[Ned Stark has beheaded Will as a deserter of the Night's Watch]
You understand why I did it?
BSBran Stark
Jon said he was a deserter.
But you understand why I had to kill him.
BSBran Stark
"Our way is the old way."
The man who passes the sentence should swing the sword.
BSBran Stark
Is it true he saw the White Walkers?
The White Walkers have been gone for thousands of years.
BSBran Stark
So he was lying?
A madman sees what he sees.
[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.
Now there are five. You want to hold it?
[Bran takes the pup immediately and wraps it in his cloak.]
BSBran Stark
Where will they go?
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.
BSBran Stark
Please, Father!
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.
BSBran Stark
What about you?
[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.
[Bran has just caught Queen Cersei having sex with her brother]
It's all right, it's all right, it's all right.
[to Cersei] I heard you the first time. [to Bran] Quite the little climber, aren't you? How old are you, boy?
Ten? [looks to Cersei again, who says nothing] The things I do for love.
[Jaime pushes Bran out the window]
[a crow lands in the window]
ONOld Nan
Don't listen to it. Crows are all liars. I know a story about a crow.
BSBran Stark
I hate your stories.
ONOld Nan
I know a story about a boy who hated stories. I can tell you about Ser Duncan the Tall. Those were always your favorites.
BSBran Stark
Those aren't my favorites. My favorites were the scary ones.
ONOld Nan
Oh, my sweet summer child, what do you know about fear? Fear is for the winter when the snows fall a hundred feet deep. Fear is for the long nights when the sun hides for years, and children are born and live and die all in darkness. That is the time for fear, my little Lord: when the White Walkers roam through the woods. Thousands of years ago there came a night that lasted a generation. Kings froze to death in their castles, same as the shepherds in their huts, and women smothered their babies rather than see them starve, and wept, and felt their tears freeze on their cheeks! So is this the sort of story that you like? [Bran nods] In that darkness, the White Walkers came for the first time. They swept through cities and kingdoms, riding their dead horses, hunting with their packs of pale spiders, big as hounds! —
[entering suddenly] What are you telling him now?
ONOld Nan
Only what the little Lord wants to hear.
[about Hodor] Would your charming companion be so good as to kneel? My neck is beginning to hurt.
BSBran Stark
Kneel, Hodor.
Do you like to ride, Bran?
BSBran Stark
Yes. Well, I mean, I did like to.
The boy has lost the use of his legs.
What of it? With the right horse and saddle, even a cripple can ride.
BSBran Stark
I'm not a cripple.
Then I'm not a dwarf! My father will rejoice to hear it. I have a gift for you. Give that to your saddler, he'll provide the rest. You must shape the horse to the rider- start with a yearling, and teach it to respond to the reins, and to the boy's voice.
BSBran Stark
Will I really be able to ride?
You will. On horseback, you'll be as tall as any of them.
Is this some kind of trick? Why do you want to help him?
I have a tender spot in my heart for cripples, bastards and broken things.
You've done my brother a kindness. The hospitality of Winterfell is yours...
Spare me your false courtesies, Lord Stark. There's a brothel outside your walls; there, I'll find a bed and both of us can sleep easier.
You've been having those dreams again.
BSBran Stark
I don't dream.
BSBran Stark
I don't. I heard some of the men talking about the comet. [looks up at said comet in the sky] They say it's an omen. They say it means Robb will win a great victory in the South.
[Osha unstraps Bran from Hodor's back as they kneel next to a pool in the godswood]
I heard some other fools say it's Lannister red. Means the Lannisters will rule all Seven Kingdoms before long. I heard a stable boy say it's the colour of blood, to mark the death of you father. [places Bran on the ground] The stars don't fall for men. The red comet means one thing, boy: Dragons.
BSBran Stark
The dragons are all dead. They've been dead for centuries.
BSBran Stark
Every night it's the same: I'm walking, running, but I'm not me. I'm running through the Godswood, sniffing the dirt, tasting blood in my mouth when I've made a fresh kill, howling. Old Nan used to tell me stories about magical people who could live inside stags, birds, wolves.
That's exactly what they were, Bran: Stories.
BSBran Stark
So she was lying? They don't exist?
Well, they may have done, but they're gone from the world along with much else. These are dreams, Bran, nothing more.
BSBran Stark
No. My dreams are different. Mine are true. I dreamt of my father dying and Rickon had the same dream.
What about all the dreams you had that didn't come true? [removes a link from his chain] This link is made of Valyrian steel. Only one Maester in a hundred wears it on his chain. It signifies that I have studied the higher mysteries, and all who study these mysteries try their hand at spells. I was not different. I was young and what boy doesn't secretly wish for special powers to lift him out of his dull life into a special one, but in the end, for all of my efforts, I got no more out of it than a thousand boys before me. Come on. [tucks Bran back to bed] Maybe magic once was a mighty force in the world, but not anymore. The dragons are gone, the giants are dead, and the children of the forest forgotten.
[Theon and Dagmer barge into Wintetfell, waking Bran from his sleep]
It's Prince Theon now. Get up! You have to get dressed. I've taken Winterfell. I took it. I'm occupying it. I sent men over the walls with grappling claws and ropes.
BSBran Stark
You went with Robb.
And he sent me back to Pyke. I'm a Greyjoy. I can't fight for Robb and my father both. Where's Hodor?
BSBran Stark
I don't know.
[to Dagmer] Find the halfwit. My men are bringing your people into the courtyard.
So you and I can go down and tell them how you've yielded Winterfell to me.
[Bran hoists himself up]
BSBran Stark
I won't! I'll never yield. I'll fight you and throw you out.
The castle is mine but these people are still yours. You'll yield to keep them safe. To keep them alive. That's what a good lord would do. Think carefully about what you want to say.
BSBran Stark
Theon. [Theon turns back to Bran] Did you hate us the whole time?
Ser Rodrik! I sentence you to death!
BSBran Stark
No! You said no harm would come to them if I yielded!
The old man couldn't keep his mouth shut.
I urge you not to make a hasty decision.
He disrespected me in front of my men! That was his decision, not mine.
He's worth more to you alive than dead. The Starks will pay. Please, Theon, think on what you do.
You'll address me as Prince Theon, or you'll be next.
[The Ironborn drag Rodrik across the courtyard to the block as the crowd protests]
BSBran Stark
Theon! Please! Rodrik! Please stop, please!
He who passes the sentence should swing the sword!
BSBran Stark
I'm begging you!
[Theon pauses, then nods to the Ironborn, who force Rodrik to kneel. Theon motions Dagmer back and draws his sword]
BSBran Stark
STOP! Stop right now!
You don't give commands anymore, little lord.
BSBran Stark
Please stop!
Hush now, child. I'm off to see your father.
BSBran Stark
You said no harm would come! You said no harm would come to them, please!
Gods help you, Theon Greyjoy. Now, you are truly lost.
BSBran Stark
Please, don't! I'll do anything! Please!
RSRickon Stark
No, please stop it!
[Theon swings his sword but it takes him three more strikes and a kick to finally behead Rodrik]
[Bran, Rickon, Osha, and Hodor find a wounded Luwin amid the dead in the courtyard]
BSBran Stark
Tell us what medicine to get from your chambers.
RSRickon Stark
We'll make you better.
BSBran Stark
They burned it down. They burned everything.
Not everything. Not you. But they may come back. You have to go. Put on your warmest clothes, pack as much food as you can carry, and go north.
North is the wrong way. Their mother and brother are south.
We don't know where. There are too many enemies in the south. Go to the wall, to Jon. He'll look after you and let your mother know you're safe.
BSBran Stark
I don't want to leave you.
No more than I want to leave you. I pulled you into the world. Both of you. I've seen both your faces almost every day since, and for that I consider myself very, very lucky. Go now with Hodor. Go on. I'll be right here. [Bran and Rickon leave with Hodor.] Osha, you must protect them. You're the only one who can. You may have to protect them against your own kind.
I have no great love for my own kind. I'll get you milk of the poppy. Tell me where to find it.
I don't want milk of the poppy.
[Maester Luwin nods toward the dagger Osha is carrying]
[about Jojen] What's he goin' on about? And how come he always gets to sit and chat, while we do all the work?
JRJojen Reed
That's where we are...
What are you tellin' him?
BSBran Stark
It's all right, Osha.
It's not all right. You think I can't hear you every day? Filling his head with black magic? Talking about visions and three-eyed ravens and worse?
He can speak for himself.
JRJojen Reed
I don't fill his head with anything.
So what d'you talk about?
JRJojen Reed
What's happening to him, and...what that means.
Go on, then. Tell us what it means.
JRJojen Reed
It's not like that. I wish that I could tell him all the answers; it would be much easier.
I don't want you talking to him anymore, until we get to your brother at Castle Black.
JRJojen Reed
We're not going to Castle Black.
JRJojen Reed
I told you already. Jon Snow isn't there. Bran needs to find the Raven, beyond the Wall.
Oh, no. I'm not going back there! Your brother is at Castle Black. That's where we're going! Look at me.
BSBran Stark
The raven's been coming to me, ever since I fell from that tower. He wants me to find him. I don't have my legs anymore! This is what I have, now.
You have a family. You need to go back to Castle Black, so you can get back to them, where you belong.
BSBran Stark
What if I belong in the North? What if...I fell from that tower for a reason?
[glares at Jojen] Is that what he's telling you? That it's all for a reason? All these bad things happened, because the Gods got big plans for you? I wish it were true, little Lord, but the Gods wouldn't spare a raven's cold shit for you, or me, or anyone.
BSBran Stark
You don't understand. You don't know.
You don't know! None of you know. None of you have been up there! I had a man, once; a good man. Bruni, his name was. I was his, and he was mine. But one night, Bruni disappears. People said he left me, but I knew him. He'd never leave me. Not for long. I knew he'd come back. And he did. He came in through the back of the hut. Only, he wasn't Bruni, not really. His skin was... pale, like a dead man's. His eyes, bluer than clear sky. He came at me, grabbed me by the neck, and squeezed so hard I could feel the life slipping out of me. I don't know how I got the knife, but when I did, I stuck it deep into his heart. And he hardly seemed to notice. I had to burn our hut down, with him inside. I didn't ask the Gods what it meant. I didn't need to. It meant the North was no place for men to be, not anymore. I promised your Maester I'd get you to Castle Black, and no further.
[Bran and the Three-Eyed Raven watch a young Ned and five others approach the Tower of Joy]
BSBran Stark
That's my father.
TEThree-eyed Raven
And that man beside him is Howland Reed, Meera's father.
[Ser Gerold Hightower and Ser Arthur Dayne walk past Bran]
BSBran Stark
Ser Arthur Dayne.
TEThree-eyed Raven
The Sword of the Morning.
BSBran Stark
My father said he was the best swordsman he ever saw.
[Hightower and Dayne confront Ned and his group]
ADArthur Dayne
Lord Stark.
I looked for you on the Trident.
ADArthur Dayne
We weren't there.
GHGerold Hightower
Your friend, the Usurper, would lie beneath the ground if we had been.
The Mad King is dead. Rhaegar lies beneath the ground. Why weren't you there to protect your prince?
ADArthur Dayne
Our prince wanted us here.
ADArthur Dayne
I wish you good fortune in the wars to come. And now it begins.
[The two sides draw swords and clash]
BSBran Stark
[about Dayne] He's better than my father.
TEThree-eyed Raven
Far better.
BSBran Stark
My father beat him.
TEThree-eyed Raven
Did he?
BSBran Stark
I know he did. I heard the story a thousand times.
[Dayne disarms Ned. As he is about to finish him off, Howland stabs Dayne in the back of the neck. Dayne falls to his knees, mortally wounded.]
BSBran Stark
He stabbed him in the back.
[Ned grabs his sword and kills Dayne. Screams are suddenly heard from the tower. Ned runs towards it.]
BSBran Stark
What's in the tower?
TEThree-eyed Raven
That's enough for one day. We visit again another time.
BSBran Stark
I want to see where he's going.
TEThree-eyed Raven
Time to go.
BSBran Stark
Come in. [Sam enters] Samwell Tarly.
I wasn't sure if you'd remember me.
BSBran Stark
I remember everything. You helped us get beyond the Wall. You're a good man.
Oh. Well, thank you, but, um, I'm not sure that I am. What happened to you beyond the Wall?
BSBran Stark
I became the Three-Eyed Raven.
Oh. I don't know what that means.
BSBran Stark
I can see things that happened in the past. I can see things happening now, all over the world. Why did you come to Winterfell?
Jon's the one to lead the fight against the dead. I know he is. But he can't do it alone. So I've come here to help him.
BSBran Stark
He's on his way back to Winterfell... with Daenerys Targaryen.
Y-you saw this... in a vision? [Bran holds up a scroll] Oh.
BSBran Stark
He needs to know the truth.
BSBran Stark
About himself. No one knows, no one but me. Jon isn't really my father's son. He's the son of Rhaegar Targaryen and my aunt, Lyanna Stark. He was born in a tower in Dorne. His last name isn't really Snow, it's Sand.
BSBran Stark
Dornish bastards are named "Sand".
At the Citadel, I transcribed a High Septon's diary. He annulled Rhaegar's marriage to Elia. He wed Rhaegar and Lyanna in a secret ceremony!
BSBran Stark
Are you certain?
It's what the High Septon wrote in his private diary. I don't know why he'd lie. Is there something you can see?
[Bran has a vision of Lyanna and Rhaegar's wedding]
RTRhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark
Father, Smith, Warrior. Mother, Maiden, Crone. Stranger. I am hers/his, and she/he is mine, from this day until the end of my days.
BSBran Stark
Robert's rebellion was built on a lie. Rhaegar didn't kidnap my aunt, or rape her. He loved her. And she loved him. And Jon... Jon's real name...
LSLyanna Stark
[to Ned Stark, in flashback] His name...is Aegon Targaryen. You have to protect him. Promise me, Ned.
BSBran Stark
He's never been a bastard. He's the heir to the Iron Throne. He needs to know. We need to tell him.
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.
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.
I promised to fight for the living. I intend to keep that promise.
Your Grace, I know my brother...
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?
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!
BSBran Stark
"The things we do for love."
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.
What does the Warden of the North say about it?
We need every man we can get.
[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.
BSBran Stark
Yes, he will. He'll come for me. He's tried many times before, with many three-eyed ravens.
BSBran Stark
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.
BSBran Stark
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.
BSBran Stark
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.
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-!
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?
BSBran Stark
I don't know. No one's ever tried.
Game of Thrones · 356 quotes
