The 'Brace Yourselves' meme features Ned Stark (played by Sean Bean) from the HBO series Game of Thrones. While Stark famously says 'Winter is coming' in the show, he never actually utters the phrase 'Brace yourselves.' The image macro first gained traction on Reddit in 2011 as a way to warn people about upcoming seasonal events, website updates, or social media trends. Despite the slight misquote, the meme has become a cultural staple for signaling impending chaos or a flood of specific content on the internet.