
So you and Gilly never...?
No. She just had a baby. And she never offered.
Jon Snow
But if she had, you would have? You would have broken your vows?
The interesting thing is our vows never specifically forbid intimate relations with women.
Jon Snow
What?
"I shall take no wife." Yes, that's in there, there's no denying that. "I shall father no children." It's very specific. But what our vows have to say about other activities is open to interpretation.
Jon Snow
I don't think Ser Alliser cares much for interpretation.
Anyway, there's nothing for him to interpret. We didn't. So what's it like?
Jon Snow
It's...there's this person, this whole other person, and you're wrapped in them, they're wrapped up in you, and...you...for a little...for a little while you're more than just you, you're...well, I don't know, I'm not a bleeding poet!
Jon Snow
And what did I get for it? An arrow six inches from my heart.
There'll be arrows for all of us soon, I imagine.
Jon Snow
There will.
They've already done the worst thing to me they can ever do.
Jon Snow
Go get some sleep, Sam. I'll take this watch.
Jon Snow
That's the last of the oil, Ser Alliser.
A hundred thousand, you say?
Jon Snow
Yes, sir.
You can say it if you like. We should have sealed the tunnel while we had the chance, like you suggested.
Jon Snow
It was a difficult decision either way, sir.
Do you know what leadership means, Lord Snow? It means that the person in charge gets second guessed by every clever little twat with a mouth. But if he starts second guessing himself, that's the end. For him, for the clever little twats, for everyone. This is not the end. Not for us. Not if you lot do your duty for however long it takes to beat them back. And then you get to go on hating me, and I get to go on wishing your Wildling whore had finished the job.
Game of Thrones · 356 quotes
