While webs of lies abound in George R. R. Martin's fantasy universe, some harsh truths are regularly pointed out without sugarcoating.
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TV Adaptations
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
- When Cersei asks Robert if there was ever a possibility of their marriage working, he bluntly tells her no. He says this sadly, however.
- During his Establishing Character Moment, Stannis freely admits that he and Robert never loved each other when Matthos is dictating a letter for him.Stannis: He wasn't "my beloved brother." I didn't love him. He didn't love me.
Davos: A harmless courtesy, Your Grace.
Stannis: A lie. Take it out. - During the same Establishing Character Moment, when Stannis is warned that hundreds will die storming the beaches around King's Landing, Stannis corrects the speaker that thousands will.
- Renly is usually snarky with Littlefinger, but in "Garden of Bones", he is sick of beating around the bush, as their banter no longer amuses him, saying, "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."
- When little Robin Arryn reappears in Season 4, this is one aspect of his Creepy Child behavior. He tells Sansa, "Mummy said they killed your mother and they chopped off your brother's head."
- When Jon arrives with a pretty entitled attitude due to his rather privileged upbringing in a castle, Benjen tells Jon in no uncertain terms that he is no better than anyone else at the Wall; they are all brothers: a man gets what he earns when he earns it. It works.
- Tywin is never one to spare someone's feelings in his analysis of their deficiencies. Perhaps his most noteworthy example is when he tells Tommen what a terrible king his older brother 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.
- Dolorous Edd admits he abandoned Sam in "Valar Morghulis" because Sam was fat and slow.
- Rickard Karstark to Robb in "Dark Wings, Dark Words":Rickard: "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." After meeting him, Jaime is so surprised by the treatment that he has to ask Bronn if he talks to Tyrion in that way, too.
- Bronn has another moment with this trope after Tyrion attempts to goad Bronn into fighting Gregor Clegane for him by asking if Bronn is afraid. Bronn bluntly explains that yes, he is afraid, and why shouldn't he be afraid of someone two feet taller, nearly twice as heavy, with better training and gear and the temperament of a rabid dog with a toothache? He also explains that for all that Tyrion has been a generous and likeable employer, that's all he is to Bronn, an employer, and that's not enough to make going one-on-one with the Mountain sound like a good idea. Tyrion concedes the point and they part amicably.
- 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, as she's unashamed of it (they aren't stigmatized in Dorne).
- 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 fatally shooting Mance Rayder, which understandably enrages the Wildlings until Tormund explains it was a Mercy Kill.
- The Smalljon inherited his father's mouth for sure. He calls Roose Bolton a cunt, repeatedly, to his son's face and openly admits that he knows Ramsay killed Roose.
- Lyanna Mormont is not one for softening her words or the reality of the situation when Jon and Sansa visit her to ask her house's help against the Boltons. The Starks didn't come to reminisce, they came for her soldiers, no point wasting time chatting. Jon's an illegitimate son while Sansa's been married twice, making neither a legal Stark. And if they want her to send what little men she has into yet another battle for the Starks, then they had best give her a damn good reason. She's honest about herself, too: when Sansa tries to compliment her by saying that she'll grow up to be a great beauty, Lyanna responds: "I doubt it. My mother wasn't a great beauty or any other kind of beauty."
- Robett Glover doesn't hide his bitterness about Robb's mistakes.
- Some of the things the Hound says to Sansa about her situation are very blunt, but they're not wrong either, and are even good advice in the sense that he was urging her not to have any naïve illusions. For example, when he says he's a good killer and she's upset, he accurately points out that both her father and brother Robb are soldiers and both killed men too, whatever reasons they had for it.
- Tyrion doesn't hesitate to speak his mind when he thinks the situation calls for it. This often gains him respect for his earnestness but also lands him in problems from time to time when his abrupt input is not appreciated. Daenerys, however, appreciates his honesty, which results in her initially taking him on as her advisor, and then ultimately, her Hand (a position in which brutal honesty is required).
- Euron Greyjoy makes no bones about having committed regicide and Kinslaying. Oddly enough, he calculates the situation so that this works to his favor: the sheer audacity at admitting this makes him win the Iron Islands to his side.Euron Greyjoy: I apologize to you all for not killing him years ago.
- Aeron Greyjoy bluntly states that Yara's chances of winning the Kingsmoot are slim.
House of the Dragon
- Rhaenys doesn't mince words when telling Rhaenyra the harsh political realities they live under in a patriarchal feudal society. Viserys will have to remarry eventually and is likely to produce a son. Men would rather break the decades-long peace and plunge the realm into the horrors of civil war to crown that younger brother than bend the knee to a woman on the Iron Throne.
