How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from Skyfall.
Quote #1
BOND: I'm stabilizing Ronson.
M: We don't have the time.
BOND: I have to stop the bleeding!
M: Leave him!
This exchange gives us our first glimpse at M's priorities—the data, and her country, over the lives of individual agents. The agents who live, like Bond and Silva, resent M for her decisions. Bond is able to get over it, but Silva cannot, and the entire plot of this movie revolves around his attempt at payback.
Quote #2
M: I made a judgment call.
BOND: You should have trusted me to finish the job.
M: It was the possibility of losing you or the certainty of losing all those other agents. I made the only decision I could and you know it.
BOND: I think you lost your nerve.
M: What do you expect, a bloody apology?
M and Bond argue over who they should be loyal to—the country or the agents. As an agent, Bond wants to be on the side of his comrades. But M has the bigger picture to think of, and sometimes she must sacrifice her agents in the name of loyalty to her country.