History Recap / GameOfThronesS2E6TheOldGodsAndTheNew

* PragmaticAdaptation: In the books, the nobles are on horseback when the riot in King's Landing erupts. In this episode, they're on foot, possibly because having multiple horses in the middle of a rioting crowd could be very dangerous.

* PowderKegCrowd: A riot erupts when someone throws a cowpie at Joffrey, and Joffery starts yelling to kill them all.

* HeroesWantRedheads: Ygritte for Jon Snow.

As the royal party begins the walk back up to the Red Keep, peasants stand by to yell abuse. Tyrion shrewdly senses the dangerous mood of the crowd; he commands members of the party to inconspicuously whisk Prince Tommen back to the safety of the Keep. Only moments later, one of the assembled peasants flings cow poop at Joffrey. It's kind of amusing just how quickly the swords come out. Joffrey starts screaming that he wants the man who threw it and then that he wants everybody--"Kill them! KillEmAll!!!"--and suddenly we have a full-fledged riot on our hands. Gold cloaks and crimson-clad Lannister guardsmen wade in with swords, the Kingsguard sneaking Tyrion and Cersei away, and the Hound grabs Joffrey in one arm and starts striding away. "I want them executed!" Joffrey exclaims. "They want the same for you!" the Hound replies. The High Septon is left behind and gets, quite literally, torn apart.

** Joffrey [[KillThemAll ordering the rioting peasants killed]] sounds identical to his ordering Ned's men killed upon Ned's attempted coup.

Sansa's... in a bit of trouble. She's been cornered by four men, and [[AttemptedRape you can guess what they have on their minds]]. They're holding her legs open and one of them's pulling his pants down when, suddenly, there's a NeckLift and his entrails come popping out. [[BigDamnHeroes It's the Hound]], who takes her to safety. Tyrion thanks him, but he brushes it off: "I didn't do it for you."

* MythologyGag: In the books, House Stark trace their lineage back to a semi-mythical king named Brandon the Builder: it was he who raised the Wall; who positioned Winterfell over hot springs, so that warm water races through its walls like blood through veins; who built Storm's End, with stones so cunningly joined that there are no snags or pinnaces for the gales off Shipbreaker Bay to tear at. InUniverse, this is presumably where Arya got the idea of claiming her father was a stonemason.

Bran, who has somehow managed to sleep through all this, wakes up to the sight of... Theon? "I've taken Winterfell. I took it. I am occupying it. I sent men over the walls with grappling-claws and ropes." "Why?" Bran asks, logically enough, and Theon tells him it was [[CaptainObvious to take the castle]]. "I'm a Greyjoy; I can't fight for Robb and my father both." (Theon looks off to one side as he says this.) In fairness, Theon seems to want as bloodless a coup as possible, and exhorts Bran, who is the Stark in Winterfell, to urge his people to surrender. Ultimately, Bran does, but only one person--Osha--decides to join with the ironborn, and the rest aren't very cooperative; in particular, Ser Rodrik Cassel spits defiance back at Theon (literally). Dagmer tells Theon that he needs to execute Cassel on the spot if he plans to keep the respect of his men--which are the magic words, as this seems to be Theon's FreudianExcuse this season more than anything else--and Ser Rodrik accepts his death gracefully. Theon doesn't. It takes several sword blows and a savage kick before Cassel's head actually consents to part company with his body. Theon looks kind of deranged. Even Dagmer flinches.

Arya enters another war council in '''Harrenhal''' with a decanter of wine, interrupting a rather awkward confrontation: Lord Tywin Lannister fixing Ser Amory Lorch with a DeathGlare and asking, ''"Can you read?"'' As it turns out, though, Lord Tywin isn't just being a bully: Lorch sent a messenger raven, containing important orders, not to Lord Damon of House Marbrand but to Lord Marlin of House Dormond... in the North, where those orders will doubtless fall into the hands of Robb Stark. To prove the point, he turns to his servant: "Girl, fetch me ''The History of the Greater and the Lesser Houses''. It's the one on the-- Ha-ha. My ''cupbearer'' can read better than you." Arya, of course, fetched it without needing further instruction. She's not doing a good job of hiding in plain sight, though fortunately Lord Tywin seems amused by her. A look of panic spreads across her face, however, when the guard announces that Lord Petyr Baelish is without and desires an audience with Lord Tywin. She spends the entire interview doing a kind of agonized dance to keep herself facing away from him as much as she can; Littlefinger looks perplexed, but Lord Tywin is typically enough to distract him. In the end, it's ambiguous as to whether he actually identifies her; please use discussion pages, Dear Troper, if you'd care to debate the matter with other viewers.

Myrcella Baratheon weeps as a royal barge ferries her out of '''King's Landing''' to a sailing ship which will transport her to Dorne. She's not the only one: Tommen is kind of sniffly too, to Joffrey's contempt, and Cersei, though her face is iron, tries to put some sort of curse on Tyrion wherein Tyrion will love someone, truly love someone, and Cersei will take that person away from him. Tyrion, who of course [[Recap/GameOfThronesS1E9Baelor has already had this happen to him]], just gives her this bemused look.

As the royal party begins the walk back up to the Red Keep, peasants stand by to yell abuse. Tyrion shrewdly senses the dangerous mood of the crowd; he commands members of the party to inconspicuously whisk Prince Tommen back to the safety of the Keep. Only moments later, one of the assembled peasants flings cow poop at Joffrey. It's kind of amusing just how quickly the swords come out. Joffrey starts screaming that he wants the man who threw it, and then that he wants everybody--"Kill them! KillEmAll!!!"--and suddenly we have a full-fledged riot on our hands. Gold cloaks and crimson-clad Lannister guardsmen wade in with swords, the Kingsguard sneaking Tyrion and Cersei away, and the Hound grabs Joffrey in one arm and starts striding away. "I want them executed!" Joffrey exclaims. "They want the same for you!" the Hound replies. The High Septon is left behind and gets, quite literally, torn apart.

'''Somewhere beyond the Wall''', Jon Snow is well and truly lost. Like any typical man he refuses to stop and ask for directions--though, when the only person to ask directions ''of'' is Ygritte, a wildling raider and his sworn enemy, that hesitation turns out to be a little more forgivable. Eventually he stops them on the spot and declares they will make camp there. Of course, they have no supplies, and it's time to do the [[IntimateHealing share-body-warmth]] thing. [[ButIWouldReallyEnjoyIt Ygritte starts wiggling to get comfortable.]] Jon's vows hold, but his temper doesn't, and Ygritte falls asleep with a bit of smug smile on her face.

Back at '''Robb's camp''', the King-in-the-North is not pleased with the contents of the message Maester Luwin got off, and even less with the updates Roose Bolton has received from Barrowton and the Dreadfort, which include Ser Rodrik's death. Robb is all for abandoning the war against the Lannisters and striking north at once, but Bolton convinces him to deputize Bolton's bastard son (name not given here, but in the books it's Ramsay Snow), who can mobilize enough men to retake Winterfell on his own. Robb consents.

At '''Winterfell''', Osha again petitions Theon for a chance to serve under him. She unlaces her dress to make it precisely clear what she means. After a SexyDiscretionShot (in which, actually, the previous paragraph happened), Osha creeps past a sleeping Theon and goes to visit a guard at the Hunter's Gate. She tells him that Theon ordered her to visit all the guards and, you know, keep them warm. They smooch until she slits his throat, at which point Rickon, Bran, Hodor, Summer and Shaggydog emerge from the darkness. The small party slips out into the night.

** Rodrik Cassel is executed by Theon instead of dying further along as he did in the book. In the manner of his death he [[CompositeCharacter takes the place of two characters from the book]], Mikken the smith, who is murdered for publically defying and badmouthing Theon when he first took the castle, and Farlen the houndmaster, who Theon is forced to personally execute only to completely botch it.

** Osha is now solely responsible for getting Bran, Rickon and Hodor out safely, where in the books she had the help of Meera and Jojen.
* AdaptationInducedPlotHole: In the books Summer and Shaggydog are locked inside the godswood because Shaggydog attacks Little Walder, so when the ironborn come, the wolves can't protect Bran and Rickon. In the episode there's no explanation why Summer and Shaggydog are not present. (Little Walder is one of two relatives of the Late Lord Frey, who have come to be fostered at Winterfell. The other, helpfully, is called Big Walder.)

* DeathGlare: Cersei says that she hopes Tyrion loves someone deeply, and then has that person taken away from them. Seeing as [[IfOnlyYouKnew that's already happened]], Tyrion just gives her a cold look and walks away.

* IDontLikeTheSoundOfThatPlace: Roose Bolton's keep is called 'The Dreadfort'. Presumably it's not the kind of place one goes on a lovely summer holiday.

** How Theon executes Ser Rodrik. In contrast to the way this trope is usually played, Theon isn't able to take his head off in one swing, and hacks at it furiously before eventually kicking it loose. This contrasts with Ned Stark's sure hand demonstrated in the very first episode.

** Also Tyrion when he sees the High Septon torn limb from limb by the mob (he had the look even before that when he saw how hostile the crowd looked, clearly aware it wouldn't take much to set them off) and Sansa's would-be rapists when they find themselves confronted by a wrathful Sandor Clegane.

** One rioter tries to attack the Hound with a rock, but aims for the armored torso rather than the head, which is unarmored.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Ser Rodrik left Winterfell with 200 men which Theon's men evaded, and then was captured alone. This force, which outnumbers the Ironborn 6 to 1, is never mentioned again.

** Theon tries to limit bloodshed by giving the people of Winterfell an opportunity to surrender peacefully,Something people like Joffrey or Cersei would never do.

** Theon tries to limit bloodshed by giving the people of Winterfell an opportunity to sureender peacefully,Something people like Joffrey or Cersei would never do.

* PetTheDog: While he makes sure to negate his rescue of Sansa in the next episode by claiming he only did so because he loves killing, Sandor helping her up and saying, "You're all right, little bird," is never excused.

Half a world away and in rather less danger of rapine, Daenerys Stormborn stalks the courtyard of the Spice King of '''Qarth'''. He's the same guy who almost succeeded in turning her away at the gates two episodes ago, and things go about as well as they did then: Dany's {{Badass Boast}}s are easily deflected by the Spice King's PolitenessJudo and PassiveAggressiveKombat, with an added dose of TheReasonYouSuckSpeech. Helping her is a poor gamble, as she has no army, no friends in Westeros, and absolutely no return-on-investment. While she claims to have dragons, for good or ill she's been extremely secretive of them; no one in Qarth has actually seen one yet. He's rather smug about it, but the JerkassHasAPoint.

Arya enters another war council in '''Harrenhal''' with a decanter of wine, interrupting a rather awkward confrontation: Lord Tywin Lannister fixing Ser Amory Lorch with a DeathGlare and asking, "''Can you read?''" As it turns out, though, Lord Tywin isn't just being a bully: Lorch sent a messenger raven, containing important orders, not to Lord Damon of House Marbrand but to Lord Marlin of House Dormond... in the North, where those orders will doubtless fall into the hands of Robb Stark. To prove the point, he turns to his servant: "Girl, fetch me ''The History of the Greater and the Lesser Houses''. It's the one on the-- Ha-ha. My ''cupbearer'' can read better than you." Arya, of course, fetched it without needing further instruction. She's not doing a good job of hiding in plain sight, though fortunately Lord Tywin seems amused by her. A look of panic spreads across her face, however, when the guard announces that Lord Petyr Baelish is without and desires an audience with Lord Tywin. She spends the entire interview doing a kind of agonized dance to keep herself facing away from him as much as she can; Littlefinger looks perplexed, but Lord Tywin is typically enough to distract him. In the end, it's ambiguous as to whether he actually identifies her; please use discussion pages, Dear Troper, if you'd care to debate the matter with other viewers.

Sansa's... In a bit of trouble. She's been cornered by four men, and [[AttemptedRape you can guess what they have on their minds]]. They're holding her legs open and one of them's pulling his pants down when, suddenly, there's a NeckLift and his entrails come popping out. [[BigDamnHeroes It's the Hound]], who takes her to safety. Tyrion thanks him, but he brushes it off: "I didn't do it for you."

Half a word away and in rather less danger of rapine, Daenerys Stormborn stalks the courtyard of the Spice King of '''Qarth'''. He's the same guy who almost succeeded in turning her away at the gates two episodes ago, and things go about as well as they did then: Dany's {{Badass Boast}}s are easily deflected by the Spice King's PolitenessJudo and PassiveAggressiveKombat, with an added dose of TheReasonYouSuckSpeech. Helping her is a poor gamble, as she has no army, no friends in Westeros, and absolutely no return-on-investment. While she claims to have dragons, for good or ill she's been extremely secretive of them; no one in Qarth has actually seen one yet. He's rather smug about it, but the JerkassHasAPoint.

And then '''Back to Harrenhal''' as Arya cleans up Lord Tywin's solar, and she finds a piece of parchment with orders concerning Robb Stark written on them. Lord Tywin, happening by, asks who taught her to read, and she has to invent a stonemason's lineage to get by. Tywin talks about how he taught Jaime to read, despite his son's dyslexia--they would work at it for hours until he got it right. "He hated me for it, for a time. For a long time." He also talks of his own father, whom Tywin describes as loving, but weak: "He almost destroyed our house and name. [[RedOniBlueOni I'm cold]]." As he ruminates, Arya snags the parchment. Unfortunately, the first person she runs into is Ser Amory Lorch. She gambles on his illiteracy, but as it turns out he can read enough to know it's a piece of parchment she oughtn't have. Arya gives him the slip and then rushes straight for Jaqen H'ghar.

!!Tropes:

* AdaptationalAttractiveness: Ygritte is described as having "a pug nose, and crooked white teeth". Rose Leslie can hardly be described that way.
** Likewise Osha's naked body is muscled and scarred, unlike Music/NataliaTena's soft curves.

** With Tywin at Harrenhal, Arya would look pretty stupid using up her second death on a [[ThreeWishes childish whim]]. So instead Amory Lorch catches her stealing an order for a Lannister army, forcing her to use it on him.
*** In fairness to book!Arya, she did berate herself for holding the IdiotBall once she realized she had done so.

** Rodrik Cassel is executed by Theon instead of dying further along as he did in the book. In the manner of his death he [[CompositeCharacter takes the place of two characters from the book]], Mikken the smith who is murdered for publically defying and badmouthing Theon when he first took the castle and Farlen the houndmaster, who Theon is forced to personally execute only to completely botch it.

** Osha just gets a huge one in general, being now solely responsible for getting Bran, Rickon and Hodor out safely, where in the books she had the help of Meera and Jojen.
* AdaptationInducedPlotHole: In the books Summer and Shaggydog are locked inside the godswood because Shaggydog attacks Little Walder so when the ironborn come, the wolves can't protect Bran and Rickon. In the episode there's no explanation why Summer and Shaggydog are not present. (Little Walder is one of two relatives of the Late Lord Frey, who have come to be fostered at Winterfell. The other, helpfully, is called Big Walder.)
* AintTooProudToBeg: One of the rioters who tries to rape Sansa briefly begs for his life before The Hound slashes his throat.

-->''*{{beat}}*''

** The opening scene starts out with similar dialogue to a first season scene in which Theon got Bran out of bed, except while the first time, Theon was designating himself Robb's representative, this time he is invading Winterfell as an enemy.

* DoubleMeaning: After a discussion about how his father was a kind and loving man who nearly destroyed his family's legacy, Tywin Lannister states, "I'm cold". After a beat of palpable silence, Arya responds to the less personal interpretation of that statement that more wood is needed for the fire.
** Joffrey doesn't care that Sansa has disappeared into the riot. Tyrion points out that if she dies, Joffrey's 'uncle' Jaime also will die. "You owe him a lot you know." Although it's likely a reference to his slaying the Mad King, it may well be a reference to Jaime being Joffrey's real father.

* GoryDiscretionShot

* MoodWhiplash: The surprisingly lighthearted scene where Theon gently asks Bran to yield Winterfell is followed by Theon brutally - and incompetently - executing Ser Rodrik.

* OffWithHisHead: How Theon executes Ser Rodrik. In contrast to the way this trope is usually played, Theon isn't able to take his head off in one swing, and hacks at it furiously before eventually kicking it loose. This contrasts with Ned Stark's sure hand demonstrated in the very first episode.

* OhCrap: Arya when she hears Littlefinger is meeting Tywin.

* PetTheDog: While he made sure to negate his rescue of Sansa in the next episode by claiming he only did so because he loves killing, Sandor helping her up and saying "You're all right, little bird." is never excused.
* PowderKegCrowd: A riot erupts when someone threw a cowpie at Joffrey, and Joffery starts yelling to kill them all.

-->"She's been helping with the wounded, she's been very...helpful."

* SurroundedByIdiots: Seems to have become almost a RunningGag with Tywin, whose subordinates have escalated from being merely useless to him to actively helping the Starks with their incompetence. Lorch is lucky to walk away with his head still on his shoulders after sending important information intended for their allies to a Stark bannerman because of his inability to read the names accurately. In fact Tywin seems to start bonding with Arya because he realizes his little twelve year old cupbearer is the most intelligent person in the room.

** Tyrion gives Joffrey a very vitriol filled and well deserved one during the street riots, basically telling him that being King doesn't mean he can just do what he wants, punctuated by him slapping Joffrey across the face. [[Recap/GameOfThronesS1E2TheKingsroad Again.]]
-->'''Joffrey Baratheon''': ''[After barely escaping the angry mob]'' Traitors! I'll have all their heads!
-->'''Tyrion Lannister''': Oh, you blind, bloody fool!
-->'''Joffrey Baratheon''': [[ThisCannotBe You can't insult me]]!
-->'''Tyrion Lannister''': We've had [[RoyallyScrewedUp vicious kings and we've had idiot kings]], but I don't know if we've ever been cursed with [[TheCaligula a vicious idiot for a king]]!
-->'''Joffrey Baratheon''': Y-you can't...
-->'''Tyrion Lannister''': [[ShutUpHannibal I can, I am]]!
-->'''Joffrey Baratheon''': [[ItsAllAboutMe They attacked me!]]
-->'''Tyrion Lannister''': [[DisproportionateRetribution They threw a cow pie at you, so you decided to kill them all]]!? They're starving, you fool! All because of the war you started.
-->'''Joffrey Baratheon''': YOU'RE TALKING TO A KING!!!
-->'''Tyrion Lannister''': ''[slaps Joffrey]'' And now I've struck a king! Did my hand fall from my wrist?!

* TooDumbToLive: One rioter tries to attack the Hound with a rock, but aims for the armored torso rather than the head, which is unarmored.

* VillainousRescue: Sandor Clegane saves Sansa from rapists during the riot. Subverted by the fact that he saved her because of his care for her not because of sadism.

** Played with in the riot scene. The High Septon is pulled down, disappearing among the crowd. You hear screams and tearing sounds, and then you see one of the rioters emerge with his arm. Similarly, you see a man's innards fall to the ground from behind him, obscuring the actual injury, but revealing the effect of the injury.

-->'''Tyrion Lannister''': We've had vicious kings and we've had idiot kings, but I don't know if we've ever been cursed with a vicious idiot for a king!

-->'''Tyrion Lannister''': I can, I am!

** Also Tyrion when he sees the High Septon torn limb from limb by the mob and Sansa's would-be rapists when they find themselves confronted by a wrathful Sandor Clegane.