History Recap / GameOfThronesS4E10TheChildren

* KickTheSonOfABitch: Cersei, infuriated by her father forcing her to marry Ser Loras, finally snaps and tells him that all those rumors about her and Jaime he's so eager to squash? ''They're true.'' Tywin is left absolutely aghast that his golden children have been committing incest on a regular basis and that the great Lannister legacy he's been so focused on is founded through lies.

* MeaningfulName: Oberyn wasn't called the Red Viper for nothing, for vipers have venom, and his was Manticore Venom that coated his spears, ensuring that Gregor suffers a long, slow, and agonizing death.
* MoodWhiplash

* FaceDeathWithDignity: Subverted. Tywin Lannister tries this as usual, but it's a bit difficult when you're going to die sitting on the toilet, with an arrow shot by his own son.

* FaceDeathWithDignity: Only Tywin Lannister could be killed on the toilet, pants down, by his son, with his grandson's weapon, after having been caught with his son's lover in his bed, and die with utmost dignity and sophistication.

** In the books, Tyrion murders Shae in vengeance for her betrayal. In the show, she attacks him and he kills her in self-defense. To boot, he seems to feel more guilty about it than in the books.

Stannis dismounts and eyes Mance. Both Kings having quite an epic [[WorthyOpponent stare-down]]. Davos introduces Stannis as the "one true King of the Seven Kingdoms" but Mance, duly elected King Beyond the Wall, snarks that they are not in the Seven Kingdoms and they aren't even [[RefugeInAudacity dressed for this weather]]. Stannis notes that a leader should [[KneelBeforeZod make a physical show of surrender]] when parleying with a King and that his behavior will impact the fates of his people. But Mance -- and the wildlings as a whole -- kneel to no one. Stannis takes this rebuke in stride and has most of Mance's men clapped in irons. Jon Snow reveals himself to be Ned Stark's son when Davos asks what a man of the Night's Watch is doing in the enemy's camp, much to Stannis' surprise. Stannis tells Jon that his father was an honorable man, considering Ned died for Stannis's claim. What would ''Ned'' have done with Mance? Jon considers this for a second. He explains to Stannis that Mance neither executed nor tortured him when ''he'' himself was Mance's prisoner and that his father Ned would have taken the wildlings' King hostage and heard him out. Stannis concurs and Davos escorts Mance away. Jon also offers Stannis one last piece of advice:

Cut to a lovely close-up of a hideous, stinking, festering, ''sizzling'' wound. At the Red Keep in '''King's Landing''', Qyburn and Pycelle are examining the drugged and delirious Gregor Clegane's rather sickly, greenish-purple veined abdomen. Cersei hangs back with a perfumed handkerchief over her nose and mouth to block the stench of Gregor's bodily fluids festering in his veins, and she curses the Martells. It seems Oberyn's death was not in vain after all since his spear was in fact coated with venom from the ''Death's Head Manticore'', thickened with Qartheen sorcery so as not to kill instantly but instead ''prolong'' The Mountain's suffering. Pycelle regretfully admits that there's no hope of a cure, but Qyburn disagrees, stating that while no maester alive knows how to save him, ''he'' does. Cersei is curious and while Qyburn busies himself with apparatus, Pycelle complains to to his Queen that such arrogance was the reason why the maesters of the Citadel threw Qyburn out to begin with. Cersei, however, is enthralled and dismisses the Grand Maester from his own laboratory. Pycelle leaves in disgust while Qyburn attaches a medieval IV into Clegane's arm and uses an equally crude syringe the size of a basketball pump to withdraw and drain his corrupted blood into a glass round-bottom flask.

-->'''Qyburn:''' Thank you, your Grace. You should know, the process may, [[CameBackWrong change him.]] Somewhat.

In the chambers of the Hand of the King, Cersei and Tywin discuss her upcoming marriage to Loras, a marriage she tells her father point-blank that is never going to happen. Tywin retorts that she'll do it because, basically, he always gets his way. He even ''flatters'' Cersei, reminding her that the future of the Lannister legacy now depends entirely on her and she's very important. When that doesn't fly, he goes for an anecdote about Cersei being stubborn in her childhood and Tywin setting her straight. Cersei [[ShutUpHannibal cuts him off]] and confirms to him what he refuses to believe: she and Jaime [[{{twincest}} are indeed in a relationship and he is the father of her children]]. Having dropped this bombshell on her father, Cersei strides off while Tywin can only stand in stupefied silence.

Jon then visits a bound and bandaged Tormund Giantsbane; the latter wonders why the former had their wounds treated and put them in captivity rather than finishing the job. Jon says they'll burn the dead wildlings before working out what to do with the living. Tormund spits on funeral words and asks if Jon loved Ygritte and reveals that she loved him without end. He all but orders him to give her a proper funeral. "She belongs in the North. The ''real'' North, do you understand me?" Jon takes her body beyond the wall, to the base of the Heart Tree where he said his vows; he builds her a pyre and sets it alight, at last being brought to [[ManlyTears mourning]].

'''North of the Wall''', Team Bran have finally reached the weirwood Bran saw in his vision back in "The Lion and the Rose". As they make their way towards it, mummified wights, so old they are now almost animated skeletons, burst forth from the icy ground of the clearing and try to slay them. Meera, Warg!Hodor and Summer put up a stiff resistance but during the fight Jojen is stabbed repeatedly by one of the headless corpses his sister thought she had dispatched. They are about to be overrun and Bran's body cut to pieces when a bolt of light sends one of the lichs up in an exploding fireball, scattering the rest. The group turn to see what looks like a little girl at the cave entrance near the base of the weirwood. She knows who Bran is and tells them all to get inside before the wights regroup. After being urged by Jojen to go without him, Meera [[MercyKill ends his suffering]] and follows Bran, carried by Hodor, inside. As they leave, the mysterious waif stops the wights from reanimating Jojen's body with more of her magic and destroys another before following the group under the tree.

Near '''the Bloody Gate''', Brienne wakes Podrick; their horses are missing, and it was his job last night to secure them. Pod swears he hitched them the way Brienne showed him, and maybe thieves took them, but she ain't buying it. After ordering him to carry the saddlebags the remaining distance to the Eyrie, Brienne catches sight of Arya doing her morning water dance routine a short distance off. The two ladies talk for a bit, highlighting their similarities growing up before the Hound arrives after conducting his morning dump. Pod recognizes him immediately and Brienne realizes who his ward is in turn. She tries to convince Arya she's here on her mother's orders, but Arya doubts it; her mother's dead. Brienne insists she swore a vow to get Lady Catelyn's daughters to safety but Sandor mocks the very concept and identifies the hilt of Oathkeeper as being of an alloy of Lannister gold; the lion-head shaped pommel doesn't help matters. Arya withdraws when Brienne admits association with Jaime Lannister and the Hound bares steel. Brienne draws her sword fully in turn.

* CoolShip: The Braavosi ship that Arya sails off has an awesome figurehead.[[labelnote:From the Books]] It has the badass name of "The Titan's Daughter", which is a nice double meaning for Arya, also a daughter of a man who is very much a titan of the North.[[/labelnote]]

* KickTheSonOfABitch: Cersei, infuriated by her father forcing her to marry Ser Loras, finally snaps and tells him that all those rumors about her and Jaime he's so eager to squash? ''They're true.'' Tywin is left absolutely aghast that his golden children have been committing incest on a regular basis, and that the great Lannister legacy he's been so focused on is founded through lies.

* KillTheOnesYouLove: Tyrion killing Shae. Also on a less romantic and bitter note, Meera giving the CoupDeGrace to end her beloved little brother's suffering.
** Mance Rayder and Tormund Giantsbane suspect this of Jon and Ygritte, Jon tells them that he did not, in fact, kill her in battle but its clear he feels guilty about it all the same. His cremation of her body is treated in the same light.

* MeaningfulName: Oberyn wasn't called the Red Viper for nothing, for vipers have venom, and his was Manticore Venom that coated his spears, ensuring that Gregor suffers a long, slow and agonizing death.

** Mance asks Jon if Ygritte is done by his doing. Jon says no. In the books, Jon initially fears he'd killed her in the heat of battle but discovers the fletchings on the arrow that killed her are different from what he used. However unlike the TV series he doesn't know which of his Nights Watch brothers killed her (and doesn't want to know).
** The complicated backstory of the Three-Eyed Raven is alluded to; when it states that he has had many names, and has been watching Bran, Jojen, and several others, with "A thousand eyes, and one." [[labelnote:In the books]] The character first appeared as Brynden "Bloodraven" Rivers in Creator/GeorgeRRMartin's ''Literature/TalesOfDunkAndEgg'', where he's a Targaryen "Great Bastard" who won the SuperpowerLottery of boasting Valyrian and First Men descent, giving him heightened abilities as a warg which he parlayed into creating a Police State that defended the Targaryen dynasty but earned him fear, distrust and hatred. "A thousand eyes, and one" is the title of a popular joke, riddle and song, a reference to having one eye and the response to the question: How many eyes does Lord Bloodraven have? [[/labelnote]]

** Varys helps Tyrion to escape for unstated reasons. This kind act ends up costing him, as he realizes he will likely be prosecuted for freeing a condemned man and abetting a traitor when the motive behind the bells tolling (the murder of the Hand of the King) gets investigated. As a result he hops on the boat with Tyrion and has to flee King's Landing.

* NotSoDifferentRemark: Tyrion seems to have had an epiphany with this, when his father tells him he's not his son, Tyrion coldly disagrees:
--> "I am your son, [[AntagonisticOffspring I have always been your son]]."

* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: Jaime defies his father, his sister, [[ToBeLawfulOrGood and the law]] in order to break his beloved brother, who he knows to be innocent out of prison before his execution.

* WeCanRebuildHim: Qyburn wants to perform questionable experiments on the Mountain to see if he can save his body. It's implied that the process will change him monstrously, but will make him even ''more'' powerful than before.

* XanatosGambit: We begin to see that Oberyn volunteering as Tyrion's champion is one. If he won, he would have gotten his revenge on The Mountain, and publicly embarrassed the Lannisters by setting Tyrion free. If he lost, however, his death would hurt his family's alliance with the Lannisters, weakening them at a critical time. He also coated his spears with manticore venom, meaning that [[OneHitKill he only needed to wound The Mountain once to kill him.]] Win or lose, he had his revenge.

* TranquilFury: Tyrion doesn't raise his voice once, but he's at the end of his fuse.

** Mance and Jon share toasts in honor of the deaths of Ygritte, and more notably, both [[FarmBoy Grenn]] and [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking Mag the Mighty]]; despite them being on opposite sides of the Battle for Castle Black.

** It's implied Sandor refusing to have his wound treated has left him able to only use his right arm in his fight with Brienne, with is an especially serious problem because he only carries a two-hand sword. He attempts to use it with [[OneHandedZweihander one hand]] but it's ineffective.

* XanatosGambit: We begin to see that Oberyn volunteering as Tyrion's champion is one. If he won, we would have gotten his revenge on The Mountain, and publicly embarrassed the Lannisters by setting Tyrion free. If he lost, however, his death would hurt his family's alliance with the Lannisters, weakening them at a critical time. He also coated his spears with manticore venom, meaning that, [[OneHitKill if he wounded The Mountain even once, it would kill him eventually.]] Win or lose, he had his revenge.

* AbsenteeActor: Alliser Thorne doesn't show up in the episode, either alive or in the funeral pyre; as he's still alive in Season 5, it's likely he was recovering from his injuries.

In the fallout of the Battle at Castle Black, Jon Snow marches through the tundra in the bright morning sunlight and into the '''Haunted Forest''' where Mance Rayder and his wildling army have set up camp. As he walks into the settlement, armed tribesmen emerge from the trees. Jon raises his arms in supplication and they bring him to Mance, who steps out of his tent to meet him. He notes that Jon has turned his cloak again. Snow informs him he's here to negotiate and the King Beyond the Wall allows him to step inside. Jon and Mance reminisce about the good times they had when everyone was convinced, even [[FakeDefector Jon]], despite himself, that he had actually broken his vows to the Night's Watch -- all due to Ygritte's intense influence. But apparently, it wasn't enough to sway Jon's loyalty to the Watch, who tells Mance of his ultimate role as a double agent. They discuss the first attack from the day before and Jon reveals his love [[StarCrossedLovers Ygritte's]] death, to which Mance has his men pour them [[GargleBlaster a "proper Northern drink"]] and they toast her along with the other glorious dead like Mag and Grenn. Mance offers Jon some food and then gets down to business. He knows the Watch threw all they had at the wildling army last night and that they are woefully undermanned. Jon is blunt and to the point: the wildling army must turn back. Mance refutes him stolidly. They ''need'' the Wall to hide from what's out there, they aren't here to conquer and they both know that "[[ArcWords winter is coming,]]" and it's in everyone's best interests not to allow a hundred thousand men, women and children to become undead slaves of the White Walkers. Mance gives Jon his ultimatum: allow them through the tunnel to settle on the Gift and no one else need die. Refuse, and he will kill every last one of them.

Before they find out whether Jon had it in him, they hear horns and bugles and Rayder presses the knife against Jon's throat, asking if this was his plan all along. Jon reminds Mance that he doesn't have the numbers to pull a stunt like this. We see a wide shot of an army of cavalry, carrying banners of a crowned stag within a fiery heart, riding in a pincer movement. Their two-pronged attack routs the Free Folk, with those who can't or won't flee caught in a massacre with Mance's tent at the center. Jon and Mance are lost as the soldiers crisscross through the forest. Mance, in desperation, throws down his sword then tells everyone to stand down as well, saying that his people have bled enough. The mounted knights cease their offensive and through the smoke and mist two familiar shapes canter forth on horseback. It's [[HesBack King Stannis Baratheon]] and Ser Davos Seaworth, fresh from Braavos.

Stannis dismounts and eyes Mance. Both Kings having quite an epic [[WorthyOpponent stare-down]]. Davos introduces Stannis as the "one true King of the Seven Kingdoms" but Mance, duly elected King Beyond the Wall, snarks that they are not in the Seven Kingdoms and they're aren't even [[RefugeInAudacity dressed for this weather]]. Stannis notes that a leader should [[KneelBeforeZod make a physical show of surrender]] when parleying with a King and that his behavior will impact the fates of his people. But Mance -- and the wildlings as a whole -- kneel to no one. Stannis takes this rebuke in stride and has most of Mance's men clapped in irons. Jon Snow reveals himself to be Ned Stark's son when Davos asks what a man of the Night's Watch is doing in the enemy's camp, much to Stannis' surprise. Stannis tells Jon that his father was a honorable man, considering Ned died for Stannis's claim. What would ''Ned'' have done with Mance? Jon considers this for a second. He explains to Stannis that Mance neither executed nor tortured him when ''he'' himself was Mance's prisoner and that his father Ned would have taken the wildlings' King hostage and heard him out. Stannis concurs and Davos escorts Mance away. Jon also offers Stannis one last piece of advice:

Cut to a lovely close-up of a hideous, stinking, festering, ''sizzling'' wound. At the Red Keep in '''King's Landing''', Qyburn and Pycelle are examining the drugged and delirious Gregor Clegane's rather sickly, greenish-purple veined abdomen. Cersei hangs back with a perfumed handkerchief over her nose and mouth to block the stench of Gregor's bodily fluids festering in his veins, and she curses the Martells. It seems Oberyn's death was not in vain after all, since his spear was in fact coated with venom from the ''Death's Head Manticore'', thickened with Qartheen sorcery so as not to kill instantly but instead ''prolong'' the Mountain's suffering. Pycelle regretfully admits that there's no hope of a cure, but Qyburn disagrees, stating that while no maester alive knows how to save him, ''he'' does. Cersei is curious and while Qyburn busies himself with apparatus, Pycelle complains to to his Queen that such arrogance was the reason why the maesters of the Citadel threw Qyburn out to begin with. Cersei, however, is enthralled and dismisses the Grand Maester from his own laboratory. Pycelle leaves in disgust while Qyburn attaches a medieval IV into Clegane's arm and uses an equally crude syringe the size of a basket-ball pump to withdraw and drain his corrupted blood into a glass round-bottom flask.

In the chambers of the Hand of the King, Cersei and Tywin discuss her upcoming marriage to Loras, a marriage she tells her father point blank that is never going to happen. Tywin retorts that she'll do it because, basically, he always gets his way. He even ''flatters'' Cersei, reminding her that the future of the Lannister legacy now depends entirely on her and she's very important. When that doesn't fly, he goes for an anecdote about Cersei being stubborn in her childhood and Tywin setting her straight. Cersei [[ShutUpHannibal cuts him off]] and confirms to him what he refuses to believe: she and Jaime [[{{twincest}} are indeed in a relationship and he is the father of her children]]. Having dropped this bombshell on her father, Cersei strides off while Tywin can only stand in stupefied silence.

Cersei then interrupts Jaime flipping through the Book of Brothers. Jaime angrily tells her that she's won, Tyrion's head is going to roll. Is there really nothing she wouldn't do? For her family, she replies, no. But Tyrion ''is'' her family, Jaime retorts. Cersei denies this, saying that we ''choose'' our family and Tyrion was relegated to hated enemy as soon as he was born. Jaime objects that Tyrion had no control over killing their mother, reminding Cersei that it wasn't Tyrion's fault and Tyrion was only an infant when their mother died in childbirth. Cersei responds, "A disease doesn't ''decide'' to kill you. All the same, you cut it out before it does." The Kingslayer has had enough, he can't choose her, she abandoned h -- ''[[ShutUpKiss "I choose you."]]'' Cersei makes his mind up for him. "Those are words," Jaime groans. "Like the words I said to father?" She's admitted their incestual coupling to Tywin. While at first a little hesitant, Jaime eventually relents to her advances when Cersei accepts his mutilation and kisses his golden hand; they begin a tryst [[FridgeLogic on what must surely be a very uncomfortable table]].

In '''Meereen''', Daenerys faces yet another challenge in her overthrow and adaption of the city's existing culture; an elderly former tutor, named Fennesz, wants to return to his previous life of servitude, but also relative comfort and respect. Though Dany has had communal shelters and mess halls built for those who lost their homes, many of the older patrons there are routinely attacked by the younger freedmen. Fennesz says he had a purpose as a teacher and feels lost and displaced in the new world she has built, mentioning there are many elders who desire the same thing. Dany tries to convince him otherwise, but hopeful dreams can't fill men's stomachs and she rather pitiably mourns that:

But her voice betrays doubt. She attempts to mitigate her policies and allows Fennesz to abide by his own choices and return to indentured-service for a period no longer than a year, much to his gratitude. Ser Barristan warns her that the Good Masters will [[LoopholeAbuse take advantage of her benevolence]] and may eventually reinstate slavery in all but name.

We return briefly to '''Castle Black''', where Aemon Targaryen gives a eulogy for those who died defending those who will never even know their names. Several pyres are lit by Jon, Sam and Dolorous Edd, burning the corpses of their fallen Night's Watch brothers. As Team Stannis look on, silent, Melisandre stares meaningfully through the flames at Jon, who stares back.

Within the cave, the powers that move the wights are ineffective, and three of the wights fly apart trying to pursue the party. Bran wonders who their rescuer is and she replies that she is one of [[TitleDrop the Children]] of the Forest, a member of [[TheFairFolk a fey race]] that fought the First Men millennia ago and originally ruled the whole of Westeros. Team Bran move inward, reaching part of the cave covered in old vines and snaking rhizomes. A wizened old man is seated ''inside'' and part of the nexus of winding roots: the Three-Eyed Raven. He welcomes Bran, and says Jojen knew of his fate even before he left with them. Bran asks if the old man can make him walk again. "You will never walk again," he tells him, ''"but you will fly."''

Near '''the Bloody Gate''', Brienne wakes Podrick; their horses are missing, and it was his job last night to secure them. Pod swears he hitched them the way Brienne showed him, and maybe thieves took them, but she ain't buying it. After ordering him to carry the saddlebags the remaining distance to the Eyrie, Brienne catches sight of Arya doing her morning water dance routine a short distance off. The two ladies talk for a bit, highlighting their similarities growing up, before the Hound arrives after conducting his morning dump. Pod recognizes him immediately and Brienne realizes who his ward is in turn. She tries to convince Arya she's here on her mother's orders, but Arya doubts it; her mother's dead. Brienne insists she swore a vow to get Lady Catelyn's daughters to safety but Sandor mocks the very concept and identifies the hilt of Oathkeeper as being of an alloy of Lannister gold; the lion-head shaped pommel doesn't help matters. Arya withdraws when Brienne admits association with Jaime Lannister and the Hound bares steel. Brienne draws her sword fully in turn.

He's reduced to begging the girl to put an end to him. Arya goes by his lessons, mutely takes the bag of silver he stole from the farmer off him and then leaves him to die alone by the roadside. Sandor yells after her, adjuring her for the gift of mercy. Arya [[UnflinchingWalk doesn't even break her stride.]]

He enters the Tower of the Hand through a secret trapdoor and walks into his father's bedroom. As he nears the fourposter he sees a woman underneath the covers. She stirs and mutters: ''"Tywin... My lion..."'' She looks up from where she lies: it's Shae, still wearing the golden chain necklace Tyrion gave her last season. After a second's indecision, Shae reaches for a cutting utensil on her plate of grapes and cheese, evidently prepared to kill him while Tyrion runs to stop her. He grapples with his former lover, managing to get her to relinquish the knife. Shae then tries to claw Tyrion's eyes out, scratching him on the cheeks, jaw and chest with her long nails but Tyrion gets the upper hand by snagging Shae by the chains around her neck and trying to throttle her into submission. She makes the fatal mistake of slapping him so hard he's sent clean off the mattress, pulling her with him. He sobs and cries as he garrotes her to death. Then, lying beside her still form, he can only utter tearfully, ''"I'm sorry... I'm sorry."''

Varys opens the secret door and takes Tyrion aside, noting the state he's in and asking with some horror what he's done. He puts the dwarf in a box, asking him to trust him as he's led him this far. The crate is put on a ship sailing out of King's Landing. The spymaster moves to return to the Keep, but stops as the bells toll for Tywin's death. Varys gives the blood red castle one last lingering look and then turns around to head for the ship, seating himself next to Tyrion.

We conclude Season Four at a harbor in '''the Saltpans'''. Accompanied by a TriumphantReprise of the Stark theme mixed with the main, Arya rides over the meadows on her white steed she acquired in the season premiere and asks to see the captain of the docked ship. ''"You're seeing him,"'' the foreign sailor says, paying little attention to her as she asks to be taken north to the Wall, where her brother Jon Snow is. The captain refuses, saying there's nothing there but ice and war and pirates -- and he is sailing home anyway, to the Free City of Braavos. Arya remembers what Jaqen H'ghar told her to do two seasons ago and produces her iron coin. The very sight of it causes the captain's demeanor to change. His questions are silenced when Arya speaks the two words the Faceless assassin taught her to say to any man from Braavos upon showing him that same coin: ''[[ArcWords Valar Morghulis.]]''

** In the books, Tyrion murders Shae in vengeance for her betrayal. In the show, she attacks him and he kills her in self defense. To boot, he seems to feel more guilty about it than in the books.

* AdaptationalWimp: Daenerys in the episode is able to chain up Viserion and Rhaegal with little resistance. In the books, the chaining of the dragons is a far longer and more difficult process. Viserion was the first dragon to be chained; he was allowed to gorge himself on meat until he became drowsy and lethargic, and was chained up while he slept. Rhaegal was second and more of a challenge; because he could hear Viserion struggling to break free of his chains, he would not come willingly, and in the end, Rhaegal was trapped in a net while he basked in the morning sun and dragged into captivity, a process that took three days and left six men injured. Drogon, however, chose to fight rather than submit; three unsuccessful attempts were made to capture him, in which four men died, after which Drogon fled north in the direction of the Dothraki Sea.

* AdaptationalVillainy: In the books, Shae tries to apologize and cries while she tells Tyrion that the Queen made her lie in the trial, but she ends up saying the wrong thing and Tyrion kills her. In the series she goes straight to the knife in an attempt to kill Tyrion, without any kind of conversation.

** The {{Patricide}} is incredibly different. When freeing Tyrion, Jaime confesses that Tysha, the prostitute that he claimed to have hired to fake a RescueRomance for Tyrion, was no such thing, but rather exactly what she said she was: a crofter's daughter who really did love him. When Lord Tywin found out, he ordered Jaime to lie, deeming the girl nothing but a GoldDigger. Tyrion brings this up when he confronts Tywin, and it's Tysha that Tywin refers to as a whore one too many times. This also has the added side effect of completely changing the brothers' parting words: in the books, Tyrion, headlong over the DespairEventHorizon, gets even more furious about the revelation and the fact that Jaime had kept the truth from him for so long. Lashing out in his fury, he goes off on [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech an absolutely withering rant]], telling Jaime about the frequent trysts Cersei has behind his back and even lies that he did indeed kill Joffrey, hurting the one person who still loves him simply because he himself is in too much pain to be civil, before swearing he will one day come back for revenge on Jaime, Tywin and Cersei for all they've done to him. He regrets it almost immediately, but it's clear the damage is done.

** Cersei likely has to endure the knowledge that she risked her daughter's safety at the hands of the Martells, just so that she could have the chance to see Tyrion executed. When he escapes, not only does she lose the chance to do so, but she'll have to live with the fact that she will probably never see Myrcella again.

* BerserkButton: Even though Shae is factually a whore, hearing Tywin call her that ''seriously'' enrages Tyrion. [[labelnote:From the Books]] The reason Tyrion is furious is that Tywin keeps calling ''Tysha'' a whore, Tyrion's first love that ended horribly.[[/labelnote]]

** The Hound mentions murdering Mycah all the way back from season 1 in an attempt to piss off Arya enough for her to kill him. It does piss her off, but doesn't produce the desired result. He also mentions the Battle of the Blackwater and how he should have raped Sansa, again to piss off Arya, to the same effect.

** At the start of Season Three, Tywin tells Tyrion "The next whore I find in your bed, I'll hang." Tyrion now finds the very whore in question in Tywin's bed, and strangles her with the gold necklace he gave her, twisting it so it looks like a noose.

* CaptainObvious: A surprised Tywin feels the need to point out that Tyrion has shot him [[labelnote:From the books:]]Tyrion mocks it in reply, quipping that "You always were quick to grasp a situation, my lord, that must be why you’re the Hand of the King."[[/labelnote]]

* TheCavalry: King Stannis' surprise attack consists of two divisions of cavalry, who quickly dominate the Wildling's main camp.

* DoWrongRight: Lord Selwyn Tarth doesn't approve of Brienne fighting, but decided to have Brienne trained anyway, reasoning that if she's going to fight, she might as well do it right.
* TheDogBitesBack: After being abused for his entire life, barely acknowledged as his own son, Tyrion Lannister kills his father, Tywin, on the privy.

** Jaime gave Oathkeeper to Brienne because he felt that it would be appropriate for Ned Stark's daughter to be protected by Ned Stark's ReforgedBlade. Its Lannister-styled hilt makes Sandor interpret its intended symbolism the opposite way, and turn on Brienne.

* EtTuBrute: Missing [[TheDogBitesBack the bigger picture]], Tywin can hardly fathom that Cersei, Jaime and Tyrion are successfully rebelling against the head of house Lannister. His line, "You shot me," even shares the feeling of disbelief ("why, this is violence"); that UsefulNotes/JuliusCaesar expressed during his own assassination.

* LeftForDead: Arya refuses to kill the Hound, even when he begs her to.

** Mance is willing to peacefully negotiate with Jon and does not wish to spill any more blood, if it means he can get his people on the other side of the wall.

* WorfHadTheFlu: While specific attention isn't drawn to it, you might notice the Hound favoring his left arm during his fight with Brienne, not using it on his sword, despite the blade's two handed grip, showing that he's suffering the effects of his infected wound. Though he does use it for a few solid punches, Brienne hasn't won an even fight with another badass since her win against Loras in Season 2.
* WouldHurtAChild: Drogon kills and immolates a 3-year old Meereenese girl.

Near '''the Bloody Gate''', Brienne wakes Podrick; their horses are missing, and it was his job last night to secure them. Pod swears he hitched them the way Brienne showed him, and maybe thieves took them, but she ain't buying it. After ordering him to carry the saddlebags the remaining distance to the Eyrie, Brienne catches sight of Arya doing her morning water dance routine a short distance off. The two ladies talk for a bit, highlighting [[NotSoDifferent their similarities growing up]], before the Hound arrives after conducting his morning dump. Pod recognizes him immediately and Brienne realizes who his ward is in turn. She tries to convince Arya she's here on her mother's orders, but Arya doubts it; her mother's dead. Brienne insists she swore a vow to get Lady Catelyn's daughters to safety but Sandor mocks the very concept and identifies the hilt of Oathkeeper as being of an alloy of Lannister gold; the lion-head shaped pommel doesn't help matters. Arya withdraws when Brienne admits association with Jaime Lannister and the Hound bares steel. Brienne draws her sword fully in turn.

* NotSoDifferent: Tyrion seems to have had an epiphany with this, when his father tells him he's not his son, Tyrion coldly disagrees:

-->'''Tywin:''' [[DullSurprise You shot me.]] Gah. ''[[FamousLastWords You're no son of mine.]]''

* IHaveNoSon: The gist of Tywin's FamousLastWords.

* RealityEnsues:
** Daenerys continues to be confronted with the fallout of her actions in Meereen. While the Unsullied try to keep order, freedom for a lot of former slaves is far worse than being enslaved, since they don't have the skills to survive on their own, and it's turning into a very dog-eat-dog world. At least one old man confronts her with the request that [[HappinessInSlavery he wants to return to being a slave]] (specifically, he was a tutor for his master's children), where he at least had security and respect, and tells her that there are many others like him.
** A predatory animal of Drogon's size and viciousness would almost certainly target children as easy prey if its normal prey supply is unavailable.(Doubles as TruthInTelevision)
** Bran and the Reeds and Hodor, despite seeming like a classic FreeRangeChildren on a quest arc, ends in horror when one of the kids dies and has to receive a MercyKill from his own sister. Bran and Meera find the Three-Eyed Raven's words that Jojen expected to die anyway, very hollow.
** For all their numbers, Jon's remark about the fatal lack of organisation within the Wildling army is proven right. They are easily routed by a relatively small force of cavalry with superior tactics. In the books Jon surmises that Mormont could have feasibly charged a few hundred men through their disorganised ranks and slain Mance, though surviving this victory would be unlikely.
** It's implied Sandor refusing to have his wound treated has left him able to only use his right arm in his fight with Brienne, with is an especially serious problem because he only carries a two-hand sword. He attempts to use it with [[OneHandedZweihander one hand]] but it's ineffective.

** Oddly, this is also averted at the same time: Tywin dies in a relatively quick and clean fashion (there's ''very'' little blood coming out of Tywin's wounds).

** On a meta-narrative level, the removal of Jaime confession re: Tysha has book fans wondering if it's just been moved to later on, or if she actually was just a prostitute in the show's continuity.

* NormalFishInASmallPond: The remnants of Stannis's army at the Wall. In the world of the great kingdoms in southern Westeros, Stannis is considered a totally spent force, with his remaining forces at less than a tenth what they were when he assaulted King's Landing. The only reason the Lannister-Tyrell alliance hasn't totally wiped him out is because they don't need to - Dragonstone is one of the strongest castles in Westeros, but he's considered to have no offensive strength left, so they can afford to just wait him out. His entire remaining force is about 1,600 cavalry - which would be considered a rather weak ''vanguard'' in the populous southern kingdoms, with the Reach or the Westerlands able to initially field cavalry forces near 20,000. But at the Wall...as Jon Snow pointed out to Ygritte, the wildlings have ''absolutely'' no experience at fighting heavy cavalry, none of the right equipment like phalanx units to counter them, and they're not disciplined enough to even face a heavy charge without breaking. Stannis may have only about 1,600 cavalry against tens of thousands of wildlings, but they're battle-hardened, well-equipped heavy horse, catch them totally by surprise in their own camp, and they're disciplined enough to execute a well-coordinated pincers movement. The pathetic remnants of Stannis's army are a downright OutsideContextProblem to the wildling horde.

Stannis dismounts and eyes Mance. Both Kings having quite an epic [[WorthyOpponent stare-down]]. Davos introduces Stannis as the "one true King of the Seven Kingdoms" but Mance, duly elected King Beyond the Wall, snarks that they are not in the Seven Kingdoms and they're aren't even [[RefugeInAudacity dressed for this weather]]. Stannis notes that a leader should [[KneelBeforeZod make a physical show of surrender]] when parleying with a King and that his behavior will impact the fates of his people. But Mance -- and the wildlings as a whole -- kneel to no one. Stannis takes this rebuke in stride and has most of Mance's men clapped in irons. Jon Snow reveals himself to be Ned Stark's son when Davos asks what a man of the Night's Watch is doing in the enemy's camp, much to Stannis' surprise. Stannis tells Jon that his father was a honorable man, considering Ned died for Stannis's claim. What would ''Ned'' have done with Mance? Jon considers this for a second. He explains to Stannis that Mance neither executed nor tortured him when ''he'' himself was Mance's prisoner and that his father Ned would have taken the wildlings' King hostage and heard him out. Stannis concurs and Davos escorts Mance away.

* WhamEpisode: Unlike the usual tradition of having the 9th episode as the most shocking one, most of the most surprising and important twist happened in the final episode. Stannis is back, the wildlings are defeated, the hound probably dies, and the biggest of them all is Tywin Lannister is dead...

* GroinAttack: During the fight between Brienne and Sandor, they both did this to each other. Notably, Sandor doing this to Brienne appears just as painful as the other way around, which is TruthInTelevision.

* WhamEpisode: Unlike the usual tradition of having the 9th episode as the most shocking one, most of the most surprising and important twist happened in the final episode. Stannis is back, the wildlings are defeated, the hound probably dies, and the biggest of them all is [[BigBad Tywin Lannister]] is dead...

-->'''Mance:''' Ah! ''(Signals for them to stop)'' Ahhh... ''That's'' why you're here... I reckon you could do it before any of them could stop ya. They'd kill you of course, they'd kill you slow, but, you ''knew'' that when you came in here. Are you capable of that, Jon Snow? Killing a man in his own tent when he's just offered you [[SacredHospitality peace?]] is that what the Night's Watch is? [[ArmorPiercingQuestion Is that what you are?]]

** Mance himself accepts this viewpoint and Jon Snow agrees implicitly since the only terms he's allow to give Mance by his duties are absolutely ridiculous: go back to their homes and become zombies on the side of the White Walkers, which will give the Night's Watch an even more impossible battle.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: For all his lecherousness and brown-nosing, Pycelle at least has the decency to insist on a less unpleasant death for The Mountain. He vocally makes known his open contempt for Qyburn's career as Mad Scientist who vivisected living men in the name of gaining knowledge. Pycelle may be willing to betray men to their deaths, but as a maester he has still taken vows as a physician, so he is still disgusted with what he sees as Qyburn's perversion of medicine and the search for knowledge.

* UnflinchingWalk: Even with a Wildling charging at him ([[CrowningMomentOfFunny handily cleaned up by a passing knight]]), Stannis does not break stride towards Mance.