[about Hodor] Would your charming companion be so good as to kneel? My neck is beginning to hurt.
Do you like to ride, Bran?
Yes. Well, I mean, I did like to.
Maester LuwinThe boy has lost the use of his legs.
What of it? With the right horse and saddle, even a cripple can ride.
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.
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.
Treason? Sansa wrote this?
Maester Luwin
It is your sister's hand, but the Queen's words. You are summoned to King's Landing to swear fealty to the new king.
Joffrey puts my father in chains, now he wants his ass kissed?
Maester Luwin
This is a royal command, My Lord. If you should refuse to obey...
I won't refuse. His Grace summons me to King's Landing, I'll go to King's Landing. But not alone. Call the banners.
Maester Luwin
All of them, My Lord?
They've all sworn to defend my father, have they not?
Maester Luwin
They have.
Now we see what their words are worth.
Maester Luwin
Yeah.
[Maester Luwin goes away]
[showing his hand trembling for fear] I must be.
It means you're not stupid.
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.
Maester Luwin
That's exactly what they were, Bran: Stories.
So she was lying? They don't exist?
Maester Luwin
Well, they may have done, but they're gone from the world along with much else. These are dreams, Bran, nothing more.
No. My dreams are different. Mine are true. I dreamt of my father dying and Rickon had the same dream.
Maester Luwin
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.
Ser Rodrik! I sentence you to death!
No! You said no harm would come to them if I yielded!
The old man couldn't keep his mouth shut.
Maester Luwin
I urge you not to make a hasty decision.
He disrespected me in front of my men! That was his decision, not mine.
Maester Luwin
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]
Theon! Please! Rodrik! Please stop, please!
He who passes the sentence should swing the sword!
[Theon pauses, then nods to the Ironborn, who force Rodrik to kneel. Theon motions Dagmer back and draws his sword]
You don't give commands anymore, little lord.
Hush now, child. I'm off to see your father.
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.
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]
[Theon hears a lone horn blowing outside the gates of Winterfell]
I will kill that man. I don't care how many arrows they feather me with, how many spears they run through me, I will kill that horn-blowing cunt before I fall!
Maester Luwin
They want you to know you're surrounded.
I know I'm surrounded. I know that because I stood on the battlements and saw I was surrounded.
Maester Luwin
They don't want you to sleep. They want to sap your spirit before...
Thank you, wise bald man! Thank you for explaining siege tactics to me.
[The horn blows again]
Maester Luwin
No.
Maester Luwin
You killed all the ravens.
The first time I saw Winterfell...[trails off as he hears the horn blow again] The first time I saw Winterfell, it looked like something that had been here for thousands of years, and would be here for thousands of years after I was dead. I saw it and I thought, "Of course Ned Stark crushed our rebellion and killed my brothers. We never stood a chance against a man who lives here."
Maester Luwin
Lord Stark went out of his way to make it your home.
Yes, I know my captors were so very kind to me. You love reminding me of that! Everybody in this frozen pile of shit has loved reminding me of that. You know what it's like to be told how lucky you are to be someone's prisoner? To be told how much you owe them? And then to go back home to your real father... [begins to shed tears as the horn blows once again] I will kill that man! I swear to the Drowned God, the old gods, the new gods, TO EVERY FUCKING GOD IN EVERY FUCKING HEAVEN, I WILL KILL THAT MAN!
Maester Luwin
Theon, listen to me. I serve Winterfell. Now, Winterfell is yours. I'm bound by oath to serve you.
And what's your counsel, trusted friend?
Maester Luwin
Run. Five hundred Northmen wait outside the walls, you have 20 men. You can't win. Wait for nightfall and run.
There's nowhere to run. I'll never make it back to the Iron Islands. And even if I did, even if by some miracle I slipped through the lines and made it home, I'll be a coward. The Greyjoy who ran. The shame of the family.
Maester Luwin
[in a gentle tone] Don't go home. Join the Night's Watch. Once a man has taken the black, he is beyond reach of the law. All his past crimes are forgiven.
I won't make it to the wall. I won't make it ten feet past the Winterfell gates.
Maester Luwin
There are ways. Hidden passageways built so the Lords of Winterfell could escape. The road will be dangerous. But with a little luck... The Night's Watch is an ancient, honourable order. You'll have opportunities there.
The opportunity for Jon Snow to cut my throat in my sleep!
Maester Luwin
The opportunity to make amends for what you've done.
I've done a lot, haven't I? Things I never imagined myself doing.
Maester Luwin
I've known you for many years, Theon Greyjoy. You're not the man you are pretending to be. Not yet.
You may be right. I've gone too far to pretend to be anything else.
[Bran, Rickon, Osha, and Hodor find a wounded Luwin amid the dead in the courtyard]
Tell us what medicine to get from your chambers.
RSRickon Stark
We'll make you better.
Maester Luwin
I feel just fine.
They burned it down. They burned everything.
Maester Luwin
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.
Maester Luwin
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.
I don't want to leave you.
Maester Luwin
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.
Maester Luwin
I don't want milk of the poppy.
[Maester Luwin nods toward the dagger Osha is carrying]
Maester Luwin
Do it quickly.
Game of Thrones · 356 quotes
