Quotes That Sum Up House Stark Perfectly In Game Of Thrones

Highlights

The Starks of Winterfell have a deep sense of loyalty and honor, as seen in their commitment to their family and their ancestral home.
The Starks are natural leaders, but their naivety and lack of political experience have often proven to be their downfall.
The Starks' House words, "Winter Is Coming," serve as a constant reminder of their responsibility to prepare for the hardships and challenges that lie ahead.

The North saw the coronation of Sansa Stark as Queen in Game of Thrones Season 8, Episode 6 "The Iron Throne." One of the Greats, House Stark underwent radical changes with the evolving geopolitics of Westeros. The ancient Stark kings held the titles "King of Winter," and "King in the North," and after Aegon's Conquest, they were reduced to Warden of the North rank.

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The newer generation on Thrones continued to be inspired by their House Words, way of life, and values that older Starks embraced. Loyalty, leadership, and naivety are some of the traits that were observed early on in the Starks of Winterfell on Game of Thrones. It so happens the show boasts memorable quotes that illustrate what being Stark means.

1 "The Madness Of Mercy."

Season 1, Episode 8 "The Pointy End"

Lord Eddard Stark is held in the Black Cells in Game of Thrones.

Ned Stark

Lord Varys visits Ned Stark in the Black Cells after he is imprisoned at Joffrey and Cersei's orders on false charges of treason. The king's Master of Whisperers and one of the smartest characters in Game of Thrones acts as a foil to the relatively naive Ned Stark.

Varys asks Ned:

What madness led you to tell the queen you'd learned the truth about Joffrey's birth?

Ned calls his madness "mercy," and adds he did so thinking Cersei might run far from the capital and save her children. Ned showed a lack of experience in political affairs, and this naivety, and lack of foresight, was seen in his heir, Robb, too.

2 "There Sits The Only King I Mean To Bend My Knee To - The King In The North!"

Season 1, Episode 10 "Fire and Blood"

Robb Stark at his encampment in Game of Thrones.

Greatjon Umber

As soon as Robb receives word of Ned's imprisonment, he calls his father's bannermen to Winterfell. He plans to march south and free Ned from the Lannisters' clutches, but Joffrey publicly executes him before Robb can make it to King's Landing.

Ned Stark's boisterous liege lord, Greatjon Umber, mourns the execution of another Stark in the North. First, Lord Rickard Stark and his eldest son, Brandon, were unjustly killed by the Mad King, and now, another Stark fell in the South. This prompts Greatjon to say:

Renly Baratheon is nothing to me, nor Stannis neither. Why should they rule over me and mine from some flowery seat in the South? What do they know of the Wall or the Wolfswood? Even their gods are wrong! Why shouldn't we rule ourselves again? It was the dragons we bowed to... and now the dragons are dead!

Greatjon bends his knee to Robb Stark, and the rest of the bannermen follow suit. Robb - the Young Wolf, is at the outset of his journey, and being proclaimed as King in the North just like his ancestors is a massive achievement. He is a natural leader like his forefathers.

3 "Winterfell Is Our Home..."

Season 6, Episode 4 "Book of the Stranger"

Sansa Stark
"Winterfell is our home. It's ours and Arya's and Bran's and Rickon's. Wherever they are, it belongs to our family."

Sansa Stark is forced to run away from her home because the monstrous Ramsay Bolton occupies it. She travels to Castle Black to be reunited with her supposed half-brother, Jon Snow.

Split image showing Jon Snow's Longclaw and Ned Stark's Ice in Game of Thrones.

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Sansa is surrounded by Jon and her sworn protector, Brienne of Tarth, but deep down, she knows the Boltons are coming for all of them. Sansa wants Jon to retake their ancestral seat as it is their home. Winterfell belongs to the Starks in the same sense as the Eyrie is to the Arryns or Dragonstone to the Targaryens. Sansa tells Jon she will fight Ramsay with or without his help because nowhere is truly safe while he lives.

4 "We Know No King But The King In The North Whose Name Is Stark..."

Season 6, Episode 10 "Winds of Winter"

Split image of Lyanna Mormont and Jon Snow in Game of Thrones.

Lyanna Mormont
"We know no king but the King In The North whose name is Stark. I don't care if he's a bastard. Ned Stark's blood runs through his veins. He's my king – from this day until his last day."

Lyanna Mormont of Bear Island speaks these words. Lady Lyanna became the head of her House, as her mother died fighting for Robb Stark in his rebellion.

After Jon wins the Battle of the Bastards against Ramsay Bolton, the Umbers, and the Karstarks, he calls a gathering of Northern lords to reunite the North. Lyanna shames Lord Manderly, Lord Glover, and Lord Cerwyn for refusing the call and proudly declares that House Mormont stood by House Stark as it has for thousands of years. Lyanna finds the Stark reinstatement as the perfect moment to break free of the Southerners and the puppet wardens they installed in the North. She proclaims Jon Snow as king, giving him the traditional title held by Stark monarchs.

5 "The North Remembers."

Season 5, Episode 3 "High Sparrow"

A Servant

No sooner had Sansa Stark arrived at Winterfell than a lowborn woman in service to the treacherous and the disgraceful Boltons said these words to her. After Robb Stark's fall in the Red Wedding massacre, Tywin Lannister elevates Roose Bolton to the rank of Warden of the North and gives him Winterfell.

Split image of Jon Snow's Longclaw in Game of Thrones.

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The Stark loyalists, however, still remember their benevolent leaders and mourn the inhuman treatment meted out to them at the Twins. House Stark ruled the North for thousands of years, and Winterfell was built by a Stark named Brandon. The serving lady welcomes Sansa inside her ancestral seat and is honest about the regime change.

6 "When The Snows Fall And The White Winds Blow..."

Season 7, Episode 7 "The Dragon and the Wolf"

Arya and Sansa at Winterfell in Game of Thrones.

Ned Stark (Originally)
"When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies but the pack survives."

After executing Littlefinger for murder and treason, the Stark sisters sort out their differences at the Winterfell battlements. Winter has finally arrived and Arya recalls the various lessons their father taught them.

Ned Stark always emphasized unity among his children and brethren. It bothered him that his daughters were at loggerheads. Years later, after his execution, the grown-up sisters look back on the past. The Starks, who are natives of the dreary North, were always taught to be on the lookout for the dreadful things that came with winter. As leaders of the North, they have traditionally been responsible for protecting their own and those they rule over.

7 "Winter Is Coming."

Season 1, Episode 1 "Winter Is Coming"

Ned Stark and Catelyn Stark in Game of Thrones.

Ned Stark (& Others)

The Starks always warn their ilk about winter, and Ned says his House words for the first time in the pilot episode. His men had just found a Night's Watch deserter, and he ordered the boys, including the ten-year-old Bran, to saddle their horses and ride out with him to carry out the execution.

"Winter Is Coming" is a phrase that the Starks of Winterfell use in their everyday language. It is their House motto and among the best House words in Game of Thrones. Since the Starks must prepare the North for the hardships of winter, these words are to live by.