With the heartfelt reunions, exhilarating sword fights, and badass dragon battles happening on Game of Thrones Sunday night, you’d be forgiven for missing a small but delightful callback to a now-dead rival for the Iron Throne.
Before his woeful decision to let Melisandre sacrifice his only daughter, Stannis Baratheon was something of a cult favorite among Game of Thrones fans. His hardened pragmatism and sense of duty was almost refreshing compared to the amoral politics of King’s Landing. Known affectionately among fans as Stannis the Mannis, he believed in order—a sentiment that extended to his keen sense of grammar. On more than one occasion, Stannis corrected people who used the word “less” when they should have used “fewer.”
You see, “less” should be used when discussing things that have an indefinite quantity—”There is less wine in my cup than yours,” for example. Fewer should be used when the quantity can be tallied, like the number of horses, soldiers, or swords in your army.
Stannis’ grammar policing seems to have rubbed off on his right-hand man, Davos, who now serves Jon Snow. In Sunday’s episode, Jon and Davos are walking down a flight of stairs at Dragonstone talking about the Night King when this exchange happens:
Jon: How many men do we have in the north to fight him, 10,000? Less?
Davos: Fewer.
Jon: What?
Davos, perhaps not wanting to get into a grammar debate, quickly changes the subject. But eagle-eyed fans definitely noticed the Easter egg.
https://twitter.com/jowrotethis/status/894446554710384640
Stannis may be gone, but we’re thrilled his once-illiterate Onion Knight is taking on the role of Game of Thrones‘ resident grammar cop.