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** In "Winter Is Coming," the Starks find two dead animals who died fighting each other - a stag and a direwolf. The latter has six pups which map directly onto the Stark children (including [[HeroicBastard Jon Snow]], who gets an albino who ran or was driven away from the others). Everyone is disturbed by this in-universe, as the symbolism of the house sigils is very important in Westeros. Theon Greyjoy is quick to suggest killing the pups, which is foreshadowing.
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** In "Winter Is Coming," the Starks find two dead animals who died fighting each other - a other--a stag and a direwolf. The latter has six pups which map directly onto the Stark children (including [[HeroicBastard Jon Snow]], who gets an albino who ran or was driven away from the others). Everyone is disturbed by this in-universe, as the symbolism of the house sigils is very important in Westeros. Theon Greyjoy is quick to suggest killing the pups, which is foreshadowing.
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** At the dinner table in "Valar Dohaeris," the Tyrell siblings are seated next to each other, while Cersei and Joffrey are positioned at the opposite ends. (To maintain symmetry, Margaery and Loras would normally have been placed across from each other.) Guess which family gets along harmoniously and which one is dysfunctional.
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** Loras is a Type A in Season 3. He puts on a charming smile and a pleasant disposition most of the time, but his mask slips at a very public event in "Second Sons", and his misery betrays itself more subtly in "Valar Dohaeris" (Loras—who is no longer paying attention to the dinner conversation—has a melancholic expression when Joffrey says, "I'm sure she knows what she's doing"). In "The Climb", he tells Sansa, "It's [King's Landing] terrible isn't it? The most terrible place there is," which clearly indicates that Loras is suffering in silence.
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** Loras is a Type A in Season 3. He puts on a charming smile and a pleasant disposition most of the time, but his mask slips at a very public event in "Second Sons", and his misery betrays itself more subtly in "Valar Dohaeris" (Loras—who is no longer paying attention to the dinner conversation—has a melancholic expression when Joffrey says, "I'm sure she knows what she's doing"). In "The Climb", he sadly tells Sansa, "It's [King's Landing] terrible isn't it? The most terrible place there is," which clearly indicates that Loras is suffering in silence.
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** Tyrion, Varys and Littlefinger engage in it quite a few times.
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** Tyrion, Varys and Littlefinger engage in it quite a few times.
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** Tyrion is a master of this.
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* SnarkToSnarkCombat: Tyrion, Varys and Littlefinger engage in it quite a few times.
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* SnarkToSnarkCombat: SnarkToSnarkCombat:
** Tyrion, Varys and Littlefinger engage in it quite a few times.
** Tyrion, Varys and Littlefinger engage in it quite a few times.
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** A lot of barbs are exchanged between Renly and Littlefinger. Since neither man possesses any talent for fighting, this is the only form of combat that they excel at.
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* SureLetsGoWithThat: Happens when Margaery explains to Sansa--who's dreading having to sleep with Tyrion when they're arranged to be married--how a woman might not know what she wants sexually until she's tried it.
-->'''Sansa:''' Did your mother tell you that?
-->'''Sansa:''' Did your mother tell you that?
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* SureLetsGoWithThat: Happens when Margaery explains to Sansa--who's Sansa--[[spoiler:who's dreading having to sleep with Tyrion when they're arranged to be married--how married]]--how a woman might not know what she wants sexually until she's tried it.
-->'''Sansa:''' Did your mothertell you that?teach you?
-->'''Sansa:''' Did your mother
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-->'''Margaery:''' (laughs) Yes, my mother...
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-->'''Margaery:''' (laughs) (smiles) Yes, sweet girl, my mother...mother taught me.
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Changed line(s) 263 (click to see context) from:
* SubordinateExcuse: Loras is the sole male heir of the second-richest family in Westeros, and presumably he has duties in Highgarden and the Reach, yet in Season 2 he chooses to devote his ''entire'' life to protecting Renly. Being the Lord Commander of his brother-in-law's Kingsguard is a very convenient way for Loras to be able to spend a lot of time with his beloved, as his frequent visits can be explained away as being job-related. (It doesn't stop the rumours about them from spreading among Renly's followers, however.)
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* SubordinateExcuse: SubordinateExcuse:
** Loras is the sole male heir of the second-richest family in Westeros, and presumably he has duties in Highgarden and the Reach, yet in Season 2 he chooses to devote his ''entire'' life to protecting Renly. Being the Lord Commander of his brother-in-law's Kingsguard is a very convenient way for Loras to be able to spend a lot of time with his beloved, as his frequent visits can be explained away as being job-related. (It doesn't stop the rumours about them from spreading among Renly's followers, however.))
** Almost the same can be said of Brienne, who is the sole surviving child of Lord Selwyn Tarth (and therefore his heiress), although in her case, she has to be content with loving Renly from a distance while she serves as his Kingsguard. What makes her dedication quite remarkable is that, as a woman, Brienne herself isn't obligated—or even expected—to physically fight for Renly when he summons his Stormlands bannermen (which Tarth is a part of) to his cause.
** Loras is the sole male heir of the second-richest family in Westeros, and presumably he has duties in Highgarden and the Reach, yet in Season 2 he chooses to devote his ''entire'' life to protecting Renly. Being the Lord Commander of his brother-in-law's Kingsguard is a very convenient way for Loras to be able to spend a lot of time with his beloved, as his frequent visits can be explained away as being job-related. (It doesn't stop the rumours about them from spreading among Renly's followers, however.
** Almost the same can be said of Brienne, who is the sole surviving child of Lord Selwyn Tarth (and therefore his heiress), although in her case, she has to be content with loving Renly from a distance while she serves as his Kingsguard. What makes her dedication quite remarkable is that, as a woman, Brienne herself isn't obligated—or even expected—to physically fight for Renly when he summons his Stormlands bannermen (which Tarth is a part of) to his cause.
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See discussion in the main article
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* SacrificialLion: [[spoiler:Robert and Eddard in Season 1; Renly in Season 2; Robb in Season 3.]]
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* SacrificialLion: [[spoiler:Robert and Eddard in Season 1; Renly in Season 2; Robb in Season 3.]]2]]
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** Although this hasn't been explicitly mentioned on the series yet, the [[http://viewers-guide.hbo.com/game-of-thrones/season2/#!/guide/houses/tyrell/loras-tyrell/ HBO Viewer's Guide]] does state that Loras had served as Renly's squire, which is faithful to the novels.
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* SacrificialLion: [[spoiler:Robert and Eddard in Season 1; Renly in Season 2.]]
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* SacrificialLion: [[spoiler:Robert and Eddard in Season 1; Renly in Season 2.2; Robb in Season 3.]]
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* TheSquire: Lancel was this to King Robert in Season 1.
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* TheSquire: TheSquire:
** Lancel was this to King Robert in Season1.1.
** Podrick Payne becomes Tyrion's squire in Season 2.
** Lancel was this to King Robert in Season
** Podrick Payne becomes Tyrion's squire in Season 2.
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* StepfordSmiler: Sansa and Gilly. It's a survival technique.
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* StepfordSmiler: StepfordSmiler:
** Sansa and Gilly. It's a survival technique.
** Sansa and Gilly. It's a survival technique.
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* TheSquire: Lancel was this to King Robert in Season 1.
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While it\'s true that the Tyrells caused the food shortage in the novels, this is never mentioned on the show, and Tyrion squarely blames the famine on Joffrey\'s inept rule during the War of the Five Kings.
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** Deconstructed with Margaery, who is an astute politician and manipulator, but puts on the persona of a charming and harmless princess to all and sundry. This has gained her the fanatical support of most of the common people (making them forget about the near-famine caused by her family's boycott of the capital).
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** Deconstructed with Margaery, who is an astute politician and manipulator, but puts on the persona of a charming and harmless princess to all and sundry. This has gained her the fanatical support of most of the common people (making them forget about the near-famine caused by her family's boycott of the capital).people.
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Changed line(s) 38 (click to see context) from:
** In the novels, it's Ser Garlan Tyrell who [[spoiler:wears Renly's armour at the Battle of the Blackwater. Loras wanted the honour, but he was too short and too slender. On the show, Loras becomes King Renly's ghost because the actors who play Loras and Renly are practically the same size.]]
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** In the novels, it's Ser Garlan Tyrell who [[spoiler:wears Renly's armour at the Battle of the Blackwater. Loras wanted the honour, but he was too short and too slender. On the show, Loras becomes King Renly's ghost because the actors who play Loras and Renly are practically the same size.]]
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** In the novels, it's Ser Garlan Tyrell who [[spoiler:wears Renly's armour at the Battle of the Blackwater. Loras wanted the honour, but he was too short and too slender. On the show, Loras becomes King Renly's ghost because the actors who play Loras and Renly are practically the same size.]]
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** Loras is older than Margaery in the novels, but it was revealed by [[WordOfGod Bryan Cogman]] in [[http://www.westeros.org/GoT/Features/Entry/Season_3_Interview_Bryan_Cogman this interview]] that Margaery is Mace Tyrell's eldest child on the show. The switch in birth order was no doubt due to the fact that Finn Jones is six years younger than Natalie Dormer, the actress who plays his character's sister.
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* PhallicWeapon: In season 3, Joffrey fires his crossbow from the hip, and the camera angle clearly implies this trope. This is after he has lovingly shown and described it to his fiance, and he has already shown that he gets turned on by violence and killing.
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* PhallicWeapon: In season 3, Joffrey fires his crossbow from the hip, and the camera angle clearly implies this trope. This is after he has lovingly shown and described it to his fiance, fiancée, and he has already shown that he gets turned on by violence and killing.
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'''Tyrion:''' My sister rules you mean. ''(Tywin tilts his head in approval)''
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'''Tyrion:''' My sister rules rules, you mean. ''(Tywin tilts his head in approval)''
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---> '''Loras''': ''[smiling directly at Cersei]'' Margaery does a great deal of work with the poor back in Highgarden
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---> '''Loras''': ''[smiling directly at Cersei]'' Margaery does a great deal of work with the poor back in HighgardenHighgarden.
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* RealMenWearPink: Loras' ornate armour, clothing and accessories always have a floral pattern. Justified, since his house's sigil is a rose, but he's still seen as being over-the-top about it, and is known as "the Knight of Flowers".
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* RealMenWearPink: Loras' ornate armour, clothing and accessories always have a floral pattern. Justified, since his house's sigil is a rose, but he's still seen as being over-the-top about it, and is known as "the Knight of Flowers".Flowers."
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** Ser Loras Tyrell; George R.R. Martin even described the character as "...the teen idol of Westeros" in [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmxRIgBtThk this HBO featurette.]] Two lowborn Lannister soldiers consider him to be prettier than the Queen. In "The Climb," Olenna calls Loras "...the pride of Highgarden, the most desirable bachelor in all of the Seven Kingdoms."
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** Ser Loras Tyrell; George R.R. Martin even described the character as "...the teen idol of Westeros" in [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmxRIgBtThk this HBO featurette.]] Sansa Stark has a crush on him because of his good looks. Two lowborn Lannister soldiers consider him to be prettier than the Queen. In "The Climb," Lady Olenna calls Loras "...the pride of Highgarden, the most desirable bachelor in all of the Seven Kingdoms."
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* SpeakIllOfTheDead: Cersei and Joffrey have no qualms posthumously calling [[spoiler:Renly]] a "degenerate" in "Dark Wings, Dark Words."
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** Shade of the Evening [[Literature/{{Dune}} both gives the Warlocks power and changes the color of their lips]].
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* PrivateMilitaryContractors: Daenerys seeks a mercenary army that she can use to invade Westeros. She goes to Astapor to purchase Unsullied, eunuch slaves who are considered the finest soldiers around.
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* PrivateMilitaryContractors: PrivateMilitaryContractors:
** Daenerys seeks a mercenary army that she can use to invade Westeros. She goes to Astapor to purchase Unsullied, eunuch slaves who are considered the finest soldiersaround.around.
**Later, Daenerys meets up with the Second Sons, one of the many "Free Companies" utilized by the various cities and states of Essos.
** Daenerys seeks a mercenary army that she can use to invade Westeros. She goes to Astapor to purchase Unsullied, eunuch slaves who are considered the finest soldiers
**Later, Daenerys meets up with the Second Sons, one of the many "Free Companies" utilized by the various cities and states of Essos.
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** Theon Greyjoy attempts to behead [[spoiler: Rodrik Cassel]] with an ordinary longsword rather than an AbsurdlySharpBlade of Valryian steel like Ned Stark uses. To make matters worse (perhaps on purpose), his victim only leans against the block with his arms rather than placing his neck against it.[[note]]The point of the block is to prevent Newton's First Law motion from pushing the neck away from the cut.[[/note]] The result is as gory and horrifying as one can imagine.
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** Theon Greyjoy attempts to behead [[spoiler: Rodrik Cassel]] with an ordinary longsword rather than an AbsurdlySharpBlade of Valryian steel like Ned Stark uses. To make matters worse (perhaps on purpose), his victim only leans against the block with his arms rather than placing his neck against it.[[note]]The point of the block is to prevent Newton's First Law motion of Motion from pushing the neck away from the cut.cut and thereby reducing its effectiveness.[[/note]] The result is as gory and horrifying as one can imagine.
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** Theon Greyjoy attempts to behead [[spoiler: Rodrik Cassel]] with an ordinary longsword rather than an AbsurdlySharpBlade of Valryian steel like Ned Stark uses. To make matters worse (perhaps on purpose), his victim only leans against the block with his arms rather than placing his neck against it.[[note]]The point of the block is to prevent Newton's First Law motion from pushing the neck away from the cut.[[/note]] The result is as gory and horrifying as one can imagine.
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* PragmaticVillainy: While [[GreyAndGrayMorality there are very few true "villains"]] in-verse, Tywin Lannister perhaps embodies this the best, as he has no qualms with employing brutal men, but ''will'' berate them if they fall into StupidEvil territory.
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* SurpriseIncest: [[spoiler: Theon hits on a woman that met him at the docks, only to find out that she's his sister]].
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We see Margaery\'s ruthless ambition in other scenes. She\'s just very good at PR and being friendly when it suits her.
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* SpoiledSweet:
** Although Renly grew up in the lap of luxury, he is genuinely a nice guy, and he does care about the smallfolk (at least more so than most Westerosi nobles).
** Margaery does a lot of charity work in Highgarden and in King's Landing (such as giving toys to orphans, and offering money to feed, clothe and shelter them).
*** It remains unclear how much of this is just good politics, since it was her family who cut off the supplies and caused the famine which sparked the riots in Season 2.
** Although Renly grew up in the lap of luxury, he is genuinely a nice guy, and he does care about the smallfolk (at least more so than most Westerosi nobles).
** Margaery does a lot of charity work in Highgarden and in King's Landing (such as giving toys to orphans, and offering money to feed, clothe and shelter them).
*** It remains unclear how much of this is just good politics, since it was her family who cut off the supplies and caused the famine which sparked the riots in Season 2.
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* SpoiledSweet:
**SpoiledSweet: Although Renly grew up in the lap of luxury, he is genuinely a nice guy, and he does care about the smallfolk (at least more so than most Westerosi nobles).
** Margaery does a lot of charity work in Highgarden and in King's Landing (such as giving toys to orphans, and offering money to feed, clothe and shelter them).
*** It remains unclear how much of this is just good politics, since it was her family who cut off the supplies and caused the famine which sparked the riots in Season 2.nobles).
**
** Margaery does a lot of charity work in Highgarden and in King's Landing (such as giving toys to orphans, and offering money to feed, clothe and shelter them).
*** It remains unclear how much of this is just good politics, since it was her family who cut off the supplies and caused the famine which sparked the riots in Season 2.
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A trope for the books, not the show
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** AdaptedOut with Roose Bolton, whose sigil is a bloody man on a flesh-pink field.
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* RedBaron: Sandor "The Hound" Clegane, Ser Gregor "The Mountain That Rides" Clegane, Ser Jaime "The Kingslayer" Lannister[[note]]played with, as in-universe this is a mark of shame[[/note]], Aerys "The Mad King" Targaryen, Daenerys "Mother of Dragons" Targaryen.
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* RedBaron: Sandor "The Hound" Clegane, Ser Gregor "The Mountain That Rides" Clegane, Ser Jaime "The Kingslayer" Lannister[[note]]played with, as in-universe this is a mark of shame[[/note]], Aerys "The Mad King" Targaryen, Daenerys "Mother of Dragons" Targaryen.Targaryen, Robb "The Young Wolf" Stark, Tyrion "The Imp" Lannister, Brynden "Blackfish" Tully, Qhorin "Halfhand", Oberyn "The Red Viper" Martell.
** AdaptedOut with Roose Bolton, whose sigil is a bloody man on a flesh-pink field.
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** Tyrion gives one to the hill tribes before they go into battle in "Baelor." Then he's accidentally knocked out when they rush into battle.
** Daenerys gives one to the members of her khalasar who choose to stay after she releases the slaves.
** Daenerys gives one to the members of her khalasar who choose to stay after she releases the slaves.
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** Tyrion gives one to the hill tribes before they go into battle in "Baelor." Then he's [[BattleDiscretionShot accidentally knocked out out]] when they rush into battle.
** Daenerys gives one to the members of herkhalasar who khalasar. RealityEnsues when some choose to stay after she releases the slaves.leave anyway.
** Daenerys gives one to the members of her
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** Margaery does a lot of charity work in Highgarden and in King's Landing (such as giving toys to orphans, and offering money to feed, clothe and shelter them).
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** Margaery does a lot of charity work in Highgarden and in King's Landing (such as giving toys to orphans, and offering money to feed, clothe and shelter them). them).
*** It remains unclear how much of this is just good politics, since it was her family who cut off the supplies and caused the famine which sparked the riots in Season 2.
*** It remains unclear how much of this is just good politics, since it was her family who cut off the supplies and caused the famine which sparked the riots in Season 2.
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* SuspiciouslyAproposMusic: Invoked. "The Rains of Castamere," a song about the slaughter of a major house that stood up against the Lannisters, is played just before [[spoiler:Robb Stark and his bannermen are slaughtered by House Frey and House Bolton, who have sided with the Lannisters.]]
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* SuspiciouslyAproposMusic: Invoked. "The Rains of Castamere," a song about the slaughter of a major house that stood up against the Lannisters, is played just before [[spoiler:Robb Stark and his bannermen are slaughtered by House Frey and House Bolton, who have sided with chosen as the Lannisters.]]signal to begin [[spoiler: the Red Wedding]] specifically for its symbolic value.
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[[Series/GameOfThrones Back to the main article]]
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* ParentalAbandonment: Many of the characters have dead or missing parents. Examples include: Dany and Viserys, Jon, Bran, Tyrion, Cersei and Jaime, and a number of side characters.
* ParentalIncest: Craster and his harem of daughter-wives.
* PassiveAggressiveKombat:
** All the time; the Lannisters in particular are masters of it.
** In both "The Wolf and the Lion" and "Fire and Blood," Varys and Littlefinger have scenes that exemplify this trope.
** The dinner scene with Cersei, Joffrey, Margaery and Loras in "Valar Dohaeris."
* PassThePopcorn: Walder Frey continues to slurp his wine while watching [[spoiler:his men massacre Robb and his followers during Edmure's wedding]].
* ThePatriarch: All the major houses have one, of course, but Tywin Lannister wins the prize.
-->'''Lord Tywin:''' The house that puts family first will always defeat the house that puts the whims and wishes of its sons and daughters first.
* PeacefulInDeath: [[spoiler: Despite the horrific manner in which King Renly was killed, his body looks remarkably at peace. The corpse is later dressed and positioned in a way to make him appear regal and dignified, and Margaery can't resist mentioning how handsome he was, with Littlefinger agreeing.]]
* PerfectlyArrangedMarriage:
** By "Lord Snow," it looks like Daenerys and Khal Drogo are pretty damn happy together.
** Ned Stark and Catelyn Tully as well, though it did not start that way.
* PhallicWeapon: In season 3, Joffrey fires his crossbow from the hip, and the camera angle clearly implies this trope. This is after he has lovingly shown and described it to his fiance, and he has already shown that he gets turned on by violence and killing.
* PlayingDrunk: Tyrion plays up his drunkenness, making very self-deprecating jokes, to get away with having made a threatening statement to the king.
* PlotArmor: Not only subverted but outright inverted. GRRM has said that the safer a character "should" be by the rules of normal storytelling, the more deliberately he sets out to do them in.
* PlotTriggeringDeath: Jon Arryn's death is what causes Eddard Stark and his family to become tangled in the game of thrones.
* PokeThePoodle: Tyrion's "confession" in the Eyrie describes a number of acts which, while not exactly innocent, are hardly the stuff villains are made of.
-->"Where do I begin, my lords and ladies? I am a vile man, I confess it. My crimes and sins are beyond counting. I have lied and cheated, gambled and whored. I’m not particularly ''good'' at violence, but I’m good at convincing ''others'' to do violence ''for'' me. You want specifics, I suppose. When I was seven, I saw a servant girl bathing in the river. [[GoneSwimmingClothesStolen I stole her robe]], and she was forced to return to the castle naked and in tears. If I close my eyes...I can still see her tits bouncing. When I was ten, I stuffed my uncle’s boots with goat shit. When confronted with my crime, I blamed a squire. The poor boy was flogged, and I escaped justice. When I was twelve, I milked my eel into a pot of turtle stew. I flogged the one-eyed snake. I skinned my sausage. I made the bald man cry ''into'' the turtle stew, which I do believe my sister ate--at least, I ''hope'' she did. I once brought a jackass and a honeycomb into a brothel—"
* PokemonSpeak: HODOR!
* PosthumousCharacter: Lyanna Stark, Joanna Lannister, Aegon I The Conqueror, Rhaegar Targaryen, "Mad" King Aerys Targaryen and Jon Arryn are among the characters mentioned frequently but already dead by the beginning of the series, though Arryn is seen briefly (lying in state) in the pilot episode.
* POVCam: There is a tracking shot in Winterfell from the perspective of Bran's wolf Summer, following Hodor to Bran's bedroom and jumping onto his bed, which then immediately switches to Bran's POV as he [[CatapultNightmare wakes up]] and looks into the wolf's eyes. He then goes on to describe his "wolf dreams" to Maester Luwin.
* ThePowerOfLove: Averted horribly when [[spoiler:Daenerys]] tries to use this to bring [[spoiler:Khal Drogo]] out of a coma. Of course, it doesn't work, which is on par with the theme of the series.
* PraetorianGuard: The Kingsguard, a group of knights who protect the king and serve for life. Like their namesake, one of their members was reponsible for the death of the previous king.
* PragmaticAdaptation: The series contains large amounts of pragmatic adaptation largely due to the transition from a rotating third person limited POV series of novels (complete with inner monologues) to a televised ensemble piece. Some changes worked better than others.
** The show excises flashbacks and prophecies entirely. Flashbacks would require the expense of hiring an entirely different cast, while prophecies are tricky to write and pay off in a satisfactory manner. Because of this, Daenerys' hallucinations focus on her own story, rather than long-dead characters or those that live on a different continent; Ned's memories of his sister's demise are replaced with other foreshadowing devices; while the mysterious masked Quaithe's role is altered from prophecy sounding board to a foil for Jorah Mormont. Arguably, this streamlines and improves the series greatly.
** Tywin Lannister, Robb Stark, and Littlefinger were offpage for the vast majority of ''Literature/AClashOfKings'', but the writers of a television show could not afford to have these popular (and probably well paid) actors disappear for a whole season. So they were either moved into someone else's story (Tywin into Arya's), had the previously secondhand exploits shown first hand (Robb's campaign and courtship of his non-Frey wife), or apparently develop mysterious teleportation powers to cameo in mulitple stories (Littlefinger making deals with at least three factions of the War of the Five Kings).
** Arya's story had an extensive road trip portion with multiple kidnappings, then a stay in Harrenhal where she interacts with a bunch of new characters and ends up facilitating a palace coup with even more new characters. To streamline her story, much of the road trip portion was cut out and instead of working for Weese and later Roose Bolton (who was moved to Robb's camp for character development), the palace coup was cut out, and she only served one master in Harrenhal--known character Tywin Lannister. These changes also changed the focus of her story from the suffering of the smallfolk during war to the cat and mouse game to hide her identity.
** Jon and Dany's stories in Clash were very internally focused with almost no action until the respective last chapters. To make them more action packed, Jon gets separated from the group to spend more time interacting with his love interest and Dany has to deal with the kidnapping of her dragons and betrayal by one of her handmaidens.
** Due to the POV structure of the book, we needed two shadowbaby assassins birthed by Melisandre in order to understand how they came to be and what they did: the one that kills Renly (which we see in action from Catelyn's point of view) and later the one that ultimately kills Cortnay Penrose (which we see birthed from Davos's point of view). In the show, we see the same shadowbaby being born (with Davos smuggling Melisandre somewhere close enough so that the assassin can kill Renly, which is seen from Catelyn and Brienne's point of view.
** Related to the cutting of the second shadowbaby, Storm's End, Penrose, and the entire subplot surrounding Stannis wanting his bastard nephew's blood was cut. Stannis's family was also cut from Season 2. However, with the casting of his wife and daughter in season 3, it remains to be seen how much, if any of Stannis's family drama and Storm's End is repurposed for Season 3. Considering that Stannis does not do much except sulk in Book 3 [[spoiler: until serving as the BigDamnHeroes for Jon at the Wall]], moving the Storm's End and Stannis's family plot to Season 3 may be the most pragmatic way to adapt that storyline, especially since the third book is going to be spread out over two seasons.
** Much of the dialogue of Davos Seaworth in the TV series does not appear in the books, since much of his character development in these is restricted to his inner thoughts; the fact that further books concerning Jon Snow's actions on The Wall are written like that as well, there will probably be changes in dialogue in further seasons of the TV series.
** In the books, all POV Stark children whose direwolves are still alive (meaning Jon Snow, Arya and Bran) are shown warging into them when sleeping. In the series, only Bran's dreams are kept, because they are essential to his StoryArc, while Jon's and Arya's stories can work without them.
** In the books, Barristan Selmy joins Daenerys under the alias Arstan Whitebeard, which is enough to disguise his identity as Daenerys is the only viewpoint character for this story, and had never seen him before. On the show, of course, the actor is easily recognizable, so he reveals his true identity to her right away.
* PrettyBoy:
** Ser Loras Tyrell; George R.R. Martin even described the character as "...the teen idol of Westeros" in [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmxRIgBtThk this HBO featurette.]] Two lowborn Lannister soldiers consider him to be prettier than the Queen. In "The Climb," Olenna calls Loras "...the pride of Highgarden, the most desirable bachelor in all of the Seven Kingdoms."
** Jon Snow is prettier than half of Craster's daughters, according to Craster himself.
** Lancel Lannister
** Olyvar, [[spoiler: Littlefinger's spy.]]
* PreviouslyOn
* {{Pride}}: In case the [[AnimalStereotypes lion]] on their coat of arms and the motto "Hear me Roar!" didn't give it away, this is a unifying theme for the Lannisters. All of them have a subtly different take on it.
* PrincessClassic:
** Deconstructed with Margaery, who is an astute politician and manipulator, but puts on the persona of a charming and harmless princess to all and sundry. This has gained her the fanatical support of most of the common people (making them forget about the near-famine caused by her family's boycott of the capital).
** And of course deconstructed with Sansa who was raised by her mother to be the perfect princess and is eager to fulfill this role, only to find her PrinceCharming is a petulant evil psychopath ruling over a CrapsackWorld.
* PrivateMilitaryContractors: Daenerys seeks a mercenary army that she can use to invade Westeros. She goes to Astapor to purchase Unsullied, eunuch slaves who are considered the finest soldiers around.
* PromotionToOpeningTitles: Six recurring characters in Season 1, got promoted for Season 2: Jon Bradley (Samwell Tarly), James Cosmo (Jeor Mormont), Jerome Flynn (Bronn), Conleth Hill (Varys), Creator/SibelKekilli (Shae) and Creator/CharlesDance (Tywin Lannister). Creator/OonaChaplin (Talisa Maegyr), Rose Leslie (Ygritte), and Joe Dempsie (Gendry) are promoted in season 3.
* ProperlyParanoid: The Wildlings insistence that you ''must'' burn dead bodies to prevent them coming back as wights under the control of the White Walkers.
* ProphetEyes: Wargs, when they take on their BondCreature's skin.
* ProudWarriorRaceGuy:
** The Dothraki, who will cut their hair in shame if they lose a fight.
** And the ironborn take pride in the fact that they are reavers. They traditionally do not wear jewelry that was not won in battle. House Greyjoy's words, "We Do Not Sow," brag that they do not work for a living, they kill for it.
* PsychoSupporter: Ramsay has two attractive women who seem to take pleasure in helping him torment Theon.
* PunchClockVillain:
** Bronn is pretty mellow when he's not fighting, but he makes it clear that he'll do anything for the right price.
** Lannister soldiers are shown slaughtering the entire Stark household, even the septas, but when we see a few relaxing at camp, they're pretty normal people.
* PuppetKing: Cersei does her best to train Joffrey to become one of these for her. Subverted when Joffrey goes spectacularly off-script at the end of "Baelor," and his puppetmasters are powerless to stop him. Lampshaded by Tyrion in "The Pointy End":
-->'''Lord Tywin:''' Joffrey rules in King's Landing.\\
'''Tyrion:''' My sister rules you mean. ''(Tywin tilts his head in approval)''
* ThePurge: In "The North Remembers", [[spoiler: Joffrey has all of Robert's bastards hunted down and killed]]. It's rather disturbing to watch, considering many of the people involved are ''children''.
* {{Pyromaniac}}:
** Appears to be a genetic trait among the Targaryens, several of whom have an obsession with heat or fire and (sometimes correctly) believe themselves immune to it.
** Pyromancer Hallyne. During the [[spoiler: Wildfire explosion]], everyone else looks horrified -- he's ''giggling''.
* QueerPeopleAreFunny: Several characters on the show mock Renly and Loras' homosexuality.
* RaceLift: Pirate Salladhor Saan and merchant prince Xaro Xhoan Daxos have been cast with actors of African descent, and Xaro has additionally been changed to an emigrant from the Summer Isles.
* RantInducingSlight: Renly yells at Robert during their hunting trip after being belittled one too many times.
* RapePillageAndBurn:
** The Dothraki are seen to be indulging in this, which comes back to bite Khal Drogo later on when he [[spoiler:needs medical help]].
** Offscreen, by Ser Gregor Clegane at the behest of Tywin Lannister. Gregor Clegane's band is reported to be doing this in the Riverlands. Ned is so appalled that he officially [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_of_attainder attaints]] him and sentences him to death, giving the Lannisters yet another grievance against him.
** However Tyrion successfully plays on this trope to motivate his reluctant soldiers during the Battle of Blackwater, saying they should fight not for honor, gold, glory, or their king, but to stop Stannis' army from sacking their city and raping their loved ones.
* RapunzelHair: Common for a fantasy series, plenty of female characters sport this: Catelyn, Cersei, Talisa, Ros and several noblewoman and whore extras.
* RavensAndCrows: Not only [[InstantMessengerPigeon messengers]], but a common motif, as well.
* RedBaron: Sandor "The Hound" Clegane, Ser Gregor "The Mountain That Rides" Clegane, Ser Jaime "The Kingslayer" Lannister[[note]]played with, as in-universe this is a mark of shame[[/note]], Aerys "The Mad King" Targaryen, Daenerys "Mother of Dragons" Targaryen.
* ReactionShot: When Tyrion's plan to wipe out Stannis' fleet with wildfire goes ahead, the view switches between the carnage itself and the horrified expressions on onlookers' faces. Most notably, [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes Sandor looks genuinely fearful]], Tyrion looks remorseful, Joffrey almost smirks, and Pyromancer Hallyne is ''[[PyroManiac giggling]]''.
* RealMenWearPink: Loras' ornate armour, clothing and accessories always have a floral pattern. Justified, since his house's sigil is a rose, but he's still seen as being over-the-top about it, and is known as "the Knight of Flowers".
* RealityEnsues:
** In "And Now His Watch Is Ended," [[spoiler:Lord Commander Mormont manages to choke Rast after Rast (literally) stabs him in the back. While at first it appears that Mormont will take his killer to the grave with him, his wounds weaken him too much. Rast escapes and stabs Mormont some more.]]
** Littlefinger tells an associate that he challenged Brandon Stark for Catelyn's hand because he'd heard all the stories and songs where the "plucky little hero" triumphs over the odds and wins the maiden's heart. However, Littlefinger wasn't a great swordsman or soldier, [[CurbStompBattle and Brandon was]].
* {{Realpolitik}}: The game of thrones is all about this. [[TheFettered Scrupulous players]] who disdain this fact tend to enjoy shorter lives.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Ned Stark comes across as this, though the actual effectiveness of his rule is debatable.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech:
** Renly Baratheon tells Robert exactly what he thinks of his "glory days".
--->'''Renly:''' Which days exactly? The ones when half of Westeros fought the other half and millions died? Or before that, when the Mad King slaughtered women and babies because the voices in his head told him they deserved it? Or way before that, when dragons burnt whole cities to the ground?
--->'''Robert:''' Easy boy, you might be my brother but you're speaking to the king.
--->'''Renly:''' I suppose it was all rather heroic, if you were drunk enough and had some poor Riverlands whore to shove your prick inside and make the eight.
** Lord Tywin's answer to Tyrion's demands:
--->'''Tywin: ''' You are an ill-made, spiteful little creature full of envy, lust and low cunning. Men's laws give you the right to bear my name and display my colors, since I cannot prove that [[MamasBabyPapasMaybe you are not mine]]. And to teach me humility, the gods have condemned me to watch you waddle about, wearing the proud lion that was my father's sigil, and his father's sigil before him. But neither gods nor men will ever compel me to turn Casterly Rock into your whorehouse.
** Lord Karstark points out that Robb pardoned his mother for releasing an enemy, but wants to execute him for killing members of the same enemy family.
** Jon Snow's [[CompassionateCritic compassionate review]] on the Wildlings:
--->'''Jon:''' I know your people are brave, no one denies that. Six times in the last thousand years, a King-beyond-the-Wall has attacked the kingdoms. Six times they failed. You don't have the discipline. You don't have the training. Your army is no army. You don't know how to fight together.
* ReassignedToAntarctica:
** Being assigned to the Wall is seen as this, especially since the majority of the guards stationed there are criminals who choose service over their punishments. Others such as Ser Alliser Thorne are members of the former regime who chose the Wall over death.
** [[spoiler:Cersei plans to do this to Ned Stark]] in "Baelor." [[spoiler:Joffrey, however, has other plans]].
* RedRightHand: Shade of the Evening stains the Warlocks' lips and mouths blue, making them easy to spot... when they are't hiding it with magic.
* RedShirt:
** The Stark household guard, with the exception of [[spoiler:Jory]].
** Lannister soldiers in a more literal sense.
** Season one itself seems to be comprised of Stark bannermen and guards getting speared or [[CurbStompBattle destroyed]]. The only aversion to this is the Battle of the Whispering Wood, which in the series only shows the capture of Jaime. Of course, they were massively outnumbered before.
* RedShirtArmy:
** The Night's Watch, which is composed mostly of thieves and murderers who join to avoid their punishments. The rest of the kingdom forgets about them as they freeze and fight.
** Robb's [[spoiler:diversionary]] army is seen as completely expendable ''in-universe''.
* RefusalOfTheCall: Renly initially rejects Loras' suggestion that he should be king in "The Wolf and the Lion", but the idea gradually becomes more appealing after he argues with Robert, and he finally embraces it in "You Win or You Die." When Renly first appears in Season 2, he has already crowned himself king with the help of the Tyrells.
* RelationshipReveal: The scene where Loras is shaving Renly's chest.
* RememberTheNewGuy: Dolorous Edd is suddenly part of Lord Commander Mormont's group, although the scene from the book where he meets up with them is cut.
* ReportsOfMyDeathWereGreatlyExaggerated:
-->'''Lord Tywin''': I see that the rumors of your demise were unfounded.\\
'''Tyrion:''' Sorry to disappoint you, Father. No need to leap up and embrace me, I wouldn't want you to strain yourself.
* RevealingCoverup: The attempted assassination of [[spoiler:Bran]] was the only thing that gave Catelyn reason to believe that [[spoiler:he hadn't fallen, but was rather thrown]], causing her to dig deeper into the affair and discover various clues pointing to the Lannisters.
* {{Revenge}}: Loras and Brienne swear vengeance against Stannis after [[spoiler:Renly is murdered.]]
* RevengeBeforeReason: In "The Ghost of Harrenhal," Loras is ready to storm out of Renly's tent to put a sword through Stannis' righteous face, but Margaery and Littlefinger manage to convince him that it would be hopeless, as he would be killed by Stannis' men long before he ever reached his target.
* ReverseArmFold: Loras adopts this pose in Season 3 whenever he wishes to appear relaxed; examples include his greeting of Cersei and Joffrey in "Valar Dohaeris," while he walks away from Sansa in "Dark Wings, Dark Words," and [[spoiler:Tyrion and Sansa's wedding ceremony]].
* RightThroughHisPants:
** Jaime and Cersei are seen having sex while wearing most of their clothing. Lampshaded by Benioff and Weiss in the commentary for the first episode, where they explain that Jaime is not only a master swordsman, but also a master of having sex without taking off any clothes.
** Tyrion is also rarely seen naked during his sex scenes, as opposed to his partners.
** Stannis Baratheon has sex with a completely naked Melisandre while covered in several layers of clothing.
* RoaringRampageOfRescue:
** Robert Baratheon's entire rebellion was fueled by his desire to rescue Lyanna Stark.
** Robb Stark's war starts out this way.
* RousingSpeech:
** Tyrion gives one to the hill tribes before they go into battle in "Baelor." Then he's accidentally knocked out when they rush into battle.
** Daenerys gives one to the members of her khalasar who choose to stay after she releases the slaves.
** Tyrion gives an even ''better'' one at the Battle of Blackwater. The little man has a knack for inspiring people.
--->"Those are brave men knocking at our door. Let's go kill them!"
** Subverted with Stannis, who looks like he's about to give a RousingSpeech to inspire his men after a devastating setback only to [[NoSocialSkills bark out a single, straightforward sentence.]] It still works.
--->"Come with me and ''take this city!''"
** Theon Greyjoy, [[LetsGetDangerous of all people]], gives a good one in "Valar Morghulis." [[spoiler:It is immediately subverted, as one of his men gives him a TapOnTheHead and announces they're going to flee. But he does concede that "it was a good speech"...]]
* RoyalBrat: Just look at the image on the trope's page.
* RoyallyScrewedUp: The Targaryens provide the page quote for the trope, arguably due to a long-standing tradition of BrotherSisterIncest. And King Joffrey seems to combine the worst aspects of each of his already-unpleasant parents (also brother and sister).
* RuleOfCool: Why would anyone build a clockwork map of the world? Because it looks [[VisualEffectsOfAwesome really really cool]], that's why. The little-cogs-in-a-larger-machine effect satisfies the RuleOfSymbolism as well.
* RuleOfSeven: Seven Kingdoms, Seven Gods, Seven Hells, the Kingsguard is made up of seven knights, etc.
* RuleOfSymbolism:
** In "Winter Is Coming," the Starks find two dead animals who died fighting each other - a stag and a direwolf. The latter has six pups which map directly onto the Stark children (including [[HeroicBastard Jon Snow]], who gets an albino who ran or was driven away from the others). Everyone is disturbed by this in-universe, as the symbolism of the house sigils is very important in Westeros. Theon Greyjoy is quick to suggest killing the pups, which is foreshadowing.
** At the beginning of "You Win or You Die," Tywin Lannister is shown very calmly butchering a stag as he instructs Jaime on how to carry on the family legacy. (Apparently, Creator/CharlesDance was dressing a real dead deer.) A DeletedScene of Season 3 has Tywin fishing. The sigil of House Tully is a fish.
** In a room full of guards and soldiers, Littlefinger, a [[NonActionGuy schemer with no physical talent]], is the person who holds a knife to Lord Stark's throat, underscoring his backstabbing.
* RulingCouple: A ruling threesome in this case: King Renly, Queen Margaery and Ser Loras are presented as this in Season 2. Natalie Dormer describes their complicated union as a trinity in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szOGX0c0XGU this featurette]]. It's Renly's romantic relationship with Loras which allows for the alliance to be created in the first place, and his marriage to Margaery seals the deal officially. Renly treats both his lover and his wife as his equals (the latter is shown symbolically in the melee scene, where Margaery's seat is of the same size as Renly's). The Tyrell siblings essentially function as a BrotherSisterTeam in this three-way marriage; Loras' goal is to help Renly ''win'' the Iron Throne, while Margaery's job is to help her husband ''keep'' it.
* RunningGag:
** A minor one from the first two seasons had Cersei tear up any piece of paper that she didn't like or offended her. Pointed out by her brother.
--->'''Tyrion''': You've perfected the art of tearing up papers.
** Tyrion slapping Joffrey (and getting away with it) in the first two seasons as well.
** Theon being trolled by the blowing of a horn. A very effective use of MoodWhiplash.
** [[NoodleIncident WHAT did Podrick do to those whores!?]]
* SacredHospitality: Taken ''very'' seriously in Westeros. Once you've eaten bread and salt under someone's roof, you're their guest and are officially under their protection. It's illustrated in the story of the Rat Cook, told by Bran, who says violation of hospitality is the one crime that the gods cannot forgive. [[spoiler:The law is flagrantly broken by Walder Frey at Edmure Tully's wedding to his daughter]].
* SacrificialLamb: The three members of the Night's Watch (Will, Gared, and Ser Waymar Royce) who appear in the pilot. [[spoiler:And Lady. And Jory, squeaking in just under the 5-episode limit.]]
* SacrificialLion: [[spoiler:Robert and Eddard in Season 1; Renly in Season 2.]]
* SadisticChoice:
** You're free to leave your cell in the Eyrie at any time; the cells actually have only three walls. Of course, the cells are cut into a cliff face, with the missing fourth wall being the one that would keep you safe from falling out into space. Lysa Arryn implies that the cells have sloped floors, which pull the prisoner closer to the edge, as Tyrion shows when he nearly rolls over the side in his sleep.
** Joffrey gives a minstrel who offends him the choice between having his tongue cut out or losing his hands.
* SarcasticClapping: Joffrey does this after hearing a minstrel's song mocking his family. The confused members of court aren't sure whether they should be joining him or not.
* SarcasticConfession: Tyrion says he's ready to confess his crimes to Lysa and Catelyn. He then begins confessing to pranks he pulled and indiscretions he committed in his youth. Including something involving bringing a [[NoodleIncident jackass and a honeycomb into a brothel]]...
* SayingTooMuch: Loras is guilty of this in "Kissed by Fire" when [[spoiler: he reveals to Olyvar that he's secretly betrothed to Sansa.]]
* SceneryPorn: The series really love to show beautiful establishing shot of places in Westeros and Essos, such as The Wall, The Dothraki Sea, The Vale of Arryn, etc.
* SchiffOneLiner: Three of the first eight episodes end in a [[BlackComedy darkly humorous]] OneLiner.
* ScrewTheMoneyIHaveRules: Locke is a rare villainous example. He hates the fact that nobles can buy their way out of trouble, so he chooses to torture his noble captives rather than trade them in for riches.
* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: In the Season 3 finale, this is Davos' justification for going against Stannis' wishes by [[spoiler: freeing Gendry before Melisandre can sacrifice him]].
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere:
** After [[spoiler:Robert's death]], Renly and Loras flee King's Landing with their retainers when Ned refuses to join them in taking decisive action against Cersei and Joffrey.
** Loras and Margaery leave the Stormlands after [[spoiler:Renly is assassinated.]]
** Ser Barristan, when Joffrey and Cersei try to force retirement on him.
** Perhaps most blatantly, [[spoiler:Sandor Clegane]] deserts during the Battle of Blackwater with the epic line "Fuck the Kingsguard. Fuck the city. Fuck the king." Delivered to said king's ''face'' no less!
** In the season 2 finale, [[spoiler: Dagmer and the Ironmen.]] "We're going home!"
* SealedRoomInTheMiddleOfNowhere: Dany seals up [[spoiler:Xaro Xhoan Daxos (with Doreah) in his own vault as revenge for betraying her.]]
* SecretRelationship:
** Renly and Loras attempt to be discreet about their romance due to the homophobia which exists within Westerosi society.
** Tyrion and Shae conceal their romance for vital reasons; Tywin warns Tyrion not to take her to court and has vowed to hang the next whore he finds in Tyrion's bed.
* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: Renly Baratheon in relation to his elder brothers.
* SexEqualsLove: Daenerys and Drogo form a romantic bond once Dany gets tutored on how to take control of her sex life.
* ASharedSuffering: The relationship between Cersei and Tyrion Lannister begins to resemble a brotherly one after Tywin remembers them both the joy of living under his domineering thumb.
* SharpDressedMan: Whether he's at court, on a hunting trip, or commanding an army of about a hundred thousand men, Renly is always handsomely dressed for the occasion.
* ShieldBash:
** Tyrion kills a man by this method.
** Brienne hits Loras' helm-covered head with her shield in the melee, but he recovers from the blow.
* ShirtlessScene:
** Jon Snow, Robb Stark, and Theon Greyjoy in season 1, as they're waiting for a shave from Winterfell's barber.
** Renly and Loras have one in Season 1; Loras is shaving Renly's chest while trying to convince his lover that he should make a claim for the throne. They have another in Season 2 where they're kissing passionately in Renly's tent.
** Gendry in season 2, when [[HotMenAtWork he's working as a smith]] in Harrenhal.
** Joffrey in season 3, when he's trying out various royal outfits.
** Loras has another in Season 3 [[spoiler: when he beds Olyvar.]]
* ShootTheShaggyDog: [[spoiler:Ros' arc, a character who does not exist in book canon. For the majority of the first two seasons, she is a prostitute who exists primarily for the show's infamous [[FanNickname "sexposition"]], although she has a distinct personality. At the end of season 2 and in season 3, she begins navigating the political world as a spy, and doing quite well for herself. She is killed in a brutal and sexualized manner in order to prove the cruelty of two (male) characters, both of whom have already had multiple scenes dedicated to just that.]]
* ShoutOut:
** Jon and Sam, two characters in a fantasy world, telling each other what they wanted to be when they grew up: [[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings a ranger and a wizard,]] respectively.
** The helmets of Lannister soldiers are quite similar to those of the German soldiers in ''Film/AlexanderNevsky'', which were, in turn, [[PuttingOnTheReich based]] on the ''Stahlhelm'' of NaziGermany soldiers.
** One of the names Viserys mentions when listing the Targaryen dragons is [[{{Film/Dragonslayer}} Vermithrax]].
* ShroudedInMyth: Facts from the past are prone to be embellished or turned into legends. Aegon, for instance, didn't melt the thousand swords of his vanquished foes into the Iron Throne, but fewer than two hundred. This kind of mystique helps to seam the realm together.[[note]]George R.R. Martin's original vision of the Iron Throne is ''much'' larger and more monstrous-looking than the show version, with the "thousand swords" statement apparently being meant literally.[[/note]]
* SigilSpam: Many of the great houses have their emblem in everything. The Tullys have a pier outside Riverrun with fish carved to their beams. Sandor Clegane has a helmet the shape of a dog. Renly's crown has stag antlers on it. The Tyrells don't have a single article of clothing without their rose on it. The last one is pointed out by Lady Oleanna, as a reaction to the stitching of one of her relatives:
-->"Another golden rose. How original. I eat from plates stamped with roses. I sleep in sheets embroidered with roses. I have a golden rose painted on my chamber pot, as if that makes it smell any better. Roses are boring, dear."
* SilentCredits: Used in "The Rains of Castamere" [[spoiler:to allow the audience to absorb the shock of the brutal deaths of Talisa, Robb and Catelyn.]]
* SissyVillain: The eunuch Lord Varys subverts this trope brilliantly. Raised by actors, he knows how to play the role properly to keep the Queen and her council guessing. Even MagnificentBastard Petyr Baelish doesn't quite know what he's up to. It's mostly an act, when he gets truly angry or serious he drops his usual polite, facetious tone and his voice becomes considerably lower, first seen when he delivers quite a hardass WhatTheHellHero to Ned Stark.
* SlidingScaleOfContinuity: Level 5 (Full Lockout). What do you expect from an adaptation of ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire''?
* SmugSnake: Cersei is one of these most days. Her father dresses her down for it.
-->'''Tywin :''' I don't distrust you because you are a woman, I distrust you because you're not as smart as you think you are.
* SnakeOilSalesman: Bronn accuses Pyromancer Hallyne of being one of these, even going so far as to suggest that the Wildfire he's making is actually pigshit. [[spoiler: Averted during the Battle of Blackwater, where his Wildfire turns out to be the real deal]].
* SnarkToSnarkCombat: Tyrion, Varys and Littlefinger engage in it quite a few times.
-->'''Baelish''': "When they castrated you, did they take the pillar with the stones? I've always wondered."
-->'''Varys''': "Have you? Do you spend a lot of time wondering what's between my legs?"
-->'''Baelish''': "I picture a gash. Like a woman's. Is that about right?"
-->'''Varys''': "I'm flattered, of course, to be pictured at all."
-->'''Baelish''': "Must be strange for you, even after all these years. A man from another land, despised by most, feared by all--"
-->'''Varys''': "Am I? That is good to know. Do ''you'' lie awake at night fearing my gash?"
* SnipeHunt: Robert can't fit in his armor, so he sends Lancel to find the "breastplate stretcher".
* TheSociopath: In a show full of bad people doing bad things, Joffrey Baratheon stands out.
%%* SolemnEndingTheme
* SomethingElseAlsoRises: Renly jokes about Robert being aroused at the thought of assassinating Daenerys in "The Wolf and the Lion."
-->'''Renly''': Robert is rather tasteless about it. Every time he talks about killing her I swear the table rises six inches.
* SoreLoser:
** Ser Gregor kills his own horse and attempts to murder an unarmed Ser Loras (who only carried a shield at the time) after the latter defeats him in the joust.
** Although Loras doesn't do or say anything negative to Brienne after she wins their melee competition, he's shown to be bitter about his defeat when he speaks to Renly in private.
* TheSpartanWay: The Unsullied are put through hellish training that makes them immune to pain and robotically loyal.
* SpikesOfVillainy: Being made entirely of swords, the Iron Throne practically reeks of this trope. Aegon the Conqueror fashioned it to serve as a symbol and to intimidate the hell out of anyone who would challenge his rule, however, by all historical accounts, beyond that he was a surprisingly decent monarch. Played straight with Aerys II and Joffrey, who also adds giant spiky braziers to the bases of the pillars of the throne room.
* SpiritAdvisor: Jojen Reed has started to appear in Bran's dreams about the three-eyed crow, advising him on how to follow it.
* SpoiledBrat: In "The Wolf and the Lion," Lord Renly reveals that his brothers consider him to be a spoiled child. Ser Loras' facial expression and his silence strongly indicate that he agrees. Renly then points out that Loras (whose family is richer than his) is overly-pampered as well.
-->'''Renly''': And how much did your father pay for that armour of yours?
* SpoiledSweet:
** Although Renly grew up in the lap of luxury, he is genuinely a nice guy, and he does care about the smallfolk (at least more so than most Westerosi nobles).
** Margaery does a lot of charity work in Highgarden and in King's Landing (such as giving toys to orphans, and offering money to feed, clothe and shelter them).
* StarCrossedLovers:
** Robb falls in love with an independent woman from Volantis, but he's bound by a political marriage pact to a Frey daughter he's never even met.
** Renly and Loras' illicit romance [[spoiler: comes to a tragic end in "The Ghost of Harrenhal" after Renly is assassinated.]]
** Sam is in love with Gilly, even though he has sworn to take no wife and she is "wed" to her father.
* StealthInsult:
** Sansa appears to have mastered this. One example is this:
--->'''Joffrey''': You'll kiss it again when I return and taste my uncle's blood.
--->'''Sansa''': Will you slay him yourself?
--->'''Joffrey''': If Stannis is fool enough to come near me.
--->'''Sansa''': So you'll be outside the gates fighting in the vanguard?
--->'''Joffrey''': A king doesn't discuss battle plans with stupid girls.
--->'''Sansa''': I'm sorry, Your Grace. You're right, I'm stupid. Of course you'll be in the vanguard. They say my brother Robb always goes where the fighting is thickest. And he is only a pretender.
** Arya as well.
--->'''Arya''': [...] they say he can't be killed.
--->'''Tywin''': And do you believe that?
--->'''Arya''': (holding her gaze and staring directly at Tywin) No, my lord. Anyone can be killed.
** In "Garden of Bones," Renly knows very well the kind of self-serving person Littlefinger is, and is disgusted by it.
---> '''Renly''': You can trust Brienne. Her loyalty comes without charge.
** Margaery subtly criticizes Cersei's fashion sense in "Valar Dohaeris."
---> '''Margaery''': Loras, isn't the Queen's gown magnificent? The fabric, the embroidery, the ''metalwork''. I've never seen anything like it!
** Loras then (politely) rubs it into Cersei's face that he thinks ''very'' poorly of her as Queen due to her neglect/mistreatment of the smallfolk.
---> '''Loras''': ''[smiling directly at Cersei]'' Margaery does a great deal of work with the poor back in Highgarden
* StealthPun: Jon Snow's sword Longclaw is, in fact, a bastard sword.
* StepfordSmiler: Sansa and Gilly. It's a survival technique.
** Loras is a Type A in Season 3. He puts on a charming smile and a pleasant disposition most of the time, but his mask slips at a very public event in "Second Sons", and his misery betrays itself more subtly in "Valar Dohaeris" (Loras—who is no longer paying attention to the dinner conversation—has a melancholic expression when Joffrey says, "I'm sure she knows what she's doing"). In "The Climb", he tells Sansa, "It's [King's Landing] terrible isn't it? The most terrible place there is," which clearly indicates that Loras is suffering in silence.
* StepfordSnarker: Sansa becomes a pretty brazen one in the second season.
* StockScream: A faint but audible Wilhelm can be heard as soldiers of the Lannister army are patrolling the battlefield finishing off downed enemies in the final episode of Season 1.
* AStormIsComing: [[ArcWords "Winter is Coming."]] They are the official words of House Stark.
* StraightEdgeEvil: Jaime Lannister discusses the trope in "The Bear and the Maiden Fair," commenting to the teetotal Roose Bolton, "You know how suspicious that seems to most people, don't you?" [[spoiler:Bolton's not drinking is brought up again in "The Rains of Castamere", when his villainy is finally revealed.]]
* StraightGay: Renly Baratheon has a more masculine appearance and demeanour than his lover.
* StunnedSilence:
** The reaction to [[spoiler:the wildfire]] in "Blackwater".
** Catelyn's reaction to [[spoiler:Robb's death. The silence continues with a total lack of music or sound during the entire credits sequence]].
** The reaction to a drunken Tyrion slamming a dagger into the table and threatening to castrate King Joffrey.
* SubordinateExcuse: Loras is the sole male heir of the second-richest family in Westeros, and presumably he has duties in Highgarden and the Reach, yet in Season 2 he chooses to devote his ''entire'' life to protecting Renly. Being the Lord Commander of his brother-in-law's Kingsguard is a very convenient way for Loras to be able to spend a lot of time with his beloved, as his frequent visits can be explained away as being job-related. (It doesn't stop the rumours about them from spreading among Renly's followers, however.)
* SuccessionCrisis: One begins at the end of episode seven, and is the main focus of season two.
* SuperWeight:
** Type -1: Maester Aemon
** Type 0: Most of the non-combatant cast, most peasants
** Type 1: Ned Stark, Robb Stark, Theon Greyjoy, Jaime Lannister, Bronn, Stannis Baratheon, Ser Loras, Khal Drogo, Ser Jorah, Jon Snow, Yoren, Brienne of Tarth, Syrio Forel, Sandor Clegane, Ser Gregor Clegane
** Type 2: Thoros of Myr, [[OutOfTheInferno Daenerys Targaryen]], [[ProfessionalKiller Jaqen H'ghar]], [[OurZombiesAreDifferent Wights]], [[PsychicChildren Greenseers]] (Jojen Reed)
** Type 3: [[WickedWitch Mirri Maz Duur]], [[HotWitch Melisandre]], [[EvilSorcerer Pyat Pree]], Dragons (young), Giants, Wargs (Orell and [[spoiler:Bran Stark]])
** Type 4: Dragons (full-grown), [[HumanoidAbomination White Walkers]]
** Type 5: R'hllor aka the Lord of Light (if he exists at all)
* SuppressedRage:
** Loras' body language cannot disguise the utter disgust and frustration that he feels at having to bend the knee to Joffrey in "Valar Morghulis."
** The abrupt and rude manner in which Loras storms away from the wedding feast in "Second Sons" is merely the tip of the iceberg in terms of the true depths of his anger over his current situation ([[spoiler:i.e. his forced betrothal to Cersei, his inability to mourn for Renly in public,]] etc.).
* SureLetsGoWithThat: Happens when Margaery explains to Sansa--who's dreading having to sleep with Tyrion when they're arranged to be married--how a woman might not know what she wants sexually until she's tried it.
-->'''Sansa:''' Did your mother tell you that?
-->({{beat}})
-->'''Margaery:''' (laughs) Yes, my mother...
* SuspiciouslyAproposMusic: Invoked. "The Rains of Castamere," a song about the slaughter of a major house that stood up against the Lannisters, is played just before [[spoiler:Robb Stark and his bannermen are slaughtered by House Frey and House Bolton, who have sided with the Lannisters.]]
* SwordPointing: In "The Ghost of Harrenhal," Loras points his sword right in Littlefinger's face and accuses the older man of wanting to sell him and his sister to Stannis as hostages.
* SympathyForTheHero:
** Jaime expresses a moment of this when he sees Ned Stark setting himself up for a fall.
--->'''Jaime:''' Poor Ned Stark. Brave man, terrible judgement.
** Varys is supportive of [[DudeWheresMyRespect Tyrion]] in the gloomy aftermath of "Blackwater".
--->'''Varys:''' There are many who know that without you this city faced certain defeat. The king won't give you any honors, the histories won't mention you, but we will not forget.
----
[[Series/GameOfThrones Back to the main article]]
----
* ParentalAbandonment: Many of the characters have dead or missing parents. Examples include: Dany and Viserys, Jon, Bran, Tyrion, Cersei and Jaime, and a number of side characters.
* ParentalIncest: Craster and his harem of daughter-wives.
* PassiveAggressiveKombat:
** All the time; the Lannisters in particular are masters of it.
** In both "The Wolf and the Lion" and "Fire and Blood," Varys and Littlefinger have scenes that exemplify this trope.
** The dinner scene with Cersei, Joffrey, Margaery and Loras in "Valar Dohaeris."
* PassThePopcorn: Walder Frey continues to slurp his wine while watching [[spoiler:his men massacre Robb and his followers during Edmure's wedding]].
* ThePatriarch: All the major houses have one, of course, but Tywin Lannister wins the prize.
-->'''Lord Tywin:''' The house that puts family first will always defeat the house that puts the whims and wishes of its sons and daughters first.
* PeacefulInDeath: [[spoiler: Despite the horrific manner in which King Renly was killed, his body looks remarkably at peace. The corpse is later dressed and positioned in a way to make him appear regal and dignified, and Margaery can't resist mentioning how handsome he was, with Littlefinger agreeing.]]
* PerfectlyArrangedMarriage:
** By "Lord Snow," it looks like Daenerys and Khal Drogo are pretty damn happy together.
** Ned Stark and Catelyn Tully as well, though it did not start that way.
* PhallicWeapon: In season 3, Joffrey fires his crossbow from the hip, and the camera angle clearly implies this trope. This is after he has lovingly shown and described it to his fiance, and he has already shown that he gets turned on by violence and killing.
* PlayingDrunk: Tyrion plays up his drunkenness, making very self-deprecating jokes, to get away with having made a threatening statement to the king.
* PlotArmor: Not only subverted but outright inverted. GRRM has said that the safer a character "should" be by the rules of normal storytelling, the more deliberately he sets out to do them in.
* PlotTriggeringDeath: Jon Arryn's death is what causes Eddard Stark and his family to become tangled in the game of thrones.
* PokeThePoodle: Tyrion's "confession" in the Eyrie describes a number of acts which, while not exactly innocent, are hardly the stuff villains are made of.
-->"Where do I begin, my lords and ladies? I am a vile man, I confess it. My crimes and sins are beyond counting. I have lied and cheated, gambled and whored. I’m not particularly ''good'' at violence, but I’m good at convincing ''others'' to do violence ''for'' me. You want specifics, I suppose. When I was seven, I saw a servant girl bathing in the river. [[GoneSwimmingClothesStolen I stole her robe]], and she was forced to return to the castle naked and in tears. If I close my eyes...I can still see her tits bouncing. When I was ten, I stuffed my uncle’s boots with goat shit. When confronted with my crime, I blamed a squire. The poor boy was flogged, and I escaped justice. When I was twelve, I milked my eel into a pot of turtle stew. I flogged the one-eyed snake. I skinned my sausage. I made the bald man cry ''into'' the turtle stew, which I do believe my sister ate--at least, I ''hope'' she did. I once brought a jackass and a honeycomb into a brothel—"
* PokemonSpeak: HODOR!
* PosthumousCharacter: Lyanna Stark, Joanna Lannister, Aegon I The Conqueror, Rhaegar Targaryen, "Mad" King Aerys Targaryen and Jon Arryn are among the characters mentioned frequently but already dead by the beginning of the series, though Arryn is seen briefly (lying in state) in the pilot episode.
* POVCam: There is a tracking shot in Winterfell from the perspective of Bran's wolf Summer, following Hodor to Bran's bedroom and jumping onto his bed, which then immediately switches to Bran's POV as he [[CatapultNightmare wakes up]] and looks into the wolf's eyes. He then goes on to describe his "wolf dreams" to Maester Luwin.
* ThePowerOfLove: Averted horribly when [[spoiler:Daenerys]] tries to use this to bring [[spoiler:Khal Drogo]] out of a coma. Of course, it doesn't work, which is on par with the theme of the series.
* PraetorianGuard: The Kingsguard, a group of knights who protect the king and serve for life. Like their namesake, one of their members was reponsible for the death of the previous king.
* PragmaticAdaptation: The series contains large amounts of pragmatic adaptation largely due to the transition from a rotating third person limited POV series of novels (complete with inner monologues) to a televised ensemble piece. Some changes worked better than others.
** The show excises flashbacks and prophecies entirely. Flashbacks would require the expense of hiring an entirely different cast, while prophecies are tricky to write and pay off in a satisfactory manner. Because of this, Daenerys' hallucinations focus on her own story, rather than long-dead characters or those that live on a different continent; Ned's memories of his sister's demise are replaced with other foreshadowing devices; while the mysterious masked Quaithe's role is altered from prophecy sounding board to a foil for Jorah Mormont. Arguably, this streamlines and improves the series greatly.
** Tywin Lannister, Robb Stark, and Littlefinger were offpage for the vast majority of ''Literature/AClashOfKings'', but the writers of a television show could not afford to have these popular (and probably well paid) actors disappear for a whole season. So they were either moved into someone else's story (Tywin into Arya's), had the previously secondhand exploits shown first hand (Robb's campaign and courtship of his non-Frey wife), or apparently develop mysterious teleportation powers to cameo in mulitple stories (Littlefinger making deals with at least three factions of the War of the Five Kings).
** Arya's story had an extensive road trip portion with multiple kidnappings, then a stay in Harrenhal where she interacts with a bunch of new characters and ends up facilitating a palace coup with even more new characters. To streamline her story, much of the road trip portion was cut out and instead of working for Weese and later Roose Bolton (who was moved to Robb's camp for character development), the palace coup was cut out, and she only served one master in Harrenhal--known character Tywin Lannister. These changes also changed the focus of her story from the suffering of the smallfolk during war to the cat and mouse game to hide her identity.
** Jon and Dany's stories in Clash were very internally focused with almost no action until the respective last chapters. To make them more action packed, Jon gets separated from the group to spend more time interacting with his love interest and Dany has to deal with the kidnapping of her dragons and betrayal by one of her handmaidens.
** Due to the POV structure of the book, we needed two shadowbaby assassins birthed by Melisandre in order to understand how they came to be and what they did: the one that kills Renly (which we see in action from Catelyn's point of view) and later the one that ultimately kills Cortnay Penrose (which we see birthed from Davos's point of view). In the show, we see the same shadowbaby being born (with Davos smuggling Melisandre somewhere close enough so that the assassin can kill Renly, which is seen from Catelyn and Brienne's point of view.
** Related to the cutting of the second shadowbaby, Storm's End, Penrose, and the entire subplot surrounding Stannis wanting his bastard nephew's blood was cut. Stannis's family was also cut from Season 2. However, with the casting of his wife and daughter in season 3, it remains to be seen how much, if any of Stannis's family drama and Storm's End is repurposed for Season 3. Considering that Stannis does not do much except sulk in Book 3 [[spoiler: until serving as the BigDamnHeroes for Jon at the Wall]], moving the Storm's End and Stannis's family plot to Season 3 may be the most pragmatic way to adapt that storyline, especially since the third book is going to be spread out over two seasons.
** Much of the dialogue of Davos Seaworth in the TV series does not appear in the books, since much of his character development in these is restricted to his inner thoughts; the fact that further books concerning Jon Snow's actions on The Wall are written like that as well, there will probably be changes in dialogue in further seasons of the TV series.
** In the books, all POV Stark children whose direwolves are still alive (meaning Jon Snow, Arya and Bran) are shown warging into them when sleeping. In the series, only Bran's dreams are kept, because they are essential to his StoryArc, while Jon's and Arya's stories can work without them.
** In the books, Barristan Selmy joins Daenerys under the alias Arstan Whitebeard, which is enough to disguise his identity as Daenerys is the only viewpoint character for this story, and had never seen him before. On the show, of course, the actor is easily recognizable, so he reveals his true identity to her right away.
* PrettyBoy:
** Ser Loras Tyrell; George R.R. Martin even described the character as "...the teen idol of Westeros" in [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmxRIgBtThk this HBO featurette.]] Two lowborn Lannister soldiers consider him to be prettier than the Queen. In "The Climb," Olenna calls Loras "...the pride of Highgarden, the most desirable bachelor in all of the Seven Kingdoms."
** Jon Snow is prettier than half of Craster's daughters, according to Craster himself.
** Lancel Lannister
** Olyvar, [[spoiler: Littlefinger's spy.]]
* PreviouslyOn
* {{Pride}}: In case the [[AnimalStereotypes lion]] on their coat of arms and the motto "Hear me Roar!" didn't give it away, this is a unifying theme for the Lannisters. All of them have a subtly different take on it.
* PrincessClassic:
** Deconstructed with Margaery, who is an astute politician and manipulator, but puts on the persona of a charming and harmless princess to all and sundry. This has gained her the fanatical support of most of the common people (making them forget about the near-famine caused by her family's boycott of the capital).
** And of course deconstructed with Sansa who was raised by her mother to be the perfect princess and is eager to fulfill this role, only to find her PrinceCharming is a petulant evil psychopath ruling over a CrapsackWorld.
* PrivateMilitaryContractors: Daenerys seeks a mercenary army that she can use to invade Westeros. She goes to Astapor to purchase Unsullied, eunuch slaves who are considered the finest soldiers around.
* PromotionToOpeningTitles: Six recurring characters in Season 1, got promoted for Season 2: Jon Bradley (Samwell Tarly), James Cosmo (Jeor Mormont), Jerome Flynn (Bronn), Conleth Hill (Varys), Creator/SibelKekilli (Shae) and Creator/CharlesDance (Tywin Lannister). Creator/OonaChaplin (Talisa Maegyr), Rose Leslie (Ygritte), and Joe Dempsie (Gendry) are promoted in season 3.
* ProperlyParanoid: The Wildlings insistence that you ''must'' burn dead bodies to prevent them coming back as wights under the control of the White Walkers.
* ProphetEyes: Wargs, when they take on their BondCreature's skin.
* ProudWarriorRaceGuy:
** The Dothraki, who will cut their hair in shame if they lose a fight.
** And the ironborn take pride in the fact that they are reavers. They traditionally do not wear jewelry that was not won in battle. House Greyjoy's words, "We Do Not Sow," brag that they do not work for a living, they kill for it.
* PsychoSupporter: Ramsay has two attractive women who seem to take pleasure in helping him torment Theon.
* PunchClockVillain:
** Bronn is pretty mellow when he's not fighting, but he makes it clear that he'll do anything for the right price.
** Lannister soldiers are shown slaughtering the entire Stark household, even the septas, but when we see a few relaxing at camp, they're pretty normal people.
* PuppetKing: Cersei does her best to train Joffrey to become one of these for her. Subverted when Joffrey goes spectacularly off-script at the end of "Baelor," and his puppetmasters are powerless to stop him. Lampshaded by Tyrion in "The Pointy End":
-->'''Lord Tywin:''' Joffrey rules in King's Landing.\\
'''Tyrion:''' My sister rules you mean. ''(Tywin tilts his head in approval)''
* ThePurge: In "The North Remembers", [[spoiler: Joffrey has all of Robert's bastards hunted down and killed]]. It's rather disturbing to watch, considering many of the people involved are ''children''.
* {{Pyromaniac}}:
** Appears to be a genetic trait among the Targaryens, several of whom have an obsession with heat or fire and (sometimes correctly) believe themselves immune to it.
** Pyromancer Hallyne. During the [[spoiler: Wildfire explosion]], everyone else looks horrified -- he's ''giggling''.
* QueerPeopleAreFunny: Several characters on the show mock Renly and Loras' homosexuality.
* RaceLift: Pirate Salladhor Saan and merchant prince Xaro Xhoan Daxos have been cast with actors of African descent, and Xaro has additionally been changed to an emigrant from the Summer Isles.
* RantInducingSlight: Renly yells at Robert during their hunting trip after being belittled one too many times.
* RapePillageAndBurn:
** The Dothraki are seen to be indulging in this, which comes back to bite Khal Drogo later on when he [[spoiler:needs medical help]].
** Offscreen, by Ser Gregor Clegane at the behest of Tywin Lannister. Gregor Clegane's band is reported to be doing this in the Riverlands. Ned is so appalled that he officially [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_of_attainder attaints]] him and sentences him to death, giving the Lannisters yet another grievance against him.
** However Tyrion successfully plays on this trope to motivate his reluctant soldiers during the Battle of Blackwater, saying they should fight not for honor, gold, glory, or their king, but to stop Stannis' army from sacking their city and raping their loved ones.
* RapunzelHair: Common for a fantasy series, plenty of female characters sport this: Catelyn, Cersei, Talisa, Ros and several noblewoman and whore extras.
* RavensAndCrows: Not only [[InstantMessengerPigeon messengers]], but a common motif, as well.
* RedBaron: Sandor "The Hound" Clegane, Ser Gregor "The Mountain That Rides" Clegane, Ser Jaime "The Kingslayer" Lannister[[note]]played with, as in-universe this is a mark of shame[[/note]], Aerys "The Mad King" Targaryen, Daenerys "Mother of Dragons" Targaryen.
* ReactionShot: When Tyrion's plan to wipe out Stannis' fleet with wildfire goes ahead, the view switches between the carnage itself and the horrified expressions on onlookers' faces. Most notably, [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes Sandor looks genuinely fearful]], Tyrion looks remorseful, Joffrey almost smirks, and Pyromancer Hallyne is ''[[PyroManiac giggling]]''.
* RealMenWearPink: Loras' ornate armour, clothing and accessories always have a floral pattern. Justified, since his house's sigil is a rose, but he's still seen as being over-the-top about it, and is known as "the Knight of Flowers".
* RealityEnsues:
** In "And Now His Watch Is Ended," [[spoiler:Lord Commander Mormont manages to choke Rast after Rast (literally) stabs him in the back. While at first it appears that Mormont will take his killer to the grave with him, his wounds weaken him too much. Rast escapes and stabs Mormont some more.]]
** Littlefinger tells an associate that he challenged Brandon Stark for Catelyn's hand because he'd heard all the stories and songs where the "plucky little hero" triumphs over the odds and wins the maiden's heart. However, Littlefinger wasn't a great swordsman or soldier, [[CurbStompBattle and Brandon was]].
* {{Realpolitik}}: The game of thrones is all about this. [[TheFettered Scrupulous players]] who disdain this fact tend to enjoy shorter lives.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Ned Stark comes across as this, though the actual effectiveness of his rule is debatable.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech:
** Renly Baratheon tells Robert exactly what he thinks of his "glory days".
--->'''Renly:''' Which days exactly? The ones when half of Westeros fought the other half and millions died? Or before that, when the Mad King slaughtered women and babies because the voices in his head told him they deserved it? Or way before that, when dragons burnt whole cities to the ground?
--->'''Robert:''' Easy boy, you might be my brother but you're speaking to the king.
--->'''Renly:''' I suppose it was all rather heroic, if you were drunk enough and had some poor Riverlands whore to shove your prick inside and make the eight.
** Lord Tywin's answer to Tyrion's demands:
--->'''Tywin: ''' You are an ill-made, spiteful little creature full of envy, lust and low cunning. Men's laws give you the right to bear my name and display my colors, since I cannot prove that [[MamasBabyPapasMaybe you are not mine]]. And to teach me humility, the gods have condemned me to watch you waddle about, wearing the proud lion that was my father's sigil, and his father's sigil before him. But neither gods nor men will ever compel me to turn Casterly Rock into your whorehouse.
** Lord Karstark points out that Robb pardoned his mother for releasing an enemy, but wants to execute him for killing members of the same enemy family.
** Jon Snow's [[CompassionateCritic compassionate review]] on the Wildlings:
--->'''Jon:''' I know your people are brave, no one denies that. Six times in the last thousand years, a King-beyond-the-Wall has attacked the kingdoms. Six times they failed. You don't have the discipline. You don't have the training. Your army is no army. You don't know how to fight together.
* ReassignedToAntarctica:
** Being assigned to the Wall is seen as this, especially since the majority of the guards stationed there are criminals who choose service over their punishments. Others such as Ser Alliser Thorne are members of the former regime who chose the Wall over death.
** [[spoiler:Cersei plans to do this to Ned Stark]] in "Baelor." [[spoiler:Joffrey, however, has other plans]].
* RedRightHand: Shade of the Evening stains the Warlocks' lips and mouths blue, making them easy to spot... when they are't hiding it with magic.
* RedShirt:
** The Stark household guard, with the exception of [[spoiler:Jory]].
** Lannister soldiers in a more literal sense.
** Season one itself seems to be comprised of Stark bannermen and guards getting speared or [[CurbStompBattle destroyed]]. The only aversion to this is the Battle of the Whispering Wood, which in the series only shows the capture of Jaime. Of course, they were massively outnumbered before.
* RedShirtArmy:
** The Night's Watch, which is composed mostly of thieves and murderers who join to avoid their punishments. The rest of the kingdom forgets about them as they freeze and fight.
** Robb's [[spoiler:diversionary]] army is seen as completely expendable ''in-universe''.
* RefusalOfTheCall: Renly initially rejects Loras' suggestion that he should be king in "The Wolf and the Lion", but the idea gradually becomes more appealing after he argues with Robert, and he finally embraces it in "You Win or You Die." When Renly first appears in Season 2, he has already crowned himself king with the help of the Tyrells.
* RelationshipReveal: The scene where Loras is shaving Renly's chest.
* RememberTheNewGuy: Dolorous Edd is suddenly part of Lord Commander Mormont's group, although the scene from the book where he meets up with them is cut.
* ReportsOfMyDeathWereGreatlyExaggerated:
-->'''Lord Tywin''': I see that the rumors of your demise were unfounded.\\
'''Tyrion:''' Sorry to disappoint you, Father. No need to leap up and embrace me, I wouldn't want you to strain yourself.
* RevealingCoverup: The attempted assassination of [[spoiler:Bran]] was the only thing that gave Catelyn reason to believe that [[spoiler:he hadn't fallen, but was rather thrown]], causing her to dig deeper into the affair and discover various clues pointing to the Lannisters.
* {{Revenge}}: Loras and Brienne swear vengeance against Stannis after [[spoiler:Renly is murdered.]]
* RevengeBeforeReason: In "The Ghost of Harrenhal," Loras is ready to storm out of Renly's tent to put a sword through Stannis' righteous face, but Margaery and Littlefinger manage to convince him that it would be hopeless, as he would be killed by Stannis' men long before he ever reached his target.
* ReverseArmFold: Loras adopts this pose in Season 3 whenever he wishes to appear relaxed; examples include his greeting of Cersei and Joffrey in "Valar Dohaeris," while he walks away from Sansa in "Dark Wings, Dark Words," and [[spoiler:Tyrion and Sansa's wedding ceremony]].
* RightThroughHisPants:
** Jaime and Cersei are seen having sex while wearing most of their clothing. Lampshaded by Benioff and Weiss in the commentary for the first episode, where they explain that Jaime is not only a master swordsman, but also a master of having sex without taking off any clothes.
** Tyrion is also rarely seen naked during his sex scenes, as opposed to his partners.
** Stannis Baratheon has sex with a completely naked Melisandre while covered in several layers of clothing.
* RoaringRampageOfRescue:
** Robert Baratheon's entire rebellion was fueled by his desire to rescue Lyanna Stark.
** Robb Stark's war starts out this way.
* RousingSpeech:
** Tyrion gives one to the hill tribes before they go into battle in "Baelor." Then he's accidentally knocked out when they rush into battle.
** Daenerys gives one to the members of her khalasar who choose to stay after she releases the slaves.
** Tyrion gives an even ''better'' one at the Battle of Blackwater. The little man has a knack for inspiring people.
--->"Those are brave men knocking at our door. Let's go kill them!"
** Subverted with Stannis, who looks like he's about to give a RousingSpeech to inspire his men after a devastating setback only to [[NoSocialSkills bark out a single, straightforward sentence.]] It still works.
--->"Come with me and ''take this city!''"
** Theon Greyjoy, [[LetsGetDangerous of all people]], gives a good one in "Valar Morghulis." [[spoiler:It is immediately subverted, as one of his men gives him a TapOnTheHead and announces they're going to flee. But he does concede that "it was a good speech"...]]
* RoyalBrat: Just look at the image on the trope's page.
* RoyallyScrewedUp: The Targaryens provide the page quote for the trope, arguably due to a long-standing tradition of BrotherSisterIncest. And King Joffrey seems to combine the worst aspects of each of his already-unpleasant parents (also brother and sister).
* RuleOfCool: Why would anyone build a clockwork map of the world? Because it looks [[VisualEffectsOfAwesome really really cool]], that's why. The little-cogs-in-a-larger-machine effect satisfies the RuleOfSymbolism as well.
* RuleOfSeven: Seven Kingdoms, Seven Gods, Seven Hells, the Kingsguard is made up of seven knights, etc.
* RuleOfSymbolism:
** In "Winter Is Coming," the Starks find two dead animals who died fighting each other - a stag and a direwolf. The latter has six pups which map directly onto the Stark children (including [[HeroicBastard Jon Snow]], who gets an albino who ran or was driven away from the others). Everyone is disturbed by this in-universe, as the symbolism of the house sigils is very important in Westeros. Theon Greyjoy is quick to suggest killing the pups, which is foreshadowing.
** At the beginning of "You Win or You Die," Tywin Lannister is shown very calmly butchering a stag as he instructs Jaime on how to carry on the family legacy. (Apparently, Creator/CharlesDance was dressing a real dead deer.) A DeletedScene of Season 3 has Tywin fishing. The sigil of House Tully is a fish.
** In a room full of guards and soldiers, Littlefinger, a [[NonActionGuy schemer with no physical talent]], is the person who holds a knife to Lord Stark's throat, underscoring his backstabbing.
* RulingCouple: A ruling threesome in this case: King Renly, Queen Margaery and Ser Loras are presented as this in Season 2. Natalie Dormer describes their complicated union as a trinity in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szOGX0c0XGU this featurette]]. It's Renly's romantic relationship with Loras which allows for the alliance to be created in the first place, and his marriage to Margaery seals the deal officially. Renly treats both his lover and his wife as his equals (the latter is shown symbolically in the melee scene, where Margaery's seat is of the same size as Renly's). The Tyrell siblings essentially function as a BrotherSisterTeam in this three-way marriage; Loras' goal is to help Renly ''win'' the Iron Throne, while Margaery's job is to help her husband ''keep'' it.
* RunningGag:
** A minor one from the first two seasons had Cersei tear up any piece of paper that she didn't like or offended her. Pointed out by her brother.
--->'''Tyrion''': You've perfected the art of tearing up papers.
** Tyrion slapping Joffrey (and getting away with it) in the first two seasons as well.
** Theon being trolled by the blowing of a horn. A very effective use of MoodWhiplash.
** [[NoodleIncident WHAT did Podrick do to those whores!?]]
* SacredHospitality: Taken ''very'' seriously in Westeros. Once you've eaten bread and salt under someone's roof, you're their guest and are officially under their protection. It's illustrated in the story of the Rat Cook, told by Bran, who says violation of hospitality is the one crime that the gods cannot forgive. [[spoiler:The law is flagrantly broken by Walder Frey at Edmure Tully's wedding to his daughter]].
* SacrificialLamb: The three members of the Night's Watch (Will, Gared, and Ser Waymar Royce) who appear in the pilot. [[spoiler:And Lady. And Jory, squeaking in just under the 5-episode limit.]]
* SacrificialLion: [[spoiler:Robert and Eddard in Season 1; Renly in Season 2.]]
* SadisticChoice:
** You're free to leave your cell in the Eyrie at any time; the cells actually have only three walls. Of course, the cells are cut into a cliff face, with the missing fourth wall being the one that would keep you safe from falling out into space. Lysa Arryn implies that the cells have sloped floors, which pull the prisoner closer to the edge, as Tyrion shows when he nearly rolls over the side in his sleep.
** Joffrey gives a minstrel who offends him the choice between having his tongue cut out or losing his hands.
* SarcasticClapping: Joffrey does this after hearing a minstrel's song mocking his family. The confused members of court aren't sure whether they should be joining him or not.
* SarcasticConfession: Tyrion says he's ready to confess his crimes to Lysa and Catelyn. He then begins confessing to pranks he pulled and indiscretions he committed in his youth. Including something involving bringing a [[NoodleIncident jackass and a honeycomb into a brothel]]...
* SayingTooMuch: Loras is guilty of this in "Kissed by Fire" when [[spoiler: he reveals to Olyvar that he's secretly betrothed to Sansa.]]
* SceneryPorn: The series really love to show beautiful establishing shot of places in Westeros and Essos, such as The Wall, The Dothraki Sea, The Vale of Arryn, etc.
* SchiffOneLiner: Three of the first eight episodes end in a [[BlackComedy darkly humorous]] OneLiner.
* ScrewTheMoneyIHaveRules: Locke is a rare villainous example. He hates the fact that nobles can buy their way out of trouble, so he chooses to torture his noble captives rather than trade them in for riches.
* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: In the Season 3 finale, this is Davos' justification for going against Stannis' wishes by [[spoiler: freeing Gendry before Melisandre can sacrifice him]].
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere:
** After [[spoiler:Robert's death]], Renly and Loras flee King's Landing with their retainers when Ned refuses to join them in taking decisive action against Cersei and Joffrey.
** Loras and Margaery leave the Stormlands after [[spoiler:Renly is assassinated.]]
** Ser Barristan, when Joffrey and Cersei try to force retirement on him.
** Perhaps most blatantly, [[spoiler:Sandor Clegane]] deserts during the Battle of Blackwater with the epic line "Fuck the Kingsguard. Fuck the city. Fuck the king." Delivered to said king's ''face'' no less!
** In the season 2 finale, [[spoiler: Dagmer and the Ironmen.]] "We're going home!"
* SealedRoomInTheMiddleOfNowhere: Dany seals up [[spoiler:Xaro Xhoan Daxos (with Doreah) in his own vault as revenge for betraying her.]]
* SecretRelationship:
** Renly and Loras attempt to be discreet about their romance due to the homophobia which exists within Westerosi society.
** Tyrion and Shae conceal their romance for vital reasons; Tywin warns Tyrion not to take her to court and has vowed to hang the next whore he finds in Tyrion's bed.
* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: Renly Baratheon in relation to his elder brothers.
* SexEqualsLove: Daenerys and Drogo form a romantic bond once Dany gets tutored on how to take control of her sex life.
* ASharedSuffering: The relationship between Cersei and Tyrion Lannister begins to resemble a brotherly one after Tywin remembers them both the joy of living under his domineering thumb.
* SharpDressedMan: Whether he's at court, on a hunting trip, or commanding an army of about a hundred thousand men, Renly is always handsomely dressed for the occasion.
* ShieldBash:
** Tyrion kills a man by this method.
** Brienne hits Loras' helm-covered head with her shield in the melee, but he recovers from the blow.
* ShirtlessScene:
** Jon Snow, Robb Stark, and Theon Greyjoy in season 1, as they're waiting for a shave from Winterfell's barber.
** Renly and Loras have one in Season 1; Loras is shaving Renly's chest while trying to convince his lover that he should make a claim for the throne. They have another in Season 2 where they're kissing passionately in Renly's tent.
** Gendry in season 2, when [[HotMenAtWork he's working as a smith]] in Harrenhal.
** Joffrey in season 3, when he's trying out various royal outfits.
** Loras has another in Season 3 [[spoiler: when he beds Olyvar.]]
* ShootTheShaggyDog: [[spoiler:Ros' arc, a character who does not exist in book canon. For the majority of the first two seasons, she is a prostitute who exists primarily for the show's infamous [[FanNickname "sexposition"]], although she has a distinct personality. At the end of season 2 and in season 3, she begins navigating the political world as a spy, and doing quite well for herself. She is killed in a brutal and sexualized manner in order to prove the cruelty of two (male) characters, both of whom have already had multiple scenes dedicated to just that.]]
* ShoutOut:
** Jon and Sam, two characters in a fantasy world, telling each other what they wanted to be when they grew up: [[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings a ranger and a wizard,]] respectively.
** The helmets of Lannister soldiers are quite similar to those of the German soldiers in ''Film/AlexanderNevsky'', which were, in turn, [[PuttingOnTheReich based]] on the ''Stahlhelm'' of NaziGermany soldiers.
** One of the names Viserys mentions when listing the Targaryen dragons is [[{{Film/Dragonslayer}} Vermithrax]].
* ShroudedInMyth: Facts from the past are prone to be embellished or turned into legends. Aegon, for instance, didn't melt the thousand swords of his vanquished foes into the Iron Throne, but fewer than two hundred. This kind of mystique helps to seam the realm together.[[note]]George R.R. Martin's original vision of the Iron Throne is ''much'' larger and more monstrous-looking than the show version, with the "thousand swords" statement apparently being meant literally.[[/note]]
* SigilSpam: Many of the great houses have their emblem in everything. The Tullys have a pier outside Riverrun with fish carved to their beams. Sandor Clegane has a helmet the shape of a dog. Renly's crown has stag antlers on it. The Tyrells don't have a single article of clothing without their rose on it. The last one is pointed out by Lady Oleanna, as a reaction to the stitching of one of her relatives:
-->"Another golden rose. How original. I eat from plates stamped with roses. I sleep in sheets embroidered with roses. I have a golden rose painted on my chamber pot, as if that makes it smell any better. Roses are boring, dear."
* SilentCredits: Used in "The Rains of Castamere" [[spoiler:to allow the audience to absorb the shock of the brutal deaths of Talisa, Robb and Catelyn.]]
* SissyVillain: The eunuch Lord Varys subverts this trope brilliantly. Raised by actors, he knows how to play the role properly to keep the Queen and her council guessing. Even MagnificentBastard Petyr Baelish doesn't quite know what he's up to. It's mostly an act, when he gets truly angry or serious he drops his usual polite, facetious tone and his voice becomes considerably lower, first seen when he delivers quite a hardass WhatTheHellHero to Ned Stark.
* SlidingScaleOfContinuity: Level 5 (Full Lockout). What do you expect from an adaptation of ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire''?
* SmugSnake: Cersei is one of these most days. Her father dresses her down for it.
-->'''Tywin :''' I don't distrust you because you are a woman, I distrust you because you're not as smart as you think you are.
* SnakeOilSalesman: Bronn accuses Pyromancer Hallyne of being one of these, even going so far as to suggest that the Wildfire he's making is actually pigshit. [[spoiler: Averted during the Battle of Blackwater, where his Wildfire turns out to be the real deal]].
* SnarkToSnarkCombat: Tyrion, Varys and Littlefinger engage in it quite a few times.
-->'''Baelish''': "When they castrated you, did they take the pillar with the stones? I've always wondered."
-->'''Varys''': "Have you? Do you spend a lot of time wondering what's between my legs?"
-->'''Baelish''': "I picture a gash. Like a woman's. Is that about right?"
-->'''Varys''': "I'm flattered, of course, to be pictured at all."
-->'''Baelish''': "Must be strange for you, even after all these years. A man from another land, despised by most, feared by all--"
-->'''Varys''': "Am I? That is good to know. Do ''you'' lie awake at night fearing my gash?"
* SnipeHunt: Robert can't fit in his armor, so he sends Lancel to find the "breastplate stretcher".
* TheSociopath: In a show full of bad people doing bad things, Joffrey Baratheon stands out.
%%* SolemnEndingTheme
* SomethingElseAlsoRises: Renly jokes about Robert being aroused at the thought of assassinating Daenerys in "The Wolf and the Lion."
-->'''Renly''': Robert is rather tasteless about it. Every time he talks about killing her I swear the table rises six inches.
* SoreLoser:
** Ser Gregor kills his own horse and attempts to murder an unarmed Ser Loras (who only carried a shield at the time) after the latter defeats him in the joust.
** Although Loras doesn't do or say anything negative to Brienne after she wins their melee competition, he's shown to be bitter about his defeat when he speaks to Renly in private.
* TheSpartanWay: The Unsullied are put through hellish training that makes them immune to pain and robotically loyal.
* SpikesOfVillainy: Being made entirely of swords, the Iron Throne practically reeks of this trope. Aegon the Conqueror fashioned it to serve as a symbol and to intimidate the hell out of anyone who would challenge his rule, however, by all historical accounts, beyond that he was a surprisingly decent monarch. Played straight with Aerys II and Joffrey, who also adds giant spiky braziers to the bases of the pillars of the throne room.
* SpiritAdvisor: Jojen Reed has started to appear in Bran's dreams about the three-eyed crow, advising him on how to follow it.
* SpoiledBrat: In "The Wolf and the Lion," Lord Renly reveals that his brothers consider him to be a spoiled child. Ser Loras' facial expression and his silence strongly indicate that he agrees. Renly then points out that Loras (whose family is richer than his) is overly-pampered as well.
-->'''Renly''': And how much did your father pay for that armour of yours?
* SpoiledSweet:
** Although Renly grew up in the lap of luxury, he is genuinely a nice guy, and he does care about the smallfolk (at least more so than most Westerosi nobles).
** Margaery does a lot of charity work in Highgarden and in King's Landing (such as giving toys to orphans, and offering money to feed, clothe and shelter them).
* StarCrossedLovers:
** Robb falls in love with an independent woman from Volantis, but he's bound by a political marriage pact to a Frey daughter he's never even met.
** Renly and Loras' illicit romance [[spoiler: comes to a tragic end in "The Ghost of Harrenhal" after Renly is assassinated.]]
** Sam is in love with Gilly, even though he has sworn to take no wife and she is "wed" to her father.
* StealthInsult:
** Sansa appears to have mastered this. One example is this:
--->'''Joffrey''': You'll kiss it again when I return and taste my uncle's blood.
--->'''Sansa''': Will you slay him yourself?
--->'''Joffrey''': If Stannis is fool enough to come near me.
--->'''Sansa''': So you'll be outside the gates fighting in the vanguard?
--->'''Joffrey''': A king doesn't discuss battle plans with stupid girls.
--->'''Sansa''': I'm sorry, Your Grace. You're right, I'm stupid. Of course you'll be in the vanguard. They say my brother Robb always goes where the fighting is thickest. And he is only a pretender.
** Arya as well.
--->'''Arya''': [...] they say he can't be killed.
--->'''Tywin''': And do you believe that?
--->'''Arya''': (holding her gaze and staring directly at Tywin) No, my lord. Anyone can be killed.
** In "Garden of Bones," Renly knows very well the kind of self-serving person Littlefinger is, and is disgusted by it.
---> '''Renly''': You can trust Brienne. Her loyalty comes without charge.
** Margaery subtly criticizes Cersei's fashion sense in "Valar Dohaeris."
---> '''Margaery''': Loras, isn't the Queen's gown magnificent? The fabric, the embroidery, the ''metalwork''. I've never seen anything like it!
** Loras then (politely) rubs it into Cersei's face that he thinks ''very'' poorly of her as Queen due to her neglect/mistreatment of the smallfolk.
---> '''Loras''': ''[smiling directly at Cersei]'' Margaery does a great deal of work with the poor back in Highgarden
* StealthPun: Jon Snow's sword Longclaw is, in fact, a bastard sword.
* StepfordSmiler: Sansa and Gilly. It's a survival technique.
** Loras is a Type A in Season 3. He puts on a charming smile and a pleasant disposition most of the time, but his mask slips at a very public event in "Second Sons", and his misery betrays itself more subtly in "Valar Dohaeris" (Loras—who is no longer paying attention to the dinner conversation—has a melancholic expression when Joffrey says, "I'm sure she knows what she's doing"). In "The Climb", he tells Sansa, "It's [King's Landing] terrible isn't it? The most terrible place there is," which clearly indicates that Loras is suffering in silence.
* StepfordSnarker: Sansa becomes a pretty brazen one in the second season.
* StockScream: A faint but audible Wilhelm can be heard as soldiers of the Lannister army are patrolling the battlefield finishing off downed enemies in the final episode of Season 1.
* AStormIsComing: [[ArcWords "Winter is Coming."]] They are the official words of House Stark.
* StraightEdgeEvil: Jaime Lannister discusses the trope in "The Bear and the Maiden Fair," commenting to the teetotal Roose Bolton, "You know how suspicious that seems to most people, don't you?" [[spoiler:Bolton's not drinking is brought up again in "The Rains of Castamere", when his villainy is finally revealed.]]
* StraightGay: Renly Baratheon has a more masculine appearance and demeanour than his lover.
* StunnedSilence:
** The reaction to [[spoiler:the wildfire]] in "Blackwater".
** Catelyn's reaction to [[spoiler:Robb's death. The silence continues with a total lack of music or sound during the entire credits sequence]].
** The reaction to a drunken Tyrion slamming a dagger into the table and threatening to castrate King Joffrey.
* SubordinateExcuse: Loras is the sole male heir of the second-richest family in Westeros, and presumably he has duties in Highgarden and the Reach, yet in Season 2 he chooses to devote his ''entire'' life to protecting Renly. Being the Lord Commander of his brother-in-law's Kingsguard is a very convenient way for Loras to be able to spend a lot of time with his beloved, as his frequent visits can be explained away as being job-related. (It doesn't stop the rumours about them from spreading among Renly's followers, however.)
* SuccessionCrisis: One begins at the end of episode seven, and is the main focus of season two.
* SuperWeight:
** Type -1: Maester Aemon
** Type 0: Most of the non-combatant cast, most peasants
** Type 1: Ned Stark, Robb Stark, Theon Greyjoy, Jaime Lannister, Bronn, Stannis Baratheon, Ser Loras, Khal Drogo, Ser Jorah, Jon Snow, Yoren, Brienne of Tarth, Syrio Forel, Sandor Clegane, Ser Gregor Clegane
** Type 2: Thoros of Myr, [[OutOfTheInferno Daenerys Targaryen]], [[ProfessionalKiller Jaqen H'ghar]], [[OurZombiesAreDifferent Wights]], [[PsychicChildren Greenseers]] (Jojen Reed)
** Type 3: [[WickedWitch Mirri Maz Duur]], [[HotWitch Melisandre]], [[EvilSorcerer Pyat Pree]], Dragons (young), Giants, Wargs (Orell and [[spoiler:Bran Stark]])
** Type 4: Dragons (full-grown), [[HumanoidAbomination White Walkers]]
** Type 5: R'hllor aka the Lord of Light (if he exists at all)
* SuppressedRage:
** Loras' body language cannot disguise the utter disgust and frustration that he feels at having to bend the knee to Joffrey in "Valar Morghulis."
** The abrupt and rude manner in which Loras storms away from the wedding feast in "Second Sons" is merely the tip of the iceberg in terms of the true depths of his anger over his current situation ([[spoiler:i.e. his forced betrothal to Cersei, his inability to mourn for Renly in public,]] etc.).
* SureLetsGoWithThat: Happens when Margaery explains to Sansa--who's dreading having to sleep with Tyrion when they're arranged to be married--how a woman might not know what she wants sexually until she's tried it.
-->'''Sansa:''' Did your mother tell you that?
-->({{beat}})
-->'''Margaery:''' (laughs) Yes, my mother...
* SuspiciouslyAproposMusic: Invoked. "The Rains of Castamere," a song about the slaughter of a major house that stood up against the Lannisters, is played just before [[spoiler:Robb Stark and his bannermen are slaughtered by House Frey and House Bolton, who have sided with the Lannisters.]]
* SwordPointing: In "The Ghost of Harrenhal," Loras points his sword right in Littlefinger's face and accuses the older man of wanting to sell him and his sister to Stannis as hostages.
* SympathyForTheHero:
** Jaime expresses a moment of this when he sees Ned Stark setting himself up for a fall.
--->'''Jaime:''' Poor Ned Stark. Brave man, terrible judgement.
** Varys is supportive of [[DudeWheresMyRespect Tyrion]] in the gloomy aftermath of "Blackwater".
--->'''Varys:''' There are many who know that without you this city faced certain defeat. The king won't give you any honors, the histories won't mention you, but we will not forget.
----
