Game Of Thrones / Tropes B

Game of Thrones
Tropes A | Tropes B | Tropes C to D | Tropes E to F | Tropes G to K | Tropes L to O | Tropes P to S | Tropes T to Z

Tropes with their own subpages:

• Badass Boast
• Bait-and-Switch
• Bullying a Dragon

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• Back for the Dead:
  • Polliver, Rorge, Biter, and the Lord of Bones all reappear solely to be killed.
  • Osha has about 5 minutes of combined screen time between the episode she returned and the next episode when she died.
  • Hodor sat out Season 5 and returned for a couple episodes and a flashback in Season 6 before being killed off.
  • Rickon Stark has two short scenes in Season 6 after his return to Winterfell before dying.
  • After the Red Wedding, Walder Frey is absent for two seasons. In the second scene after his return, he's killed; the next time we see him it's actually Arya posing as him so she can kill his remaining sons and bastards as revenge for the Red Wedding.
  • Similarly, Brenden Tully, who narrowly escaped that scene, is brought back two seasons later for about 10 minutes of screen time before he dies offscreen.
  • Melisandre returns in "The Long Night" after leaving Westeros early in the previous season, allowing herself to die of old age after the Night King has been defeated.
• Back from the Brink: After a crushing defeat that leaves him low on men, materiel, money, and suffering from depression, Stannis returns in fine form at the end of Season 4, thanks to a loan from the Iron Bank and a rousing victory that gives his forces a much-needed morale boost and a new base to renew his campaign for the throne.
• Back from the Dead:
  • Drogo, although in a persistent vegetative state that leads Danaerys to purposely smother him.
  • The wights.
    • Especially Benjen, who remains one but is freed from the White Walkers' control by the Children of the Forest.
  • Lord Beric is resurrected within moments of being killed and later mentions that it's the sixth time.
  • Jon Snow.
  • Arguably, The Hound. He wasn't magically resurrected like the others but was apparently left for dead, then went missing from the narrative for a season until we learned that a sept who was planning to bury him found that he was still alive and nursed him back to health.
  • Bran seems to see himself this way in his conversation with Meera when she tells him she's leaving Winterfell after being the only other survivor of the quest to find the Three-Eyed Raven.
• Back-to-Back Badasses: A three-way version with Jorah, Daario, and Grey Worm in Yunkai. Jorah and Daario even get in a Combination Attack on Daario's final enemy.
  • In the fight against the wights in season 7, they make an eight-man version of this.
  • The Long Night in Season 8 has a sequence where it cuts between multiple groups of named characters doing this against the Night King's army.
• Badass Adorable: Arya, particularly in Season 1.
  • Lyanna Mormont takes up this role in Season 6, eventually dying in battle in Season 8, no older than twelve.
• Badass and Child Duo: Arya and the Hound, though Arya is far from helpless. Hostile at first, they stick together because he wants a ransom and she has no better plan of her own but they eventually develop a grudgingly respect each other.
• Badass Army: The Unsullied are considered the finest soldiers in the world. They are trained The Spartan Way from childhood and conditioned to be robotically loyal and immune to fear and pain. The Histories and Lore segment concerning them explains that 3,000 of them once defeated 50,000 Dothraki in the open field to save the Free City of Qohor, though only 600 survived.
• Badass Boast: Enough to have its own page.
• Badass Bookworm:
  • Tyrion specifically compares his mind to a sword, but is still able to kill men with kite shield and battle axe.
  • Samwell, whose only knowledge of the world comes from books, becomes the first person in thousands of years to kill a White Walker.
• Badass Bureaucrat:
  • Tyrion during his stints as acting Hand of the King and Master of Coin.
  • For all his faults, and perhaps because of some of them, Tywin is a true genius with political intrigue and public administration.
  • The Braavosi banker Tycho Nestoris is played by Mark Gatiss of Sherlock fame for a reason.
• Badass Bystander: Hobb, a background extra who gets passing mention as Castle Black's cook, gets a scene fighting off wilding raiders with kitchen utensils during the siege of Castle Black.
• Badass Cape:
  • The Kingsguard are identified by their voluminous white cloaks. In the case of Sandor Clegane, the fact he is wearing such a cloak in "Fire and Blood" is the only way to know he's been raised to the Kingsguard (without accepting knighthood, no less).
  • Members of the City Watch of King's Landing are known colloquially as "gold cloaks" because of their conspicuous gold cloaks.
  • Climatic conditions allow characters from the North to wear magnificent fur cloaks on most occasions, outside of battle.
  • Defied by Bronn, who insists a cape slows you down in a fight.
• Badass Creed:
  • The Night's Watch oath:
    "Night gathers, and now my watch begins. It shall not end until my death. I shall take no wife, hold no lands, father no children. I shall wear no crowns and win no glory. I shall live and die at my post. I am the sword in the darkness. I am the watcher on the walls. I am the shield that guards the realms of men. I pledge my life and honor to the Night's Watch, for this night and all the nights to come."
  • And the customary eulogy for a black brother?
    "We shall never see his like again. And now his watch is ended."
  • The ironborn express their faith in the Drowned God with the refrain, "What is dead may never die, but rises again, harder and stronger."
• Badass Decay: Happens a lot In-Universe as part of the overall Crapsack World.
  • The Night's Watch was once a highly regarded Order and a veritable army that safeguarded the northern border of the realm. It has now dwindled to a token militia of less than a thousand men since most of Westeros believes the evil the Wall was built to defend against is long-gone; it has now become mostly an Army of Thieves and Whores as a result; and many men in the Watch — except for those from rich families who came with their own weapons and furs — are severely under-equipped; while the Watch itself can barely afford to maintain three of their nineteen castles. Where it was once seen as a noble calling by the whole of Westeros, the Watch is now only seen as such in the North, where second and third sons and illegitimate sons of great houses (such as the Starks^note The Stark family has a long history of family members joining the Watch and manning the Wall.) will voluntarily join for the sake of duty and defending the realm.
  • The Kingsguard was once admired as the finest examples of chivalry and combat skill in the realm. Now they are mostly comprised of mediocre fighters and unchivalrous brutes.
  • Invoked and discussed In-Universe by Robert Baratheon, who was a mighty warrior in his youth but by the beginning of the series, is living on past glories, too fat for his armour, and spends his days feasting and drinking.
  • Jaime goes through this inuniverse as he is captured, outfought, and finally crippled, losing all of his prodigious skill as a swordsman. By Season 4, even the majority of his family regard him as a has-been.
  • Invoked by Littlefinger regarding the Lannisters; with Tywin and the sheer power of his will gone, all that remains is one-handed Jaime, weak-willed Tommen, and dowager queen Cersei. And their famous gold mines are tapped out.
  • Ramsay goes from a One-Man Army who waged war on Yara's '50 best killers' nearly singlehandedly, to a Dirty Coward when Jon Snow breaches Winterfell's gates.
• Badass Family: The Lannisters, Starks, Baratheons, and Targaryens all aspire to embody this trope, in various flavors and with various levels of success. The Cleganes, Umbers, and Mormonts seem to produce nothing but badasses.
• Badass in Distress:
  • Brienne, when she's tossed into the bear pit in Season 3.
  • Ghost, when he is caged. How he was moved from a trap to the cage is never explained.
• Badass Normal: Sansa as the Lady of Winterfell. She is The Team Normal of the four surviving Stark children since Jon, Arya, and Bran all have a connection or experienced a connection with the supernatural while Sansa has not. Nonetheless, Sansa is able to survive being used as a pawn by powerful political figures, manages to escape several nightmarish situations, and actively works on developing her own political skills from her observations of court politics in King's Landing and under the mentorship of Littlefinger.
• Badass Preacher: Thoros of Myr mixes combat with spreading the good news about the Lord of Light.
  • The High Sparrow is clad in rags, barefoot, and disheveled, but he makes crowned heads cower in fear.
• Badass Longcoat: Jaime pulls this off with a duster practically whenever he's not wearing his armor or in captivity.
• Bad "Bad Acting":
  • In "Valar Morghulis", the Lannisters and Tyrells enact a scene for the court that screams of being rehearsed, from the stilted dialogue to Joffrey anticipating Cersei's next line. Margaery participates enthusiastically, but Loras' body language oozes contempt and he even messes up one of his lines with a Freudian Slip that Renly belonged to him as much as his sister.
  • Also, Grenn when he fakes being beaten by Sam in the training yard.
• Bad Boss:
  • Ramsay ambushes his own men to further a Good Cop/Bad Cop illusion he himself breaks in the very next episode, meaning he essentially killed five of his own men For the Evulz.
  • Littlefinger occasionally shows his true colours to his sex workers.
  • Ramsay, during the Battle of Bastards, fires on his own men to trap Jon Snow and his army, intent to kill them all. Bites him hard when Littlefinger arrives with the Knights of the Vale, paving way for his defeat.
  • Robert ignores the advice of his council and treats Lancel and Jaime very cruelly
• Bad Future: Daenerys gets a glimpse of what might befall Westeros House of the Undying if the Night King wins the Great War. The Red Keep is in ruins, everyone's dead, and the Iron Throne sits empty among the debris. Bran also sees this vision later on, implying this is what will happen if the White Walkers overrun the continent. Only at the end of the show do we learn that it was actually a fortelling of what would happen if Daenerys won, not the Night King.

• Bad Powers, Good People: Thoros of Myr is affable, polite, and generally a good man, but his primary ability is necromancy.
• Bait-and-Switch: Has its own page.
• Bait the Dog:
  • Viserys' more sympathetic and tragic side is shown briefly during the bath scene with Doreah, in which he waxes nostalgic about the family and heritage that were stolen from him. Unfortunately, Doreah inadvertently asks the wrong question and Viserys reverts to his usual snide cruelty.
  • Tywin Lannister. After saving Arya from the Mountain, employing her as his cupbearer, and generally making the audience smile at their semi-friendly interactions, Tywin leaves her with the Mountain again, regardless of his less-than-stellar record with children.
  • Jaime's friendly chat with and subsequent murder of Alton Lannister.
  • The first part of Ramsay's little 'game' with Theon.
  • Walder Frey takes Robb and his bannermen under his guest right, and plays out the infamous Red Wedding.
• Balance of Power: The only way to stay in power is to maintain one of these. Before the conquest, the Seven Kingdoms were relatively stable despite frequent warfare because of this trope. However, Aegon the Conqueror broke the deadlock and united them using dragons. Then the dragons died out and eventually Robert's Rebellion overthrew the Targaryens by uniting five of the nine factions against them. Later, Joffrey's ascent annihilates the equilibrium into half a dozen warring factions.
• Balancing Death's Books: Jaqen H'ghar invokes this trope when he offers Arya three kills for saving him and two others from dying in a fire.
• Bald of Evil:
  • Regardless of his actual morality, Ser Ilyn Payne is terrifying executioner with a shiny dome.
  • Polliver, the sadistic soldier and Torture Technician.
  • Theon's brutish crewman Black Lorren.
  • Styr and the other Thenns combine this with ritual scarification to make them Obviously Evil.
  • Janos Slynt is pretty much of the epitome of the combination of this trope with Beard of Evil.
• Ballistic Discount: In And Now His Watch is Ended, Daenerys buys an entire slave army in return for a dragon. However, the slaves become totally obedient to Dany the moment the deal is made — and they're already inside the city walls.
• Bandit Clan: The clansmen Tyrion recruits in the foothills of the Mountains of the Moon make a living raiding and preying on travelers along the road to the Vale.
• Band of Brothers:
  • Jon, Sam, Pyp, and Grenn by the end of Season 1.
  • Beric's men are called the Brotherhood Without Banners for a reason.
• Barbarian Longhair: The Dothraki never cut their hair unless they are defeated in battle. A little neater than most examples, as unless they have no victories to their name at all they keep it braided.
• Barbarian Tribe: The Dothraki, the wildlings, and the hill tribes.
• Bar Brawl: Sandor gets into one when some of his brother's men want to haul him back to King's Landing for a reward.
• Barehanded Blade Block:
  • Catelyn saves her own life by using her bare hands to keep an assassin's dagger from her throat.
  • Sandor grabs hold of a Valyrian steel blade during a duel in "The Children".
  • In "Sons of the Harpy", Jaime inadvertently catches an opponents blade with his golden hand, trapping it long enough to kill his opponent.
• Bathe Her and Bring Her to Me: Ramsey's mistress Myranda draws Sansa a bath, telling her she must want to be clean and fresh for her new husband. The dark implications of the trope are present even though Sansa is a noblewoman and not dirty or grimy. Her decision was not exactly voluntary and after the haunting midnight wedding, Ramsey rapes her and forces Theon to watch.
• Bestiality Is Depraved:
  • The in-universe bawdy song "The Bear and the Maiden Fair" can be taken this way, though the subtext is clear that it's a bear of man (i.e. large and hairy) who wins the maiden.
  • Tormund attempts to lighten the mood before battle by playing The Münchausen and regaling the others with the time he fucked a bear.^note In the novels, Tormund counts "Husband to Bears" among his many humorous titles
• Beast and Beauty:
  • Brutish burn victim Sandor Clegane seems to equally hate and love Sansa for being a pretty little idealist.
  • Jaime and Brienne, the handsome knight with a bad reputation and the ugly woman with a stubborn code of honour.
• Beast of Battle:
  • The Targaryens rose to power by introducing dragon riding to Westeros.
  • Robb goes into battle with his direwolf Grey Wind at his side.
  • Mammoths are among the forces brought to bear against the Wall in "The Watchers on the Wall".
• Bargain with Heaven: Catelyn sees her family's misfortunes as divine punishment for her inability to uphold a vow to raise Jon Snow as her own.
• Bash Brothers: Ned Stark and Robert Baratheon were fostered together by Jon Arryn and fought this way in two wars. When Robert found himself pinned down at Stoney Sept, Ned led the Roaring Rampage of Rescue. It's very Serious Business when Ned declares, "I will not follow you now," in "The Wolf and the Lion".
• Bastard Bastard: Bastard children, particularly boys, are often mistrusted because the Westerosi concept of genetics holds that because they are born of lust and deceit (i.e. adultery) they are predisposed to those traits in addition to having a vested interest in their trueborn siblings' demise. Jon averts it, but Joffrey, Ramsay, Ellaria, and the Sand Snakes all play it absolutely straight.
• Bastard Understudy: By the end of Season 4, Sansa becomes this to Littlefinger, impressing him by willingly protecting him with manipulation techniques while gaining some leverage against unwanted advances.
• Bathtub Bonding: While at first it might look like a simple Bathtub Scene in a series notorious for its Fanservice, the scene between Jaime and Brienne in "Kissed By Fire" quickly becomes a pivotal moment in their Character Development.
• Bathtub Scene:
  • Viserys elaborates on dragons and Targaryens while sharing a bath with Doreah.
  • Daenerys' final scene in "Second Sons" has her being bathed and tutored by Missandei, but it also serves the plot when Daario arrives to pledge his allegiance.
• Batman Gambit:
  • Robb frees a Lannister scout with misinformation about his movements to fool the proud and proactive Lord Tywin into mistaking a diversion for his main advance, allowing Robb to defeat and capture Jaime instead. Even Tywin is grudgingly impressed.
  • Tyrion feeds each member of the Small Council a different plan with instructions not to tell Cersei, knowing that Cersei's first reaction will be to confront him with the version given to her by the culprit. Varys sees through Tyrion's gambit immediately, but the culprit doesn't.
  • Daenerys' plan in Astapor is founded on the knowledge that Drogon will never allow himself to be given away but Kraznys and the other slave masters will mistakenly believe anything can be bought or sold.
  • During Tyrion's trial, Tywin seems to have been counting on Jaime's Big Brother Instinct to draw him into offering to give up the Kingsguard in exchange for helping extract a False Confession from Tyrion and send him to the Wall.
  • Ramsay preys on the Ironborn's penchant for petty cowardice at both Winterfell and Moat Cailin, offering pardons and safe passage to those who surrender, driving them to betray any leader who refuses. Then they get flayed anyway.
  • Having learned from his interrogations of Theon how Osha used a Honey Trap to facilitate Bran and Rickon's escape, Ramsay lets Osha attempt the same on him just so he can get her into a vulnerable position and kill her.
  • Tywin encourages disunity in Daenerys' court by having a pardon for Jorah fall into the hands of Barristan Selmy, who can be relied upon to take it to his queen.
  • Arya swipes her bloodied hand on a wall to make sure the Waif pursues her into her cell so she thinks Arya is unable to escape and she will finish her off easily; instead Arya extinguishes the one candle lighting the cell, giving her the advantage since she had to learn to fight without sight during her recent blindness, and is later seen putting the Waif's face in the gallery at the House of Black and White.
  • This pays off for Jaime in the same episode when he releases Edmure on the condition that he enter Riverrun and order the Tully soldiers to surrender, since as the lord of the castle they must obey his orders rather than Blackfish's. It works, but as Bronn points out beforehand they would have been in a worse position if Edmure had not played along.
• Battle Ballgown: Cersei sports one of these during the Battle of Blackwater as a strange political statement. She continues the fashion afterward, as Margaery clandestinely mocks in "Valar Dohaeris."
  "Isn't the Queen's gown magnificent? The fabric, the embroidery, the metalwork? I've never seen anything like it."
• Battle Butler: Sam consoles Jon about his appointment as a steward rather than a ranger in part by pointing out one of his duties would be to squire for the Lord Commander in battle. Circumstances also conspire to give Jon plenty of opportunity to get in more than his share of ass kicking.
• Battle Chant: Tyrion inspires the Mountain Clans in "Baelor" and Lannister soldiers in "Blackwater" with Rousing Speeches. They respond by chanting, "Halfman!"
• Battle Discretion Shot:
  • As Tyrion marches off to the Battle of the Green Fork, he is trampled and knocked unconscious, only waking up after the battle is over.
  • Given the immense size of the wildling army, the battle against them in "The Children" counts as one.
• Battle Trophy:
  • For the ironborn, A Real Man Is a Killer so his ornamentation should only come from slain foes. This is known as the paying the "iron price" in contrast to the effeminate "gold price."
  • The clanswoman Chella daughter of Cheyk, whom Tyrion recruits in Season 1, wears a necklace of dried human ears and can be seen adding to her collection after the Battle of the Green Fork.
• Bawdy Song: "The Bear and the Maiden Fair", a humorous song describing a sexual tryst between the eponymous bear and maiden.
• The Beard: In Season 2, Margaery is shown to be well aware of her role, much to Renly's surprise. She tries to persuade him that even if he'd rather sleep with her brother, he still needs to father an heir to strengthen his position (and to make her a more convincing beard).
• Beardness Protection Program:
  • Barristan Selmy grows one during his Chekhov M.I.A..
  • Roose Bolton sports one in "The Lion and the Rose" after having to smuggle himself into his own lands. The next scene includes him shaving it off.
  • Tyrion grows a hybrid between this trope and Beard of Sorrow for Season 5.
• Beard of Barbarism: A few, most notably Tormund Giantsbane, whose luxuriant growth is perhaps the most impressive in the show.
• Beard of Evil: Since beards are nearly omnipresent, many evil characters grow these.
• Beard of Sorrow:
  • Tyrion grows a hybrid between this trope and Beardness Protection Program for Season 5.
  • Doran Martell is introduced sporting one as part of his general dishevelment, which is understandable since he has just learned that he's outlived all his siblings even though he is by far the eldest.
  • Loras has one in "Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken", likely since his captors didn't let him shave.
• The Beautiful Elite: Just about every character, partially because just about every one is some kind of nobility. The notable aversions from the books, such as Tyrion and Brienne, are also treated with Adaptational Attractiveness.
• Beautiful Slave Girl: Missandei is played by Nathalie Emmanuel.
• Beauty Equals Goodness: Played with constantly.
  • Many characters admired or trusted for their beauty — such as Cersei, Joffrey, and Margaery—are actually villainous, cruel, or manipulative while more honorable and compassionate characters like Tyrion and Brienne are mocked or despised for their unattractiveness.
  • Other characters play it straight. More heroic characters like Daenerys, Sansa, Robb, and Jon Snow, or even Jaime nowadays, are quite attractive and villainous or anti-villainous characters like Styr and the Hound are ugly or disfigured.
• Beauty Is Bad: Although the series as a whole deconstructs the tie between beauty and morality, being blond and attractive are trademarks of the Anti-Villain Lannisters, whose most evil members are considered the most beautiful and whose Token Good Teammate happens to be the least. Furthermore, Jaime's turn away from jerkassery more or less corresponds to his dishevelment.
• Beauty Is Never Tarnished:
  • In the books, Daenerys' hair is burned off in her Out of the Inferno moment, but in the show, it's as fireproof as the rest of her — and not even a bit sooty.
  • Loras provides a rare male example in "Blackwater" when he removes his helm and doesn't appear to be a scratch or speck of dirt on him despite being fresh from battle. He even does a mild Hair Flip of his perfect, curly hair◊.
• Bearer of Bad News: Roose Bolton delivers most of the bad news for Robb: that Winterfell has been seized and later that it has been sacked, that Bran and Rickon are presumed dead, and that his grandfather Lord Hoster has died.
• Bears Are Bad News: Locke's idea of entertainment is to throw Brienne into a bear pit with a wooden sword and no armour and see how long she lasts.
  • In "Beyond the Wall", Jon's party is attacked by an undead bear, suggesting the extent to which the White Walkers have taken control in the area.
• Because Destiny Says So: Most of Melisandre's actions are motivated by her understanding of the visions in her flames.
• Because I'm Good At It: This is why Tyrion refuses Shae's proposal that they leave together; despite his severe setbacks, he loves the game too much.
  "I belong here. All these bad people are what I'm good at: out-talking them, out-thinking them. It's what I am, and I like it. I like it more than anything I've ever done."
  • Simmilarly, when Dany states that most men like to do what they are good at Jon, a who's talents lie best as a warrior, is adamant that he does not like doing what he's best at, but continues to out of necessity.
• Because You Were Nice to Me:
  • Brienne has a crush on Renly because he's the only man who recognizes her worth regardless of appearance or gender and, as revealed in "High Sparrow" was the only one to show her genuine kindness when others made fun of her at a feast.
  • Jon and Ygritte's relationship kicks off when he spares her life. Also because Ygritte, as a Wildling, treats being defeated and spared as interest in her.
• Be Careful What You Wish For:
  • Sansa is ecstatic about living at the royal court and being betrothed to the crown prince... until she realizes it's a Decadent Court and her prince is The Caligula.
  • Arya seeks a life of adventure away from the restrictions of being a highborn lady until she's forced to become a Noble Fugitive in the war-torn Riverlands. Then all she wants is to reconnect with her family.
  • In the Histories and Lore featurettes, Bran notes that he always loved Old Nan's scary stories, but not anymore because he's in one.
  • Catelyn prayed for the gods to take away Ned's bastard son, but repented when he fell ill and wasn't expected to live.
  • Gendry wishes he had a family, but things don't go well when Melisandre takes him to his nearest living relatives.
  • Oberyn wants nothing more than to face the Mountain in single combat and force a public confession for his murder of Princess Elia and her children. Unfortunately, he gets both as Mountain crushes his skull.
  • Maggy, the witch Cersei confronts in her flashback in "The Wars to Come", remarks that "Everyone wants to know their future... until they know their future."
  • Shireen adamantly tells her father she wants to help in "The Dance of Dragons". Unfortunately, she doesn't know that involves burning her alive.
  • The morning after Shireen's sacrifice, the blizzard ends and the weather thaws out, as Melisandre promised Stannis it would. However, half his army has deserted, taking all the horses, and his wife has committed suicide because of this crossing of the Moral Event Horizon. The thaw itself makes the ground muddier and impassable, leaving Stannis and his infantry sitting ducks for Ramsay's cavalry outside Winterfell.
  • After a Lannister-controlled court found Tyrion gulty of poisoning Joffrey, a crime he didn't commit, he angrily wished he had enough poison to kill his entire family and would give his life to watch them die. His entire family perished in the ensuing wars, witgh Tyrion himself assisting the person who ends killing the last members of his family, and nearly executes Tyrion as well.
• Becoming the Mask:
  • Originally serving as The Mole in hopes of a royal pardon, Jorah gradually develops a Bodyguard Crush on Daenerys and becomes her closest advisor in her mission to restore the Targaryen dynasty.
  • Several characters note that Jon shows signs of this after his time as a Fake Defector with the wildlings, especially when he refers to them as Free Folk rather than wildlings. Tormund even goes so far as to suggest Jon will never be a true "kneeler" again.
• Being Evil Sucks: Theon discovers this when he captures Winterfell, but presses on regardless because he believes he's gone too far to turn back.
• Being Good Sucks: Many characters who try to do the right thing end up suffering for it, but this gets deconstructed later in the series when it turns out being the Doomed Moral Victor can also lead to the Undying Loyalty of one's subjects. This is perhaps best exemplified by ten-year-old Lyanna Mormont's declaration: "Bear Island knows no king but the King in the North, whose name is Stark."
• Believing Their Own Lies:
  • Joffrey seems to truly think of himself as a magnificent and heroic king, constantly boasting of crushing his enemies, even though his faction's success is entirely founded on the competence of his uncle and grandfather — in spite of Joffrey's interference.
  • Making honest feelings do dishonest work is one of Cersei's many gifts. Oberyn and Tyrion even discuss this after Cersei brings up her daughter in a blatant attempt to gain sympathy.
• Belligerent Sexual Tension:
  • Between Jaime and Brienne.
  • To an extent, Sansa and The Hound.
  • Robb and Talisa show an undeniable attraction to each other even as they argue about the death and destruction his campaign has wrought.
  • Jon and Ygritte, in addition to being from opposing factions, spend a large portion of their relationship sniping at each other about their cultural blind spots.
  • Between Irri and Rakharo in Season 1. Unfortunately, the subplot had to be dropped in Season 2.
  • Jaime's frustrated declaration, "You're a hateful woman. Why have the gods made me love a hateful woman?!" certainly places his relationship with Cersei in this territory.
• Beneath Suspicion: Tywin must consider Arya this to keep her around during top-secret war councils even after penetrating her Sweet Polly Oliver disguise and her lies about being a lowborn southerner.
• Beneath the Mask:
  • Renly is much more insecure during his private moments.
  • Varys drops the Sissy Villain act when he gets really serious.
  • Cersei lets down her emotional guard only when talking privately with her brothers (particularly Jamie, for obvious reasons).
  • In private (and once when confronted by Tywin in a deleted scene), Pycelle drops his infirmity, elderly befuddlement, and Rambling Old Man Monologues to reveal a virile, cunning man playing a part to avoid unwanted attention.
  • In "The Gift", the High Sparrow declares it his intention to strip away the "finery" of the great houses and see them judged for what they truly are. More subtly, the same episode removes the High Sparrow's own mask: he is still a man of simple conviction and extreme piety, but his affable humility diminishes through his conversation with Olenna culminating in an implied threat and when he arrests Cersei his posture, expression, and eye contact become much more confrontational, revealing the fanatic zeal that lets the apparently gentle old man command the violent Faith Militant.
• Benevolent Boss:
  • Tyrion treats his meek squire Pod quite well.
  • Varys sells Ros on entering his employ by mentioning that his "little birds" are paid quite well and not abused on a whim.
  • In "Two Swords," Olenna motivates her handmaidens by rewarding the one who finds the best necklace for Margaery with the second-best necklace.
• Berserk Button:
  • King Robert has hated the Targaryens ever since he seized their throne. The very mention of them can be enough to send him into an angry rant.
  • If you even attempt to harm his wife or unborn child, Khal Drogo will conquer your kingdom, kill your men, rape your women, enslave your children, tear down your stone houses, and drag your broken gods back to Vaes Dothrak.^note Or so he promises.
  • Tyrion's seems to be the mistreatment of women judging by his reaction to Joffrey's abuse of Sansa and Cersei's treatment of Ros.
  • Insubordination for Tywin, particularly from his children.
  • Cersei does not react well to attempts to separate her from her children.
  • The Hound hates knights, so never, under any circumstances, call him "ser."
  • Jon Snow does not take kindly to people who hurt his siblings.
  • Daenerys, if her dragons are stolen or harmed. She considers them to be her children, and fucking with them will land you at the top of her shit list. For example, she locked Doreah and Xaro in a vault to rot after they took her dragons, and the Night King became her primary enemy after he kills Viserion.
    • Additionally, any time slaves are harmed Dany loses it, as demonstrated when she crucifies the masters of Meereen, as well as when Missandei is killed by Cersei and she burns King's Landing on the back of Drogon.
• The Berserker: In battle, Tormund and Styr both scream and howl while delivering powerful blows.
• Best Friends-in-Law: Renly's political marriage to his boyfriend's sister not only gives him the forces needed to press his claim to the throne, but also an excuse to keep Loras close. Margaery even offers to let Loras help with the consummation.
• Best Her to Bed Her: Jaime taunts Brienne by suggesting boys tried to force themselves on her when she was young and that she secretly wished one of them could overpower her. Her only answer is that none ever succeeded.
• Best Served Cold:
  • Yoren gives a monologue in "The Night Lands" about his long wait to kill the man who murdered his brother.
  • Arya keeps a list of those she intends to take revenge on and even checks a few off it.
  • The climax of Varys' Origin Story monologue is him opening a large crate containing the sorcerer who castrated him all those years ago. It's easy enough to guess what happens next.
• Better as Friends: Arya gets totally m'lady-zoned in "Kissed By Fire". She returns it in "The Last of the Starks". She never did want to be a lady.
• Better the Devil You Know:
  • After being continuously shuffled from bad to worse, Sansa finally decides this in "The Mountain and the Viper".
  • This also seems to be Arya's rationale for not escaping from the Hound.
• Better to Die than Be Killed: In "Blackwater", Cersei procures a vial of nightshade for herself and Tommen if the Red Keep should be breached. She also adds a touch of Taking You with Me by having Ser Ilyn Payne present to kill Sansa and the other highborn women holed up in the castle as well.
• Between A Rock And A Hard Place: The simultaneous wildling attacks in "The Watchers on the Wall" force Ser Alliser Thorne to choose between leaving the Wall or the castle itself in the hands of a lesser commander.
• Beware the Honest Ones: Stannis is feared by schemers like Varys and Littlefinger because his sense of righteousness and refusal to compromise make him much less amenable to their unhindered scheming. Cersei also says it when she declares that her first defence after losing the battle would be to seduce the victor but this would be useless against Stannis.
• Beware the Nice Ones:
  • Daenerys is one of the most compassionate people in the show, particularly to the weak and helpless, but if you cross her you should be prepared for a horrible death. She even uses her enemies' impressions of her as a naive young woman to her advantage on several occasions.
  • Arya is sweet and nice at the beginning of the series, but learns to take vengeance dead seriously. Over the course of the series, her efficient, cold-blooded ruthlessness grows to the point that she's even starting to disturb her siblings.
  • At first glance, Varys is a effeminate sycophant, but the reality is very different.
  • Although always gentle and now frail with age, Maester Aemon shows just a touch of the Targaryens' fiery temperament when he recalls the downfall of his family to Jon in Season 1.
  • Subverted by Hodor, who is such a Gentle Giant that even being baited with spears does not provoke him. He only uses violence when Bran hijacks his body and forces him to do it against his will.
• Beware the Quiet Ones: In an unexpected moment of boldness, Sansa nearly attempts to push Joffrey off the bridge after he forces her to look at the severed head of her father but is stopped by the Hound.
• Beyond the Impossible:
  • According to Melisandre, resurrecting Beric six times should be impossible, even for a red priest.
  • While wargs are common beyond the Wall and there are legends of them further south, Jojen claims Bran is the first one in history to be able to warg a human being.
• BFG:
  • The ballistae mounted on Stannis' ships and the top of the Wall are definitely a medieval equivalent.
  • Also, the Scorpions developed by Qyburn for fighting Dany's dragons.
• BFS:
  • The Starks' ancestral greatsword Ice is described as "absurdly large" and contains enough Valyrian steel for two longswords.
  • The Mountain is strong enough to wield a greatsword one-handed which gives him a phenomenal reach when paired with his massive size.
  • The Hound carries one on his back for open battle, but keeps a normal longsword at his hip for the quick draw.
• Bifauxnen: Arya is often mistaken for a boy, especially when she dresses like one. This comes in very useful in her Sweet Polly Oliver escape from King's Landing.
• Big Badass Battle Sequence:
  • The episodes "Blackwater and "The Watchers on the Wall" are almost entirely composed of the Battle of the Blackwater and the Battle of Castle Black respectively.
  • The evacuation attempt in "Hardhome" is somewhat unique in having much less build-up than its predecessors "Blackwater" and "The Watchers on the Wall".
  • The eponymous "Battle of the Bastards."
  • "Spoils of War" features an epic battle between Lannister soldiers, Dothraki and Drogon.
  • Season 8, being the final season, has 2 of the biggest battles shown in the series to date: The Battle of Winterfell in "The Long Night", and the second Sack of King's Landing in "The Bells" (although, arguably, that one is more of a slaughter than a true battle). Not only are both battles enormous, they each feature the highest number of main character deaths compared to previous seasons, and are also the culmination of two of the series' primary story arcs (defending Westeros from the Night King's army, and Daenarys finally launching her assault for the Iron Throne).
• The Big Bad Shuffle: The multiple storylines that occur independently of each other, as well as the shifting morality and power structures of the various noble houses and other factions, results in there being several central villains at a time. Among the top contenders across the series are Tywin Lannister (the head of House Lannister and thus an enemy to the Starks and Baratheons), Littlefinger (actively instigated the War of the Five Kings), Roose and Ramsay Bolton (Evil Overlords of the North and enemies of the Greyjoys), the High Sparrow (religious fanatic who is taking over King's Landing), Mance Rayder (the leader of the Wildlings planning to attack the Night's Watch), Euron Greyjoy (psychotic pirate king who desires to have the Iron Throne for himself), and most unquestionably, the White Walkers, who are plotting to invade Westeros and kill everyone. By season eight, Tywin, the Boltons, the High Sparrow, Mance and Littlefinger are dead, and Cersei has superseded the others by presenting a more immediate threat while the White Walkers march. With the Night King's demise, Cersei remains the only contender for the title, with Euron being the Wild Card.
  • The final Big Bad is Daenerys Targaryen after defeating Cersei and burning King's Landing to the ground.
• Big Bad Wannabe:
  • Viserys Targaryen tries to amass an army to take back the Seven Kingdoms from King Robert, but despite marrying off his sister to Khal Drogo he never gets any respect from the Dothraki due to his arrogance and disrespect for their customs. He gets fed up with waiting on Drogo to fulfill his promise, and is killed after he threatens both Daenerys and Drogo's unborn son.
  • While undeniably monstrous, Joffrey is only a threat because his title allows him to frequently make stupid and sadistic decisions without fear of repercussions while his uncle and especially his grandfather provide the real strength to his faction.
  • Balon Greyjoy declares himself king, but none of his fellow prospective kings give him the same consideration they give each other, and with good reason since all his attacks prove little more than annoyances that his enemies ignore until they can deal with at their leisure. The biggest threat the Greyjoys ever pose comes from Theon and Dagmer going rogue with a single ship and taking control of Winterfell.
  • Despite being responsible for most of the tragedies that happen over the course of the story, at the end Littlefinger turned out to be this. The whole plot was kicked off by him arranging Jon Arryn's murder and pinning the blame on the Lannisters. This escalates into the War of the Five Kings, making Littlefinger indirectly responsible for all the bloodshed and thousands of lives lost — all just so that he could provoke enough chaos until he could come out on top and somehow rule Westeros. Yet, Littlefinger is considered a non-factor next to the Lannister regime and the more imminent White Walker threat. Littlefinger's nation-wide scheme is reduced to a relatively small-scale plot to sow dissent among the Starks. In the end, he is out-gambitted by a couple of kids and dies pathetically begging for his life.
• Big Brother Bully:
  • Viserys has browbeaten Daenerys emotionally and physically all her life.
  • Renly claims Robert and Stannis both bullied him for possessing zero aptitude for warfare. Robert was more passive but certainly no kinder to Stannis, never giving him credit for his many accomplishments and staunch loyalty.
  • Tommen reveals in Season 4 that his brother Joffrey threatened to serve him his pet cat in his food.
  • Gregor Clegane's response to his little brother playing with his toy was to push his face into a brazier.
• Big Brother Instinct:
  • Robb gives a disapproving look at Sansa's attraction to Joffrey in "Winter is Coming", stands his ground against three outlaws to protect Bran in "A Golden Crown", and even breaks his stoic demeanor when confronting a man who murdered two captive squires, yelling "They were BOYS!"
  • Jon is very protective of his siblings and his best friend Sam. He gives his younger sister Arya her Cool Sword 'Needle' and later, his younger brother Bran — aware of Jon's Big Brother Instinct — reluctantly decides to not go to Jon because he knows Jon would want to protect him and as a result, wouldn't let him go on the dangerous journey far north to seek the Three-Eyed Raven, something Bran must do. Jon also takes on this role Olly later on, one of his sworn brothers. Later, Jon's primary motivation in Season 6 is to save his brother Rickon and protect his sister Sansa when their plotlines start to overlap in Season 6. When Littlefinger hits on Sansa in Season 7, Jon nearly pummels him and warns him to stay away from his sister.
  • Despite being the youngest of the Stark children, Rickon reveals in "The Rains of Castamere" that he sees it as his job to protect his crippled brother Bran.
  • Gendry steps up to protect Arya almost immediately.
  • Jaime is the only one to consistently defend his little brother Tyrion. His violent ambush of Ned Stark is motivated by Tyrion's abduction, Cersei and Oberyn both mention him defending Tyrion even as a child, and he is the only major figure to publicly support Tyrion during Season 4, which culminates in him defying both Tywin and Cersei to free Tyrion prior to his execution.
  • In the backstory, Ned's big brother Brandon rode right into the Red Keep to demand a duel with Prince Rhaegar after his sister Lyanna was abducted. Unfortunately, the Mad King had him arrested and executed.
• Big Budget Beef-Up: Each year since Season 1.
• Big Damn Heroes:
  • The Hound saves Ser Loras from Gregor Clegane during the Tourney of the Hand.
  • Tyrion saving Catelyn from a mountain tribesman in "The Wolf and the Lion".
  • Tyrion saving Sansa from Joffrey's physical abuse in "Garden of Bones".
  • The Hound saves Sansa from Attempted Rape in "The Old Gods and the New", complete with heroic music.
  • Bronn saves the Hound when he becomes transfixed by a burning man.
  • Podrick when he saves Tyrion in "Blackwater".
  • Tywin Lannister and Loras Tyrell arriving just in time to save King's Landing from being overrun by Stannis Baratheon.
  • Barristan saves Daenerys from an assassin in "Valar Dohaeris".
  • Ramsay saves Theon from his pursuers.
  • Jaime returns to Harrenhal just in time to save Brienne from the bear pit in "The Bear and the Maiden Fair".
  • The Night's Watch's counterattack on Craster's Keep is perfectly timed to save Meera from a Near-Rape Experience.
  • Stannis and his army coming to the rescue in "The Children".
  • When Brienne returns to save Pod from his attacker in "The House of Black and White".
  • In "The Gift", Ghost turns up just when things are looking most grim for Sam and Gilly.
  • "The Dance of Dragons" is full of them. First, Jorah is saved from death in the pits by another opportunistic fighter, then he throws a spear to kill the Son of the Harpy behind Dany, and finally Drogon arrives at the last moment to save Dany and her followers from being overrun.
  • Brienne and Podrik ride to Sansa's rescue and slay all of the Bolton trackers.
  • The arrival of the Knights of the Vale in "Battle of the Bastards", which helps turn the tides in the Stark army's favor.
  • Arya gets this in "The Long Night", when she saves Bran by killing the Night King and in doing so destroys his army and saves the world.
• Big Damn Kiss:
  • Jon and Ygritte after their ascent of the Wall in "The Climb".
  • Sam and Gilly have their First Kiss as he prepares to go into battle in "The Watchers on the Wall".
  • Missandei and Grey Worm in "Kill the Boy".
  • Arya and Gendry in "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms".
• Big Eater: Late in Season 3 and early in Season 4, Sandor Clegane develops a habit of immediately taking advantage of any food left by the people stupid or unlucky enough to get in his way. Justified as he has a very large body to maintain on a very unreliable diet.
• Big Fun: For all his flaws, Robert's boisterous amiability among fighting men is the main thing holding his kingdoms together. In the Histories and Lore segments, Stannis—who is usually very critical of his brother—admits and praises Robert's gift for inspiring loyalty with his carousing.
• Big Guy:
  • They don't come much bigger than Gregor Clegane. They don't call him The Mountain for nothing. In the books, he's even bigger, towering at near eight feet tall.
  • His brother Sandor, whilst nowhere near as big, is no slouch either, towering over practically every other character he interacts with.
  • In his prime, Robert Baratheon was a big bruiser on the battlefield. He routinely would cave in steel breastplates with his fearsome warhammer.
  • Tormund Giantsbane is easily one of the biggest, and most fearsome, warriors that the Wildlings have.
  • Brienne of Tarth, the only female knight, is unusually large for a woman, and not in a chubby way. Played by Gwendoline Christie, who stands at 6'3" tall.
• Bigger Is Better in Bed:
  • Hodor's package is Osha-approved and shown to the audience.
  • Tyrion also claims this is his one gift of size.^note This is Truth in Television since many forms of dwarfism manifest by stunting the bones while tissues such as the genitals grow to normal size
  • Subverted by Pod in Season 3. While discussing his status as a Sex God, Ros reports that he's not especially endowed.
• The Big Board:
  • In the council chamber on Dragonstone there is a table carved and painted in the shape of Westeros, around which Stannis and later in the series Deanerys plan their manoeuvres.
  • Robb's map layouts and carved sigils to mark troop deployments gets the most close-ups of any map.
  • Roose and Ramsay also strategize around one in "Kill the Boy".
  • In Season 7, Cersei has a map painted on floor in one of the rooms of the Red Keep.
• Big Brother Bully: Well, Big Sister:
  • Cersei has been cruel and hateful to her little brother since his birth. As told by Oberyn Martell, Cersei considered Tyrion a monster and openly abused him even as a baby.
  • Yara is introduced invoking Surprise Incest on Theon as a cruel prank when he returns home.
• Big Little Brother: Since Loras is several inches tall than Margaery it's easy to assume he's the older sibling as in the novels, but writer Brian Cogman has confirmed Margaery is the elder Tyrell child on the show.
• Big Little Man: Tyrion is introduced talking face-to-face with Ros. It's not until she stands up that we see Tyrion is a dwarf.
• Big "NO!":
  • Bran has one in the very first episode when Theon takes out his knife to kill one of the direwolf pups.
  • Catelyn has one in "The Kingsroad" when confronted by the catspaw assassin and realizing that he intended to kill Bran.
  • Cersei when Tyrion arranges for her daughter Myrcella to be shipped off to Dorne.
  • Brienne yells this in "The Ghost of Harrenhal" after Renly is stabbed through the heart.
  • Maester Luwin reacts this way to Theon's display in "A Man Without Honor".
  • Stannis' attempt to rally his routed troops at the end of the Battle of the Blackwater quickly devolves into this.
  • Brienne's desperate screams as she is about to be raped by Locke and his men in "Walk of Punishment".
• Big Ol' Eyebrows:
  • Emilia Clarke (Daenerys), especially because they don't match her platinum blonde wig even slightly.
  • Maisie Williams (Arya) and Isaac Hempstead-Wright (Bran) are both growing these as they age.
• Big, Screwed-Up Family:
  • The Lannisters are a textbook example. Sitting at the centre of a Decadent Court of Feuding Families, they are rich, proud, and ambitious with a talent for scheming and snarking held together only by Thicker Than Water. As one of the Great Houses, they have a Tangled Family Tree from political marriages and adulterous twincest. Their abusive patriarch Tywin is also a CHessmaster and a "Well Done, Son" Guy to each of his children: Cersei the Lady Drunk Smug Snake queen, Jaime the Brilliant, but Lazy Jaded Washout, and Tyrion The Unfavorite Depraved Dwarf. Beyond all this is the matter of Cersei's son Joffrey, Westeros' latest Caligula.
  • The Baratheon brothers. Robert considers Ned as more of a brother than either Stannis or Renly, a fact he laments. Stannis in turn declares that he didn't love Robert any more than Robert loved him, and both Robert and Stannis belittled their youngest brother Renly for his squeamish disposition.
  • Craster reigns over his own twisted clan with an iron fist by marrying his daughters and sacrificing his sons to the White Walkers, which takes on the feel of a Cult when he refers to himself as a "godly man" and his wives call a new son "a gift for the gods."
  • The Freys are the largest screwed up family on the continent. Their current patriarch Walder Frey is past ninety and has fathered more than two dozen legitimate children as well as numerous illegitimate children, many of whom have children and grandchildren of their own. And only one of them can be the heir.
• Big Sister Instinct: Meera Reed is fiercely protective of her little brother Jojen.
• Big Sleep: Robb's direwolf Grey Wind dies this way after being shot multiple times. Judging by the majority of reaction videos, this actually hit a lot of people harder than the human deaths that followed.
• Bilingual Backfire: Kraznys mo Nakloz finds out the hard way that Daenerys could speak Valyrian all along.
• Bilingual Bonus:
  • In "Breaker of Chains", the Meereenese champion challenges Dany by shouting a Valyrian translation of the famous taunts from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
  • "Orel" means "Eagle" in several Slavic languages, a fitting name for a warg who uses an eagle.
• Birth-Death Juxtaposition: Ramsay murders his father the day Lady Walda Frey gives birth to their son, his half-brother. He then has his dogs tear apart Walda and the baby.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing:
  • Cersei and Joffrey both deceive Sansa with this in Season 1.
  • Ramsay is revealed to be capable of this when he puts on a sane and cheerful façade for Littlefinger in "High Sparrow".
• Bitch Slap: Tyrion delivers some glorious ones to Joffrey.
• Bittersweet Ending: Daenerys's madness makes its full expression, turning her into a conqueror and forcing her lover Jon to kill her. He's ostracized to live with the wildlings beyond the Wall. The North secedes from the Seven Kingdoms, and it's implied that Sansa will rule it wisely. The remaining Six Kingdoms are in bad shape from all the fighting, but there is hope for the future. It becomes an elected monarchy to produce better rulers. Bran Stark becomes king, even though he doesn't want to rule, and it's implied that he, his hand Tyrion, and their new small council will rule well. The Unsullied leave for Naath and an uncertain future. Arya leaves Westeros to search for lands beyond the Sunset Sea.
• Bizarre Seasons: The seasons last for years, with no known rhyme or reason to how long they will last or when they change. Summer officially ended in the Season 2 premiere, but autumn continues for years and winter is still coming. Winter finally arrives in season 7.
• Blackmail: Tyrion turns Lancel into his mole within Cersei's inner circle by threatening to expose that Cersei has been using Lancel as a bedwarmer.
• Black-and-Gray Morality: There are flawed heroes, reasonable villains, and morally ambiguous characters. However, the show undeniably has some utter villains (Gregor, Joffrey, Ramsay, Euron, etc), and the White Walkers are also evil incarnate.
• Black-and-White Insanity:
  • Melisandre believes in a constant struggle between the good force of Light and the evil force of Darkness. Consequently anything that doesn't align with the Lord of Light is evil and must be destroyed because if half an onion is black with rot, it's a rotten onion.
  • Daenerys shows signs of this during her Slave Liberation, particularly in Meereen, when she starts dealing out vengeful punishments to the ruling class with the rationale that it is justice because they deserve it because they are evil.
• The Blacksmith:
  • As an apprentice smith, Gendry upholds his father's family tradition of wielding hammers.
  • The Smith is one of the male aspects of the God of the Seven, symbolizing industry and craftsmanship.
• Black Comedy: Although the series is very bleak in tone overall, it does not take itself seriously enough for there to be no laughs. Especially when much of the humour stems from making light of all the horrible things that happen.
  • Brynden Tully, an older man who is going off to attack thousands of invaders literally by himself, knows he's going to his death. He draws his sword and cheekily remarks to Brienne that he hasn't fought in years, and is probably going to look foolish doing so.
  • Similarly, Davos comments to some brothers of the Night's Watch as they're about to be attacked that he's not much of a fighter, and apologizes for what they're about to see.
  • Pretty much any time anyone brings Beric Dondarrion's numerous deaths.
• Black Sheep:
  • Tyrion for being a dwarf whose birth killed his mother.
  • Jon, to a lesser degree, for being an illegitimate son raised with his trueborn siblings.
  • Theon among the Starks for being a ward/hostage and among the Greyjoys for being raised by a different family of a different culture.
  • Sam for being the fat, timid, and bookworm son of a great warrior.
  • Renly is viewed as something of an embarrassment for being the Non-Action Guy from a family of famous warriors.
  • The Blackfish got his nickname after being called the black sheep of a family whose sigil is a fish.
• Blade Enthusiast:
  • Karl Tanner, the self-proclaimed "Legend of Gin Alley," learned to fight as a cutthroat in the slums of Flea Bottom, so he fights with knives rather than a sword.
  • House Bolton's motto "Our Blades Are Sharp" applies as much to their flaying knives as their swords.
• Blaming the Victim: Brienne and Jaime come across the bodies of three women who were hanged by Stark soldiers for having sex with Lannister soldiers, whom they are currently at war with; they state the women deserved it because they betrayed their country. Brienne disagrees. To make matters worse, it's left ambiguous if the three women willingly had sex with the Lannister soldiers at all, seeing as both sides are guilty of committing war crimes against the smallfolk. The only real difference is that the Lannisters did so under orders from Lord Tywin as part of an intentional terror campaign; the Northern soldiers who engage in Rape, Pillage, and Burn did so largely against King Robb's wishes. Not that it a matters for the average commoner.
• Blasphemous Boast:
  • The illusion of Drogo in the House of the Undying explains his presence by saying, "Maybe I told the Great Stallion to go fuck himself and came back here to wait for you." Dany admits that sounds like something he'd do.
  • Littlefinger delivers one to the face of several religious zealots in "Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken":
    Littlefinger: We both peddle fantasies, Brother Lancel. Mine just happen to be entertaining.
• Blatant Lies:
  • When Robb asks how his mother treated Jon while visiting Bran's sickbed in "The Kingsroad", Jon says, "She was very kind."
  • Tyrion has to struggle to call his mentally stunted jailer a "smart man" in "A Golden Crown".
  • Renly's response to being asked if he has ever fucked a Riverlands girl is a vague, "Once, I think." Later, he blames his inability to perform on wine, but Margaery knows better and tries to accommodate.
  • Lancel's account of Robb's victory at Oxcross includes accusations of cannibalism and using sorcery to conjure an army of wolves.
  • Sansa's continued refrain that she is loyal to Joffrey, her One True Love, even moments after being stripped, beaten, and threatened on his orders.
  • Brienne is a Bad Liar whenever it comes to denying her affection for Renly.
  • Margaery telling Joffrey in "Dark Wings, Dark Words", "The subtleties of politics are often lost on me." Also, her claim in "High Sparrow" that being called queen feels strange.
  • Joffrey's boasts of saving the city and winning the war in "Two Swords" rather than the truth that he damaged troop morale by retreating at a critical time.
  • When Jaime asks Loras if he is looking forward to his wedding to Cersei, the young knight hesitates for a moment before replying "Yes, very much."
  • Tyrion's trial in "The Laws of Gods and Men" is full of these, particularly when Pycelle calls Joffrey "the most noble child the Gods ever put on this good earth," and when Cersei inverts the truth to claim Joffrey fought bravely in the Battle of Blackwater while Tyrion plotted to kill him.
  • The High Septon tries to pass off his brothel visit as tending the souls of the common people in "High Sparrow".
  • Ironically, this is what Cersei does by declaring the charges of fornication, treason, incest, and murder against her to be this trope.
• Blindfolded Trip: How Arya, Gendry, and the Hound are taken the Brotherhood Without Banners' headquarters under the hollow hill.
• Blind Weaponmaster: Having been kicked around the screen pretty well by the Waif during her blindness, Arya uses that experience to gain an advantage over her when she comes to kill her for real, drawing her to the cell where she seems to be trapped, then extinguishing the candle lighting it^note Itself a recurrent motif during that season, foreshadowing the Green Trial. The next scene we see is a trail of blood leading to the room with the faces in the temple of the Many-Faced God, which ends where Arya has put the Waif's face in the stores.
• Bling of War:
  • The Kingsguard armour is incredibly ornate, in striking contrast to the utilitarian armour worn by Ned Stark and his household guard. Ned lampshades this as a taunt to Jaime, "Very handsome armour; not a scratch on it." However, this is motivated more by his distaste for Jaime than the armour itself since he speaks nothing but praise of Barristan Selmy, who wears the same armour.
  • Loras' literal shining armour has small wrought flowers and vines covering every inch, which is justified in that it is tourney armour and tourneys are all about Conspicuous Consumption. It gets modified for actual battle in Season 2.
  • This featurette reveals that Renly's armour (which includes velvet) was the most complicated costume created for the first two seasons of the show.
  • Joffrey's armor and gilded sword. His crossbow is adorned with gems as well.
  • While acting as Hand of the King, Tyrion gets a lavish suit of armor cleverly adorned with golden hands.
  • Deconstructed by Bronn, who refuses to wear the flashy attire of the City Watch because a cloak slows you down and gold prevents concealment.
  • Prince Doran Martell's personal bodyguard Aero Hotah wields an large, bejeweled glaive.
  • Sandor notices Oathkeeper's garish hilt and pommel and is quickly able to figure out who made it and gave it to its wielder.
• Blood from Every Orifice: Joffrey dies this way.
• Blood from the Mouth: Usually restricted to justified cases where characters have suffered respiratory injuries, such as Ser Hugh, Lommy, and Polliver who are all stabbed in the throat and Jeor Mormont who is stabbing the back, presumably finding a lung. Not to mention the characters who die from blades entering or exiting via the mouth itself. Victims of poisoning tend to play it straight, however.
• Blood Knight:
  • Jaime lives for fighting until well into the series. You can see his eyes light up when he faces off with Ned, and he even spends his captivity verbally sparring with his captors and generally acting like a caged lion. When he finally gets a sword in his hands again, his face lights up and he spends a few moments just savouring the fight to come.
  • Robert is an example of what happens when one of these becomes a king with no enemies to fight. As Renly points out, Robert loves his killing and became king because he used to be good at it.
  • The Dothraki are an entire race who live this trope. They invoke Duel to the Death so frequently that a Dothraki wedding without at least three deaths is considered a dull affair.
  • The Hound tells Sansa that "killing is the sweetest thing there is."
  • Gregor Clegane doesn't seem to aspire to any calling higher than RapePillageAndBurning his way across Westeros.
  • Robb shows a hint of this when he declares, "The Lannisters have been running from us since Oxcross. I'd love a fight. The men would love a fight. But I don't think we're going to get one."
  • Ramsay's response to a raid on his home is to declare, "This is turning into a lovely evening," and charge the enemy shirtless and smiling.
  • Daario declares that killing enemies and consensual sex are the greatest pleasures in life, an understandable worldview for a man who kills people for a living. In "Mockingbird", he even complains about acting as a glorified watchman.
  • Styr looks like he's having the time of his life when he's carving up Night's Watch with his massive axe.
  • Areo Hotah remarks in "Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken" that facing off with Jaime would have been a good fight once.
• Blood Lust: Joffrey seems to only enjoy inflicting pain and death.
• Blood Magic:
  • Mirri Maz Duur knows it, calls it by name, and warns Dany that it has a terrible price.
  • Melisandre uses it to (apparently) kill Stannis' enemies, though the circumstances surrounding their deaths are sometimes ambiguous.
  • The witch Maggy, who predicts Cersei's future in "The Wars to Come", needs to taste her blood to do so.
  • Shireen is sacrificed because of their king's blood in an attempt to end a blizzard.
• The Bluebeard: Ramsay has a penchant for killing lovers who bore him, as Myranda is pleased to explain and enumerate for Sansa.
• Blue Blood: The majority of characters are some form of nobility, from ancient and powerful houses like the Starks and Lannisters to recently promoted ones like the Seaworths and Cleganes.
• Bluff the Imposter: Some Stark soldiers call out Brienne and Jaime on their ruse that Jaime is a common thief by demanding they both say his name at the same time.
• Blunder-Correcting Impulse: Edmure is charged with ending his father's funeral by lighting the floating pyre with a flaming arrow. After he misses three times, his uncle Blackfish pushes him aside and hits on the first try.
• Blunt "Yes": This is the High Sparrow's response when Olenna incredulously asks if he really intends to punish Loras for merely "shagging some perfumed ponce" and Margaery for defending her brother.
• Bodyguard Betrayal:
  • This is what earned Jaime his infamous sobriquet: the Kingslayer. He deeply resents that everyone is glad the monstrous Mad King is dead, but still despise him as The Oathbreaker for killing him because he was a Kingsguard.
  • When the gold cloaks turn on Ned at the end of "You Win Or You Die".
  • During the Battle of Blackwater Tyrion is attacked by one his Kingsguard escorts.
  • Through a bit of duplication magic, this is how Pyat Pree kills the Thirteen.
  • The parting between Tyrion and Bronn can be seen as a very understated version since it concerns a bodyguard refusing aid in a time of need because he's received a better offer.
  • Ralf Kenning is rewarded with an axe to the head when he refuses to surrender to Ramsay.
• Bodyguard Crush:
  • Jorah develops one for Daenerys. Viserys is the first to mention it in "A Golden Crown" and both Daenerys and Jorah circuitously acknowledge it in "The Ghost of Harrenhal".
  • Renly was the object of affection for both Loras (a reciprocal same-sex example) and Brienne (an unrequited gender inversion) while they were members of his Kingsguard.
• Bodyguarding a Badass: The Dothraki follow only the strongest, so their leader the khal must, by definition, be more badass than his bloodriders.
• Body Horror: The disease greyscale causes flesh to calcify and crack, eventually expanding to organs and causing insanity and death.
• Boisterous Bruiser: King Robert Baratheon, Greatjon Umber, Tormund Giantsbane and Euron Greyjoy.
• Boisterous Weakling:
  • Joffrey seems to have picked up Robert's boisterousness without any of the bruiser to back it up.
  • Hot Pie projects strength this way, but is mellow enough once Arya gets to know him.
• Bolivian Army Cliffhanger: Samwell is last seen surrounded by wights in the Season 2 finale.
• Bolivian Army Ending: Syrio Forel is last seen preparing to duel a fully-armed knight with a broken wooden sword.
• Bondage Is Bad: Gendry discovers this in "Second Sons" when he correctly picks up that the Red Woman doesn't have kinky sex in mind after she ties him up seductively. She does mount him briefly, but that was just to get his blood up so she can put leeches in that area to drain it for its magic powers.
• Bonus Material: The DVD and Blu-ray releases have many standard bonus features like and Deleted Scenes, DVD Commentary, but perhaps the most interesting are the Histories and Lore segments, a series of lectures by various characters (complete with (unreliable) narration) on the history and customs of the setting.
• Book Dumb:
  • Davos is illiterate until Season 3, but still an intelligent character.
  • In "Battle of the Bastards," Tormund doesn't understand the military terms that Jon uses and later takes the metaphor "had demons in him" literally.
• Book Ends:
  • Season 1 opens with the reawakening of the Evil Is Deathly Cold White Walkers and closes with the rebirth of the Kill It with Fire dragons at opposite ends of the world. The season also begins and ends with a new generation re-acquiring their ancestral pet: the Starks discover a litter of direwolf pups in "Winter is Coming" and Daenerys hatches her dragons in "Fire and Blood".
  • Inverted by the Season 2 finale and Season 3 premiere: "Valar Morghulis" and "Valar Dohaeris" are traditional Valyrian call-and-response Arc Words that translate to "All men must die," and "All men must serve."
  • The episode "Two Swords" opens with the loss of one important sword and the recovery of another.
  • In their scene in "Oathkeeper", Cersei opens by snarking at Jaime for calling her "Your Grace" but ends with a curt, "That will be all, Lord Commander."
  • Lampshaded by Mance in "The Wars to Come" when he points out that his first and last meetings with Jon involve one of them as a prisoner of the other.
  • The first and last shots of Hardhome, showing its population alive and well and then showing them reanimated as wights.
  • The first ever poster for this show was of Ned Stark sitting on the Iron Throne. The character posters for season 8 feature each surviving character sitting on the same throne.
  • The series' first episode ended with Bran falling down from a great height. The series finale ended with Bran rising up to become the one who claims the Iron Throne.
  • At the start of the series, Jon Snow joined the Night's Watch. In the final episode, he joined the Night's Watch (again).
• Bookworm:
  • Tyrion claims, "My brother has his sword and I have my mind," though he proves no slouch with an axe himself.
  • Sam always wanted to be a wizard, prefers being a steward, and uses "I read it in a book" as his catchphrase.
  • When Davos refuses the book she offers him, Shireen gets a looks that scream, "How could anyone refuse a book? Books are awesome!" Since it's all she seems to do, she's probably more well-read as a teen than half the nobility of Westeros.
• Boomerang Bigot: Brienne sneers with particular disdain that Jaime is acting like a woman. While she clearly respects some women, such as Catelyn, Brienne has spent her whole life turning her back on traditional feminine pursuits and behavior.
• Boom Head Shot: Theon's rescuer kills the leader of his pursuers point-blank with an arrow to the face.
• Boring, but Practical:
  • Armour whenever Armor Is Useless is averted or deconstructed.
  • The utilitarian armour of the Starks and their bannermen and soldiers.
  • The Lannisters and Tyrells don't have dragons like the Targaryens, the power of a god like Stannis, or even pet direwolves like the Stark children, but they do have gold and arable land respectively, which they parley into tremendous military and political clout.
  • The typical armoured hack-and-slash fighting style of Westeros can be described this way in comparison to some of the more elegant styles from Essos. It may not be as energetic as the Dothraki, as precise as the Unsullied, or as graceful as the Braavosi Water Dance, but it is just as effective.
  • Roose's strategy to remain behind Winterfell's high walls and let Stannis' forces waste away from cold and deprivation. To inject some action into the narrative, Ramsay prefers to take the fight to Stannis with twenty picked men.
• Boring Insult:
  • Young Cersei calls the witch Maggy this in "The Wars to Come".
  • Olenna describes the High Sparrow's "man of the people" act as dull, but seems disconcerted when as she realizes it really isn't an act.
• Born in the Saddle: The Dothraki worship the Great Stallion (and the Mother of Mountains), have 14 words for horse, express many things in horse-metaphors, and believe that a man who cannot ride is no man at all. Viserys even asks the obligatory question about how much they love their horses.
• Borrowed Catchphrase: "This is not the day I die," is Jojen Reed's catchphrase in the books. Unfortunately, Oberyn is not prophetic, so it is not nearly as accurate.
• Boss Banter: Karl can't seem to shut his mouth during his fight in "First of His Name".
• Both Sides Have a Point:
  • Lord Rickard Karstark curses Robb right before he executes him for killing Jaime's two still-imprisoned squires as revenge for Jaime having killed his son attempting to escape. But he's right in criticizing Robb for both reneging on his promise to marry one of the Frey daughters and allowing Catelyn to have Jaime brought back to King's Landing, both of which have negatively impacted morale. However, Robb really had no choice but to execute Karstark for such blatant defiance of his authority.
  • Similarly, Theon could not have done anything less to Ser Rodrik, nominally under his authority, after Rodrik publicly spat in his face. But Rodrik was right about how poorly Theon had already been handling the situation.
  • In "The Wars to Come", Jon urges Mance to bend the knee to Stannis to save his people by earning them a place south of the Wall, but Mance argues his authority comes from a respect that would evaporate the moment they see him kneel and any leader that gives a damn about his people wouldn't ask them to die for a foreigner.
  • Both Cersei and Jaime have points in their "The Dragon and the Wolf" conversation after she tells him she was lying when she told Danaerys and Jon she would help them fight the undead. Daenerys has an army Cersei cannot withstand, and the implication is that the war will pick right up where it left off once the undead are dealt with. Best to let this usurper go it alone — and whittle down her invincible army, hopefully losing a few dragons in the process — so the Queen of the Iron Throne will stand a chance when the fighting resumes. Jaime comes back with a good point of his own: if the White Walkers win, they'll march south and kill them (with their ranks bolstered by Jon and Dany's dead armies). If the Northern alliance defeats the White Walkers, they'll be pissed that Cersei was plotting against them, march south, and kill them in retaliation.
• Bottle Episode:
  • Subverted multiple times throughout the series. "Blackwater," "The Watchers on the Wall," and "The Long Night," despite each only featuring one location/plotline rather than the standard Four Lines, All Waiting structure, are all among the series's most expensive episodes due to their respective plotlines each being an all out war.
  • The closest thing to a straight example would be "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms," the episode immediately preceding "The Long Night." While not entirely cheap - it features almost the entirety of the remaining major players - it's a full hour of simply conversations set entirely within Winterfell.
• Bound and Gagged:
  • After Jaime's failed escape, Catelyn orders, "Take him back to his cell. Bind him with every chain you can find," and when Jaime continues to snark at her, Catelyn adds: "...and gag him."
  • Tyrion is treated to this after his capture in "The High Sparrow".
• Bounty Hunter: Cersei offers a lordship for whoever brings her Tyrion's head, leading to the death of at least one innocent dwarf.
• Boyish Short Hair:
  • Arya, the feisty tomboy, has this while passing as a boy, and keeps it fairly short after. She loathes medieval female roles such as sewing, cooking, and dreaming of marrying a prince, and instead prefers beating her older brother at archery, learning how to fence, and so on. Cemented in season 2, when Tywin notes her unusual passion for history and warrior women from the past, and says that most girls prefer romantic tales about maidens with flowers in their hair and such. Arya's response? "Most girls are idiots."
  • Warrior woman Brienne's short and simple straight hair makes an interesting contrast to Ser Loras' opulent curls.
• Braids of Action: Daenerys gradually adopts this hairstyle over Season 1 as she becomes a stronger and more confident until she has a thick braid in the season finale. This is likely related to the Dothraki custom of warriors braiding their hair and cutting it off when defeated as a mark of shame.
• Braids of Barbarism: Dothraki men only cut their hair when they are defeated in combat, so undefeated warriors like Khal Drogo have long braids.
• Brain Bleach: The look on Theon's face when he realizes the woman he attempted to seduce, and even groped, was his big sister Yara!
• Brains and Brawn:
  • Tyrion to Bronn and the Hill Tribes initially. Later, Tyrion shows some skill for violence and Bronn his own brand of cleverness.
  • Bran to Osha and Hodor, though Osha has her own brand of cleverness.
  • Tyrion also alludes to this with him and his brother, although Jaime is by no metric dumb.
• Brainy Brunette:
  • Talisa is a highly competent nurse and fully capable of engaging Robb in a debate.
  • Margaery is a very adept conversationalist and manipulator.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: Theon, to the point of 2 + Torture = 5.
• Bratty Teenage Daughter: Sansa hits most of the characteristics in Season 1, but later grows out of it.
• Breaching the Wall: The dreaded villains of the series, the White Walkers and their army of wights, have been barred from invading Westeros for thousands of years due to a massive wall of ice and stone that has some form of magic that prevents their legions of undead from breaking through. That was until the final episode of season seven, when the leader of the White Walkers named the Night King uses a reanimated dragon to blast fire through the wall. Almost immediately the easternmost section of the ice wall began crashing down, thus allowing the Night King and his comrades and soldiers to cross the millennia-old structure and finally unleash their wrath on the vulnerable Seven Kingdoms.
• Bread and Circuses:
  • This is the Tyrell's political philosophy. Their lands, the Reach, are the breadbasket of Westeros and the heartland of chivalry (the circus, as it were). They win over the smallfolk of King's Landing by providing food and Olenna comments that a royal wedding is just the sort of distraction needed to keep the common people contented.
  • This is also one of the arguments in favour of Daenerys reopening the fighting pits, which is fitting as they have similarities to Roman Gladiator Games.
• Bread, Eggs, Breaded Eggs:
  • Tyrion is very fond of this peculiar conjunction:
    • He asks Bronn, "What is it you want, Bronn? Gold? Women? Golden women?"
    • He criticizes Joffrey with, "We've had vicious kings, and we've had idiot kings, but I don't know if we've ever been cursed with a vicious idiot for a king!"
    • After being chided for bedding harlots and drinking with thieves, Tyrion retorts, "Occasionally, I drank with the harlots."
    • When Shae is teasing him, he declares, "This is cruel and unfair. Cruelly unfair."
    • When Varys confronts him with the choice of drinking himself to death or traveling to Meereen, Tyrion asks if he can drink himself to death on the way to Meereen.
  • Oberyn Martell gets in on the act in "Two Swords" when he sneers at a couple of Lannister guardsmen about their "gold, and lions, and golden lions."
  • Ser Alliser Thorne going over his latest batch of Night's Watch recruits: "Raper, thief, raper, thief and raper..."
• Break Her Heart to Save Her: Tyrion to Shae in "The Lion and the Rose".
• Break the Badass: Locke's intention in cutting off Jaime's sword hand. It works for awhile.
• Break the Cutie: Happens to all of the younger Starks, all of whom end up going through a Trauma Conga Line at young ages.
  • Quite literally for Bran ( at least his legs/back), who starts out as a young boy with a love of climbing and excited to see the king. He also loses his father, feels abandoned by his mother, is betrayed by Theon, who is like a brother to him, and is forced from his home.
  • Sansa starts out enamored with the ideas of dashing knights and courtly love and is blindly loyal to her fiancée, but witnessing her fiancée chop off her daddy's head cures her of that.
  • Arya's Plucky Girl nature initially obscures the effects of the massive amount of grief, trauma, and anger she undergoes, but as time goes on she grows much colder and more ruthless.
  • Rickon begins the series happily laughing with his brothers when Bran fails at archery, but becomes a confused and sullen child who wanders the crypts with his enormous direwolf and insists no one will come back.
  • Ros in Season 2. First she sees a baby murdered and receives An Offer You Can't Refuse to stop sobbing about it, then she's forced to torture another girl into an Ambiguous Situation, then she's beaten and held hostage to Tyrion's good behaviour. By the end, she's willing to become an informer for Varys.
  • Poor Tommen in "Sons of the Harpy" is torn between the controlling women in his life and his attempts to restore harmony are rewarded with an enraged wife and being called a bastard and an abomination.
• Break the Haughty:
  • Throughout Season 3, Theon is tortured to insanity by Ramsay.
  • Jaime remains completely unbroken by months of captivity, but that all changes when he loses his sword hand.
  • In ''The Mountain and the Viper", Oberyn is cool and generally badass the entire fight against Gregor (and for that matter, the whole season), but in the moments leading up to his... gruesome death, Gregor has him so utterly broken he's screaming like a child.
  • By "Hardhome", confinement has turned Cersei into an absolute mess desperate enough to suck water off the floor, but she still refuses to confess and insists she will see her tormentors die.
    • However, during her walk of shame, she does eventually break into tears.
• Breast Plate: Cersei wears one built into her dress in "Blackwater" that is obviously as a fashion statement rather than for protection. When she wears a similar gown to supper in "Valar Dohaeris", Margaery "compliments" her on the metalwork.
• Breath Weapon: The dragons have the standard ability to breathe fire.
• Breather Episode: "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" has no violence and mostly consists of the cast having a moment of calm before a battle that might see all of them die.
• Brick Joke:
  • In "The Kingsroad", Tyrion mentions he wants to visit the Wall so he can "piss off the edge of the world." He goes through with it, to Jon Snow's amusement, near the end of "Lord Snow."
  • Also, the possibility of a Dothraki invasion:
    Daenerys: If my brother was given an army of Dothraki, could he conquer The Seven Kingdoms?
    Jorah Mormont: [...] King Robert is fool enough to meet them in open battle. But the men advising him are different.
    —
    King Robert: Only a fool would meet the Dothraki in the open field. ^note He does, however, go on to explain that it would be necessary to do so for political reasons, and to avoid scorched earth warfare.
  • Tyrion promises his jailer Mord all the gold in his purse if Mord tells Lysa he wishes to confess. Once Tyrion is walking out of the Eyrie with his freedom, he hands Mord his purse, saying, "A Lannister always pays his debts."
  • Daenerys reprimands two members of her khalasar for discussing how best to steal a giant golden peacock from their host in Qarth, but in "Valar Morghulis" two men can be seen behind Dany as she departs Xaro's house... carrying a giant golden peacock.
  • In Season 2, Tyrion complains about all the Jerkass Gods and asks, "Where's the god of tits and wine?" In Season 3, while even more drunk than usual Tyrion proclaims himself this particular god to annoy his father.
  • Hot Pie's direwolf bread improves exponentially between "Breaker of Chains" and "Mockingbird".
  • In an episode of the first season, "You Win Or You Die," Samwell Tarly tells Jon Snow that he always wanted to be a wizard. In the third season, "The Rains of Castamere," Sam leads Gilly to a secret passage through the Wall, which he explains he learned about through reading a book. Impressed, Gilly remarks that Sam is like a wizard, causing him to break out in a big grin.
• Brief Accent Imitation:
  • Olenna tries out a Northern accent for the Stark motto "Winter is Coming" when pointing out how much more inherently badass it sounds than "Growing Strong".
  • Ygritte teases Jon several times with a guttural voice modeled on his own.
• Brilliant, but Lazy: Despite his prodigious skill with a sword and a certain cunning when he bothers to use it, Jaime has few tangible accomplishments beyond his infamous kingslaying and shows no greater ambition than to be a member of the Kingsguard. By contrast, his father, sister, and brother all aspire to powerful positions such as Hand, Regent, or Lord Paramount.
  Tywin: You're blessed with abilities few men possess, you're blessed to belong to the most powerful family in the Kingdoms, and you're still blessed with youth. And what have you done with these blessings? You've served as a glorified bodyguard for two kings: one a madman, the other a drunk [...] I need you to become the man you were always meant to be. Not next year, not tomorrow... now.
• Bring My Brown Pants:
  • King Robert makes himself sad reminiscing about his first kill when he recalls that the dying all shit themselves.
  • Hot Pie wets himself when he realizes not even Staring Down Cthulhu affects whether or not he is selected for torture.
  • Salladhor Saan tells two prostitutes a variation of the trope-naming joke, only for both to beat him to the punchline.
  • Sam publicly shames Janos Slynt by reminding everyone how after the battle he found Janos cowering "in a puddle of his own making," which is either a slight fabrication on Sam's part or an afterthought of the writers since there was no evidence of this at the time.
• Broke Episode: An arc played out in later seasons, where the War of the Five Kings has devastated the economy of Westeros and even the wealthy Lannisters are severely strapped for cash under the looming threat of the Iron Bank of Braavos.
• Broken Aesop: The series starts by showing how the societal treatment of illegitimate children in Westeros is profoundly unjust, and something that well-meaning, good-hearted characters like Jon Snow struggle with due to society's prejudice against illegitimate children. In the show, there are outright Heroic Bastards such as Jon Snow and Gendry whose characters disprove the prejudice, sweet-natured bastard children such as Myrcella and Tommen whose characters aren't inherently affected by their illegitimate birth, and Bastard Bastards such Ramsay Snow and the Sand Snakes who deserve their reputation by murdering all of their trueborn relatives to seize power. Later, one of the only Heroic Bastards in the show is revealed as the unknown legitimate heir to two powerful Houses all along.
• Broken Bird:
  • Arya's experiences change her from a Plucky Girl Tomboy Princess to a borderline psychotic killer obsessed with revenge.
  • Sansa goes through both Break the Haughty and Break the Cutie only to end up as the protegée of Littlefinger the Manipulative Bastard.
  • Cersei's descriptions of how she once loved Robert and her shattered hopes of a happy marriage place her in this trope.
  • Averted by Gilly, whom Sam notes remains totally unbroken by all the horrible things that have happened to her in her life.
• Broken Pedestal:
  • Jon's discovery that the Night's Watch is now mostly an Army of Thieves and Whores rather than the ancient and noble order it once was. He is even more disappointed to learn the Lord Commander turns a blind eye to Craster's depravity because he's too valuable an asset.
  • Sansa idolizes Cersei ("I'll be a queen just like you!") until the events of "Baelor" and "Fire and Blood".
  • Daenerys always assumed (as her brother believed) that the rumours about her father's madness were just Malicious Slander until Barristan explains they are true.
  • Olly clearly idolizes Jon but is definitely not pleased to learn Jon really means to ally with the wildlings since his entire village was slaughtered by them.
• Broken Tears: Sansa after she hears about the Red Wedding.
• Broke Your Arm Punching Out Cthulhu: After exhausting her dragon with a prolonged fiery blast to the Night King in "The Long Night", Danaerys must land and let the dragon rest as the completely unfazed Night King walks toward Winterfell, raises more dead, and heads for Bran and the godswood.
• Bromance: In "The Wolf and the Lion", Cersei snarks that she's sorry Robert's "marriage" to Ned Stark didn't work out.
• Brother–Sister Incest:
  • The Targaryens had a penchant for marrying brother to sister to preserve the purity of their bloodline, which may be tied to their familial affinity for dragons but unfortunately also carries a tendency for madness. However, the amount of incest and madness is frequently exaggerated, both In-Universe and out, since Daenerys' parents were the first to do so in over a hundred years.
  • Also, Cersei and Jaime Lannister. One of them even invokes the Targaryens as a rationalization.
• Brother–Sister Team:
  • Margaery and Loras form one of these, first in their three-way marriage to Renly and then at court. Unlike Cersei and Joffrey's barely concealed discord, the Tyrells are very in sync during their dinner conversation in "Valar Dohaeris".
  • Also, Jon and Sansa team up to take back and rule the North, while Yara and Theon unite at the kingsmoot before joining Dany together.
• Brown Note: Ramsay uses horns as a psychological weapon against his victims.
• Bruiser with a Soft Center: Blackfish Tully is one of the biggest hardasses in Westeros, but he's actually a really good guy who would never actually hurt his nephew.
• Brutal Honesty:
  • Benjen tells Jon in no uncertain terms that he is no better than anyone else at the Wall; in the Night's Watch, they are all brothers.
  • When Cersei asks if there was ever a possibility of their marriage working, Robert sadly but bluntly tells her no.
  • During his Establishing Character Moment, Stannis freely admits his mutual dislike for Robert and insists that Jaime be called both "the Kingslayer" and "Ser" because he's still a knight. Later, when warned that hundreds will die storming the beaches around King's Landing, Stannis corrects that thousands will.
    Stannis: He wasn't "my beloved brother." I didn't love him. He didn't love me.
    Stannis: Make it 'Ser Jaime Lannister', whatever else he is, the man's still a knight.
  • This trait is why Stannis values Davos above all his other vassals.
  • Renly is usually snarky and roundabout, but he get this way with Littlefinger in "Garden of Bones".
    "I don't like you, Lord Baelish. I don't like your face. I don't like the words that come oozing out of your mouth. I don't want you in my tent one minute more than necessary."
  • Tywin is never one to spare someone's feelings in his analysis of their deficiencies. Perhaps his most noteworthy example is when he explains what a terrible king Joffrey was... in front of his mother... right next to Joffrey's corpse.
  • Ygritte admits that the best Qhorin could hope for if he was captured by wildlings would be a quick death.
  • Olenna, the "Queen of Thorns," generally doesn't care about being polite; she's very forthright with her opinions.
    Cersei: Ahh, the famously tart-tongued Queen of Thorns.
    Olenna: And the famous tart, Queen Cersei.
  • Dolorous Edd admits he abandoned Sam in "Valar Morghulis" because Sam was fat and slow.
  • Rickard Karstark to Robb in "Dark Wings, Dark Words":
    "I can believe until it snows in Dorne; it don't change the fact we've got half the men. [...] I think you lost this war the day you married her."
  • This is one of Bronn's most endearing qualities, such as his blunt demand for a raise after his latest promotion: "I'm a knight now; knights cost double."
  • Mance Rayder claims he managed to unite the wildlings because he told them the truth: that they will all die if they don't get south.
  • Ellaria Sand chastises any attempt by others to avoid mentioning she is a bastard.
  • Lord Yohn Royce doesn't mince words about Robin Arryn's skill at arms in "The Wars to Come".
  • In "Hardhome", Jon bluntly admits to shooting Mance Rayder, which enrages the wildlings — until Tormund explains it was a Mercy Kill to put Mance out of his misery.
• The Brute: Gregor and Sandor Clegane are simply muscle for their masters, exerting no political influence except with the point of their swords.
• The Bully:
  • Ser Alliser Thorne bullies his recruits and encourages bullying among them, though he claims this is necessary to toughen them up.
  • Rast bullies Sam at the Wall.
  • Lommy and Hot Pie try to bully Arya, but are mostly just putting on a tough front. After an initial altercation, they all get along fairly well.
  • Joffrey gets his kicks tormenting others.
• Bullfight Boss: Bronn fights Ser Vardis Egan by avoiding his attack until he is worn out.
• Bullying a Dragon: Has its own page.
• Bumbling Dad: Mace Tyrell is entirely Played for Laughs as a bumbling, sycophantic Momma's Boy.
• Burning the Flag: There is a shot in "Mhysa" of a burning banner, symbolizing a faction's utter defeat.
• Burn the Undead: Generally played straight, as fire is shown to the most effective way of destroying a wight, outside of Valyrian steel or dragon glass. Absolutely averted, however, with the Night King, who takes a full, prolonged blast from Drogon, and comes out not only untouched, but smiling.
• Burn the Witch!:
  • Invoked by Daenerys as both a punishment for deceiving her and for a bit of Blood Magic of her own.
  • Inverted by Melisandre, a witch who burns people.
• Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie:
  • Hizdahr zo Loraq comes to Daenerys in Season 4 to request that he be allowed to bury his father in the Temple of the Graces rather than leaving him to rot on a crucifix.
  • Tormund encourages Jon to give Ygritte, Jon's First Love, a proper burial in the "real North", which Jon honours by burning the body beneath a weirwood beyond the Wall while shedding Manly Tears.
• Burping Contest: The patrons of the Mole's Town brothel play at guessing which tune the madam is belching.
• The Bus Came Back:
  • Barristan Selmy storms out of the throne room in Season 1 and into Astapor in Season 3.
  • Lysa Arryn and her son Robin, first seen in Season 1, returns in Season 4.
  • Alliser Thorne (last seen in Season 1) and Janos Slynt (last seen in Season 2) return as antagonists to Jon in Season 4.
  • Littlefinger takes a notable boat-trip for six episodes between "The Climb" and "Breaker of Chains".
  • Ghost wanders off in Season 2 and only turns up again in Season 4.
  • Pyp and Maester Aemon re-enter the story at the end of Season 3 after a nineteen-episode absence, though since they were the only characters to remain at Castle Black, it's perhaps more fitting to say the bus left them behind.
  • Hot Pie returns in Season 4 when Brienne and Pod stop by the inn where he works. It turns out Hot Pie has gotten much better at making wolf-shaped bread.
  • Grenn and Dolorous Edd reappear in "Breaker of Chains" nine episodes after they were last seen fighting at Craster's Keep.
  • Gregor Clegane is summoned to the capital in "Mockingbird" to serve as Cersei's champion after being unseen since Tywin left him at Harrenhal in Season 2.
  • After a two-season absence, Kevan Lannister and his son Lancel re-enter the story in "The Wars to Come".
  • Cersei's daughter Myrcella was put on a ship in Season 2, but returns in Season 5. Or rather, the cameras finally follows her to her destination.
  • The Faceless Man Arya knew as Jaqen H'ghar in Season 2 returns in "The House of Black and White".
  • Five episodes after his exile from Meereen, Jorah Mormont turns up in a brothel on the Long Bridge of Volantis whose main attraction is its own Rule 34 version of Daenerys.
  • After setting out early in the season, Mace Tyrell and Ser Meryn Trant finally arrive in Braavos in the season's penultimate episode, "The Dance of Dragons".
  • Edmure Tully, Brynden Tully, Thoros of Myr and Beric Dondarrion all show up in Season 6 after several seasons of absence.
  • Gendry finally turns up in Season 7, 3 seasons since his last appearance.
• Bus Crash: When Jon reconnects with Qhorin after being sidetracked by Ygritte, he learns that the rest of their party was killed by the wildlings off-screen.
• Butch Lesbian: Yara is established as The Lad-ette since her earliest scenes, but she's revealed in Season 6 to also be a lesbian, or at least bisexual.
• But for Me, It Was Tuesday:
  • In "Walk of Punishment", Arya asks the Hound, "Do you remember what happened the last time you were here?" outside the inn near where he rode down her friend Mycah twenty-one episodes before in "The Kingsroad", but he has no idea what she's talking about.
  • In "Two Swords", despite several good looks, Polliver doesn't recognize Arya as the Sweet Polly Oliver girl who became Lord Tywin's cup bearer at Harrenhal until she begins her Ironic Echo.
• But Not Too Gay: Scenes involving gay characters in bed together are present, but they are nowhere near as explicit as most of the heterosexual or even occasional lesbian pairings on the show.
• Butt-Dialing Mordor:
  • Inverted, where illiterate villain Amory Lorch tries to send a letter containing the Lannisters' plans for moving forward to his ally, Lord Damon Marbrand, accidentally sends the letter to one of the Starks' vassals, Lord Marlin Dormund.
  • Bran does this, with disastrous consequences, in season 6. While warging without the aid of the Three-Eyed Raven, he sees the Night King, who is able to mark Bran and render the tree vulnerable to invasion from the White Walker army.
• Butt-Monkey:
  • Theon is distrusted and treated like dirt by pretty much everyone except Robb. Even his own family and soldiers are contemptuous of him, even after he retakes Winterfell. His misfortune is then Played for Drama in Seasons 3 and 4.
  • Lancel is more-or-less a professional butt monkey as Robert's squire. Later, his new-found smug attitude gets shot down when Tyrion blackmails him and even Cersei gets to punch him in the grievous wound he received during his one attempt at valour.
  • Tyrion is constantly ridiculed for being a dwarf, gets the worst treatment from his father by far, and almost all of his actions are undone in the long run.
  • The Starks and Tullys are a rare and excruciating heroic example, as nothing ever seems to go well for them.
  • Sansa's life is King's Landing in a long stream of Hope Spots and Yank the Dog's Chain.
  • Orell gets no respect for his correct suspicion of Jon being a Fake Defector.
  • Jaime becomes this in Season 4, getting only coldness, disappointment, and disdain from Cersei, Tywin, and Joffrey.
  • Hot Pie is the timid, klutzy, none-too-bright, Tagalong Kid of Arya's companions.
  • By Season 4, Pycelle's scenes consist largely of him being derided publicly, culminating in him being booted from his own laboratory in favour of Qyburn. This derision extends to scenes he isn't even in, such as when Cersei describes him as smelling like a dead cat in "Two Swords".
  • Mace Tyrell, despite being Lord Paramount of the Reach, Warden of the South, and the dual Master of Ships and Coin, is ignored or belittled at every turn even by his own mother and his tangible contributions to the Small Council consist of fetching quill and paper and operating the door.
• Buy Them Off:
  • Yunkai attempts to stave off Daenerys' Slave Liberation with chests of gold and ships to take her army to Westeros. Dany takes the gold, but refuses to leave without freeing the slaves.
  • Tyrion offers to provide Shae with a Big Fancy House and an allowance as his mistress, but she refuses, fearing Tyrion will tire of her with age and any children they might have are likely to be murdered if their grandfather ever finds out.

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