13 Years Later, Little Finger’s Best ‘Game of Thrones’ Quote is Still a All-Time Great HBO Line
The article argues that Petyr Baelish’s line, “It doesn’t matter what we want. Once we get it, then we want something else,” is one of *Game of Thrones’* most revealing quotes. Spoken to Sansa in season 3, it captures how characters’ ambitions keep shifting, even after they achieve what they once sought.
Daenerys moves from wanting a home to seeking the Iron Throne, while Cersei puts power ahead of her relationship with Jaime before later wanting him again. The quote also reflects Littlefinger’s own story: his rejection by Catelyn Stark helped turn his longing for her into a pursuit of power. The article sees the line as both a comment on ambition and a reflection of Littlefinger’s own discontent.
- Littlefinger’s quote captures ambition as a cycle of wanting more.
- Daenerys and Cersei’s changing goals echo the line.
- Littlefinger’s pursuit of power is tied to his lost love for Catelyn.
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Game of Thrones was a hugely popular fantasy television series that ran from 2011 to 2019. The show followed multiple characters vying for power in a fictional medieval world, each pursuing their own ambitions.
Petyr Baelish, nicknamed Littlefinger, was one of the show's most scheming characters, known for manipulating others to rise in power. In the third season, he tells the character Sansa Stark that "It doesn't matter what we want. Once we get it, then we want something else" – a line that captures how ambition constantly shifts, even when people achieve their objectives.
The quote has endured because it applies across the show's narrative: characters like Daenerys Targaryen and Cersei Lannister achieved major goals only to immediately pursue new ones. For Littlefinger himself, the line reflected his own arc, as his initial longing for a woman he couldn't have transformed into an endless drive for power. Years after the series ended, viewers continue to regard this moment as one of the show's most insightful observations about human nature.