History Recap / GameOfThronesS6E9BattleOfTheBastards

* HollywoodTactics: They come up in several ways, and RealityEnsues with all of them:

* RealityEnsues: Did Ramsay really expect loyalty from his dogs when he starved them for a week and they are desperately hungry to eat anything?

[[WhamShot The fourth arrow takes Rickon through the chest]].

The next morning, Jon's army assembles before Winterfell. Crosses bearing flayed men have been set on fire in the field to intimidate their forces. Ramsay comes forward with Rickon in tow. He draws a dagger and Jon starts forward, afraid he's about to kill Rickon. Instead, he cuts the boy's bindings. As Ramsay tells Rickon to run to Jon, he nocks an arrow in his bow as Jon rides forward desperately to rescue Rickon. Ramsay fires and misses. Nonchalantly, he nocks and fires another arrow without even looking. Ramsay's [[RuleOfThree third arrow]] also misses. Jon reaches out to his brother.

[[HopeSpot The fourth arrow takes Rickon through the chest]].

[[WhamShot Jon is upset]].

Later, in his tent, Jon says if Ramsay were smart he'd stay inside Winterfell. Davos says Ramsay won't because he knows all the North is watching and can't have the Northern lords sensing weakness on his part. Fear is his power, so he can't have that. Jon says it's his weakness too, as his men don't like fighting for Ramsay. If they see the tide turning, they'll desert him. Tormund's concern is for Ramsay's cavalry, as Stannis Baratheon showed what mounted riders can do against infantry back at the end of Season 4. Jon reassures him trenches will protect their flanks. Davos says they must let Ramsay charge them and yield the center, so he can be surrounded three ways. Tormund asks Jon if he thought Ramsay would really fight him personally. Jon says no; it was to make him angry so he'd come at them with everything. After they leave, Sansa rebukes Jon for not consulting her insight while he drew up his battle plans against Ramsay, since she knows how he thinks. Jon admits his mistake. He asks how they can rescue Rickon but Sansa says there's no way Ramsay will permit him to live. Jon insists they can't give up on their brother and they argue. He asks Sansa what he should do but Sansa explains she doesn't know anything about battles and can only tell him not to do what Ramsay wants. They argue a bit more, Jon explaining that they've exhausted all their resources but this is all the men they can get for their army. Sansa tells Jon she won't return to Ramsay alive. Jon [[BigBrotherInstinct vows he will never let Ramsay touch her and will protect her]] but a [[BrokenBird despondent Sansa]] responds nobody can truly protect anyone. Davos and Tormund reminisce about Stannis and Mance Rayder, hoping this till will go better for them. Jon goes to Melisandre, telling her that if he falls this time, not to bring him back. She replies that it is the Lord of Light's will she follows, and has to try as it seems to be his will. Davos walks to the remains of the pyre where Shireen Baratheon was sacrificed by her father Stannis, finding the burnt carved stag he gave her and realising how she died -- and who caused it...

Sansa's advice was for Jon to not let Ramsay manipulate his emotions... but Jon's never had a good handle on controlling his RelativeButton. He TurnsRed and charges -- alone. Behind him, Ser Davos panics and starts to reorganize the Stark forces. Jon rides into a hail of arrows, leaving him horseless. The Bolton cavalry ride down at him. Alone, Jon draws his sword and prepares for a hopeless LastStand... but TheCavalry, his own cavalry ordered forward by Davos, smash into the Bolton lines, saving him. Behind them, Tormund Giantsbane leads the infantry charge. As horses and men careen past him, trampling each other, ramming each other, stabbing each other, Jon slays [[UnstoppableRage every Bolton soldier he can get his hands on]].

-->'''Razdal mo Eraz:''' Your reign is over!
-->'''Danaerys:''' ...My reign has just begun.

** When the Wildlings are surrounded by the Bolton infantry, they learn the hard way why rhythm and coordination are important in "Southron" warfare, as the Wildlings are uniformly closed upon and systematically mowed down by two lines of shield men protecting pikemen. A couple of seasons before, Yggrite mocked Jon for the silliness she perceived from the very idea of having a person in an army (a drummer) who is specifically responsible for keeping rhythm.

* FateWorseThanDeath: What Sansa (rather justifiably) considers being recaptured alive by the Boltons. She tells Jon she won't be recaptured, with the implication that [[BetterToDieThanBeKilled she'll kill herself if it's likely]]. Jon vows [[BigBrotherInstinct he’ll protect her from Ramsay]] but Sansa has become so [[BrokenBird jaded and broken]] from her experiences over the previous five seasons that she can’t allow herself to believe that anyone can truly protect anyone anymore, not even her own brother who she loves and who loves her.

** The Sons of the Harpy slaughtering Mereneese citizens at the front gate have one when they see the entire Dothraki khalasar charging at them with arakhs raised in a follow-up to Daenerys' dragon attack in the harbor.

* DirtyCoward: Ramsay does little to no fighting on his own and flees back to Winterfell as soon as the Knights of the Vale show up. Plus, when he chooses to have that duel with Jon after all, he uses a ''bow.'' He then exposes his true self when he's reduced to begging for mercy.

** The entire episode is for the Starks finally winning after several years of shit being thrown at them.

* {{Foil}}: Aside from the titular bastards, this episode in particular casts Tyrion and Theon in this light. Both were disowned by their now dead fathers for being unfit heirs, [[WellDoneSonGuy despite many efforts to prove themselves]]. Both used to be cocky and promiscuous men (Theon's promiscuity went away with his castration, Tyrion suffered an emotional blow with the same effects). Both are now broken NonActionGuy exiles advising queens who are also in exile and form a pact to take over Westeros.

* WouldHurtAChild: Ramsay shoots the preteen Rickon Stark dead just as he's about to make it back to his brother Jon.

* HomoeroticSubtext: When Daenerys asks if Yara's offer of a fleet comes with a marriage pact like that of her EvilUncle, Yara cheekily replies that she wouldn't demand it but is up for anything. [[BiTheWay Daenerys does not appear uninterested.]]

* BigBrotherInstinct: It is the urge to save Rickon that convinced Jon to retake Winterfell but when his brother is killed, Jon charges straight at Ramsay's army in a blind rage and compromises their battle plans.

The fleets of Astapor, Yunkai and Volantis continue to bombard the city of Meereen. Daenerys surveys the attack with Tyrion from the Great Pyramid. He cites the fleet as a backhanded compliment: if the Masters didn't fear a city without slaves (and thus without them in power), they wouldn't be here to destroy it. Satisfied that Tyrion isn't completely at fault, Daenerys declares her intention to crucify the "Wise" Masters, set their fleets on fire, kill all their soldiers and raze their cities. Tyrion, disturbed, points out that she's starting to sound [[NotSoDifferent a lot like her father]] (apparently, Jaime told him his secret at some off-screen point), and suggests taking another approach. Thus, Daenerys and her court meet with the Masters, who offer them onerous terms of surrender. Daenerys says they have misunderstood: she is there to discuss ''their'' surrender. [[SmugSnake The Masters scoff at this]]... Until Drogon drops in behind Daenerys. Mounting him, Daenerys leads her dragons (Rhaegal and Viserion unceremoniously bust themselves free) against their fleet, [[KillItWithFire making short work of several ships]]. At the same time, Daario and Daenerys's new Dothraki army ride into town and make short work of the Sons of the Harpy, who find heavily armed fighters on horseback far more challenging than unarmed slaves or ambushed soldiers. Meanwhile, Grey Worm tells the Masters' (slave) soldiers they have a choice: die for men who will not die for them, or go home. The Wise Masters' bodyguards choose the better part of valor. Tyrion reminds the frightened Masters of their pact with him, which they violated. One must die as punishment for this. The two high-born Masters volunteer their low-born colleague. Instead, Grey Worm kills both high-born Masters. Tyrion tells the sole survivor to warn his people what happened to them if they ever have future ideas of taking back Meereen.

Later, in his tent, Jon says if Ramsay were smart he'd stay inside Winterfell. Davos says he won't though, because then the other Northern lords would lose any fear of him and join the Starks. Fear is his power, so he can't have that. Jon says it's his weakness too, as his men don't like fighting for Ramsay. If they see the tide turning, they'll desert him. Tormund's concern is for Ramsay's cavalry, as Stannis Baratheon showed what mounted riders can do against infantry back at the end of Season 4. Jon reassures him trenches will protect their flanks. Davos says they must let Ramsay charge them and yield the center, so he can be surrounded three ways. Tormund asks Jon if he thought Ramsay would really fight him personally. Jon says no; it was to make him angry so he'd come at them with everything. After they leave, Sansa rebukes Jon for not consulting her insight while he drew up his battle plans against Ramsay, since she knows how he thinks. Jon admits his mistake. He asks how they can rescue Rickon but Sansa says there's no way Ramsay will permit him to live. Jon insists they can't give up on their brother and they argue. He asks Sansa what he should do but Sansa explains she doesn't know anything about battles and can only tell him not to do what Ramsay wants. They argue a bit more, Jon explaining that they've exhausted all their resources but this is all the men they can get for their army. Sansa tells Jon she won't return to Ramsay alive. Jon [[BigBrotherInstinct vows he will never let Ramsay touch her and will protect her]] but a [[BrokenBird despondent Sansa]] responds nobody can truly protect anyone. Davos and Tormund reminisce about Stannis and Mance Rayder, hoping this till will go better for them. Jon goes to Melisandre, telling her that if he falls this time, not to bring him back. She replies that it is the Lord of Light's will she follows, and has to try as it seems to be his will. Davos walks to the remains of the pyre where Shireen Baratheon was sacrificed by her father Stannis, finding the burnt carved stag he gave her and realising how she died -- and who caused it...

The Knights of the Vale hit the Bolton infantry in the rear, rolling up the shield wall almost effortlessly; the Bolton infantry, though armed with long pikes suitable for use against cavalry, are unable to turn due to the many layers of spears fencing them in. Ramsay retreats in a fury to Winterfell while his army is routed. He closes the gates: Jon's forces are not equipped for TheSiege. However, Wun Wun simply smashes the gates in, despite being filled with arrows, and enough Stark men stream in around him to rout what defenders remain. Wun Wun is killed by a last fatal arrow from Ramsay, who says he's reconsidered: a DuelToTheDeath with Jon sounds fine. But he still has his bow, while Jon has only his sword. Jon drops Longclaw and grabs a [[LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe shield]]. As he advances, he blocks one arrow, two arrows, three, and then flings the shield away and pounds Ramsay into unconsciousness with his bare fists. Only the sight of his sister Sansa calms his rage.

* AtopAMountainOfCorpses: So many men die in the assault on Winterfell that the remainder are literally fighting on a wall of their corpses. Some of them aren't even dead yet, and Jon nearly gets trampled into it. This is invoked by Ramsay, who wants a large number of corpses to pile up between the two armies as a makeshift wall and has his men fire arrows into his own cavalry as they're fighting the Stark army to provide the bodies.

* BadassArmy: Despite being outnumbered two-to-one, the Stark army manages to inflict more casualties on a numerically superior army than they receive in turn. A Downplayed example would be the late arriving Knights of the Vale, who are mounted and far more heavily armored than their Bolton opponents.

* BigBrotherInstinct: Proves to be both Jon's weakness and his strength. It was the need to save Rickon that convinced Jon to retake Winterfell and when his brother is killed, Jon charges straight at Ramsay's army in a blind rage. However, it's also his need to protect Sansa that allows him to power through the battle and give a ExtremeMeleeRevenge to Ramsay Bolton. In the end, he even leaves Ramsay's final judgement to his sister, who deserves to [[TheDogBitesBack give the killing blow]] more than anybody else.

* ExtremeMeleeRevenge: At the climax of his CombatBreakdown, Jon relinquishes all semblance of humanity as [[ItsPersonal he savagely beats Ramsay]] within an inch of his life. His animalistic nature is so disturbing, even the [[BarbarianHero Wildlings]] aiming bows at Ramsay beforehand give pause and stare. Jon only stops the beat-down on Ramsay once he sees his sister Sansa, whom he decides deserves the right to end Ramsay after all the horrors Ramsay subjected her to. [[TheDogBitesBack Ramsay would probably have preferred death by extreme melee revenge]].

* FateWorseThanDeath: What Sansa (rather justifiably) considers being recaptured alive by the Boltons. She tells Jon she won't be recaptured, with the implication that [[BetterToDieThanBeKilled she'll kill herself if it's likely]]. Jon vows [[BigBrotherInstinct he’ll protect her from Ramsay no matter what]] but Sansa has become so [[BrokenBird jaded and broken]] from her experiences over the previous five seasons that she can’t allow herself to believe that anyone can truly protect anyone anymore, not even her own brother who she loves and who loves her.

-->'''Sansa Stark''': ''[to a defeated Ramsay]'' Your words will disappear. Your house will disappear. Your name will disappear. All memory of you will disappear.

** Ramsay also qualifies when he looks at ''Jon Snow'' literally dripping with blood after he just killed his little brother and suggests single combat.

* HarsherInHindsight: During Yara's meeting with Daenerys, the former states that neither the Iron Islands nor Westeros has ever had a queen. By the end of the finale, Westeros does get a queen: [[spoiler:Cersei Lannister]].

* DemotedToExtra:
** Despite being prominently by Ramsay Bolton's side, Lord Karstark has no lines whatsoever, unlike Smalljon Umber.
** Lady Mormont only gets a single ''shot'' in the entire episode, but still she makes it count with an epic DeathGlare.
** Littlefinger also gets only a single shot, as the Knights of the Vale arrive, sporting that smug smile of his as his men charge in.

The fleets of Astapor, Yunkai and Volantis continue to bombard the city of '''Meereen'''. Daenerys surveys the attack with Tyrion from the Great Pyramid. He cites the fleet as a backhanded compliment: if the Masters didn't fear a city without slaves (and thus without them in power), they wouldn't be here to destroy it. Satisfied that Tyrion isn't completely at fault, Daenerys declares her intention to crucify the "Wise" Masters, set their fleets on fire, kill all their soldiers and raze their cities. Tyrion, disturbed, points out that she's starting to sound [[NotSoDifferent a lot like her father]] (apparently, Jaime told him his secret at some off-screen point), and suggests taking another approach. Thus, Daenerys and her court meet with the Masters, who offer them onerous terms of surrender. Daenerys says they have misunderstood: she is there to discuss ''their'' surrender. [[SmugSnake The Masters scoff at this]]... Until Drogon drops in behind Daenerys. Mounting him, Daenerys leads her dragons (Rhaegal and Viserion unceremoniously bust themselves free) against their fleet, [[KillItWithFire making short work of several ships]]. At the same time, Daario and Daenerys's new Dothraki army ride into town and make short work of the Sons of the Harpy, who find heavily armed fighters on horseback far more challenging than unarmed slaves or ambushed soldiers. Meanwhile, Grey Worm tells the Masters' (slave) soldiers they have a choice: die for men who will not die for them, or go home. The Wise Masters' bodyguards choose the better part of valor. Tyrion reminds the frightened Masters of their pact with him, which they violated. One must die as punishment for this. The two high-born Masters volunteer their low-born colleague. Instead, Grey Worm kills both high-born Masters. Tyrion tells the sole survivor to warn his people what happened to them if they ever have future ideas of taking back Meereen.

Ser Davos and Ramsay orders their archers to nock... draw... Ser Davos tells them to unstring their bows, as they'd only hit their own side. Ramsay has [[WeHaveReserves no such compunctions]]. The arrows fall indiscriminately, forming a literal wall of corpses, dead and screaming horses and men. Ramsay orders more arrows, watching without emotion as what's left of the North slaughters itself before him.

Having committed his cavalry, Ramsay now sends in his foot soldiers. The Bolton infantry surround the Starks on three sides, hemming them in against the wall of corpses, then close in with their spears behind a shield wall. With lockstep movement, they stab with their spears, and advance to where the dead wildings just were. Stab and advance, again and again. Over the mound of bodies, by now easily thirty feet tall, come the Umbers. Jon's forces slam against the shields, trying desperately to break out from the trap, but cannot. At last, the wilding morale is broken, and they charge toward the Umber side in hopes of escape. Jon is knocked down and falls under the press, nearly smothering to death before he can break free. Meanwhile, Tormund is locked in battle with Lord Umber, brutally beaten before at last, he manages to kill him. But the shield wall is impenetrable; not even Wun Wun, literally ripping men apart with his bare hands, can make a dent in it, as another soldier always seems to be there to fill in the gaps made, with their spears not allowing the wildings to take advantages of the holes made in the shield wall.

** The Masters didn't count on Daenerys retaliating against them, especially since she has three full grown dragons at her beck and call.

** The Bolton army does this Roman style after having the Stark army surrounded.

'''Smalljon Umber''': ''SHOW ME!''

* DoWithHimAsYouWill: After [[HeroicBastard Jon]] has finally defeated the {{sadist}} [[BastardBastard Ramsay Bolton]], he understandably [[ExtremeMeleeRevenge beats Ramsay]] [[ExtremeMeleeRevenge to a pulp]] for all the hell Ramsay [[RelativeButton has done to his family]] (Ramsay murdering his little brother and raping his younger sister) and for what Ramsay's done in general. However, Jon decides the final say on Ramsay's life should go to his sister [[BrokenBird Sansa]], who has suffered at Ramsay’s hands even more than Jon has. Boy, [[PayEvilUntoEvil does Sansa ever]] [[NightmareFuel get the guy back]].

* WrongGenreSavvy: It is brought up by WordOfGod in the Inside the Episode featurette that Ramsay, even after being beaten to a bloody pulp, believed that the Starks were too noble to execute prisoners and [[YouWouldntShootMe thus would not kill him]], meaning he could eventually turn the situation around. He quickly finds out he's wrong just seconds before the first hungry hound latches onto his face and the others do so as well.

* DefiantToTheEnd: With all of his men defeated, Ramsay still refuses to surrender, offering to take Jon up on his offer to [[CombatByChampion fight one on one.]] Jon obliges and beats him within an inch of his life, only relenting to allow Sansa to be the one to kill him.

* DirtyCoward: Ramsay does little to no fighting on his own and flees back to Winterfell as soon as the Knights of the Vale show up. Plus, when he chooses to have that duel with Jon after all, he uses a ''bow.''

%%* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: see subtrope ExtremeMeleeRevenge

** Jaime apparently confided to Tyrion about the wildfire beneath King's Landing and Aerys II's plan. When Jaime trusted this knowledge to Brienne in Season 2, he made clear he had never told anyone else, and Tyrion himself was surprised about the wildfire in the capital in Season 2. Either he knew it all along or Jaime told him about it when he returned to King's Landing, which does make a bit of sense given his recent character development.

* TooDumbToLive: Ramsay looks at Jon Snow ''literally dripping with blood'', obviously [[OneManArmy not his own]], and says one-on-one combat "sounds like a ''wonderful'' idea."

* TooDumbToLive: Ramsay looks at Jon Snow ''literally dripping with blood'' and says one-on-one combat "sounds like a ''wonderful'' idea."

* TooDumbToLive: Ramsay looks at Jon Snow ''literally dripping with blood'' and says one-on-one combat sounds like a "''wonderful'' idea."

* TooDumbToLive: Ramsay looks at Jon Snow ''literally dripping with blood'' and says one-on-one combat
sounds like a "''wonderful'' idea."

* TooDumbToLive: Ramsay looks at Jon Snow ''literally dripping with blood'' and says one-on-one combat sounds like a "''wonderful'' idea."