House of the Dragon Best Quotes (Season 1)

"The truth does not matter, only perception." – King Viserys

"Our worth is not given. It must be made." – Corlys Velaryon 

"If a king isn't feared, he is powerless. If you are to be a strong queen, you must cultivate love and respect, yes, but your subjects must fear you." – Daemon

"Do not allow your temper to guide your judgment." – King Viserys

King Viserys: "Daemon has ambition, yes, but not for the throne. He lacks the patience for it." Otto: "The gods have yet to make a man who lacks the patience for absolute power, your grace." 

"Every man on my small council and all councils past has been self-interested. It is unavoidable." – King Viserys

"I am forever doomed to anger one person in the pleasing of another." – King Viserys

"There are times when I would rather face the Black Dread [a dragon] himself than my own daughter of fifteen." – King Viserys

"The wise sailor flees the storm as it gathers." – Laenor Velaryon

A big theme in House of the Dragon: Marriage is the best way to make powerful allies. Who you marry matters a lot. Who your family members marry matters a lot. 

• Arnold Schwarzenegger did this in real life. Arnold married JFK's sister. Arnold's daughter married actor Chris Pratt.

"House Velaryon's origins reach back to Old Valyria. More ancient even than House Targaryen, according to some texts. But unlike the Targaryens, we were no dragonlords. For centuries, my house had to scratch out an existence from the sea with grit and luck. When I ascended the driftwood throne, I knew what I wanted, so I went out and seized it. Unlike every other lord of the realm, I can say that I built my house's high seat with the strength of my own back." – Corlys Velaryon 

"It is I, the younger brother, who studies history and philosophy. It is I who trains with a sword. Who rides the largest dragon in the world." – Aemond Targaryen

"We're both men who had to cut our own way through the world. We've been passed over too often." – Corlys Velaryon 

"The iron throne is the most dangerous seat in the realm." – King Viserys 

• There's an Ancient Greek anecdote that illustrates this called "the sword of Damocles". Damocles was a courtier in the court of King Dionysius I. According to the story, Damocles told King Dionysius that he was lucky to be so powerful and wealthy. In response, Dionysius offered to switch places with Damocles for one day so that Damocles could see what it was like to be king. Damocles quickly and eagerly accepted the king's proposal. Damocles sat on the king's throne amid countless luxuries. There were beautifully embroidered rugs, fragrant perfumes, and the most select of foods, piles of silver and gold, and the service of attendants unparalleled in their beauty, surrounding Damocles with riches and excess. But Dionysius, who had made many enemies during his reign, arranged that a sword should hang above the throne, hanging only by a single horse hair to evoke the sense of what it is like to be king: despite having wealth and power, always having to watch in fear and anxiety against dangers that might end his life. Damocles finally begged the king to be allowed to depart because he no longer wanted the crown, realizing that while he had everything he could ever want, it was not worth the danger.

King Dionysius effectively conveyed the constant fear in which a person with great power may live. Dionysius committed many cruelties in his rise to power, such that he could never go on to rule justly because that would make him vulnerable to his enemies.

"You are the king, but I do not envy you." – Otto

"Your mother's [death] is a wound that will never heal." – King Viserys

"Are you saying my brother would murder me? Take my crown?" – King Viserys

"When my mother died, people only spoke to me in riddles. All I ever wanted was for them to say they were sorry for what happened to me." – Alicent

Alicent: "You're always like this when you're worried." Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen: "Like what?" Alicent: "Disagreeable."

Mysaria: "I came to you to be liberated." Daemon: "Liberated from what?" Mysaria: "Fear." 

"That man's pride has pride." – King Viserys

"The road ahead is uncertain, but the end is clear." – Otto

"This is an equitable compromise." – Corlys  Velaryon

• This is how all negotiations should end.

Princess Rhaenyra: "I was never much of a dancer." Laenor Velaryon: "It's not much different to combat." 

"I have to believe that in the end honor and decency will prevail." – Alicent

Princess Rhaenyra's go-to defense against any accusation is to deny, lie, and say it's a rumor. 

"Father ignores me."

"The man I married was more than this." – Laena to Daemon

"You may do as you wish, husband, when I'm cold and in my grave." – Alicent

"History does not remember blood, it remembers names." – Corlys Velaryon 

"Exhausting, wasn't it? Hiding beneath the cloak of your own righteousness. But now they see you as you are." – Princess Rhaenyra to Alicent

"We play [in] an ugly game [of thrones]. But now, for the first time, I see that you have the determination to win it." – Otto

"A tyrant rules only through terror." – Daemon

Aemond killed his nephew for blinding him in one eye 16 years earlier. 

• "The truly vindictive are as patient as saints." – Katherine Oppenheimer, Oppenheimer (2023)