Alright, We'll Call It A Draw

About

“Alright, We'll Call It A Draw” is a memorable quote uttered by The Black Knight (played by John Cleese) to King Arthur (played by Graham Chapman) from the 1975 British comedy film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The quote is used alongside a still from the scene as a reaction image to an above caption or screenshot, typically to show when someone or something is clearly beaten but doesn’t admit defeat. It can also be used without the image as a standalone catchphrase and sometimes as an object labeling meme.

Origin

The original clip that the meme is pulled from is seen during The Holy Grail, released on April 3rd, 1975, specifically the scene where King Arthur fights The Black Knight. During this scene (featured below) King Arthur and Patsy wish to cross over an absurdly small stream via a bridge, but The Black Knight, who’s guarding the bridge, refuses to let them pass. King Arthur is then forced to fight him, eventually besting him several times. Each time, The Black Knight is slowly whittled down until he’s lost his limbs, still refusing to admit defeat. This is also where the meme “Just A Flesh Wound” occurs in the movie. In the end, he’s left sitting upon the ground with no arms or legs. As he glances at his stumps, he states, “Alright, we’ll call it a draw.”

Spread

Though various images and GIFs of the scene appear online several times before it was used in a more traditional meme format, some of the earliest examples come from around 2016 (exact origin unknown). One such examples comes from September 28th, 2016, when Imgur^[1] user MaxAnd99 uploaded a GIF of the scene as a reaction image to the title, “Fox News analysis of the presidential debate.” The upload (shown below) received over 41,000 views and about 1,300 points.

On February 20th, 2017, Redditor^[2] Zeig777 can also be seen using a GIF of the scene as a reply to an image post on r/Skyrim depicting a headless Ebony Warrior fighting a player in The Elder Scrolls video game (seen below).

Twitter^[3] users can also be seen using the iconic quote on the platform, one of which comes from user chelleryn99 on May 6, 2018. The tweet (shown below) references an election held in the United Kingdom, and received 121 likes and 92 retweets.

If you're wondering how MSM can spin this as a draw when it blatently isn't, think of why celebs choose to have their pics airbrushed, knowing those who meet them in the flesh might be shocked/disappointed by reality. They know the majority will never see the truth#Election2018 pic.twitter.com/YO3Y6XC0Du

— Chelley Ryan – I ❤️ our NHS! (@chelleryn99) May 6, 2018

The meme also appears on the iFunny^[4] website numerous times, such as a post from user I dont like sand on March 18th, 2019. This upload (seen below) references Anakin Skywalker’s defeat to Obi-Wan in Star Wars: Episode 3 Revenge of the Sith when his limbs are similarly lost in a sword fight.

A similar version to the above meme was posted on Reddit’s r/PrequelMemes sub by Redditor^[5] TheAnonymousScrub on January 14th, 2020. This variant also includes a photoshopped version of the scene, with Anakin’s face edited onto The Black Knight’s. The post (shown below) received nearly 70,000 upvotes, 300 comments and several Reddit awards.

“Alright, We'll Call It A Draw” has also become a frequently used format on Reddit’s r/HistoryMemes sub over the years. One of these was posted by Redditor^[6] livingtombs on March 1st, 2020, utilizing an object labeling meme to describe the Vietnam War. The post (seen below) was upvoted over 14,000 times and commented on 433 times.

Various Examples

Templates

Search Interest

External References