History Recap / GameOfThronesS2E9Blackwater

** Joffrey has another one when The Hound says "fuck the King" to his face. He looks like a toddler deprived of his security blanket.

* SmartBall: seriously, Joffrey actually takes a step towards competence--by realizing for the first time that he ''is'' incompetent. Shame it doesn't stick.

** Joffrey asks where his fleet went, and no (InUniverse) explanation for their absence is provided. In the book, they were used as bait, which was AdaptatedOut for budgetary reasons.

* AdaptationExplanationExtrication: as mentioned, Sansa's decision to not link up with the Hound seems inexplicable; he's obviously a fearsome warrior, and aside from Tyrion he's basically the only person in King's Landing who's ever nice to her. In the books, there's a third: Dontos Hollard, the fool who starts helping her out in Season 4, was supposed to start his "ComeWithMeIfYouWantToLive" business at the beginning of ''this'' season. Additionally, the Hound is much more of a JerkAss and often physically intimidates her, largely because he can (in fact, we find out later that he was contemplating raping her at that very moment). Cutting all that out of the series makes her decision to stay look more foolhardy than it is.

* CompressedAdaptation: In the book, Tyrion arrays Joffrey's tiny fleet as TheBait for the unmanned wildfire hulk, sacrificing it to the green god of wildfire. Tyrion also commissions a giant chain across the mouth of the Blackwater: he waits until Stannis's fleet is committed and then gives Bronn "the signal" to raise the chain, blocking the river and preventing any of Stannis's ships or men from escaping the holocaust. However, Stannis is not aboard his ships: his army is drawn up on the other side of the Blackwater river, and enough shipwrecks pile up at the chain that some of those men can begin to cross via their decks. ("Those are some brave men out there. Let's go kill them.") Much of the final charge takes place towards and eventually on this bridge of ships, but Stannis himself remains in the rear, where the Lannister-Tyrells sweep him from the field; Salladhor Saan's ships, remaining back as a contingency force, are his army's only escape. With all this in mind, it's quite obvious why the TV version discards the chain: [[MoneyDearBoy budget concerns]]. Presumably, Joffrey's fleet was written out for the same reason, but Joffrey's still right to ask where they went, as no (InUniverse) explanation for their absence is provided.
** There's also no explanation of where the hill tribesmen are. In the novel Tyrion sends them off as a guerrilla force to harass Stannis forces who are also advancing by land through the Kingswood.

''The Rains of Castamere'' is a song some bard crafted to commemorate the event; note the pun of "rains" vs "Reynes." Summarized it in one sentence, the song's meaning is, "A Lannister always wins." It can be considered DisproportionateRetribution that Tywin wiped out all the Reynes and Tarbecks, and perhaps it was, but note that House Lannister would have likely faced the same fate had they lost. But they didn't, and [[WrittenByTheWinners that's the point]]. Once Lord Farman of Faircastle was also feeling big for his britches and beginning to make rebellious noises, all Lord Tywin did was send a bard to play this song. Lord Farman shut up quick as you please.

''The Rains of Castamere'' is a song some bard crafted to commemorate the event; note the pun of "rains" vs "Reynes." Summarized it in one sentence, the song's meaning is, "A Lannister always wins." It can be considered DisproportionateRetribution that Tywin wiped out all the Reynes and Tarbecks, and perhaps it was, but note that House Lannister would have likely faced the same fate had they lost. But they didn't, and [[ThisLoserIsYou that's the point]]. Once Lord Farman of Faircastle was also feeling big for his britches and beginning to make rebellious noises, all Lord Tywin did was send a bard to play this song. Lord Farman shut up quick as you please.

''The Rains of Castamere'' is, InUniverse, Tywin Lannister's TheVillainSucksSong. You will recall, if you've paid attention to the series, that Tywin's father, Tytos Lannister, while he was considered a kind lord and a good man, he was also viewed as a weak and ineffectual ruler; his bannermen mocked him in their cups, and his mistress stole jewels from his wife. Some of House Lannister's bannermen, the Tarbecks of Tarbeck Hall and the Reynes of Castamere, decided to try to overthrow them. Well, Tywin took the Lannister armies against the "Red Lion of Castamere" and Lady Tarbeck and they lost: Tywin [[KillEmAll slew every Tarbeck or Reyne there ever was]] and tore down their castles. Keep in mind that by this point Tywin wasn't even the Lord of Casterly Rock yet.

* MoralityPet: Sansa realises that she is the only person Sandor won't hurt.

* MoralityPet: Sansa realises that she is the only person Sandor won't hurt.

Tyrion says possible the dumbest thing he has ever said in his life: "[[FallingIntoTheCockpit I'll lead the attack]]... ''[[Awesome/GameOfThrones I'll lead the attack!]]''" And then, when the Kingslanders ignore him: "They say I'm half a man. [[DareToBeBadass But what does that make the lot of you?]]" He leads them out of one of those secret tunnels to take the besiegers on from behind.

-->"You like fucking, and drinking, and singing. But killing... killing's the thing you love. You're like me. [[BackhandedCompliment Only smaller.]]"

--> However, Bronn (being an amoral pragmatist) isn't especially perturbed by it.

-->-- ...but Bronn, being an amoral pragmatist, isn't especially perturbed by this.

* NotSoDifferent

** G.R.R. Martin himself latches onto the fact that no one's wearing a helmet in the commentary for this episode and ''will not let it go.''[[note]] This is for a ''very'' good reason: during the shooting of the first ever TV script Martin wrote, the director insisted the stuntman keep his visor open and the poor man had his nose cut off.[[/note]]

-->''Then he heard a short sharp ''woof'', as if someone had blown in his ear. Half a heartbeat later came the roar. The deck vanished beneath him, and black water smashed him across the face, filling his nose and mouth. He was choking, drowning. Unsure which was was up, Davos wrestled the river in blind panic until suddenly he broke the surface. He spat out water, sucked in air, grabbed hold of the nearest chunk of debris, and held on.\\

''The Rains of Castamere'' is a song some bard crafted to commemorate the event; note the pun of "rains" vs "Reynes." Summarized it in one sentence, the song's meaning is, "A Lannister always wins." It can be considered DisproportionateRetribution that Tywin wiped out all the Reynes and Tarbecks, and perhaps it was, but note that House Lannister would have likely faced the same fate had they lost. But they didn't, and [[ThisLoserIsYou that's the point]]. Once Lord Farman of Faircastle was also feeling big for his britches and beginning to make rebellious noises. All Lord Tywin did was send a bard to play this song. Lord Farman shut up quick as you please.

* MythologyGag: Part of Tyrion's armor is a chain made up of hands clasping one another. In the books, this, rather than the pin, is the Hand's symbol of office [[spoiler: which Tyrion later uses to strangle Shae.]]

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: [[Creator/PeterJackson Weta Workshop]] actually offered to help animate the Battle of Blackwater. Sadly, Creator/GeorgeRRMartin politely declined their offer. (They wanted to avoid creating, or even being ''perceived'' to create, [[FollowTheLeader The Battle of Helm's Deep II]]: [[ElectricBoogaloo Deep Harder]].)

** In season 1 while talking to Theon, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KT2LAXLshTA Tyrion nonchalantly jokes about the sweet sight of sailors being burned alive]]. During this episode he actually sees it happen.

* AdaptationalBadass: In the books Stannis doesn't lead the charge.

* BigDamnHeroes: Tywin Lannister, Loras Tyrell and TheCavalry ride into battle just in the nick of time, with Tywin entering the throne room and announcing a Lannister victory. Could be VillainousRescue, depending on your perspective.

* CompositeCharacter: Loras fulfills his brother Garlan's role in the Battle of the Blackwater (i.e. pretending to be Renly to spook Stannis's army).

** PragmaticAdaptation: Loras is only 17 years old in ''A Clash of Kings''; he tries to wear Renly's armor but it is too big for him, as Renly is built like Robert in his youth, so he has to settle for his elder brother Garlan wearing it. In the show, Loras is an adult man and about the same size as Renly, thus rendering Garlan's role pointless.

* ContinuityNod: Sansa takes comfort in the doll her father bought for her in Season One.

* HiddenDepths: Even though Lancel is pulled into the vanguard by Sandor Clegane, he still fights until he is badly wounded by an arrow, and tries to return to the castle walls with an unwilling Joffrey.

* LetsGetDangerous: Filled with this trope. While we know Tyrion is a badass, until Stannis's fleet caught fire no-one in Westeros thought he was. Plus volunteering to lead a near doomed counterattack against the attacking forces and succeeding. No wonder the troops were chanting "Halfman!" "Halfman!" at the end.

* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: Awesomely played straight by Stannis, Tyrion (a lord, but it still counts), and Tywin. Averted as expected by Joffrey who does nothing in the battle but whine and then flee.

And so on. Joffrey, for once in his life sensible, threatens to cut it all short by cutting ''the Hand'' short, but Tyrion points out that he needs to give "the signal" upon which the city's defense rests. So evidently he has something up his sleeve. Out to sea, Ser Davos is also concerned over the missing fleet, but has no choice but to press on.

* AdaptationExplanationExtrication: as mentioned, Sansa's decision to not link up with the Hound is less explicable: he's obviously a fearsome warrior, and aside from Tyrion he's basically the only person who's ever nice to her. In the books, there's a third: Dontos Hollard, the fool, once called Ser Dontos the Red--remember, the drunk guy from the first episode?--who has already started hatching an escape plan for her. Additionally, the Hound is much more of a JerkAss and is willing to physically intimidate her (in fact, we find out later that he was contemplating raping her at that very moment). Cutting all that out of the series makes her decision to stay look more foolhardy than it is.

In '''the Throneroom''', Joffrey strides forth with Lancel Lannister, the Hound and three more members of the Kingsguard--only Ser Mandon Moore and Ser Boros Blount are identified by name; the third was Ser Balon Swann in the book, but he's never been identified onscreen whereas Meryn Trant has--in tow. Both he and Lancel look desperately out of place on a battlefield, far more so than Tyrion, who is striding about purposefully. As they gain '''the battlements'' , they see Blackwater Bay empty: no Stannis-fleet, and no Joffrey-fleet either. And here we discover why the defense of King's Landing has been so desperate: Bureaucracy.