Two Graves

Tyrant 3×10

& Leila: I can’t have made you sacrifice for a lost cause.
    Gen. Cogswell: A good cause is a good cause, lost or not.

& Molly: It’s bad now, but her hunger pangs should disappear in the next day or two. She’ll actually feel better just as her body starts to break down. That’s the ironic thing.

& Leila: There are only so many blows you can take before you’re done... I think I’m done.

& Nafisa: I went to his grave and I asked him what he wanted me to do. Do you know what he said?.. Nothing. He’s dead. It’s up to me now.

& Nafisa: In my husband’s name, say it with me. Islam is Peace.

---

& Molly: I want a child, Barry.

& Molly: You try to live your life a certain way. Believing in certain things. But the world... people... some people... they won’t leave you alone. And you have to fight back, don’t you? Otherwise... But as soon you do fight back... you’re changed. And everything is tainted. And no one is right.

& Bassam: General, what is the point of the war if we’re no different from anyone else? What are we fighting for?
    Gen. Maloof: To be the last man standing, of course.

& Molly: It’ll be okay, in the end. You’ll see.

--
On the IMDb

How to Live

Tyrant 3×9

& Fauzi: The Al Fayeed dynasty must end!

& Bassam: I don’t want a hair touched on his head... But this can’t be allowed to continue. Arrest him.

& Leila: I’m not asking you to support me. I’m asking you to support free elections.

& Ahmed: I know my mother. And if she ever got the presidency, she would never give it up. They’re all the same. I’m telling you. So pick a side.

& Leila: There is no such thing as remaining neutral. You have to pick a side.

& Exley: Whether you like him or not, Bassam has learned to wield power. And power, even without principle, is better than chaos.

---

& Exley: What is it that they say about second marriages? The triumph of optimism over experience? It’s the same with new presidents.

& Daliyah: Frederick Douglass, the former American slave and abolitionist, said,
    «If there is no struggle there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. They want rain without the thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters. This struggle may be a moral one, or it may be a physical one, and it may be both moral and physical, but it must be a struggle. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.»

& Nafisa: A mistake is not a waste. It’s just that, a mistake.

& Bassam: You’re under arrest.

& Bassam: I am the president, not you!

--
On the IMDb

Ask for the Earth

Tyrant 3×8

& Ihab: For the first time, we both have an army. Let’s finish this once and for all.

& Bassam: General? I need to know if we’re ready to send our army into Syria. ... I’m tired of waiting. We need Ihab to give us an excuse, any reason to march, and when it comes, we move.

& Leila: That’s funny, ... we’ve done this so many times. Why is it so different this time?

& Molly: Ihab is still alive months later.
    Bassam: I’m going to war to fix that.
    Molly: We are going to war for our daughter. And everything else we stayed here to accomplish.
    Bassam: Exactly.
    Molly: Exactly. I’m done with forgiveness.

& Molly: Barry, don’t fight for this just because you think it’s the right thing to do.

& Molly: Ihab’s done his part.

---

& Gen. Maloof: We outnumber them in men, in tanks, in guns. They cannot defeat us!
    Gen. Cogswell: They don’t need to defeat you. You’re going to be on their turf. All they have to do is keep you from defeating them. They’re going to draw you in, they’re going to wear you out, and they’re gonna force you to fight block by block, house by house. Call me in a year and tell me about your will to fight.

& Gen. Cogswell: I wouldn’t get ahead of yourself. Costly stalemates usually aren’t the stepping stones to greatness.

& Gen. Cogswell: I know you don’t want to hear this, but as a soldier, I have to tell you that it would be dangerous and reckless to send men to die in a war that will only end in retreat. That is not courage in the face of odds. That’s murder.

& Molly: You know what the joke is? An Al Fayeed is still gonna be the next president, and it’s not gonna be you.

& Molly: I just see hers. Emma’s. In a constant loop inside my head. «Mommy,» she said. «Mommy, help me.» But I can’t. I can’t. That’s Daddy’s job.

& Gen. Maloof: The Truth and Dignity Commission has been disbanded. On order of the President, this meeting is over.

& Ihab: God has been good to us today.

--
On the IMDb

Bedfellows

Tyrant 3×7

& Sheik Al-Qadi: We want different things, madam.
    Leila: No, we want the same thing... To win this election. And, unfortunately, the only way that will happen is for us to reach some kind of compromise.

& Gen. Cogswell: I’m a little old for macho optimism, Mr. President. Here’s the truth. This is going to be a long war. Every war is longer than you think it’s going to be. You’ll be strongest on your first day, and every day after that, you’ll get weaker and they’ll get stronger. ... Unless you overwhelm them from the start, you’re gonna fight them to a draw at best, which means they win.

& Bassam: Tell me why you met with him!
    Leila: Are you trying to scare me?.. Shame on you. People are allowed to have private conversation in this country. Even your brother believed that.

& Hanif: The 30% of us you want to pretend don’t exist. Just because you choose to live a certain lifestyle.
    Halima: Lifestyle... What’s that supposed to mean?
    Hanif: Look at you. How you dress. How you parade your body around men... Around your boyfriend. I saw the two of you together. ... Throwing yourself at him! In the square! In public!

---

& Sheik Al-Qadi: ...This small step is the way to avoid calamity so that tomorrow we can fight back for the true, fully Islamic state we ultimately want. In the meantime, there will be Sharia law in this country for the first time for more than 25 years.

& Leila: ...Either this or Fauzi Nidal.

& Prof. El-Amin: You don’t know me at all!
    Sammy: I know you slept with me.
    Prof. El-Amin: As if that defines who I am. I’m not homosexual, Sammy. I may sleep with men once in a while, but don’t you dare assume that makes me something I’m not. That is... That is so American of you to think that way.

& Halima: I don’t... I... I can’t give him an argument. «That slut... she wants women to be treated the same as men. That slut wants democracy. Western values.»
    Nabil: What are Western values?
    Halima: Sex. Depravity.
    Nabil: That’s crazy. You know, that’s... that is giving him all the power.
    Halima: I’m a woman! He has all the power!
    Nabil: Yeah, but he’s-he’s lying, anyway. He’s calling you a whore whether you are one or not.
    Halima: So what? Just have sex, no one will know? I will know.

& Leila: For generations the secular and the religious have lived separate existences in our country. Today we know that is no longer possible... if our nation is going to have a real future.

& Leila: Our child. Our son. Don’t tell me you never suspected.

& Gen. Cogswell: Well, you are many things, Leila Al Fayeed, but safe is not one of them.

& Col. Maloof: It makes things complicated, the polls. The army’s not inclined to support anyone, just because they happen to win the election.
    Gen. Cogswell: Really?

--
On the IMDb

Truth and Dignity

Tyrant 3×6

& Leila: Everything there is, Safiya. Everything. People die without warning. Shot to hell on a random day by people they don’t know, and for no reason. That’s the world we live in.

& Sammy: Family’s a screwed-up thing, isn’t it?.. Democracy, too.

& Sheik Al-Qadi: Bassam is not his brother.
    Ihab: No. He’s worse.

& Ihab: There will be no election, but there will be a war. And you’re on the wrong side.

---

& Ihab: Um... at least tell me why.
    Sheik Abdullah: Poison bait back to the nest... Let the infidels turn against each other.
    Ihab: I don’t understand.
    Sheik Abdullah: You will.

& Leila: You know what your problem is? You’re too filled with hate now. You have your daughter in your head. And that might make you a very good father, but it makes you a terrible president.

& Leila: I’m going to win this election.
    Gen. Cogswell: Good for you.

--
On the IMDb

A Rock and a Hard Place

Tyrant 3×5

& — Kill them all. Kill them all! One. By. One.

& Daliyah: Well, at least Angela Merkel wasn’t naked.

& Molly: Maybe you’ll understand, and maybe you won’t, but I can’t be here anymore.

& Bassam: Here. This is for you. Peanut butter and jelly with potato chips.
    Leila: How very American.
    Bassam: Well, there’s only so much you can do... We are who we are.

---

& Leila: So that’s it? Wait until next time?
    Kipfer: Success is about readiness matched with opportunity. Just be ready when your time comes.

& Fauzi: A lot can happen in four months.
    Gen. Cogswell: Sure. The sky could fall, but probably not.

& Sheik Al-Qadi: Is that what you think God wants? More martyrs? Paradise is full of martyrs. The real sacrifice is to live here, with us, and try to make peace.

--
On the IMDb

Prayers for Our Daughters

Tyrant 3×4

& Molly: They always say «Dada» first. But Emma, she said «Mama.» «Mommy.» Her first word. Her last.

& Sheik Al-Qadi: My vision is of an authentic Islam, one that remembers that tolerance is fundamental to our faith. Because... Islam is salaam. Peace... And peace be upon you.

& Fauzi: ...But we can only go forward.

& Molly: When you lose 20% of your blood volume, you go into hypovolemic shock... But that takes minutes. Maybe hours. But if... if the knife punctured her kidney... she’d lose consciousness in under a second. And then dead in a minute.

---

& James Kipfer: By the way, forget the young, the poor, the working class. It’s not your constituency. Strength, stability, security, prosperity. Scare them. Then make them feel safe. That’s your platform. It’s the only one you’ve got.

& Molly: Did you see this? I made a hundred mothers just like me. A thousand mothers... grieving.

& Molly: They made me into a murderer... and she’s still gone.

& Bassam: It’ll get better.
Ω Really?

--
On the IMDb

The Dead and the Living

Tyrant 3×3

& Emma: How is any of this my fault? What did I do to you? Tell me.
    Ihab: What did you do? You were born.

& Gen. Cogswell: You’re not dealing with a rational human being. He doesn’t value anything. Except killing your wife.

---

& Daliyah: All of us are victims. The dead and the living.

& Emma: You don’t kill to survive. You kill to feel alive.

--
On the IMDb

Cockroach

Tyrant 3×2

& Ihab: Let him watch me kill his wife. See how long he can contain his rage.

& Leila: ...she killed herself, and that’s a major sin.
    Ahmed: Oh, so you’ve found God now?
    Leila: We are a public family. Perception matters.
    Ahmed: Right. You haven’t found God. You found politics.
    Leila: Oh, Ahmed. God is politics.

& Nurse: It’s okay. It’s all over now.

& Leila: You are proud of your prodigious barbecuing skills. Americans do some things right.
    Gen. Cogswell: That’s right. America would make a great ally because we’re great at barbecue.

& Sheik Al-Qadi: I’m not Ihab bin Rashid.
    Wafiq: Give it time. Even Ihab wasn’t Ihab until the Al Fayeeds messed with him.

---

& Prof. El-Amin: Europeans drew the map after World War One. The borders of these countries are entirely arbitrary. They don’t have national identities the way you think of them in the West... Loyalties are tribal, not national.
    Sammy: Lawrence in Arabia?
    Prof. El-Amin: Read it.

& Jamal: Being a president turns everything into your fault, your problem... Same as being a parent. The child blames you for whatever goes wrong, even the things you can’t control.

& Jamal: Well... after all, I tried my best. Under the circumstances.

& Leila: They might well stone me to death if they only knew what I thought about men and their testosterone-bloodied world.

--
On the IMDb

Spring

Tyrant 3×1

& Leila: I wouldn’t celebrate too quickly. You’re married to an Al Fayeed. One day, they will come for you, too.

& Bassam: I started thinking about what they did in Tunisia, in South Africa... That for this cycle to end, one of these days, the victims will have to stop saying, «I want revenge,» and just say... «I forgive.»

& Bassam: ...And I’m the president. Are you gonna say no to me?

& Sammy: ...16 months ago, we were an ordinary family from Pasadena, and now look where we are, what we’ve accomplished. Not so bad where life takes us.

& Nabil: Oh, from the Red Hand to the Blue Finger.... You know, the ink that proves you voted in an election... Blue finger.

& Bassam: It’s not enough just to call an election six months from now. Experiments in democracy fail all the time. We can’t plan a better future for ourselves until we come to terms with our failed past.

& Leila: I lived on the sidelines for 20 years, Bassam. Watching and nodding while other people made mistakes... I want to be foreign secretary, the first woman foreign secretary of an Arab nation.

---

& Aziz: Is there anything I can do for you, madame? Anything else?

& — Can you pretend to forgive?
    Sammy: You don’t pretend. You force yourself until it becomes the truth.

& Bassam: ...here’s the real question. Are you truly committed to democracy in Abuddin, whatever outcome it produces? Or will America be seen by the whole world as only having supported me?

& Molly: It’s like King Lear. They’ll all fight for your kingdom now.

& Molly: Barry... do you still love me?
    Barry: You know the answer to that.
    Molly: Mm-hmm. Are you still... in love with me?

& Bassam: I have a meeting with the Egyptian foreign minister. What’s everyone else up to?

--
On the IMDb

Pax Abuddin

Tyrant 2×10

& Lea Exley: Barry Al Fayeed resurrected from the dead as Khalil, liberator of Ma’an. I mean, for these people, that’s like, uh, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson all rolled into one... I’m trying to prepare you, Molly.

& Molly: Uh, we could call room service. Act like this is our first date.
    Bassam: Oh. Any chance you might... sleep with me on the first date?

& Bassam: Demand elections and an end to dynasties. That is your right as the free people of Abuddin.

& Daliyah: You shouldn’t have come here. I’ve already said good-bye to you twice. I didn’t want to have to say good-bye again.
Ω Yeah. Enough is enough.

---

& Jamal: First my brother and then you, hmm?
    Leila: You left us no choice.

& Jamal: I’ve done so many terrible things. And now, I’m signing a confession for the one thing I didn’t do.

& Leila: Let him go, let it end.
    Bassam: He’s my brother.
    Leila: This is justice.

--
On the IMDb

Σ Wrapped and sealed finally? Or may be not?

Desert Storm

Tyrant 2×9

& Jamal: I won’t run away. I’m not a coward. Neither will you, Mahmoud.

& Leila: We’d have a general with no army. Jamal controls the treasury. I have no way to pay Solomon’s soldiers.
    Molly: I do.

---

& Leila: The only way to preserve your place in the future of Abuddin is sacrifice your father’s.
    Ahmed: How?
    Leila: I’m working on it.

--
On the IMDb

Zanjir

Tyrant 2×10

& Jamal: And the evidence will implicate the Caliphate?
    Col. Mahmoud: I’ll be running the investigation, so the evidence will prove whatever you want proven.

& Rami: I’ve spent my life in places with different names for hell. Darfur, Burundi, Ma’an... You really think I want to bring a child into this world?

---

& Jamal: To show my good faith, I’ve decided to increase your contract by... 19%.

& Leila: What if I were to remove my husband from the equation?

--
On the IMDb

Σ They’re continuing kill the cast. Mom? And now Jamal? WTF. No one will remain to the end.

Inside Men and Outside Women

Tyrant 2×9

& Jamal: Don’t look so sad. If it’s God’s will, it will happen.

& Molly: James, I’m sorry. You’re not family.

& Jamal: So... how is my favorite counterrevolutionary?
    Bassam: Anxious. I’m glad you called.

& Jamal: The sheik told me there is a poison inside the Palace. It could be anyone. But you... I trust.

---

& Rami: Is he sleeping at all?
    Leila: It’s hard to actually call it sleep. I put him to bed; he’s not moving. As long as he doesn’t change color, I’m filled with hope.

& Halima: It’s okay to laugh. Life’s already awful enough.

& Jamal: «Drunken, old fool.» This is how you call your president? This is how you speak to your father?

& Jamal: Uh... I want him dead.

--
On the IMDb

Fathers and Sons

Tyrant 2×8

& Timmons: I think sleeping in all my clothes on a first date sends the right message. Says I’m a good time, but I’m in no hurry.

& Sammy: There’s a man inside Ma’an who’s fighting the Caliphate, and his name’s Khalil. He needs money.

& Jamal: God in Heaven, are you listening? Are you there? Is someone who has done what I’ve done even allowed to pray to you?

& Daliyah: You would work with your brother?
    Bassam: One devil at a time.

& Jamal: It’s God’s will, is it? Or is it because of me?

---

& Solomon: You will not even get a chance to fire a shot at the Caliphate before Jamal turns on you.
    Rami: He’s my father. My family.
    Solomon: Idi Amin, Baby Doc, Saddam Hussein. Family is always the first to disappear.

& Bassam: What money? He doesn’t have any money.
    Daliyah: Yes, he does. He inherited it when you died.

& Jamal: First tell me who you are.
    Bassam: I told you... my name is Khalil.
    Jamal: Yes, but who are you really?

--
On the IMDb

The Awful Grace of God

Tyrant 2×7

& Samira: What a cosmic joke. Everything went to shit after you died, you know that?

& Jamal: Catastrophe helps take one’s mind off tragedy.

& Samira: I used to think the world is a very complicated place. But that’s not true. You either win... or you lose. You’re either human, or you’re a dog. You’re either inside the cage, or you’re out. And I’m out right now, and I’m never, never going back in.

---

& Bassam: No more pain. No more pain. No more pain.

--
On the IMDb

Σ They continue to cut the budget. Or for them.

The Other Brother

Tyrant 2×6

& Ihab: Your wife is safe with us. Abu Omar is simply reeducating her on how she can best serve Allah.

& Jamal: All I’m asking is an advance!
    Chinese Ambassador: Those terms were defined as military support to protect your borders against foreign threats. My government refuses to be drawn into your civil war.

& Chinese Ambassador: Maybe gassing your citizens isn’t the best way to go about this...
    Jamal: You dare to play the human rights card with me, you puppet!? Look to your own country for that.

& Jamal: You are relieved of your command, General.

---

& Molly: What the hell was that in there? Making him renounce his father?
    Timmons: The price you pay looking for justice in a dictatorship, I guess.

& Yaser: There’s nothing that can be done. You can’t reason with vicious dogs.

& Yaser: They ransom hostages sometimes. On occasion. But not for people like us. We are abominations to them. No human value.

& Daliyah: I’m curious. What twisted path brought a pathetic Western whore to think that she could come to my country and dictate to me her perverted misinterpretations of the Koran? Did your parents not love you enough? Is that why you lay with murderers? ... Is that why you stood by while the people of this house were slaughtered?.. So you could sleep in their bed and call it your own?

& Jamal: I’m happy you are here. Come. Meet our new general. This is, uh, Rami Said... your brother.

& Bassam: Our ancestors drove the Romans from this land. Cast down the Sassanians in battle. They refused to bow down to a foreign invader that came here to steal our homes and steal our women. And now it’s our turn.

--
On the IMDb

Σ Cool. They cut down a half of the cast in just one episode. In economy like this...

A Viper in the Palace

Tyrant 2×5

& Jane Abbas: You look tired. Another night of comforting Faisel?
    Jill: We don’t call that «comforting» in America. We call it rape.
    Jane Abbas: A wife should do as she’s told. It will get easier.

& Ihab: To fulfill this sacred cause, the sons of Tal Jiza will become soldiers in the Army of the Caliphate. So every able-bodied mujahed between the ages of 15 and 50 will assemble here after the Asr prayer... We will remove this tyrant, and we will restore God’s law in this land. Takbeer!

---

& Bassam: Being in this place forces you to kill or be killed. Doesn’t it?

& Jamal: You underestimated many things, Uncle. So forgive me if I no longer feel very assured by your assurances.

& Jill: But what will you do?
    Bassam: Whatever God’s will allows me to do.

--
On the IMDb

A House Built on Sand

Tyrant 2×4

& Sammy: Excuse her, she’s still mad that I’m getting that $100 million for having a Y chromosome.

& Sammy: Since when are you the dictator of this family, Mom?

& Jane Abbas: The Europeans, they all talk about tolerance and free speech, but it doesn’t include us. You’re running to the very life I ran away from. So don’t fool yourself into believing that Amsterdam will ever be a home to you.

---

& Ihab: I would never do what you do.
    Abu Omar: What, give the people a government? One that actually works? We give them jobs and require only that they follow God’s law.
    Ihab: You behead photographers, journalists, teachers...
    Abu Omar: Infidels on the wrong side of history. And it’s been working. Just like it will work in Abuddin...
    Ihab: Oh... It’s barbaric. Barbaric.
    Abu Omar: It’s war. Between the House of Islam and the House of the Unbeliever. You need to pick a side.

& Daliyah: Six months is a long time, and life here isn’t perfect.
    Bassam: Life isn’t perfect anywhere. But I will stay here until you come back.
Ω So? Season 3? Or just fast-forward?

& Molly: Remember when you and the entire State Department assured me you’d do anything within your power to guarantee my safety?.. I need you to facilitate travel. I’m going back to Abuddin.

--
On the IMDb

Faith

Tyrant 2×3

& Gen. Tariq: Kill me now and tell the world your general made war without you knowing, or you deny complicity to the world and blame it on the enemy. Some will believe you, others won’t. But eventually no one will care anymore. Then you can rule this country however you want, as your father did before you.

& Molly: I’m so sorry. I’m not very good at this, I know that. I mean, I-I feel like I can deal with the details of life. I can get things done, but... the emotional stuff, I’m just having a hard time figuring that out.

& Sammy: I don’t think he liked me.
    Molly: He loved you.
    Sammy: That’s a trick answer. I don’t think I liked him. He never seemed particularly interested in me. I mean, shouldn’t your son matter more than your job or some insane country on the other side of the world?..

& Emma: And how much is it?
    Molly: Not that we were expecting anything. I-I always assumed Barry had been disinherited.
    Timmons: $100 million.

---

& Emma: This is not funny!
    Sammy: Well, $100 million says you’re wrong.

& Halima: My little sister. Her name was Jada.
    Leila: I’m so sorry.
    Halima: How can you be sorry and guilty at the same time?

& Molly: Five generations of Callaghans in this town. This conservative, boring town. No palaces or servants or calls to prayer. No coups or chemical attacks either.

& Leila: I wanted us to be different. Not like your father. ... I wanted to be loved by my people. I wanted to be the mother of a country.

& Molly: For the blessings of food and family, for the little things we used to take for granted, and for just being home...

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On the IMDb