Brace Yourselves, Winter is Coming

2011image macroclassic

Published August 31, 2026

The image macro pairs a stern HBO promotional portrait of Ned Stark with the phrasal template 'Brace Yourselves, X is Coming.' It took off on Quickmeme and Reddit in August 2011 after the U.S. East Coast earthquake and got an unexpected second act in 2018, when Donald Trump used the same 'Sanctions are Coming' framing to announce renewed sanctions on Iran.

game of thrones memessnowclone memesadvice animalsimage macro memesearly 2010s memes

Overview

Also known as Imminent Ned, the format uses an HBO press photo of Sean Bean as Ned Stark, standing in cold, muted light with a stern expression3. Top text sets the warning 'Brace Yourselves,' while bottom text swaps 'winter' for whatever event, product, holiday, or complaint the joke targets. The resigned face carries the humor and lets the punchline work whether the coming thing is trivial or catastrophic.

Fans built out the wider Ned Stark and Winter is Coming image-macro family through late 2011, with edits collected under the 'Imminent Ned' tag on Tumblr7 and 'Winter is Coming' on Memebase. Common variations run from weather warnings to sequel announcements to political predictions, with the phrasal template 'Brace Yourselves, X is Coming' escaping the show's fandom to be used almost anywhere online.

Origin & Background

Platform
Quickmeme / Reddit (viral spread)
Date
2011

'Winter is Coming' is the motto of House Stark in George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire novels, and HBO used it as the title of the Game of Thrones pilot episode that aired on April 17, 20113. A July 2011 submission on Quickmeme first attached the phrase to an image of an owl, but the joke did not catch on until August 2011, when users paired it with an HBO promotional portrait of Sean Bean as Ned Stark5. The earliest known Ned Stark version surfaced shortly after the August 23, 2011 U.S. East Coast earthquake, giving the template its first well-known real-world hook.

How It Spread

Reddit's r/gameofthrones community had grown to 20,128 subscribers by early October 2011, and image-macro posts using the format spread quickly through the subreddit4. On Quickmeme, dedicated pages for Imminent Ned, Winter is Coming, and Ned Stark Winter is Coming stacked up thousands of user submissions through late 20116. Fans of the show also gathered at the WinterIsComing.net fan site, which took its name from the same House Stark motto8. By June 2012, related posts on Reddit passed 1,470, Quickmeme aggregated nearly 20,000 entries, and a Facebook page for the meme had 1,330 likes5.

The format returned to mainstream news on November 2, 2018, when President Donald Trump tweeted a photoshopped image of himself with 'Sanctions are Coming' rendered in the Game of Thrones logo, announcing renewed U.S. sanctions on Iran. Reactions ranged from confusion to mockery, and the Daily Dot compiled tweets from users questioning both the timing and the pop-culture reference1.

How to Use This Meme

The template typically pairs the top line 'Brace Yourselves' with a bottom line naming an incoming event, product, or annoyance, set over the Ned Stark portrait in a Game of Thrones-style font6. Creators often swap the base image for other stern-faced characters or public figures while keeping the phrasing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Brace Yourselves, Winter is Coming

2011image macroclassic

Published August 31, 2026

The image macro pairs a stern HBO promotional portrait of Ned Stark with the phrasal template 'Brace Yourselves, X is Coming.' It took off on Quickmeme and Reddit in August 2011 after the U.S. East Coast earthquake and got an unexpected second act in 2018, when Donald Trump used the same 'Sanctions are Coming' framing to announce renewed sanctions on Iran.

game of thrones memes snowclone memes advice animals image macro memes early 2010s memes

Overview

Also known as Imminent Ned, the format uses an HBO press photo of Sean Bean as Ned Stark, standing in cold, muted light with a stern expression3. Top text sets the warning 'Brace Yourselves,' while bottom text swaps 'winter' for whatever event, product, holiday, or complaint the joke targets. The resigned face carries the humor and lets the punchline work whether the coming thing is trivial or catastrophic.

Fans built out the wider Ned Stark and Winter is Coming image-macro family through late 2011, with edits collected under the 'Imminent Ned' tag on Tumblr7 and 'Winter is Coming' on Memebase. Common variations run from weather warnings to sequel announcements to political predictions, with the phrasal template 'Brace Yourselves, X is Coming' escaping the show's fandom to be used almost anywhere online.

Origin & Background

Platform
Quickmeme / Reddit (viral spread)
Date
2011

'Winter is Coming' is the motto of House Stark in George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire novels, and HBO used it as the title of the Game of Thrones pilot episode that aired on April 17, 20113. A July 2011 submission on Quickmeme first attached the phrase to an image of an owl, but the joke did not catch on until August 2011, when users paired it with an HBO promotional portrait of Sean Bean as Ned Stark5. The earliest known Ned Stark version surfaced shortly after the August 23, 2011 U.S. East Coast earthquake, giving the template its first well-known real-world hook.

How It Spread

Reddit's r/gameofthrones community had grown to 20,128 subscribers by early October 2011, and image-macro posts using the format spread quickly through the subreddit4. On Quickmeme, dedicated pages for Imminent Ned, Winter is Coming, and Ned Stark Winter is Coming stacked up thousands of user submissions through late 20116. Fans of the show also gathered at the WinterIsComing.net fan site, which took its name from the same House Stark motto8. By June 2012, related posts on Reddit passed 1,470, Quickmeme aggregated nearly 20,000 entries, and a Facebook page for the meme had 1,330 likes5.

The format returned to mainstream news on November 2, 2018, when President Donald Trump tweeted a photoshopped image of himself with 'Sanctions are Coming' rendered in the Game of Thrones logo, announcing renewed U.S. sanctions on Iran. Reactions ranged from confusion to mockery, and the Daily Dot compiled tweets from users questioning both the timing and the pop-culture reference1.

How to Use This Meme

The template typically pairs the top line 'Brace Yourselves' with a bottom line naming an incoming event, product, or annoyance, set over the Ned Stark portrait in a Game of Thrones-style font6. Creators often swap the base image for other stern-faced characters or public figures while keeping the phrasing.

Frequently Asked Questions