The characters of Game of Thrones have a lot to say, and they always do it with style. In our Best Speech category at the Watchers on the Wall Awards, we celebrate the big moments of season 7 when characters stepped up and spoke their minds with wit, panache, and all the drama we expect from our favorite show. Last year saw the little bear Lady Lyanna Mormont take the prize with her season 6 declaration for the King in the North; who will take it this year?
The finalists chosen by our readers for Best Speech are:
Olenna Tyrell sends her regards to the Lannisters:
Davos make a case for Jon’s cause before Daenerys:
Sansa uses Littlefinger’s lessons against him:
Cersei delivers vengeance for her daughter against the Sands:
Arya gives House Frey a send-off, with Walder’s face:
The complete results from round 1 voting in this category can be viewed here!
Final round rules: Cast your vote for the winner in our Best Speech poll. In the finals, fans have one vote to cast. At the end of 72 hours (Tuesday 1/2/18 at 6PM ET), the speech with the most votes will be the winner! The results of the poll will be revealed during the live Watchers on the Wall Awards ceremony- date and time to be announced tomorrow!
Winter came for House Frey!
Sansa’s epic smack down of littlefinger is the best without a doubt. She threw all his lessons in his face and showed him that even the most dangerous men can be outmanoeuvred. Sansa Stark is the Queen of the North!
Tell Cersei…
Olenna was a boss.
This is interesting… I think it’s the first time one of my initial nominations isn’t available for final vote. (I’ll count my Indira guest nom moved to supporting) That’s just fine though since these are worthy options to vote on. 🙂
Ser Davos!
Sansa letting Littlefinger know how well she’d learned his lessons!
Cersei wins this one!
Damn, its between Arya and the Freys, and Cersie with the Sand Snakes. Im goijnd to need som help, so ill go up and see the comments’
FWIW, the Olenna speech was good, Davos had things to say, Sansa used her speech to finally get Little Finger. None of those sent shivers up my spine like the first two. Can we have a tie?
I have to vote for Davos. His speeches of support, whether he is hyping up Stannis for the Iron Bank or Jon for Lyanna Mormont or Daenerys, always give me goosebumps. Liam Cunningham is perfect for this sort of thing.
get him, sansa
When do you expect to post the final results?
At ya OF COURSE!!
Davos. Normally I’d say Olenna or Arya/Walder, but Davos has so many good motivational speeches throughout the seasons. So go Davos!
Cersei had a great scene, but my sympathy level for her has waned. Sansa constantly sounds like she has a head cold, and regurgitating LFs lines didn’t strike me as particularly clever (that whole scene was disappointing – LF himself should have had an actual defense with his way with words, no just “Ooh Lord Royce, take me back to the Vaaaaale.” Blah.
Sansa uses Littlefinger’s lessons against him
Best Speech: Arya gives House Frey a send-off, with Walder’s face.
This was an incredibly tough category and I could write a lengthy argument why each and every one of them should win. In the end, I voted for Arya’s speech as Walder Frey from the season premiere cold open.
This was spine-chillingly fantastic to watch. The writing and acting were top class. The decision to move this to pre-credits was an excellent one. I have watched this scene over and over again in the months since it first aired, and took the vote as a reason to do so again. Wow.
“Tell Cersei. I want her to know it was me.” – Olenna Tyrell
This scene is the best final scene of season 7… Jamie going to Highgarden was a surprise… Lady Olenna Tyrell accepted her fate and delivered one final massive Thorn to both Jamie and Cersei
Why can’t I vote for them all?! So many good ones! I voted for Sansa because that scene was my favorite of the season, Aidan and Maisie also nailed it. But insanely close second was Olenna’s speech. Dame Diana was amazing!
I really wish Houndie’s little eulogy to the farmer and his daughter had made it to the finals.
Voted for the great Diana Rigg
But Arya/Walder’s scene was a close second.
Olenna takes it for me.
Sansa may be a slow learner, but she does learn. That is a close second for me, the wording of her speech was great and badass, but it just couldn’t match our beloved Queen of Thornes and her epic send off.
Sansa lighting Littlefinger up. Her actions in S4 and S5 are more believable now.
“Walder”’s speech is the best of the bunch. It’s thematically on point, and I think it’s very fun how they managed to give Walder Frey the pathetic demise he deserved and then follow it off with a more triumphant sendoff for David Bradley.
The others are generally fine, except the Sansa one, which the show desperately wants to be a clever demonstration of all she’s learned and how she outwitted him in the end, when all it actually does is demonstrate how comprehensively botched that storyline has been.
I know! Capitol One ought to snag Davos to do one of those “What’s in your wallet?” credit card commercials.
For me, it has to be this one:
1 …. If we don’t put aside our enmities and band together, we will die. And then it doesn’t matter whose skeleton sits on the Iron Throne.” – Davos Seaworth
I was impressed when I first heard Ser Davos say that in a S7 trailer… Real powerful stuff to get the point over 😉
My runners up:
2. Ayra/Walder Frey: “Tell them winter came for House Frey”
3. Lady Olenna: “Tell Cersei – I want her to know it was me!”
Arya/Walder ☑️
The last three lines by themselves were iconic:
(Arya as Walder): “Leave one wolf alive and the sheep are never safe.”
(Arya, unmasked): “When people ask you what happened here, tell them the North remembers. Tell them winter came for House Frey.”
What made the whole speech so epic was that it started out as a celebration of the “brave” Frey men, and turned into a condemnation and death sentence of these cowardly murderers.
They all deserved it. They cheered and congratulated themselves when fWalder said: “You’re my family, the men who helped me slaughter the Starks at the Red Wedding.”… “Butchered a woman pregnant with her babe. Cut the throat of a mother of five. Slaughtered your guests after inviting them into your home.”
These were all “mandatory death penalty” crimes: Violation of Guest Right; regicide; treason; murder/assassination of liege lord and King, Queen, and unborn Prince; and Lady Catelyn.
The Freys “are all dead” now, as Jaime reported (S7e1). Arya singlehandedly extinguished House Frey: 1 throat cutting + 2 carving and baking + 51 poisoning.
Now all I demand is a retraction and correction by Lord Manderly: ”I was wrong! Arya Stark avenged the Red Wedding!
It is my great privilege and utmost pleasure to cast my vote on behalf of Lena freaking Headey, whose scene letting all the cards fall on Ellaria and House Martell is possibly my favorite scene in all 7 seasons.
All others fall to the wayside for me, much as I love me some Dame Diana Rigg.
singedbylife,
Look for an announcement tomorrow about the awards ceremony 🙂
For me, the best speech this season was Daenerys’s Faith in herself. So well acted and written, was a culmination of everything shes been through.
Felipe,
I think it deserved to be on the list.
I love them all, but I ultimately voted for Olenna. Not only did the great Dame kill it (no pun intended), but she kept her cool until the very end, despite realizing that vengeance might not ultimately be hers (and that she wouldn’t live to see what does ultimately transpire).
Too many “ultimatelys,” Wolfish. Take it easy on the Dornish red.
In another vein: Watching all the scenes back-to-back, I was shocked to see that I had not taken note of the fact that both Sansa and Jaime pointedly admit that they are “slow learners.” Hmmm…
Luka Nieto,
Definitely Davos
Arya, Cersei, Davos. 1-2-3. Arya speech comfortably out front. Cersei/Davos battling for 2nd. QoT solidly in 4th. Sansa bringing up the rear in this one. Not even in contention. Underwhelming plot. Underwhelming speech. As great as Davos is, I’d probably have to give Cersei 2nd place. Her lines and demeanor were so calm but you know there was a raging fury underneath it all. And when Ellaria spit at her in the throne room & Cersei seemed orgasmic… Lena is just so damn amazing. Same for Maisie.
As great as 4 of those speeches were, I’ve been watching the re-airing of the earlier seasons and the dialogue and emotions aren’t nearly as good as they used to be. Tyrion with anyone was just pure gold. Same with Tywin. Arya & Tywin & Arya & the Hound… Priceless. Oberyn. (I hated Cat) but Michelle Fairley was EXCELLENT. Cersei. Varys.
Even after seeing these episodes multiple times & knowing what will happen, I still get emotional watching them… Those first 4 seasons were the greatest television of all time. Unbelievable casting, acting, & screenwriting.
Hm… difficult choice here. I can see the value of all of these in the context of the show. Yet, for me, the “best speech” should still be poignant when heard by someone who doesn’t know the story. For that reason, I went with Cersei’s speech. I believe it’s the one that would resonate with the widest public.
As an aside, I would like to say that I find it a pity that there isn’t a “best dialogue” category. IMO, the true essence of GOT/ASOIAF are the interesting verbal exchanges, expressed in an eloquent fashion. Best speech and best quote encompass only part of that, neglecting the interactions where characters feed off each other. And the “best dramatic scene” category is often geared towards action and shock value. Anyway, just my 2 cents… in the end I don’t need any award to reconfirm where the true value of the show lies for me 😉
All of them are great, and personally I can’t say one of them is better than the others. But I go for Arya/walder scene. The change when you found out it’s Arya is amazing. And it was a great start to open the season.
But how can you choose one of them, the farewell of Ollena Tyrell was just amazing, she died giving a last stab in the back of jaime and Cercei. Which helped Jaime choose to leave Cercei at the end of the season.
The Sand-(snake)off with Cercei: Amazing how in that scene you hate Cercei and you understand her actions, at the same time you feel pity for Ellaria and at the same time you can feel some sort of justice what she did to Myrcella.
The intro of Jon: Davos made it pretty clear that the Iron throne doesn’t matter, the war in the north matters.
Sansa talks to littlefinger: Even when I disliked the wat LF died. This speech is amazing. She manipulated the master manipulater. She shows for the first time her power and that she understand now the importance of family.
How can we effin choose 1? LOL
I gave mine to the Stark siblings as a group- the death of LF, but , all these speeches deserved it.
I may have voted for that if it was included, but it didn’t make the cut 😉
Tar Kidho,
If there was a “best dialogue” category, I think the Tyrion Cersei scene from 7×7 would take the cake.
IMO, Tyrion and Cersei are the heart and soul of the show in many ways, and that conversation was so honest and raw, because those 2 characters understand each other weirdly more so than any two other characters.
Tar Kidho,
…..a “best dialogue” category. IMO, the true essence of GOT/ASOIAF are the interesting verbal exchanges, expressed in an eloquent fashion.”
—————
That’d be interesting! Sort of like a best “duets” category. Some pairings that come to mind (with too many specific examples to list):
Bronn & Tyrion
Arya & The Hound
Jaime & Brienne
Ygritte & Jon
Davos & Stannis
Jorah & Daeny
Beric & Sandor
Tywin & Arya
Margaery & Renly
Olenna & Tywin
Varys & Tyrion
Cersei & Tyrion
Tyrion & Lancel
Stannis & Jon
Ned & Arya
Tormund & Jon
Gendry & Arya
Robert & Cersei
I’d better stop…
In my humble op, Lady Mormont gave the best speech, but since she didn’t make it to the finals, my vote goes to… the envelope please… the late, lamented Lady Olenna Tyrell.
And a happy new year to Watchers everywhere!
“Arya gives House Frey a sendoff, with Walder’s face” was of course my selection, for the reasons previously stated.
And because it defies the conventional wisdom that “Dead men don’t give speeches.”
Now if only Bran can time travel back a few years in S8 so we can have one more extended scene of Ygritte making fun of Jon Snow.
Ten Bears,
Ha, when I wrote my musings on “best dialogue” I first wanted to include a list of duo’s just like yours, but I decided not to because it grew ridiculously long 🙂
Tar Kidho,
I know! I started with three or four “duets”, and as I typed the list just kept getting longer and longer.
Best Speech: Cersei delivers vengeance for her daughter against the Sands
Close Second: Davos make a case for Jon’s cause before Daenerys
But I absolutely love all of these. Great set of nominees!
“Brave men, all of you. Butchering a woman pregnant with a baby. Cut the throat of a mother of five. Slaughter your guests after inviting them into your home. But you didn’t slaughter ever one of the Starks. No, no. That was your mistake. You should have ripped them all out, root and stem. Leave one wolf alive, and the sheep are never safe.”
Happy New Year!
I can’t decide which one is the best speech for me. Each one of these is a worthy contender. Maybe I make up my mind as I go.
Personally I rule out Cerseis speech first. As a dramatic scene in whole with the delivery and all it’s awesome, but the speech itself is lacking in memorableness for me. I could not recite a single line from it, if I had not read it a few seconds ago. And what I remember is that when I read it, “Why did you do this? Doesn’t matter now.” irritates me a little. And the last line falls flat for me. What made the scene so incredible was what the actors didn’t say, their performance, their expression.
On the other hand I can remember
“Turn family against family, turn sister against sister. That’s what you did to our mother and aunt Lysa and that’s what you tried to do to us.”,
“Tell Cersei, I want her to know it was me.”,
“Leave one Wolf alive and the sheep are never save.”+”Tell them, winter came for House Frey.” and
“If we don’t band together, then it doesn’t matter whose skeleton sits on the Iron Throne.” from the top of my head. These four have one or more punch lines that give me goosebumps just remembering/reading those lines.
Olennas speech is a little short for my taste.
It’s maybe worth mentioning that all speeches are written by D&D and three of them are from one episode (s7e3).
What makes Aryas speech so special for me is that there is a low key parallel to Tywin there.
Tywin gave the Lannisters unofficial family motto a new meaning besides that Lannisters always pay back dollaros. Arya just did that with the Stark official family motto in her speech. That paired with the fact that the poisoning is payback for the Red Wedding where they played “The Rains of Castamere” …and currently at the Twins: “But now the rains weep o’er his hall, with no one there to hear. Yes now the rains weep o’er his hall, and not a soul to hear.” So good.
But I still don’t know which to choose though, because Sansas and Davos speeches also give me the feels. By when have I to decide?
When it comes to speeches, I am more of a Henry V kind of person. So Davos it is. The rest, while good lines (especially Arya’s) were more of a mafia send-off kind of talk.
Cliohna,
”What makes Aryas speech so special for me is that there is a low key parallel to Tywin there.
Tywin gave the Lannisters unofficial family motto a new meaning besides that Lannisters always pay back dollaros. Arya just did that with the Stark official family motto in her speech. That paired with the fact that the poisoning is payback for the Red Wedding where they played “The Rains of Castamere” …and currently at the Twins: “But now the rains weep o’er his hall, with no one there to hear. Yes now the rains weep o’er his hall, and not a soul to hear.” So good.
But I still don’t know which to choose though, because Sansas and Davos speeches also give me the feels. By when have I to decide?”
———————-
• You have until today, Tuesday, 1/2/18 at 6 pm EDT to decide. That’s roughly three hours from now.
• However, it sounded to me like you made a compelling closing argument in favor of the Walder/Arya speech.
• PS I really liked your comparison of the Lannister and Stark “Payback” mottos.
“Tell Cersei. I want her to know it was me.” Olenna Tyrell. Classic! Hands down winner.