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About This Quiz
You can't watch "Game of Thrones" without understanding the lingo. It's impossible. With thousands of years of history and countless cities, countries and people, knowing the difference between King's Landing and Winterfell, or the Unsullied and the Gold Cloaks, is essential to following along. But that's just the beginning.
There are seven kingdoms of Westeros and they all have unique names, features and residents. There are 10 Great Houses in the kingdom and they all have their own mottos and sayings. There are countless cities beyond Westeros like the free cities of Braavos, Pentos and Volantis, and they all have ruling families who live in giant castles that all have specific names, sigils and mottos. And if that isn't enough, the story takes place in archaic times with archaic language. Then you have to add in Wildling slang, Dothraki slang and low and high Valyrian, plus whatever other languages are floating around, and you can start to understand all the lingo.
You can fill a real dictionary with just lingo from "Game of Thrones." It's a lot of stuff to remember, but if you're a fan of the show, you should remember it all. "Game of Thrones" is over, but its legacy is just beginning. Do you know all the lingo used in the show?
Master of Whisperers
Grand Maester
The dragon
Hand of the King
Tyrion Lannister is Hand of the King under King Bran Stark and he held the position under Joffrey and Daenarys as well. The King's Hand or Lord Hand is the king's right hand man and the second in command in all the Six Kingdoms.
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King's Landing
King's Landing is the capital of Westeros, but unlike D.C., it is the most populous city in the kingdom. Like D.C., it is full of corruption, scandal and crime and is the source of strife for all the commoners in the Kingdom.
Winterfell
Dorne
The Vale
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Walk of shame
Trial by combat
Bedding ceremony
Time is of the essence when everyone is always at war, so there was no time for honeymoons in "Game of Thrones." A wedding ceremony didn't end until all the guests carried the newlyweds to bed in what was called the bedding ceremony.
Bending the knee
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Dragonglass
Wildfire
Lord Tyrion's secret weapon for stopping Lord Stannis and his forces when they tried to sack King's Landing via naval attack was a massive stockpile of wildfire. It almost worked, but Stannis and his men still made it ashore and weren't defeated until Tywin Lannister arrived.
Longclaw
Valyrian Steel
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You know nothing, Jon Snow.
The night is dark and full of terrors.
This is Melissandre's motto and she said it several times throughout the show. She often said it right before her ritual sacrifices and she worshiped the Lord of Light. She used fire to burn away the darkness and terrors.
Chaos is a ladder.
Winter is coming.
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Admit wrongdoings
Partake in a duel
Beg for forgiveness
Submit to another king or queen
Jamie Lannister dropped this line to Tyrion near the end of the show when all hell was about to break loose and it looked like Cersei could lose King's Landing. To bend the knee means to swear allegiance to a ruler.
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They are direwolves.
We first see the direwolves in episode one when the Stark kids rescue them in the woods. They don't last long. Sansa's wolf, Lady, gets killed very early on for biting Joffrey, and Arya's and John's wolves Nymeria and Ghost are the only ones that survive the show.
They are located in the Iron Islands.
They are blood magic spells.
They all lead an army.
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Great Spring Sickness
Greyscale
Greyscale eventually turns your skin into a flaky, stone callus and is usually fatal. Almost everyone with greyscale lives with the Stone Men on abandoned islands, and the disease is so contagious that you just have to touch someone to catch it.
Acne
Poisoning
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Wine
Essence of Nightshade
Shade of the Evening
Milk of the Poppy
Jaime Lannister was humbled after his right hand got chopped off, but he still refused the painkiller Milk of the Poppy when his infected wound needed treatment. We never learn why but it might be because he didn't trust Qyburn, who was expelled from the Citadel for medical malpractice.
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Three-Eyed Raven
After the entire series we still don't know exactly how Bran became Bran, but when he was pushed from that window in season one, he somehow got pushed on to the path to become the Three-Eyed Raven. He forgot what happened, but then had his first vision of the bird.
Weirwood Robin
Golden messenger raven
The warg owl
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A Lannister always pays his debts.
We don't know who invented this motto, but Tyrion is one of the first people to utter it in the show and everybody in Westeros knows it. It means that a Lannister always repays favors, and the motto holds true on several occasions.
The Iron Bank will have its due.
What is dead may never die.
Winter is coming.
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Crows
Wildlings love to eat crow, which means they love to kill members of the Night's Watch, but they and everyone else in Westeros probably eat actual crows, too. Wildlings often wear white and crows usually wear black.
Wildlings
Free Folk
Andals
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The Citadel
The Citadel is part think tank and part university and it is home to the most educated learners in Westeros. The scholars that live there work on the country's most complicated scientific matters and update the kingdoms on their findings.
Iron Bank of Braavos
House of Black and White
The Red Keep
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Hattori Hanzo steel
Valyrian steel
There is barely any Valyrian steel left in Westeros and it is one of the most powerful metals in the kingdom. It can kill White Walkers and very few people get swords made from the metal. The only way to get on is to be gifted one.
Milk of the Poppy
Essence of nightshade
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The North remembers.
The Stark family is a victim of the Lannisters from the onset of the show, and there are plenty of people in the North who remember all the atrocities like Ned's execution and the "Red Wedding." This phrase is used to acknowledge allegiance to the Starks.
What is dead may never die.
Chaos is a ladder.
Valar Morghulis
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Kessa
Dracarys
Dracarys is the High Valyrian word for "dragonfire," and as soon as Daenerys learned the command she taught her dragons how to barbecue their food before eating it. She then used the command to destroy King's Landing.
Valar morghulis
Geros ilas
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A retrial
To plead the fifth
A phone call
Trial by combat
We first learn this rule when Tyrion requests a trial by combat to avoid execution via moon door at the Eyrie. A man named Bronn fights for him, and Bronn eventually becomes Ser Bronn and then Lord Bronn as he proves his Lannister loyalty time and time again.
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Pin
Thread
Stitch
Needle
Arya Stark spends about seven seasons walking around and training to become an assassin, and one of the first thing she learns is to give her sword a name. She names it Needle in season one and keeps it for the entire series.
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Sellsword
Warg
Being a warg is one of the greatest superpowers in the history of superpowers, and it's ridiculous the Iron Throne didn't employ one on its Small Council. Bran is the main warg of the show, and he's also the Three-Eyed Raven and the ruler of the Six Kingdoms.
Turncoat
Wildling
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Longclaw
Heartsbane
Oathkeeper
Tywin Lannister made two Valyrian steel swords as heirlooms for his family by melting Ed Stark's sword called Ice. Joffrey named his sword Widow's Wail, and Jamie Lannister didn't name it anything but he gave it to Brienne of Tarth as a gift, and she named it Oathkeeper.
Dawn
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Bedding ceremony
Walk of shame
Nameday celebration
The Westerosian version of a birthday party is a nameday celebration. One of the most famous nameday celebrations we see in the show is Joffrey's party. A nameday celebration in real life is when people celebrate the feast of whatever saint they are named after.
Execution
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But rises again harder and stronger
The Iron Islands are ruled by the Ironborn and the Ironborn follow the religion of the Drowned God. This popular saying is used from the beginning of the show until its end and will continued to be used by the clan as long as they live.
Not today
The night is dark and full of terrors.
In the eyes of gods and men
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A lion does not concern himself with the opinion of sheep.
A Lannister always pays his debts.
The night is dark and full of terrors.
The man who passes the sentence should swing the sword.
In the pilot episode of the show, we learn that Ned Stark is a man of his word who teaches his kids honor and integrity by dropping this classic line. When Joffrey passes the sentence for Ned Stark's execution, he has someone else swing the sword.
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The North remembers.
Winter is here.
A girl has no name.
Arya spent a good deal of time training with the assassins in Braavos known as the Faceless Men. It was common for them to refer to people in third person with little detail, and Arya's goal at the House of Black and White was to become no one.
Arya Stark of Winterfell
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Family, duty, honor
What is dead may never die.
The cold winds are rising.
And now his watch has ended.
This common phrase can be heard being uttered by members of the Night's Watch in memory of the recently deceased. Another common phrase used by the Night's Watch is "for the watch," which is what each member says when they stab Jon Snow.
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Khaleesis
Khals
Vaes Dothrak is a Dothraki holy city where sword fighting is forbidden, but you're allowed to kill someone with your bare hands. It is home to the Dosh Khaleen, who are a group of khaleesi widows who look over the city. Khaleesis are women married to Dothraki khals.
Khalassars
Nobody
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Fall on their own sword
To fall on one's own sword is to take blame or responsibility for a wrongdoing, but when they say it in "Game of Thrones," they mean it literally. Daenerys is told the soldiers are so obedient that they will fall on their sword if commanded.
Never forget what they are
Always repay a debt
Cleanse the terrors
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The King of the North
Winter is coming.
Ned Stark utters this famous phrase in the earliest scenes of the show's first episode. It is his motto and known as a Stark motto all around the world. It warns others to be prepared for impending doom. Arya uses it to mean Stark wrath.
What is dead may never die.
Never forget what you are.
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You only get one chance.
You learn a lot.
Your life changes forever.
You win or you die.
Shortly before Ned Stark is beheaded by Joffrey, Cersei tells him that he should've taken the throne for himself when he had the chance. When he says it wasn't a mistake that he didn't, she says, "When you play the game of thrones, you either win or you die. There is no middle ground." That's everything you need to know about the show.
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The Unsullied
Sons of the Harpy
Everything started well for Daenarys but then she tried to implement too much change too quickly. When she abolished slavery and turned Slaver's Bay into the Bay of Dragons, the slavers she put out of business formed a secret group and plotted to overthrow her.
The Dothraki
The Gold Cloaks
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Essence of Nightshade
Milk of the Poppy
Blood magic
There's nothing you can do when a shadow pops up in your bedroom and kills you, and that's exactly what happened to Renly Baratheon. The shadow had the face of Lord Stannis, and the only person who saw it, Brienne of Tarth, spent the show avenging his death.
Dragonglass
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Hands of Gold
Ballad of the Forresters
The Bear and the Maiden Fair
The Rains of Castamere
We never saw Tywin Lannister's destruction of rebels at House Reyne, but if you don't believe it happened, there is a song to prove it. The song is most famous for playing during the Red Wedding when Rob and Catelyn Stark were killed.
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Not today
Arya learns the answer to this question in season one when she begins training with the Braavos sword master hired to train her. He sparks her interest in the art and it leads her on a journey that lasts the entire show and beyond.
Never forget what you are
Valar morghullis
Valar dohaeris
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First Sword of Braavos
Master of Whisperers
The Master of Whisperers sits on the Small Council as the intelligence director of the kingdom. The seat is held by Varys for most of the show, and his intelligence officers are a bunch of little kids he calls little birds.
Lord Commander of the Kingsguard
Defender of the Citadel
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There isn't one.
We're introduced to the wailing tribe of warriors early on in the show, and no scene can describe them better than when Daenarys admits she doesn't know the Dothraki word for "thank you," and Ser Jorah tells her there isn't one.
Gezrikh
Hrakkarikh
Valar dohaeris
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Kessa
Valar dohaeris
Valar morghulis
This High Valyrian phrase serves as one of the oldest adages in the world and is responded to with valar dohaeris, which means "all men must serve." Arya learns about the phrase during her assassin training.
Rytsas
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White Walker
Lowborn
Wight
The White Walkers are half-man, half-ice creatures that live in the far north, and they can resurrect the dead. The resurrected are known as wights and they make up the Army of the Dead. If you kill a White Walker, all the wights he or she resurrected also die.
Free Folk
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A glass of wine
Shade of the Evening
Milk of the Poppy
Essence of Nightshade
During the Battle of Blackwater, Cersei takes Tommen and a vial of Essence of Nightshade to the throne room, sits on the Iron Throne and awaits the fate of King's Landing. Her father eventually bursts through the doors and saves the day, and Tommen and Cersei eventually assume the throne on separate occasions.
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Andals
The Andals arrived on Westeros when the First Men already lived there, and they pushed the First Men out without even having a thanskgiving meal first. The First Men moved North and their offspring became the Wildlings.
Children of the Forest
Gold Cloaks
Wildlings
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Ruler of the Dothraki
Princess of Qarth
Lady of Dragonstone
Daenerys Targaryen had a long title, and she was also a queen, a princess and a khaleesi at different points, but she was never a queen of the free cities or a princess of Qarth. She ruled the Dohtrakis but wasn't known as the ruler of the Dothrakis. She is from the island of Dragonstone.
Queen of the Free Cities
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