Game Of Thrones: Jon Snow’s Best Quotes

Game of Thrones is a fascinating show, filled with incredible characters, huge fight scenes, intricate plots, and a lot of truly great writing. Not only have the many different characters that starred in the show all got highlight reels filled with great writing from throughout the show, but looking back now, many significant character development moments were hidden in the best one-liners.

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Jon Snow is one of the characters who can truly be considered a primary protagonist. Despite most characters being a shade of gray in Game of Thrones, Jon Snow was always one of the most clear-cut white knight figures, and his best quotes signify some of the most significant moments in the history of the series.

Updated April 25, 2024 by Chris Harkin: There are so many fantastic moments throughout Game of Thrones that it is difficult to choose just a few to represent one of the show’s best characters. Jon Snow was ever-present in the changeful cast, and his growth was one of the most significant journeys in the series.

Though the show has ended, there are always more great moments of writing from Game of Thrones for fans to rediscover, even from some of the less eloquent characters, such as Jon Snow.

1 “Stick Them With The Pointy End”

The Kingsroad – Season 1, Episode 2

• Said to Arya Stark
• The First Time Arya Received Fighting Advice

There is a special kind of bond between Jon Snow and Arya Stark, despite their very different journeys and lack of on-screen time spent together. This was one of the closest bonds shown between the various members of the Stark family, who all lived together for a long time before the events of the show began, and this intimate moment before these two parted for a long time is touching.

Jon gives Arya her sword, Needle, a weapon she uses consistently throughout the series. This friendly, funny piece of advice is the first of many wise words given to her by the many different mentors she has as she grows up. It is also one of the few intimate moments Jon gets to have with any of his family, most of them being gone by the time he returns from the Wall.

2 “Sam’s No Different From The Rest Of Us”

Cripples, Bastards, and Broken Things – Season 1, Episode 4

• Said to The Night’s Watch Recruits
• The Beginning Of A Beautiful Friendship

Jon Snow and Samwell Tarly are great friends throughout the show, despite the differences between them and their separation later in the series. Early on, Jon is the only thing standing between Sam and a hellish life at the Wall. Immediately after Sam’s arrival, he is picked on by Alliser Thorne and his fellow recruits.

But Jon, having quickly had enough of their taunting, helps Sam by telling the others to leave him alone. This, early on, showed Jon’s resilience of character. He was never made for the complicated scheming of the Southerners in King’s Landing, like his father. If Jon saw injustice he had to correct it. This proved early on that he was the show’s white knight.

3 “I Do Know Some Things”

Mhysa – Season 3, Episode 10

• Said to Ygritte
• A Tender Moment Of True Love

It’s easy, by the conclusion of the show, to remember Jon’s relationship with Daenerys and forget about Ygritte, but his experiences with her helped him reach the conclusions about Dany that he had to, in the end. This moment, in which he forsakes his vow to the Night’s Watch, he confesses his love to her, subverting her usual “you know nothing Jon Snow” line, is a beautiful one.

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Even though it was immediately followed by Ygritte shooting him with three arrows, Jon never lost hope in her, till her dying day. Even then, his heart never hardened, even death couldn’t steel him against the love for Daenerys that was to come. But he learned the hard way, both times, that love is blinding.

4 “They Were Born On The Wrong Side Of The Wall. Doesn’t Make Them Monsters”

The Wars To Come – Season 5, Episode 1

• Said To Stannis Baratheon & Ser Davos
• A Stark Reminder Of Circumstance & Division

Jon Snow is almost always correct in deeming what is fair. He respects even his enemies and tries to treat everyone as an equal. This becomes even more apparent after he’s spent time with the Wildlings, as he advocates for them in his role as Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch, saving thousands by bringing them south of the wall before winter.

Equality is severely lacking in Westeros. But Jon Snow is one of the few true honorable men in the series. He always wants to give people chances, and all of this is a huge part of what would have made him one of the best choices to take the Iron Throne, had events not transpired against that occurring in the end.

5 “My Watch Is Ended”

Oathbreaker – Season 6, Episode 3

• Said to The Night’s Watch
• Moving From One Life To Another, Literally

Jon Snow’s death was one of the more shocking moments in the entirety of Game of Thrones, coming in one of the best episodes. Fans, expecting him to be one of the final major players in Westeros, couldn’t believe he’d perished. However, Melisandre brought him back using a ritual, and he was forced to take vengeance on the people who had betrayed him.

Looking like he would re-assume the role of Lord Commander, Jon executed the treasonous men who had murdered him. However, he then gave his cloak to his friend Edd, telling him to lead in his stead, as his watch had ended with his previous death. Jon was always incredibly loyal to the Night’s Watch, considering his life to be truly given to the vows he had made. This fascinating loophole showed that Jon was finally ready to take his place among the players in the great game, though he didn’t prove to be Azor Ahai like Melisandre thought him.

6 “Everything Before The Word But Is Horse-Sh*t”

Dragonstone – Season 7, Episode 1

• Said to Sansa Stark
• The Words Of A King, The Wisdom Of A Father

After being named King of the North, Jon Snow had to contend with leadership problems. When told by Sansa that the Lords love him, he interrupts her with the wisdom of Ned Stark. Despite discovering that Eddard was never his real father, Jon loved, respected, and even took after the former Lord of Winterfell in many ways.

These wise words, attributed by Jon to Eddard, make for a great quote because they remind fans how alike the white knight Eddard his supposed bastard son was. His leadership style from that moment on is explained easily as generally being what Eddard himself would have done in many such situations.

7 “Not Just The Boys”

Dragonstone – Season 7, Episode 1

• Said to The Northern Lords
• An Acknowledgment Of Changing Times

In the same episode, the Northern Lords are speaking about how they can defend the North from the imminent threat of the White Walker army, speaking about how dragon glass and Valyrian Steel can kill them. When someone mentions that it’s time they taught these summer boys how to fight, Jon reminds them that everyone must engage in this battle, to the approval of characters like Brienne of Tarth.

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Of course, this makes perfect sense. The old sensibilities of Westeros involve women not fighting in such battles, but Jon knows only too well after his experiences with the White Walkers that they need everyone they can get in the upcoming battle. This was also something of a call-back to his time with the Wildlings, who proved how well women can fight.

8 “I Am Not Beholden To My Ancestor’s Vows”

The Queen’s Justice – Season 7, Episode 3

• Said to Daenerys Targaryen
• The Irony About To Be Uncovered

Fans in the know about Jon’s real heritage got to watch his first meeting with Daenerys with some amusement. Jon was only half-Stark and was actually a Targaryen by birth. As the nephew of Daenerys, their relationship was a strange one. This first interaction was indicative of the discomfort many characters felt in the presence of Dany in the final seasons.

Despite being asked to kneel by Daenerys, Jon initially stood his ground in this encounter, determined to seek her assistance with the Long Night but making sure that she knew he would not simply bend the knee because his ancestors had. As it turned out, he had at least as much claim to the Iron Throne as Daenerys herself, but neither of them knew that at the time.

9 “They Were The Shields That Guarded The Realms Of Men”

The Last of the Starks – Season 8, Episode 4

• Said to Everyone
• A Recognition Of Jon’s Entire Journey

Many fans of Game of Thrones were upset that the Battle of Winterfell, where the Night King finally fell, wasn’t the conclusion to the final season, the long night having been teased for so long. However, the sacrifices made by many in that battle were significant, and well-remembered by those who were left behind. Jon honored everyone alike in the way that the Night’s Watch would have done.

A common saying about the Night’s Watch is that they are the shields guarding the realms of men, but Jon attributed that statement to all who died in that climactic battle. Despite the big role he had to play in the final two episodes, this was already a finale of sorts for Jon, having led an army to a victory worthy of what he’d dreamed about since the day he joined the Night’s Watch.

10 “Love Is The Death Of Duty”

The Iron Throne – Season 8, Episode 6

• Said to Tyrion Lannister
• Echoed Words That Sum Up Jon’s Hardest Choices

Once again echoing the words of wise men, Jon repeats this quote from Master Aemon in the finale, when Tyrion is trying to encourage him to end Daenerys once and for all. This was one of the most beautiful, tragic, and memorable quotes in the entirety of the show’s history. It echoed Jon’s experiences with Ygritte and assured him of what he had to do next.

Jon was a man of love, not just Ygritte and Dany. The love he felt for his family, for the Night’s Watch and the friends he made there, and for life itself, were the driving factors in his life. He realized at last that his actions had helped hand Westeros to a madwoman all because he was in love with her, and when Tyrion echoed back to him that “sometimes duty is the death of love”, he knew what he had to do.

Game of Thrones

First Episode Air Date

April 17, 2011

Where to watch

HBO Max