37 Characters With the Best Last Words in TV History
By Erin Qualey
Oberyn Martell – Game of Thrones
Last Words: “Elia Martell of Dorne. You raped her, you murdered her. You killed her children.”
How He Died: Had his head squashed like a watermelon by The Mountain in a Trial By Combat.
Why His Last Words Were So Great: Oberyn got ahead of himself.The only thing that changed throughout the Trial By Combat was the fervor in which he said the same sentences over and over again. Extremely reminiscent of Princess Bride‘s Inigo Montoya, Oberyn had one goal in that fight and it was avenging his sister’s murder. He didn’t care if The Mountain had remorse for his actions, he wanted him to think of his sister and her innocent children, mercilessly murdered for being Rhaegar’s family. He wanted to send a clear message to the Lannisters that he knew what that did and he would not rest until everyone knew exactly what they were, too.
Game of Thrones is notorious for taking characters out with the swing of a sword. Often it happens so fast that there isn’t really time for last words. Although in more recent cases, characters presumed dead turn out to be very much alive (i:e both Clegane brothers are still standing). It didn’t occur to Oberyn that he would not come out of the fray alive. It was his cockiness that truly killed him. But his words make our list for their directness. For reminding us that there are worse things than death in the Seven Kingdoms and that the worst kind of people were in charge. For all his lost potential in his swift demise, Oberyn didn’t waste a moment and, never forget, the Lannisters aren’t the only ones who pay their debts.