Alliser ThorneSo you admit you murdered Qhorin Halfhand?
Alliser Thorne
No? You put your sword through a brother of the Night's Watch. What do you call that?
He wanted me to kill him.
A bastard son of a traitor. What would you expect?
The Halfhand believed our only chance to stop Mance was to get a man inside his army.
Alliser Thorne
Don't talk about the Halfhand as if you knew him. He was my brother.
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.
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?
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.
Alliser Thorne
There's a difference between sneaking off to the Mole's Town brothel and sleeping with the enemy.
While we sit here, debating which rules I broke, Mance Rayder marches on the Wall with an army of a hundred thousand.
Alliser Thorne
Impossible. You can't get fifty wildlings together before they start killing each other.
One hundred thousand. He's united the Thenns, the Hornfoots, the ice-river clans, there's giants fighting for him.
Have you ever been beyond the Wall, ser?
I commanded the City Watch of King's Landing, boy.
And now you're here. You must not have been very good at your job.
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.
That's the last of the oil, Ser Alliser.
Alliser Thorne
A hundred thousand, you say?
Alliser Thorne
You can say it if you like. We should have sealed the tunnel while we had the chance, like you suggested.
It was a difficult decision either way, sir.
Alliser Thorne
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.
OOlly
Lord Commander. It's one of the Wildlings you brought back. Says he knows your Uncle Benjen. Says he's still alive.
Are you sure he's talking about Benjen?
OOlly
Said he was First Ranger. Said he knows where to find him.
[Jon rushes outside where Alliser Thorne is waiting.]
Alliser Thorne
Man says he saw your uncle at Hardhome at the last full moon.
Alliser Thorne
Could be. There are ways to find out.
Alliser Thorne
Over there.
[Jon walks over to where a group of Watch men are gathered, only to find a sign with "TRAITOR" written on it. He turns around to find his brothers staring him down. Alliser makes the first move and stabs him.]
Alliser Thorne
For the Watch.
[Next Othell Yarwyck stabs Jon.]
OYOthell Yarwyck
For the Watch.
[Then Bowen Marsh stabs Jon.]
BMBowen Marsh
For the Watch.
[A fourth mutineer stabs Jon.]
FMFourth Mutineer
For the Watch.
[A fifth mutineer stabs Jon.]
FMFifth mutineer
For the Watch.
[Jon falls to his knees. Lastly, Olly approaches with tears in his eyes.]
[After a moment of pause, Olly delivers the final blow to the heart.]
[Jon stares at Olly one last time and falls back to the ground. Olly and the Watch men turn and leave him to die in the cold.]
[The rangers shout and argue amongst each other]
Alliser Thorne
[pounds table] You all know why you're here. Jon Snow is dead.
Alliser Thorne
I did. And Bowen Marsh and Othell Yarwyck, and the other officers in this castle.
[The rangers shout and argue amongst each other again]
Alliser Thorne
[pounds table again] Alright! We've committed treason, all of us! Jon Snow was my Lord Commander. I had no love for him, that was no secret. But I never once disobeyed an order. Loyalty is the foundation on which the Night's Watch is built and the Watch means everything to me. I have given my life - we've all given our lives - to the Night's Watch. Jon Snow was going to destroy the Night's Watch. He led the wildlings through our gates as no Lord Commander has ever done before. He gave them the very lands on which they reaved and raped and murdered. Lord Commander Snow did what he thought was right, I've no doubt about that. And what he thought was right would have been the end of us. He thrust a terrible choice upon us...and we made it.
[Bowen Marsh, Othell Yarwyck, Ser Alliser Thorne, and Olly are about to be hanged.]
If you have any last words, now is the time.
BMBowen Marsh
You shouldn't be alive. It's not right.
[Jon moves to Othell.]
OYOthell Yarwick
My mother's still living at White Harbor. Could you write her? Tell her I died fighting the wildlings.
[Jon moves to Alliser.]
Alliser Thorne
I had a choice, Lord Commander. Betray you or betray the Night's Watch. You brought an army of wildlings into our lands. [looks to the wildlings] An army of murderers and raiders. If I had to do it all over knowing where I'd end up, I pray I'd make the right choice again.
I'm sure you would, Ser Alliser.
Alliser Thorne
I fought. I lost. Now I rest. But you, Lord Snow, you'll be fighting their battles forever.
[Jon moves to Olly. Olly stares stonily at Jon and says nothing. Jon cuts the rope, hanging all four.]
We should burn the bodies.
[Jon removes his black cloak and hands it to Edd.]
What do you want me to do with this?
Wear it. Burn it. Whatever you want. You have Castle Black. My watch is ended.
Game of Thrones · 356 quotes
