Daenerys TargaryenI realize you're here out of hatred for Cersei, and not love for me. But I swear to you, she will pay for what she's done. And we will bring peace back to Westeros.
Peace. Do you think that's what we had under your father? Or his father, or his? Peace never lasts, my dear. Will you take a bit of advice from an old woman? [Daenerys nods] He's a clever man, your Hand. I've known a great many clever men. I've outlived them all. You know why? I ignored them. The Lords of Westeros are sheep. Are you a sheep? [Daenerys shakes her head.] No, you're a dragon. Be a dragon.
[Jon and Daenerys explore a cave beneath Dragonstone. By torchlight, he shows her a series of cave paintings]
The Children of the Forest made these.
Daenerys Targaryen
[awed] When?
Daenerys Targaryen
They were right here, standing right where we're standing, before there were Targaryens or Starks or Lannisters. Maybe even before there were men.
No. They were here together. The Children and the First Men.
Daenerys Targaryen
Doing what? Fighting each other?
[shows her a cave painting depicting humans and White Walkers] They fought together, against their common enemy, despite their differences, despite their suspicions...together. We need to do the same if we're going to survive, 'cause the enemy is real. It's always been real.
Daenerys Targaryen
And you say you can't defeat them without my armies and my dragons?
Daenerys Targaryen
I will fight for you. I will fight for the North...when you bend the knee.
My people won't accept a southern ruler, not after everything they've suffered.
Daenerys Targaryen
They will if their King does. They chose you to lead them, they chose you to protect them. Isn't their survival more important than your pride?
[Daenerys has learned of the fall of Highgarden and the death of Olenna Tyrell from Tyrion and Varys]
You'll want to discuss this amongst yourselves. Perhaps...
Daenerys Targaryen
You will stay! All my allies are gone. They've been taken from me while I've been sitting here on this island.
You still have the largest army.
Daenerys Targaryen
Who won't be able to eat because Cersei has taken all the food from the Reach!
Call Grey Worm and the Unsullied back. We still have enough ships to ferry the Dothraki to the mainland. Commit to the blockade of King's Landing. We still have a plan, it's the right plan.
Daenerys Targaryen
The right plan? Your strategy has lost us Dorne, the Iron Islands and the Reach!
If I have underestimated our enemies...
Daenerys Targaryen
Our enemies? Your family, you mean. Perhaps you don't want to hurt them after all. [Daenerys sees her dragons flying over the sea] Enough with the clever plans. I have three large dragons. I am going to fly them to the Red Keep.
Daenerys Targaryen
My enemies are in the Red Keep! What kind of queen am I if I'm not willing to risk my life to fight them?
[Daenerys turns to Jon]
Daenerys Targaryen
What do you think I should do?
I would never presume to...
Daenerys Targaryen
I'm at war. I'm losing. What do you think I should do?
I never thought that dragons would exist again. No one did. The people who follow you know that you made something impossible happen. Maybe that helps them believe that you can make other impossible things happen. Build a different world from the shit one they've always known. But if you use them to melt castles and burn cities, you're not different...you're just more of the same.
DTDickon Tarly
Ser Jaime.
DTDickon Tarly
Dickon. [Bronn snickers]
I hear you fought bravely at Highgarden. Your first battle? [Dickon nods] And?
DTDickon Tarly
It was glorious.
Come on. Your father's not here.
DTDickon Tarly
All my life, we've been pledged to House Tyrell. I knew some of those men. I hunted with them.
They didn't deserve to die. But Lady Olenna chose to betray her Queen and support the Targaryen girl, so here we are.
DTDickon Tarly
I didn't expect it to smell like that.
Men shit themselves when they die. Didn't they teach you that at fancy-lad school? Well, I learnt it when I was five.
[Bronn stops and frowns in concentration]
[They all hear the sound of approaching cavalry in the distance]
Spears and shields! Spears and shields!
Spears and shields! Spears and shields!
Form up! Come on, lads! Guard those wagons! Form a line!
[A horde of screaming Dothraki warriors rides over the hill and charges towards them]
Get back to King's Landing.
I'm not abandoning my army!
You're the commander, not a damn infantryman! Those fuckers are about to swamp us!
[At that moment, they hear a roar and look up in shock as Drogon comes flying towards them with Daenerys on his back]
Daenerys Targaryen
Dracarys!
Daenerys Targaryen
[to Lannister and Tarly soldiers] I know what Cersei has told you: that I have come to destroy your cities, burn down your homes, murder you and orphan your children. That's Cersei Lannister, not me. I'm not here to murder, and all I want to destroy is the wheel that has rolled over everyone both rich and poor, to the benefit of no-one but the Cersei Lannisters of the world. I offer you a choice - bend the knee and join me. Together we will leave the world a better place than we found it. Or refuse...and die.
[Some kneel in submission. Drogon roars, and more men follow, leaving only a handful of others still standing.]
Daenerys Targaryen
Step forward, my lord.
[Randyll approaches Daenerys]
Daenerys Targaryen
You will not kneel?
My sister. She wasn't your queen until recently though, was she? When she murdered your rightful queen and destroyed House Tyrell for all time. So it appears your allegiances are somewhat flexible.
There are no easy choices in war. Say what you will about your sister, she was born in Westeros. She's lived here all her life. You, on the other hand...you murdered your own father, then chose to support a foreign invader, one with no ties to this land. With an army of savages at her back.
Daenerys Targaryen
You will not trade your honor for your life. I respect that.
Perhaps he could take the black, Your Grace. Whatever else he is, he is a true soldier; he'll be invaluable at the Wall.
You cannot send me to the Wall. You are not my queen.
DTDickon Tarly
You will have to kill me too.
Step back and shut your mouth!
Daenerys Targaryen
Who are you?
DTDickon Tarly
I'm Dickon Tarly, son of Randyll Tarly.
You are the future of your house! This war has already wiped one great house from the world. Don't let it happen again, bend the knee!
DTDickon Tarly
I will not.
Your Grace. Nothing scrubs bold notions from a man's head like a few weeks in a dark cell.
Daenerys Targaryen
I meant what I said. I'm not here to put them in chains. If that becomes an option, many will take it. I gave them a choice, they made it.
Your Grace, you start beheading entire families...
Daenerys Targaryen
I'm not beheading anyone.
[Tyrion follows her gaze to Drogon]
Daenerys Targaryen
Lord Randyll Tarly. Dickon Tarly. I, Daenerys Targaryen, first of my name, Breaker of Chains and Mother of Dragons, sentence you to die. Dracarys.
[Drogon incinerates them, leaving behind nothing but two small piles of smoldering armor and flesh. All the remaining prisoners kneel.]
I thought Arya was dead. I thought Bran was dead.
Daenerys Targaryen
I'm happy for you. You don't look happy.
Bran saw the Night King and his army marching towards Eastwatch. If they make it past the Wall...
The Wall has kept them out for thousands of years, presumably.
Daenerys Targaryen
You said you don't have enough men.
We'll fight with the men we have, unless you'll join us.
Daenerys Targaryen
And give the country to Cersei? As soon as I march away, she marches in.
Perhaps not. Cersei thinks the army of the dead is nothing but a story, made up by wet nurses to frighten children. What if we prove her wrong?
I don't think she'll come see the dead at my invitation!
So bring the dead to her.
Daenerys Targaryen
I thought that was what we were trying to avoid.
We don't have to bring the whole army; only one soldier.
The first wight I ever saw was brought back into Castle Black from beyond the Wall.
Bring one of these things down to King's Landing and show her the truth.
Anything you bring back will be useless unless Cersei grants us an audience and is somehow convinced not to murder us the moment we set foot in the capital!
The only person she listens to is Jaime. He might listen to me.
Daenerys Targaryen
And how would you get into King's Landing? [everyone looks at Davos]
I can smuggle you in, but if the Gold Cloaks were to recognise you, I'm warning you, I'm not a fighter.
Daenerys Targaryen
Well, it'll all be for nothing if we don't have one of these dead men.
Fair point. How do you propose to find one?
With the Queen's permission, I'll go north and take one. [Daenerys looks round at him] You asked me to find a cure so I could serve you. Allow me to serve you.
The Free Folk'll help us. They know the real north better than anyone.
They won't follow Ser Jorah.
You can't lead a raid beyond the Wall! You're not in the Night's Watch anymore; you're King in the North!
I'm the only one here who's fought them. I'm the only one here who knows them.
Daenerys Targaryen
I haven't given you permission to leave.
With respect, Your Grace, I don't need your permission: I am a King! Now I came here, knowing that you could have your men behead me or your dragons burn me alive. I put my trust in you, a stranger, because I knew it was the best chance for my people—for all our people. Now I'm asking you to trust in a stranger, because it's our best chance.
[Jon faces Daenerys for the first time since the loss of her dragon Viserion.]
I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I wish I could take it back. I wish we'd never gone.
Daenerys Targaryen
I don't. If we hadn't gone, I wouldn't have seen. You have to see it to know. Now I know. [tearful] The dragons are my children. They're the only children I'll ever have, do you understand? We are going to destroy the Night King and his army...and we'll do it together. You have my word.
Daenerys Targaryen
Dany? [chuckles] Who was the last person who called me that? I'm not sure. Was it my brother? Not the company you want to keep.
Alright, not Dany. How about "My Queen"? I'd, uh, bend the knee, but-
Daenerys Targaryen
What about those who swore allegiance to you?
They'll all come to see you for what you are.
Daenerys Targaryen
I hope I deserve it.
[Daenerys squeezes his hand for a few moments, then lets go]
Daenerys Targaryen
You should rest.
We are a group of people who do not like each other, as this demonstration has shown. We have suffered at each other's hands. We've lost people we love at each other's hands. If all we wanted was more of the same, there would be no need for this gathering. We are entirely capable of waging war with each other without meeting face to face.
So instead we should settle our differences and live together in harmony for the rest of our days?
We all know that will never happen.
This isn't about living in harmony; it's just about living. The same thing is coming for all of us; a general you can't negotiate with, an army that doesn't leave corpses behind on the battlefield. Lord Tyrion tells me a million people live in this city...they're about to become a million more soldiers in the army of the dead.
I imagine for most of them, that would be an improvement.
This is serious! I wouldn't be here if it weren't.
I don't think it's serious at all. I think it's another bad joke. If my brother Jaime has informed me correctly, you're asking for a truce?
Daenerys Targaryen
Yes. That's all.
"That's all?" Pull back my armies and stand down while you go on your monster hunt? Or while you solidify and expand your position? Hard to know which it is with my armies pulled back until you return and march on my capital with four times the men!
Daenerys Targaryen
Your capital will be safe until the Northern threat is dealt with. You have my word.
The word of a would-be usurper!
There is no conversation that will erase the last fifty years. We have something to show you.
[A wight is released from a crate and it charges forward. Sandor Clegane pulls it back before it can reach Cersei, and when it turns to attack him, he severs its legs and one of its arms. Jon sets the arm alight]
We can destroy them by burning them, and we can destroy them with dragonglass. [Jon draws a dragonglass dagger and stabs the wight in the heart, killing it] If we don't win this fight, then that is the fate of every person in the world! There is only one war that matters. The Great War...and it is here!
[inspecting the dead wight] Can they swim?
Good. I'm taking the Iron Fleet back to the Iron Islands.
What are you talking about?
I've been around the world. I've seen everything, things you couldn't imagine, and this... this is the only thing I've ever seen that terrifies me. [steps towards Daenerys] I'm going back to my island. You should go back to yours. When winter's over, we'll be the only ones left alive. [leaves]
He's right to be afraid. And a coward to run. If those things come for us, there will be no kingdoms to rule. Everything we suffered will have been for nothing. Everything we lost will have been for nothing. The crown accepts your truce. Until the dead are defeated, they are the true enemy.
[Jon and Davos sigh, visibly relieved]
In return, the King in the North will extend this truce. He will remain in the North, where he belongs. He will not take up arms against the Lannisters, he will not choose sides.
Daenerys Targaryen
Just the King in the North? Not me?
[chuckles] I would never ask it of you. You would never agree to it, and if you did, I would trust you even less than I do now. I ask it only of Ned Stark's son. I know Ned Stark's son will be true to his word.
[A moment of silence, as Jon looks between Davos and Daenerys, then back to Cersei]
I am true to my word... or I try to be. That is why I cannot give you what you ask. I cannot serve two queens. And I have already pledged myself to Queen Daenerys of House Targaryen.
[Daenerys, Davos and Tyrion look dismayed]
Then there is nothing left to discuss. [stands] The dead will come north first, enjoy dealing with them. We will deal with whatever is left of you. [leaves with Jaime, Qyburn and her Queensguard]
It's been good to see you. I imagine the next time will be across a battlefield.
We both saw what just happened. We both saw that... thing!
Yes, and I'm not looking forward to seeing more of them. But I'm loyal to the queen, and you're loyal to Sansa and her dolt brother.
[hits him on the arm] Oh, fuck loyalty!
[incredulous] "Fuck loyalty"?
This goes beyond houses and honour and oaths! Talk to the queen.
[Jaime turns to Cersei, who looks unmoved and leaves]
[He follows her out, leaving Brienne speechless]
[At the Dragonpit]
No one's less happy about this than I am.
Daenerys Targaryen
I know. I respect what you did. Wish you hadn't done it, but I respect it. This place was the beginning of the end for my family. Zaldrīzes buzdari iksos daor. "A dragon is not a slave". They were terrifying, extraordinary. They filled people with wonder and awe, and we locked them in here. They wasted away. They grew small. And we grew small, as well. We weren't extraordinary without them. We were just like everyone else.
You're not like everyone else. And your family hasn't seen its end. You're still here.
Daenerys Targaryen
I can't have children.
Daenerys Targaryen
The witch who murdered my husband.
Has it occurred to you she might not've been a reliable source of information?
Daenerys Targaryen
You were right, from the beginning. If I'd trusted you, everything would've been different.
Daenerys Targaryen
I can't forget what I saw, North of the Wall. And I can't pretend that Cersei won't take back half the country the moment I march North.
It appears that Tyrion's assessment was correct. We're fucked.
Daenerys Targaryen
When I was a child, my brother would tell me a bedtime story about the man who murdered our father. Who stabbed him in the back and cut his throat. Who sat down on the Iron Throne and watched as his blood poured onto the floor. He told me other stories as well. About all the things we would do to that man, once we took back the Seven Kingdoms and had him in our grasp. Your sister pledged to send her army north.
Daenerys Targaryen
I don't see an army. I see one man with one hand. It appears your sister lied to me.
She lied to me as well. She never had any intention of sending her army north. She has Euron Greyjoy's fleet and 20,000 fresh troops. The Golden Company from Essos. Bought and paid for. Even if we defeat the dead, she'll have more than enough to destroy the survivors.
Daenerys Targaryen
We?
I promised to fight for the living. I intend to keep that promise.
Your Grace, I know my brother...
Daenerys Targaryen
Like you knew your sister?
He came here alone, knowing full well how he'd be received. Why would he do that, if he weren't telling the truth?
Daenerys Targaryen
Perhaps he trusts his little brother to defend him. Right up to the moment he slits my throat.
You're right, we can't trust him. He attacked my father in the streets, he tried to destroy my House and my family the same as he did yours.
Do you want me to apologize? I won't. We were at war! Everything I did, I did for my House and my family. I'd do it all again!
"The things we do for love."
Daenerys Targaryen
So why have you abandoned your House and your family now?
Because this goes beyond loyalty. This is about survival.
You don't know me well, Your Grace, but I know Ser Jaime. He is a man of honor. I was his captor once, but when we were both taken prisoner and the men holding us tried to force themselves on me, Ser Jaime defended me. And lost his hand because of it. [addressing Sansa] Without him, my lady, you would not be alive. He armed me, armoured me and sent me to find you and bring you home, because he'd sworn an oath to your mother.
You would fight beside him?
I trust you with my life. If you trust him with yours, we should let him stay.
Daenerys Targaryen
What does the Warden of the North say about it?
We need every man we can get.
Daenerys Targaryen
Lady Sansa, I was hoping we could speak alone. [Yohn Royce bows curtly to her and leaves] I thought you and I were on the verge of agreement, before. About Ser Jaime?
Brienne has been loyal to me, always. I trust her more than anyone.
Daenerys Targaryen
I wish I could have that kind of faith in my advisors.
Tyrion is a good man. He was never anything but decent towards me.
Daenerys Targaryen
I didn't ask him to be my Hand, simply because he was good. I asked him to be my Hand because he was good, and intelligent, and ruthless when he had to be. [Sansa nods, conceding that point] He never should have trusted Cersei.
You never should have, either.
Daenerys Targaryen
I thought he knew his sister.
Families are complicated.
Daenerys Targaryen
[smiles] Ours certainly have been.
A sad thing to have in common. [they both sit]
Daenerys Targaryen
We have other things in common. We both know what it means to lead people, who aren't inclined to accept a woman's rule... and we've both done a damn good job of it, from what I can tell. [Sansa smiles briefly] And yet, I can't help but feel... we're at odds with one another. Why is that? Your brother?
He loves you, you know that.
Daenerys Targaryen
That bothers you?
Men do stupid things for women. They're easily manipulated.
Daenerys Targaryen
All my life, I've known one goal: the Iron Throne. Taking it back from the people who destroyed my family, and almost destroyed yours; my war was against them. Until I met Jon. Now I'm here, half a world away, fighting Jon's war, alongside him. Tell me, who manipulated whom?
I should've thanked you, the moment you arrived. That was a mistake.
Daenerys Targaryen
[takes her hand] I'm here because I love your brother... and I trust him. And I know he's true to his word. He's only the second man in my life I can say that about.
Daenerys Targaryen
Someone taller. [they both chuckle]
And what happens, afterwards? [Dany looks at her questioningly] We defeat the Dead, we destroy Cersei... what happens then?
Daenerys Targaryen
I take the Iron Throne.
What about the North? [sharply] It was taken from us, and we took it back. And we said, we'd never bow to anyone else, again. What about the North?
[Dany's expression hardens and she lets go of Sansa's hand]
[The defenders of Winterfell lay out their battleplans]
They're coming. We have dragonglass, and we have Valyrian steel...but there are too many of them, far too many. Our enemy doesn't tire, doesn't stop, doesn't feel. We can't beat them in a straight fight.
The Night King made them all, they follow his command. If he falls...getting to him may be our best chance.
If that's true, he'll never expose himself.
Yes, he will. He'll come for me. He's tried many times before, with many three-eyed ravens.
An endless night. He wants to erase this world, and I am its memory.
That's what death is, isn't it? Forgetting, being forgotten. If we forget where we've been and what we've done, we're not men anymore, just animals. [to Bran] Your memories don't come from books. Your stories aren't just stories. If I wanted to erase the world of Men, I'd start with you.
His mark is on me. [Bran shows the claw marks the Night King left on his arm] He always knows where I am.
We'll put you in the crypt where it's safest.
No. We need to lure him into the open before his army destroys us all. I'll wait for him in the godswood.
You want us to use you as bait?!
We're not leaving you alone out there!
He won't be. I'll stay with him, with the Ironborn. [to Bran] I took this castle from you once. Let me defend you now.
We'll hold off the rest of them, for as long as we can.
When the time comes, Ser Davos and I will be on the walls to give you the signal to light the trench.
Daenerys Targaryen
Ser Davos is perfectly capable of waving a torch on his own. You'll be in the crypt.
Your Grace, I have fought before, I can do it again, alongside the men and women risking their lives-!
Daenerys Targaryen
There are thousands of them and only one of you. You can't fight as well as them, but you can think better than any of them. You're here because of your mind; if we survive, I'll need it.
The dragons should give us an edge in the field-
If they're in the field, they're not protecting Bran. We need to be near him; not too near or the Night King won't come, but close enough to pursue him when he does.
Dragon fire will stop him?
I don't know. No one's ever tried.
Daenerys Targaryen
Are you drunk?
No. [stumbles] Well, only a little. I didn't know Ser Jorah well, but I know this: if he could've chosen a way to die, it would've been protecting you.
Daenerys Targaryen
He loved me. And I couldn't love him back. Not the way he wanted. Not the way I love you. Is that all right? [they start to kiss, but Jon suddenly stops and steps away] I wish you'd never told me. If I didn't know, I'd be happy right now. I try to forget. Tonight I did for a while, and then I saw them all gathered around you. I saw the way they looked at you. I know that look. So many people have looked at me that way, but never here. Never on this side of the sea.
I told you, I don't want it.
Daenerys Targaryen
It doesn't matter what you want! You didn't want to be King in the North! What happens when they demand that you press your claim, and take what is mine?
[crouches in front of her] I'll refuse. You are my Queen, I don't know what else I can say.
Daenerys Targaryen
You can say nothing. To anyone, ever. Never tell them who you are. Swear your brother and Samwell Tarly to secrecy, and tell no one else. Or it will take a life of its own, and you won't be able to control it, or what it does to people! No matter how many times you bend the knee, no matter what you swear! [takes his hand] I want it to be the way it was between us.
[squeezes her hand] I have to tell Sansa and Arya.
Daenerys Targaryen
Sansa will want to see me gone and you on the Iron Throne.
Daenerys Targaryen
She's not the girl you grew up with. Not after what she's seen, not after what they've done to her.
Daenerys Targaryen
Even if the truth destroys us?
Daenerys Targaryen
It will. I've never begged for anything... but I'm begging you. [tearfully] Don't do this. Please.
You are my Queen. Nothing will change that. And they are my family. We can live together.
Daenerys Targaryen
[coldly] We can. I've just told you how.
[on the Unsullied] Half are gone.
And the Golden Company has arrived in King's Landing, courtesy of the Greyjoy Fleet. The balance has become... distressingly even.
When the people find out what we have done for them, how we saved them-
Daenerys Targaryen
Cersei will make sure they don't believe it. We will hit her hard. We will rip her out, root and stem.
The objective here is to remove Cersei, without destroying King's Landing.
Thankfully, she's losing allies by the day. Yara Greyjoy has retaken the Iron Islands in her Queen's name. The new Prince of Dorne pledges his support.
Daenerys Targaryen
No matter how many Lords turn against her, as long as she sits on the Iron Throne, she can call herself Queen of the Seven Kingdoms. We need the capital.
I watched the people of King's Landing rebel against their King when they were hungry, and that was before winter began. Give them the opportunity, and they will cast Cersei aside.
We'll surround the city. If the Iron Fleet tries to ferry in more food, the dragons will destroy them. If the Lannisters and the Golden Company attack, we'll defeat them in the field.
Once the people see that Cersei is our only enemy, her reign is over.
Daenerys Targaryen
All right.
The men we have left are exhausted. Many of them are wounded. They'll fight better if they have time to rest and recuperate.
Daenerys Targaryen
How long do you suggest?
I can't say for certain, not without talking to the officers.
Daenerys Targaryen
I came north to fight alongside you, at great cost to my armies and myself. Now that the time has come to reciprocate, you want to postpone.
It's not just our people, it's yours! You want to throw them into a war they're not ready to fight?
Daenerys Targaryen
The longer I leave my enemies alone, the stronger they become.
[firmly] The Northern forces will honor their promises, and their allegiance to the Queen of the Seven Kingdoms. What you command, we will obey.
So. If all are in agreement... Jon and Ser Davos will ride down the Kingsroad with the Northern troops and the bulk of the remaining Dothraki and Unsullied. A smaller group of us will ride to White Harbor, and sail from there to Dragonstone, with our Queen and her dragons accompanying us from above. Ser Jaime has chosen to remain here, as a quest of the Lady of Winterfell.
Daenerys Targaryen
[locking eyes with Sansa] We have won the Great War. Now, we will win the last war. In all Seven Kingdoms, men will live without fear and cruelty... under their rightful Queen.
Game of Thrones · 356 quotes
