Recap / Game of Thrones S4E2: "The Lion and the Rose"

"May you and my daughter Margaery drink deep, and live long."

—Lord Mace Tyrell

The Lion and The Rose begins near the Dreadfort, where a pair of happy young lovers merrily chase game in the woods. The man, however, is Ramsay Snow, and so of course the quarry is human. Specifically, a servant girl named Tansy, who's being chased by Ramsay, his girlfriend, a pair of hounds, while Theon Greyjoy, now known as "Reek", meekly follows behind the couple, as he strains to keep up with their pace despite an obviously painful limp. Tansy manages to flee for a while until Ramsay's equally Ax-Crazy girlfriend, Myranda, puts an arrow through her leg. Blubbering, Tansy cries that she's done everything he wanted. True, concedes the bastard of Bolton, but you made my girl jealous, so he sets the dogs on her, while what was once Theon Greyjoy can only watch in mute horror and self-loathing.

Meanwhile, at King's Landing, Jaime and Tyrion eat breakfast. Jaime questions his usefulness in the Kingsguard without his dominant right hand. Tyrion tries to get his brother out of his funk and even offers him a training companion who'll keep his mouth shut. Jaime meets with Bronn at a discreet place beside the wharf of the Red Keep (Bronn screws a knight's wife there), and gets down to the hard work of conditioning muscle memory and becoming a lefty.

Several riders bearing the Flayed Man arrive at The Dreadfort. Roose Bolton has returned, with Locke and his new wife, "Fat" Walda Frey, in tow. The first thing he does after settling in is to have Ramsay bring Reek to him. His reaction to the flayed torture victim is one of annoyance: this was Balon Greyjoy's heir. The Greyjoys hold the strategically-important Moat Cailin, hurting the Bolton position to the point that Roose had to smuggle himself into his own lands, and now Ramsay has just mutilated their best bargaining chip. Ramsay's hole is dug deeper when it is revealed that he offered terms to Balon without Roose's consent.

Ramsay extricates himself by arguing that what they lost in Theon The Bargaining Chip, they've gained in Reek The Servant. To demonstrate, he orders Reek to shave him. Roose Bolton watches as Reek holds a razor to his torturer's throat. Ramsay doesn't lose a drop of blood, even when he reveals Robb's death to Robb's former brother-in-arms with relish. He also provides Roose with the secret of Bran and Rickon still being alive. In the end, Locke is sent north to Castle Black, where they suspect Jon Snow may be sheltering the Stark boys, while Ramsay and Reek are sent to take Moat Cailin back from the Ironborn.

In King's Landing, Tyrion is on his way to Joffrey's wedding-day breakfast. Varys pulls him to the side to warn him that Shae's cover has been blown. He's not going to lie for her, as he values his head too much for that, but he has friends across the sea that will help her.

At the reception, Joffrey seems, incredibly, like he's shaping up. He thanks Mace Tyrell for giving him an ornate chalice, and is even able to speak courteously to Tyrion when presented with a history of Targaryen kings. Joffrey loses it, however, when he is given his new Valyrian-steel blade, gleefully hacking the book to shreds. He invites the audience to help him come up with a name, and they shout out possibilities until he hears one he likes: "Widow's Wail."

Tyrion meets with Shae to inform her that their "friendship" is over. She's going to get on a ship, and he's going to keep his vows to his wife. Unfortunately, the otherwise-sensible Shae has hit an almost Stark level of love-stupidity, to the point where she says they'll "fight [Tywin and Cersei] together". Tyrion cranks it up, calling her a whore repeatedly, asking her how many men she's fucked, and going at it until she starts crying. He calls in Bronn to escort her to the ship to Pentos with the house and the servants and all the other things that she didn't want the first time. She slaps Bronn and storms out. Bronn follows her. Tyrion knocks a cup over.

At Dragonstone, Melisandre is burning Selyse's brother alive for non-conversion. Selyse, ever the joyful fanatic, ecstatically swears that she saw his soul leave his body, with all its sin burned away. Davos is less than thrilled about it, asking Stannis how many ships Florent had brought to his cause. More than you, Stannis retorts.

At supper, Selyse reminisces about her time under siege at Storm's End. The conversation shifts to Shireen. Selyse is of the opinion that she's a stubborn and sinful creature that God saw fit to curse. Stannis is of the opinion that she's a child. Selyse is able to get Melisandre sent to her. Shireen isn't persuaded when the Red Priestess likens a burning man's screams to a woman's screams at birth, but is taken aback when told that everything she learned about The Seven is a lie. So there aren't seven heavens and seven hells? she asks. There's only one hell, Melisandre assures her, the one we live in now.

Then, we go North Of The Wall, where a deer is being stalked by a video camera. It follows the deer silently, waits for its moment, and pounces. The camera begins to feast on warm deer flesh just as Hodor wakes Bran up, pulling him out of Summer. Jojen and Meera lecture him on the dangers of going native and potentially forgetting what it means to be human. Bran sullenly eats his meager provisions.

Later on, the team comes across a Heart Tree. Bran places his hand against it, his eyes roll into the back of his head and he is flooded with visions. The past, the present, the future? Him falling from the tower. The Three-Eyed Crow flies through the dark crypts of Winterfell. Ned stagnates in a Black Cell. A voice commands him to "Look for me..." it seems to emanate from the roots of another red-leaved weirwood tree. The Wight Wildling child from the pilot. A conspiracy of ravens hurtles through the haunted forest. "...beneath the tree." An Other's undead horse. Cersei screams he saw us! The Iron Throne covered in the snows of winter. White Walkers beneath an ice sheet. The shadow of a dragon flying over King's Landing. And the voice finishes with: "North!" Bran awakes from the green-sight vision and says he knows where they have to go to find this mysterious guide.

We return to King's Landing, where we stay for the rest of the episode. Joffrey is getting married to Margaery. The Septon declares them to be of one heart and flesh and soul. Joffrey cloaks and kisses his wife, to applause.

Olenna and Tywin walk and talk on their way the reception. They're getting almost friendly now. The two discuss the costs of the wedding— not now, Olenna says to Mace as he walks up to where the adults are talking— and then the Iron Bank of Braavos. Tywin says, agreeably, that he's not worried about owing them money. She, equally agreeable, tells him that he's too smart for that.

The assembled nobles, in keeping with proud Westerosi tradition, make the reception as unpleasant as possible. Olenna approaches Sansa to offer her condolences on the Red Wedding. It's hard enough to lose family, she says (within hearing of Lannisters), but what monster would kill a man at a wedding? She then goes off to "eat some of the food I paid for." Loras exchanges veiled insults with Jaime. Joffrey irritably tells some bards to get lost, literally throwing money at them.

Margaery tries to save the mood by making a speech. She announces that all the leftovers will be given to charity, which garners applause. Brienne approaches the table to congratulate her. Cersei follows after her. In conversation, Brienne mentions that Jaime saved her life. Cersei senses something and quickly goes into Clingy Jealous Girl mode. "I haven't heard that story", she says pleasantly, "but you must have so many interesting stories, what with murdering Renly and following camps and flitting between so many masters". Brienne clarifies that she never served Jaime. "But you love him", Cersei says as her put-upon pleasantry finally fails to conceal her viciousness, but Brienne simply decides to walk away and leaves her with no response.

She storms off to find Pycelle, who is trying to get laid. Cersei informs him that his presence annoys her, and orders him to have the kitchen give the leftovers to the kennels instead of the poor. Then she meets up with Tywin just in time to run into Oberyn and Ellaria. Their introductions quickly descend into Cultural Posturing and family-based insults. Always polite insults, though. These are aristocrats, after all.

Joffrey manages to earn himself the Gold Medal In Bad Taste when he denounces the crowd for taking his wedding for entertainment. It's history, he says, and to contemplate history, he has reenacted, for you, the War of the Five Kings. Several dwarfs, dressed as Joffrey, Stannis, Renly, Robb, and Balon, run onstage and start whacking each other with fake swords and lances. Dwarf!Joffrey calls Dwarf!Renly a deviant, while Renly's widow watches mortified. All of the Tyrells are disgusted, and Loras storms away from the festivities. Sansa is inconsolable with grief as her brother's memory is trampled on while Tyrion can only remain silent with rage and indignation. Nearly everyone shows some disapproval over this farce, the main exception being Joffrey, who is almost rolling with laughter.

When the show is done, Joffrey mockingly asks Tyrion if he'd like to join the play for an encore, as he has just the right size to join the troupe. Tyrion manages to keep his composure and declines like a true noble, that is with a thinly-veiled insult as he tells Joffrey to take the stage himself and show everyone how a true king acts in the heat of battle, an obvious reference to Joffrey's cowardice during the Battle of Blackwater. Joffrey's clever response to this is to dump his cup of wine over Tyrion's head. Margaery tries to defuse the tension, and proposes a toast to which Joffrey says you can't have toast without wine, and orders Tyrion to be his cupbearer. In handing the cup over, Joffrey drops it and kicks it under a table, forcing Tyrion to go under the tablecloth to get it. Sansa picks it up on her end for Tyrion to pour and serve his nephew. But this is not enough, first, he must kneel. Tyrion refuses to supplicate, much to Joffrey's mounting anger. Margaery, still doing her damnedest to keep this thing sane, turns Joffrey's attention to the giant wedding pie being brought out.

A slash from Widow's Wail cuts into the pastry and sends several white doves into the air (and slicing up a few others still in the pie). Tyrion tries to sneak off with Sansa, but Joffrey notices this and asks where the cupbearer is going. Tyrion says to change his clothes, but Joffrey won't have any of that. He demands some wine to wash down his pie. Tyrion, after serving him, requests permission to leave as Sansa is tired. Joffrey, in refusing, starts to cough, and taking a drink of wine begins to cough much worse. It soon becomes clear to everyone that he's choking.

The King collapses, as the color of his face turns increasingly purple, his convulsions so violent they force him to vomit slightly and he desperately gasps for breath. As panic and confusion starts to erupt amongst the guests, Cersei and Jaime run up to Joffrey as he starts to bleed from the mouth and nose. Dontos Hollard appears out of nowhere to tell Sansa that she has to leave now. Joffrey, in the last act of his life, slowly raises a hand to point accusingly at his uncle Tyrion. And so dies King Joffrey Baratheon, the First of His Name. And There Was Much Rejoicing (among the audience at least).

And whether from a logical conclusion based on Tyrion's past treatment of Joffrey and threat towards her or simply out of grief and hatred towards her brother, Cersei starts shrieking for the guards to grab Tyrion, who she says killed him. The guards oblige, and there ends the episode.

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Tropes:

• Absurdly Sharp Blade: Joffrey demonstrates his newest toy by cutting through the very thick book that Tyrion gave him as if it were butter.
• Abusive Parents: Roose is rather rude to Ramsay, constantly rubbing in his face the fact that he's a bastard. Granted, he deserves it.
• Action Film, Quiet Drama Scene: For a show brimmed with fight scenes, most of this episode's content is centered around the Purple Wedding.
• Adaptation Expansion: In the books, it's only two dwarfs jousting: one to mock Robb Stark and one to mock Stannis. Here all five kings are represented, meaning Joffrey goes out of his way to insult nearly everyone present (and likely is meant to imply that he thought he was being "magnanimous" by including a caricature-dwarf of himself — who, naturally, is not the butt of nearly as much humor as the others).
• Adaptational Heroism: In the books, the supposedly charitable Tyrells serve 77 courses at the wedding, far more than anyone there could hope to eat, while the city is still suffering from famine. Cersei found the hypocrisy of the situation amusing. In the show, Margaery announces that the leftovers will be given to the poor and the bitter Cersei orders that the wedding's leftovers be given to the dogs just to spite her.
• Adaptational Nice Guy: Nice guy is really pushing it, but Joffrey's reaction to Tyrion's wedding present, The Lives of Four Kings, is far more gracious than in the book, where Joffrey shows no gratitude but instead crudely implies Tyrion's fondness for reading has left him impotent and makes another crass (and public) declaration of his intention to bed Sansa at some point. That still doesn't stop him from hacking the book in pieces with his valyrian steel sword in front of Tyrion, however.
• Adapted Out: The point in the books at the wedding breakfast where after Joffrey demands a better present from Tyrion having destroyed the book and a seething Tyrion retorts by baiting Joffrey as to whether he'd want a Valyrian steel dagger (having worked out Joffrey was the one who orchaestrated the assassination attempt on Bran Stark), elicting a small Villainous Breakdown from Joffrey before he manages to hide it, is omitted altogether.
• Armor-Piercing Question: Cersei remarking whether Brienne loves Jaime. Brienne can't answer, merely making her excuses and leaving.
• Asshole Victim: Joffrey. Bonus points for not just relying on old deeds to make him this, but for having him go out with arguably the biggest series of Kick the Dog moments in the entire series.
• Bait the Dog: Joffrey graciously accepts Tyrion's gift... then hacks it to pieces with Widow's Wail. After that, he pretty much goes on to Kick the Dog as he never has before.
• Blatant Lies:
  • Tywin's claim not to be worried about the Iron Bank of Braavos. Olenna immediately calls him out on it, as well as saying he would be a fool if he did mean it.
  • When Jaime asks Loras if he is looking forward to his wedding to Cersei, the young man hesitates for a moment before replying, "Yes, very much."
  • Joffrey's "reenactment" of the War of the Five Kings is full of this, depicting Renly as a simpering Camp Gay and Stannis as a pathetic Dirty Coward.
• Body Horror: In his death scene, Joffrey looks even more bloated and purple than in the book, not to mention that he is heavily drooling and bleeding from every orifice on his face, including the pores. The creators knew what their audience wanted to see.
• Book Ends:
  • The episode opens and closes with one gruesome death.
  • Tyrion spills his wine out of affection for his brother, Joffrey spills his wine out of hatred for his uncle.
• Break His Heart to Save Him: Tyrion verbally insults Shae so she will leave King's Landing, knowing that she is a huge target for Cersei and Tywin.
• Break the Badass: Ramsay's work on Theon/Reek is so effective he feels perfectly safe letting him shave him, and even takes pleasure in telling him how Robb Stark died at the hands of his (Ramsay's) father while the razor is to his throat. All Theon can do is tremble in numb horror, heartbreak and rage....before continuing shaving without shedding a drop of blood.
• Brick Joke:
  • Set up during the previous episode. This episode, Joffrey gets to name another new sword.
    Arya: Lots of people name their swords.
    Sandor: Lots of cunts.
  • A subtle one: Last episode, Olenna set up a playful competition among the Tyrell handmaidens about who could bring her the best bridal necklace for her granddaughter. The winning one is so plain it's hardly noticable, expecially in combination with that Pimped-Out Dress. Apparently the Queen of Thorns is an advocate of "Less is More".
• Brutal Honesty: While it's more from a severe lack of wit than any form of integrity (but with extra brutality), when Tyrion makes his usual quips to play off Joffrey's abuses of him (pouring wine over his head, forcing him to serve as his cupbearer), Joffrey refuses to let him play Politeness Judo by pretending he's not being insulted. Joffrey's making it clear that he does not play the courtly game of veiled insults because as king he can do whatever he likes to anyone, and if he intends to insult you, you'd damn well better be insulted if you know what's good for you.
• Call-Back:
  • Tyrion's claim that Kings are dying like flies is proven brutally correct.
  • Podrick clearly recognises the contortionist as one of the whores with whom Tyrion rewarded him in the last season.
  • Varys gives a couple; first he reiterates his refusal from Season 2 to lie about Shae, and also echoes his comments to Ned Stark in Season 1 that nobody weeps for spiders.
  • Melisandre tells Shireen that despite not being deformed, her childhood was plenty hard on its own. Last season she confided to Gendry that she was a slave in Essos, and Dany's storyline has given us quite an education in what their lives are like.
  • In "Dark Wings, Dark Words", it was revealed that Joffrey hates flowers because he considers them to be effeminate, and expresses his deep loathing towards "degenerates" like Renly Baratheon. In this episode, Joffrey publicly humiliates Ser Loras Tyrell—a.k.a. the Knight of Flowers—and his relationship with Renly in the worst way possible in front of several hundred guests, not to mention the man himself, the man's sister (and Joff's own wife), and his grandmother. This is as sadistic as Joffrey can get without chopping Loras's head off for his homosexuality.
• Camp Gay: "Renly" is portrayed by his dwarf actor as such, talking and giggling in a high-pitch, effeminate manner which the real Renly never spoke in.
• Chubby Mama, Skinny Papa: The Bolton newlyweds, doubling as a Brick Joke from Roose that Frey's offer was a dowry of the woman's weight in silver. He did, indeed, pick a very fat wife.
• Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Cersei politely insinuates that Brienne has this, seeing as how she first swore to serve Renly Baratheon then Catelyn Stark then her brother. Brienne replies that she never swore anything to Jaime.
• Combat Pragmatist: Bronn shows that he's this, to no one's surprise. Even Jaime seems to find his tactics dirty, and he was the one who pulled a dagger out mid-swordfight and knifed poor Jory in the first season.
• Come with Me If You Want to Live: In the chaos of Joffrey's poisoning, Dontos Hollard calmly approaches Sansa and prompts her to go with him if she expects to survive.
• Composite Character: Lord Axell Florent is a combined version of:
  • Ser Axell Florent, Castellan of Dragonstone, provides the name. In the novels Ser Axell is a devoted follower of R'hllor
  • Erren Florent provides the blood relation as Selyse's brother, but is the third son of a second son (Ser Ryam Florent)
  • Lord Alester Florent provides the title as head of House Florent and being burned in Stannis's presence. Also, Alester's description is close to TV!Axell's appearance. However, he's burned for attempting to make peace with the Lannisters by offering to betroth Shireen to Tommen.
  • Lord Guncer Sunglass, who is burned for clinging to his belief in the Faith of the Seven
• Continuity Nod:
  • The season two episode "Blackwater" concluded with The Rains of Castamere, the song that concluded the episode depicting the Red Wedding. This episode, being the Purple Wedding, ends on the same song.
  • Locke refers to Theon as Ramsay's "pet rat", which is what Jaime called Locke after saving Brienne.
• Cool Sword: Joffrey gets a new Valyrian sword and decides to call it "Widow's Wail" after polling the crowd for suggestions.
• Costume Porn: It's the Royal Wedding episode, what did you expect? The wedding dress and Ellaria's tastefully Stripperiffic gown stand out.
• Creepy Physical: Cersei sees Pycelle offering one of these to a Tyrell handmaiden and puts a stop to it (more because of her dislike of Pycelle than as a Pet the Dog moment).
• Crying Wolf: The reason Tyrion doesn't simply tell Shae that she's been spotted and has to leave now because she's in immediate danger; he tells Varys that he's repeated his warnings so many times that Shae pays no attention to them any more.
• Damn You, Muscle Memory!: Jaime can't adjust to doing things with his left hand instead of his right, not even picking up glasses, much less fight.

• Dangerously Close Shave: Ramsay invokes the non-lethal version of the trope. Knowing full well that Theon is broken and harmless, the bastard demonstrates it to his father by letting Reek shave him, while relating terrible news to poor old Theon.
• Dark Action Girl: Ramsay's companion Myranda who enjoys hunting people for sport. She is shown to be a skilled archer.
• Death by Irony: Joffrey dies in the same way as Robb Stark. Killed by treachery at a wedding whilst his mother is forced to watch as he dies a painful death. For additional irony, "The Rains of Castamere" was being played shortly before his death. Also a Karmic Death, as Joffrey spent a good deal of time mocking Robb's death, right up to five minutes before he died.
• Death Glare:
  • Joffrey is the recipient of many, ranging from the furious to the simply disgusted.
  • Stannis is placidly remembering days gone by when Selyse mentions that Shireen could do with a good beating. The change in Stannis's expression is more than a little disconcerting.
• Depraved Dwarf: Tyrion hilariously invokes this to Joffrey by telling him to join the Dwarfs enacting the play but to take care since they tend to get horny.
• Desperately Craves Affection: Lady Walda's smile when she is complimented by Ramsay. Says a lot about growing up Frey when being moved to a place called the Dreadfort and a kind word from a psychopath is an improvement.
• Devoured by the Horde: Cersei threatens Pycelle with this if he doesn't get out of her sight and give the order that the leftovers for the feast will be given to the royal kennels as opposed to the poor as Margaery wanted.
  Cersei: The leftovers will be fed to the dogs...or you will.
• Dies Wide Open: Joffrey was bleeding so profusely that its unlikely his eyelids could close shut or blink if he wanted to.
• Dirty Old Man: Pycelle offers to give an attractive young lady a personal examination, but Cersei shoots him down.
• Distracted by the Sexy:
  • Oberyn enters the wedding saying hello to a contortionist seductively doing a handstand. Podrick recognizes her as the one of the prostitutes that Tyrion got him last season and stares for a bit too.
  • Later on, Loras accidentally bumps into Jaime while exchanging sultry looks with Oberyn.
• Disturbed Doves: The pigeon pie. Some of them are unfortunately chopped down by Joffrey's new sword.
• The Dog Bites Back: Played with. Tyrion did not poison Joffrey, but this trope (among other reasons) make him an easy culprit to blame.
• Don't Explain the Joke: When Joffrey cleverly retorts Tyrion's suggestion that he should step forth and fight the dwarf actors himself by pouring wine on him, Tyrion quips that it's a sad thing such an excellent vintage happened to spill; Joffrey can only retort that he did NOT "spill" it. Same thing when Tyrion accepts the "honor" of being his cupbearer: "It's not meant as an honor!"
• Drowning My Sorrows: After forcing Shae to leave in tears, Bronn advises Tyrion to drink until he feels he's done the right thing.
• Dude, Not Funny!: In-universe. Tommen chuckles a little at the performance, but then catches one look at his uncle's Death Glare and shuts up.
• Early-Bird Cameo: The White Walker King appears briefly in Bran's vision.
• Eating the Eye Candy: Both Oberyn and Loras silently communicate that they find the other to be very "delectable"; it's very obvious what they'd like to "eat" for dessert later that night...
• Erotic Eating: The way Oberyn and Loras signal their interest in one another.
• Even the Guys Want Him: The bisexual Oberyn mentally undresses Loras with his eyes.
• Everyone Has Standards:
  • Margaery, the other Tyrells, Varys, Tywin, Oberyn and some guests are all unamused or disgusted by Joffrey's antics at the wedding, especially his mean-spirited humiliation of Tyrion and Sansa. Given that most of them are not exactly kind to Tyrion to begin with, that's saying a lot. It gets a few laughs at first, as do Tyrion's pointed barbs, but everyone loses their patience once Joffrey starts getting really petty.
  • Loras in particular just leaves the party altogether during the part of the dwarf performance that involves "Renly" riding on a caricature of himself while getting anally violated by a fake mace.
  • Even Cersei, who enjoys the dwarf show, gradually stops smiling as Joffrey's more personal abuse of Tyrion continues. She also makes no effort to hide her disgust at Pycelle's antics with a woman less than half his age, considering it worse than Qyburn's lack of ethics when Pycelle brings that up in an attempt to defend himself.
• Evil Has a Bad Sense of Humor: Joffrey's twisted idea of what is funny is extremely offensive to some of his wedding guests, most notably his uncle, his new brother-in-law, and his aunt-by-marriage. Even his wife isn't too fond of it.
• Evil Is Petty:
  • After actively walking around and seeking out people to be a jerk to (poor Brienne of Tarth!), Cersei overturns Margaery's order to give the leftovers from the wedding feast to the poor, just because of how powerless she's felt ever since the Tyrells came to town. When Tywin comments soon afterwards that she seems happy, she just says "small pleasures".
  • The dwarf performance put on by Joffrey, so very obviously intended as a cheap shot at Tyrion (using dwarf jesters), Loras (the homophobic portrayal of Loras's love for Renly), and Sansa (depicting her brother's demise)... not to mention Stannis and Balon Greyjoy too, but nobody at the wedding cares about either of them.
  • Cersei also rats out Shae to Tywin, who seems to look forward to his promised threat to hang the next whore he finds in his son's bed. She had nothing to gain by doing this aside from making Tyrion miserable.
  • Everything Joffrey does during the episode counts, especially towards Tyrion. Since Joffrey isn't clever enough to counter Tyrion's snark, he just resorts to petty humiliation.
• Evil Nephew: Joffrey really plays it up during this episode, going out of his way to humiliate and torment his uncle.
• Eyes Never Lie: When Tyrion is insulting Shae to drive her away, he avoids looking at her.
• Face Death with Despair: Joffrey spends his last moments scared that he's going to die and his final expression he makes is that of pure terror.
• False Reassurance: Joffrey (after a bit of effort) manages to accept Tyrion's gift with astonishingly good grace, only to subvert it at the first opportunity.
• Faux Affably Evil: Ramsay Snow stays cheerful and affable to the girl he's murdering. He even yells at her "If you make it out of the woods, you win!" in a cheery voice as if they were children playing tag.
• First-Name Basis: Olenna, continuing their gentle snark-off, calls Tywin by his first name, without any kind of honorific at all. One can only imagine when the last time someone did that was.
• Food Porn: The wedding feast looks amazing.
• Food Slap: Joffrey does the "pour something over the head" variation to Tyrion, apparently oblivious to how the crowd is reacting to his displays of kingly conduct.
• Foreshadowing:
  • Joffrey names his sword "Widow's Wail"; guess what Margaery becomes. Also subverted in that she pointedly doesn't wail.
  • Even at a Lannister event, who doesn't have a knee-jerk reaction to "The Rains of Castamere" being sung at weddings by now?
  • Lord Mace Tyrell presents the groom with a goblet and the words, "May you and my daughter Margaery drink deep, and live long." Later that day, Joffrey drinks from a cup and drops dead.
  • Lady Olenna telling Sansa, "War is war, but killing a man at a wedding, horrid! Who would do such a thing?" This one doubles as foreshadowing for the end of this episode as well as a future one.
• From Bad to Worse:
  • Tyrion has not had a nice time in a while. He's married to a woman who is essentially a hostage and half his age, his father wants to kill "the next whore I find in your bed", Varys tells him that Cersei found out who Shae is and plans to tell Tywin. Tyrion then has to drive Shae away, destroying the first relationship he's had since his first marriage. Then Joffrey humiliates him repeatedly, first destroying his beautiful wedding gift and then insulting him publicly. And just when Tyrion is examining Joffrey's wine cup wondering what he drank, his own sister accuses him of regicide. Can't Get Away with Nuthin' doesn't quite say it.
  • The entire Royal Wedding is kind of a train wreck in slow motion. It starts out as a boring ceremonial event with people wondering when it'll be done so they can move on with their lives but Joffrey makes it more and more unpleasant and disgusting. It gets ever so slightly worse and worse, as it passes and ends in a total nightmare. Say what you want about the Freys, but they at least put on a good show of amiability and good cheer, and aside from the small matter of the Ax-Crazy violation of Sacred Hospitality and murdering their guests, the marriage of Edmure and Roslin was pleasant.
• Funny Background Event:
  • After Joffrey gets up from his seat to inspect his new Valyrian sword, Mace raises his eyebrow at Tywin, as if his wordless query is, "Are you sure it's wise to give that maniac a deadly weapon?"
  • In a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment, when the guests at the Sept of Baelor are clapping for Joffrey and Margaery, Oberyn turns his head slightly to the left so that he can catch a glimpse of Loras. Oberyn swings both ways, and Margaery is a gorgeous woman, yet he clearly thinks that her brother is more attractive. This doubles as a Mythology Gag, as some of the characters in the novels consider the Adonis-like Loras to be prettier than his classically beautiful sister.
  • Both Pycelle's and Varys' heads can be seen bopped forward by a passing dwarf jouster from behind, with the camera lingering for a moment on the normally unflappable Lord Varys, closing his eyes in quiet exasperation.
• Freeze-Frame Bonus: Look carefully as Olenna admires Sansa's necklace. She seems to remove one of the jewels, and indeed in the next shot a jewel is clearly missing... huh. She immediately follows this up by asking "What sort of monster would do such a thing?" (murdering a man at a wedding).
• Gaydar: Oberyn's works perfectly when he pursues Loras.
• Gory Discretion Shot: Tansy's Sound-Only Death, indicated by her screams, the growling of dogs and tearing of flesh, plus Theon's Reaction Shot.
  Myranda: Not so pretty now.
• Green-Eyed Monster:
  • Age and feelings of insecurity have led to Cersei having a mid-life crisis over being replaced as Queen by her daughter-in-law, and the possibility that Jaime may harbour feelings for someone who is not his sister, namely Brienne. With her usual tact, Cersei confronts Brienne and outright asks her if she's in love with her brother.
  • Even though Jaime is fully aware that Tywin had arranged the forced betrothal between Cersei and Loras, and that the latter is a gay man, he is very jealous that Loras will marry Cersei while he himself cannot. Jaime threatens Loras's life over this issue when they meet (although it backfires spectacularly).
  • Ramsay says Myranda's jealousy is one of the reasons he's hunting his latest victim, though Myranda denies it.
• Hunting the Most Dangerous Game: One of Ramsay's favorite sports... but not too dangerous for him, since he's using bows and hounds on a lone, terrified girl.
• Honesty Is the Best Policy: When Varys informs him that Tywin and Cersei are onto Shae, Tyrion replies that Varys can tell them some clever lie to throw them off the scent. Varys refuses to do so, however, insisting he is not going to lie to two people who'd almost certainly have him executed if they found out.
  Tyrion: So I'm guilty of being seen with my own wife's handmaiden. My father will ask if there's anything more and you will tell him some clever lie.
  Varys: No, I will not. How long do you imagine your father and sister would let me live if they even suspected me of lying?
• Hope Spot: A mild one, when Joffrey graciously accepts the book Tyrion gave him... only to hack it to pieces with the gift Tywin gives him moments later.
• I Call It "Vera": Joffrey names his new Valyrian blade Widow's Wail, which becomes significantly ironic later. The other suggestions were Stormbringer, Terminus and Wolf's Bane.
• The Igor: Theon has by now fully become this, complete with stooping gait and low-bent head.
• Implied Death Threat: Oberyn reminds Cersei that her daughter is in Dorne, essentially a hostage.
• Incurable Cough of Death: Joffrey's cough intensifies as he collapses in a seizing, bleeding, bloating blue and purple mess.
• Insane Troll Logic: Per the course for Ramsay, though perhaps crossed with Blatant Lies: his father scolds him when he finds out that he's been torturing Theon, flayed him, and castrated him. He wanted Theon as a bargaining chip to trade back to his father Balon Greyjoy in exchange for having the ironborn withdraw from Moat Cailin (the strategic choke point that prevents the main Bolton army from returning back from the south). Roose accurately concludes that now that Theon cannot further the Greyjoy line, he is useless to Balon, and any potential trade is now ruined. Ramsay's only defense is to say that he tried to negotiate with Balon Greyjoy, but he wouldn't listen. Of course, what actually happened is that the very first message Ramsay sent to Balon Greyjoy was Theon's severed genitals in a box, to try to scare him into leaving the North. Ramsay never even tried to "negotiate" with Balon for the release of the still-intact Theon. This another entry in the growing list of Ramsay's Stupid Evil decisions.
• Insistent Terminology: Oberyn keeps calling Cersei, "the former Queen Regent" because he knows that he's annoying her.^note (The proper term is "Dowager Queen," which has been used in the books but not the show thus far.) Perhaps to avoid an unintentional Fandom Nod to another well-loved costume drama
• Insult Backfire:
  • Jaime underestimates Loras, believing that the young man would be an easy victim for his snark and threats, but the Knight of Flowers can fight with words just as well as he fights with swords. Jaime is even a little stunned by how easily Loras is able to hurt his feelings with a single, biting line.
  • When Joffrey names Tyrion as his cup-bearer as an attempted Stealth Insult (by forcing Tyrion to wait on him), Tyrion vocally accepts the honor of being that well-trusted by the King.
• Ironic Echo: The music played over the end credits is Sigur Rós' cover of "The Rains of Castamere," shortly after Joffrey has been killed and the Lannisters are in complete disarray. Something of a Dark Reprise in regards to the Lannisters.
• It Is Dehumanising: After Ramsay demonstrates just how harmless Theon is now, Bolton refers to him as "your creature".
• Jabba Table Manners: Joffrey at his wedding table shows the most unkingly manners imaginable. Lady Olenna, Proper Lady extraordinaire, gives him a look of utter disgust after he spits something he doesn't like.
• Jerkass: The only named characters who enjoy the dwarf performance are Joffrey, Cersei, and Pycelle (who had been directly ordered by Cersei to leave the wedding a couple scenes before). Tommen briefly laughs at it several times, likely because he's simply innocent. A look of disapproval from his favorite uncle Tyrion shows he has the grace to shut up. Tywin starts off with a forced smile, but becomes quietly angry over Joffrey's public humiliation of a Lannister (or possibly because Joffrey was reducing all of Tywin's war accomplishments to a sick joke).
• Karmic Death: Joffrey is a sadist who enjoys watching people suffer while being a Dirty Coward whose afraid to get his hands dirty so it’s only fitting that Joffrey dies in broad daylight where everyone, both in-universe and out, can enjoy watching him die an extremely slow, painful, and horrific death, all while Joffrey is terrified throughout the ordeal.
• Kick the Dog: It seems that in his final hours Joffrey decided that his terminal wedding feast was the time to go out in a blaze of dog-kicking glory that may always be remembered as the shining example of repulsive douchebaggery.
  • Firstly he eviscerates Tyrion's expensive and rare wedding present with his new sword, right before gleefully mentioning the execution of Ned Stark, right in front of Sansa.
  • At his wedding feast he goes out of his way to abuse and mock the entertainers who don't amuse him, from Ser Dontos to Sigur Rós.
  • He also lays on the expected mockery and obnoxiousness when he meets Brienne.
  • His idea of "entertainment" is a "dramatic reenactment" of the war designed to insult both Sansa with his depiction of Robb and the Tyrells with his depiction of Renly, while depicting himself as the man who won the war.
  • Then there is everything he puts Tyrion through...
• Kill It with Fire: Melisandre's in fine form this episode.
• The Klutz: Jaime, thanks to instinctively trying to use his golden hand to reach for things.
• Kneel Before Zod: The one gesture of submission on which Tyrion absolutely refuses to compromise. Fortunately, Margaery uses the arrival of the pie as a distraction before a public confrontation becomes unavoidable.
• Lame Comeback: Tyrion calmly states "pity it spilled" after Joffrey pours a goblet full of wine over his head. All Joffrey can manage is a rather baffled and sour, "It didn't spill." Likewise, Tyrion accepting the "honor" of being cup-bearer for the king is met with a declaration that it isn't meant to be.
• Madness Mantra: When Cersei concludes that it must have been Tyrion who poisoned Joffrey, she repeatedly shouts "Take him!" at nobody in particular.
• Male Gaze: We get a nice close-up of Cersei's cleavage as Joffrey dies in her arms.
• Mama Bear: Cersei goes absolutely apeshit as Joffrey dies, then madly screams for the guards to take Tyrion when she thinks that he's the killer. Interestingly enough, Cersei and Jaime are the first ones to rush to their king's aid, so Joffrey ends up dying in the arms of both of his true parents.
• Mass "Oh, Crap!":
  • When Joffrey stops Tyrion leaving, the crowd (having gradually fallen into Stunned Silence during the last round of abuse), falls silent virtually instantly.
  • Finally, all hell breaks loose when it becomes clear that Joffrey's in real trouble.
• Meaningful Background Event: Keep an eye on Sansa's necklace... and where exactly Joffrey's cup goes.
  • In a rare Pet the Dog moment, Tywin can be seen in the background shielding Tommen's eyes from having to watch his brother's terrible death.
• Mind Screw: Bran is having after-effects from spending too much time warging into Summer, which Jojen and Meera could lead him to confuse his human self with newly acquired animal senses.
• Momma's Boy: Mace Tyrell, the one who is meant to be calling the shots with the Tyrells. When Olenna basically says, "Not now, boy, the adults are talking," he immediately swallows it.
• Mood-Swinger: Joffrey is really unpleasant and terrifying in this episode because of how unpredictable and mercurial he is, his sadistic spiteful self occasionally kept in check but then let loose in vicious rage any time Tyrion is around. And this guy is king...
• Mood Whiplash: The shifts in tone in this episode from moment to moment is kind of astonishing.
  • Margaery tries to invoke this a few times. For the attendants, the atmosphere in the wedding shifts from boredom to delight to appalling horror.
  • In a private moment, Ser Loras and Ser Jaime exchange some polite conversation and even some light snarking at their families... before Jaime abruptly tells matter-of-factly Loras that Cersei will kill him and his unborn child after their wedding, then making an implied threat of his own.
• Morality Pet: Stannis' Papa Wolf quote provides further evidence that Shireen is his.
• Mushroom Samba: Bran wargs into a Weirwood tree, seeing glimpses of the past (including one of his father) and other odd images.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Tywin seems to be thinking this at several points during Joffrey's wedding. It seems he's finally realizing what Joffrey really is.
• My Sister Is Off-Limits: Jaime implies this while bullying Loras (who takes no crap from him). Later Cersei basically says the same to Brienne implying that Brienne's in love with Jaime.
• Mythology Gag: The girl named Tansy. In the novels Hoster Tully's last words mention "tansy", which Catelyn Stark thinks is a girl's name. Actually he's remembering Lysa's forced abortion via the tansy herb.
• Nightmare Face: The episode ends with a loving close-up shot of Joffrey's staring, purple face, covered in blood and vomit.
• The Noun and the Noun: This episode is called "The Lion and the Rose," which primarily refers to marriage between Joffrey and Margaery, but it can also be applied to a few other Lannister-Tyrell interactions.
  • Tywin and Olenna's Friendly Enemy dynamic; their conversation about finances seems to suggest that the Lannisters are gradually becoming more dependent on the Tyrells' wealth and resources.
  • Jaime and Loras's Passive-Aggressive Kombat where they talk about Loras's upcoming wedding to Cersei. After the Kingslayer figuratively tries to claw at the Knight of Flowers, Loras shoves a metaphorical thorn into Jaime's paw, and it stings. The older knight has plainly forgotten the golden rule about roses...
  • Moreover, Loras is a rising star in the world of knights, whereas Jaime is regarded as a has-been now that he has lost his sword hand.
  • Margaery replaces Cersei as Queen. There is a sharp contrast in how they treat Brienne. Margaery wants the leftovers from the banquet to be given to the poor, but Cersei orders Pycelle to send the food to the kennels.
  • Brienne is friends with Jaime, but is now on friendly terms with the Tyrells.
  • Oberyn is happy to flirt with Loras, but he offers only snide comments to Cersei and Tywin. He's also rude to Tyrion.
• No, You: Jaime tells Ser Loras that Cersei will likely murder him after their marriage. Ser Loras retorts with an epic burn.
  Jaime: Luckily for you, none of this will happen, because you'll never marry her.
  Loras: (smiles smugly) And neither will you. (pats Jaime on the arm)
• Oh, Crap!:
  • While this is the default expression of pretty much everybody when Joffrey dies, Tywin's visible look of comprehending horror stands out the most as it is the first time he has shown any such shock before.
  • Roose Bolton's expression barely changes on hearing that Bran and Rickon are still alive, yet he still manages to convey this emotion.
• Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: Jack Gleeson's natural Irish accent can be heard briefly when Joffrey says the word "challengers" during the wedding feast.
• Outliving One's Offspring: Cersei then Jaime rush to help Joffrey (one as a parent and one as a knight of the Kingsguard) as he chokes. They can do nothing but watch him die horribly.
• Out-of-Character Moment: Tyrion is quite suspicious when Joffrey graciously accepts his wedding gift. Sure enough, he's chopping it to pieces moments later.
• Papa Wolf: Stannis Baratheon is very protective of Shireen. "She's my daughter. You will not strike her".
• Paper Destruction of Anger: As his wedding present, Tyrion gives Joffrey a copy of the illuminated Lives of Four Kings, a book that is incredibly rare and priceless. It appears to be graciously accepted. Tywin gives his grandson a Valyrian steel sword; Joffrey, being the little shit that he is, loses it and immediately uses the blade to destroy the precious book and smashes it to shreds.
• Passive-Aggressive Kombat: Tyrion giving Joffrey a very un-subtle jab at his conduct during the Blackwater fits this trope, but Joffrey's response is far too clumsy and obvious to count as this, and when Tyrion keeps it up Joffrey can't think of anything to do except explicitly tell him that he's wrong.

• Pet the Dog:
  • Subverted when Joffrey graciously (and unusually) accepts Tyrion's present, a hefty tome on previous kings, only to chop it to pieces a few moments later.
  • A strange example from Joffrey that melds with another Kick the Dog moment; he notices that Margaery looks bored with Dontos' juggling act, looks around to find something to entertain her, and then hits upon the brilliant idea of having everyone throw stuff at Dontos. Another indication that he does seem to be genuinely fond of her, in his own twisted way.
  • Margaery reaches out and holds Brienne's hand in what is presumably a Westerosi gesture used by women to denote friendship. After Joffrey says to Brienne's face that she was the one who murdered Renly, Margaery comes to Brienne's defense. The new Queen's farewell to Brienne is, "I hope we see more of you," implying that she wishes for the female warrior to see her as a potential ally.
  • Cersei's thwarting of Pycelle's lechery is a little like this, at least from the point of view of the girl in question, as she was clearly being harassed by the maester.
  • Tywin immediately rushes to shield Tommen from having to watch Joffrey's nightmarish death.
• Power Incontinence: Jojen warns Bran that spending too much time warging into Summer might cause him to lose himself in his visions.
• Pragmatic Adaptation:
  • As mentioned above while the dwarf battle is expanded on, it is still logistically simpler than having two stuntmen riding a dog and a pig, or using CGI to achieve the result, for that matter.
  • Alester Florent in the book is Selyse's uncle, he does convert upon joining Stannis's side (after having sided first with Renly), and he's burned alive for attempting to negotiate an end to the war with Tywin Lannister behind Stannis's back, which Stannis treats as treasonous. All of that would require quite a lot of exposition for very little narrative purpose, however, and since Alester was never mentioned in the show before this, Stannis can find a simpler reason.
  • Roose Bolton in the books remains south of the Neck until after Ramsay and Theon/Reek clear out the Ironborn forces at Moat Cailin, but by "smuggling himself into his own lands" he can have this important confrontation with his son and give Ramsay his orders in person rather than by mail.
  • Jaime trains with Bronn instead of the tongueless Ilyn Payne when he wants a discreet training partner. Wilko Johnson was forced to leave the series after filming finished for season 1 due to (what was thought to be terminal) cancer, and thus Payne disappeared. (Johnson's cancer turned out to be much more treatable than his doctors first thought, and he survived).
• Pragmatic Villainy: Roose Bolton is very displeased when he finds out Ramsay maimed and mentally broke Theon, seeing as it reduces his value as a political hostage.
• Psychopathic Manchild:
  • Joffrey is even more childish than usual in this episode, and his reaction to being given a Cool Sword is very much like a kid with a new toy.
  • Ramsay and Myranda treat their game as a good bit of fun.
• Queer People Are Funny: Joffrey uses Renly's homosexuality to mock him by portraying Renly with bare buttocks and "riding" Loras Tyrell. The crowd eats it up, but only Joffrey and Cersei seem to find it funny on the dais. Loras storms away almost immediately.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: It's delivered in Roose's trademark quiet, calm tone, but he neatly lays out all the stupid mistakes Ramsay made while acting Lord of the Dreadfort. It's the only time Ramsay is brought to heel by anyone and long overdue.
• Rule of Symbolism:
  • The entire War of the Five Kings mock-up play by the dwarfs.
  • Joffrey despises flowers because of their association with effeminacy, yet the new crown he has fashioned for his wedding features several entwined rose buds. This represents Margaery's strong influence on him.
  • The pink rose patterns on Loras's sleeves and Oberyn's wrap around belt◊ are identical. Only the fabric's background colour is different, and in Oberyn's case, it's actually green, one of the House Tyrell colours that is missing from Loras's outfit. This subtly hints at the two characters' attraction towards each other and their similarities. (Oberyn serves as a Foil to Loras—see Oberyn's Foil entry on his character page for more details.)
  • A Black Comedy cut from a trembling Theon, to Pod serving up a sausage like the one Ramsey was eating after castrating Theon the previous season.
  • During the wedding ceremony when the High Septon says, "Cursed be he who would set them asunder" the camera focus is Oberyn and Olenna, two suspects for Joffrey's poisoning.
• Running Gag: Joffrey gets yet another sword that he names and then (rather obviously in this case) doesn't use.
• Romantic Spoonfeeding: During the feast of the royal wedding, bride and new queen Margaery feeds Joffrey with a piece of their wedding pie.
• Sacred Hospitality: Defied. Joffrey is poisoned at his own wedding.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Ser Loras gets up and leaves in disgust when his Berserk Button gets pressed — Renly. Thankfully Joffrey's too distracted to notice, as he could've punished his new brother-in-law for departing early without the king's permission.
• Shame If Something Happened: Oberyn casually talks of different cultural values, how people in Dorne tolerate bastards and don't look down on lowborn as entirely scum, while people further up North can rape and butcher women and get away with it because their family name has respectability. Isn't it nicer that Cersei Lannister's daughter is living in Dorne?
• A Shared Suffering: Despite Sansa cold-shouldering her husband in the previous episode, she and Tyrion share an unspoken moment of empathy when she hands Tyrion the goblet Joffrey has ordered him to pick up.
• Shoo the Dog: With no small measure of difficulty, Tyrion has to chase off Shae due to Tywin having discovered her presence. He actually has to get outright callous in his rebuke as even the threat of his lord father knowing isn't enough to convince her to leave.
• Shout-Out: When he receives his Valyrian steel sword, Joffrey calls out for people to name it. One courtier shouts Stormbringer, another suggests Terminus.
• Ship Tease: Cersei openly calls Brienne out on being in love with Jaime. This is only implied in the novels, and not until A Feast for Crows.
• Small Name, Big Ego: The boy King Joffrey takes all credit in winning the War of the Five Kings; Tyrion publicly chews him out on this, but gets a dwarf humiliation conga in return.
• Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome: The last time we saw Tommen, at the end of season 2, he was still a little kid. But starting from this episode, Tommen's original actor Callum Wharry has been replaced by Dean-Charles Chapman, who's a few years older than Wharry. So now Tommen is aged up to a teenager, even though in-universe it's only been some months since his previous appearance.
• Soft-Spoken Sadist: Roose Bolton speaks even more softly in this episode than he normally does... while listening to what a mess of the situation Ramsay's made.
• Speak Ill of the Dead: Joffrey calls Renly a "deviant" in front of Brienne and Margaery. Later on, the dwarf actor who plays "Renly" is derided as a "degenerate" by his "Joffrey" co-star.
• Stealth Insult: Several of them, given how many important people are in the same place that hate each other, but have to pretend to be civil regardless.
• Stepford Smiler: A male variant, with Tywin during the dwarfs' performance. He's wearing an obviously forced, rigid grimace, but it literally couldn't be any more obvious that he is not amused by Joffrey's idea of entertainment.
• Stunned Silence: The crowd may have been laughing during the dwarf performance, but Joffrey's increasingly vicious treatment of Tyrion eventually just causes silence, with an occasional shocked whisper.
• Stylistic Suck: The dwarf jousting is portrayed to be very tasteless and lowbrow, which says a lot about the few people in the audience who actually enjoy it.
• Suppressed Rage:
  • Tywin's mounting fury over the course of Tyrion's humiliation. While most are just disgusted by it, he is visibly livid. This is probably a combination of contempt for Joffrey's childish behavior and annoyance at a Lannister being humiliated in public, doubly so since even the crowd doesn't find it funny after it carries on for too long.
  • Loras has to get the hell away from the festivities after the grave and public insult done to both himself and Renly's memory, otherwise he'd be tempted to strangle Joffrey with his bare hands.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute:
  • Slightly implied when Joffrey wonders if he should call Mace Tyrell "father"; Mace is fat, seems rather cheerful and jolly, loves hunting, and (from what Olenna has previously said about him) is totally unfit for politics and plotting, just like Joffrey's "father", the late King Robert.
  • In a meta-way, the Uncanny Family Resemblance of Tommen now shows him looking like Joffrey's good twin, he's all grown up and now with his brother dead, all hail King Tommen Baratheon, First of His Name. Long may he reign.
• Tears of Blood: Perhaps the most major clue-in that Joffrey has been assassinated, rather than choked to death in a freak accident, is that he starts bleeding from the eyes just before he expires. It's just as grotesque as it sounds.
• Tempting Fate: Remember how in last episode Joffrey, while discussing the wedding security, declared that nothing would happen anyway?
• This Cannot Be!: Roose Bolton, The Patriarch of House Bolton, co-conspirator of the Red Wedding and Implacable Man extraordinaire is told that Bran and Rickon Stark are alive. His cold eyes bug out as Theon/Reek confirms the truth on Ramsay's orders, and that the North is not entirely rid of the Starks.
• Thousand-Yard Stare:
  • Theon during the entire episode.
  • Sansa has a particularly grief stricken one as she is forced to watch a humiliating reenactment of her older brother's murder.
• Tranquil Fury: Roose Bolton is clearly not happy about what Ramsay's done, though it's difficult to tell how angry he really is. Given the implications and practical ramifications of Ramsay doing so, his soft-spoken "You sent terms to Balon Greyjoy without my consent?" is probably what he looks like when truly furious.
• Twitchy Eye: Tywin does this when he sees Dwarf!Joffrey and Dwarf!Robb jousting, clearly trying not to lose his temper.
• Uncanny Family Resemblance: Thanks to The Other Darrin and Acting for Two, Tommen now looks quite similar to Martyn Lannister because Dean-Charles Chapman, who played Martyn in Season 3, now plays Tommen.
• Undignified Death: Joffrey's death is completely pathetic and humiliating without any dignity whatsoever. To recap, Joffrey chokes on his own vomit until his face turns purple, bleeds through his eyes and pores, before finally dying in broad daylight everyone to see, while his corpses looks like a bloated fish out of water.
• Unholy Matrimony: They are not married, but Ramsay has apparently found a true partner in his sick games.
• Villainous Breakdown:
  • Joffrey has one where he spends his last moments scared and panicking while accusing Tyrion of poisoning him. He tries screaming but nothing comes out because his throat is so clogged up because of the poison before he finally dies with pure terror on his face.
  • Joffrey's mother, Cersei, has a major one after her son dies where she screams at her guards to arrest Tyrion after Joffrey accuses Tyrion of poisoning him.
• Villainous Friendship: There is an indication that Ramsay and Locke share one, with Locke warmly shaking Ramsay's hand upon his return to the Dreadfort and cheerily relating how the Kingslayer screamed at the loss of an extremity the same way two buddies would chat about some exciting sports game.
• Visual Pun: Bronn asks if Jaime shits gold as the Lannisters are rumored to do. Jaime removes a bag of gold from the back of his pants.
• Vomit Indiscretion Shot: Joffrey vomiting on the ground is a pretty strong indicator he was poisoned and didn't just choke on his pie.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: Ramsay is the villainous version of this—he wants to be Ramsay Bolton so badly, not Ramsay Snow.
• Who Murdered the Asshole: Who has motive to kill Joffrey? How long have you got? We've got:
  • Tyrion, humiliated by Joffrey repeatedly, both prior and on the day, growing gradually more horrified by Joffrey's cruelty and general insanity over the preceeding season, knowing Tommen would be a better king, smarting from general hatred of his horrible family and particularly the recent loss of Shae, very publicly carrying his nephew's cup around right before the event.
  • Sansa, Joffrey's abused, disgraced and humiliated former fiancee, who has just had her brother's brutal murder (at another wedding, no less) flung repeatedly in her face, who has spent the previous season getting increasingly quiet and (potentially) bitter, crushed, and/or desperate, also picking up and passing the cup to Tyrion.
  • Margaery, a clever and ruthless political manipulator who has discovered that her power-play/self-preservation wedding has turned out to be with a complete psychopath, feeding her new husband pie.
  • Her brother Loras, also heartbroken and humiliated following the death of his lover Renly, Joffrey's enemy, and perhaps to protect his sister.
  • Olenna, suspiciously hovering, making pointed comments about Lannisters and wedding-murders and shooting Joffrey disgusted looks (though in all fairness, that implicates most of the attendees), having the cup placed in front of her by Tyrion before he attempts to leave.
  • Varys, with his network of "little birds" and his confessed motivation of doing everything "for the good of the realm." It's difficult to argue that Joffrey being king is good for anyone, least of all the Realm.
  • The Dornish guests, with their bitter hatred of the Lannisters for past hurts, led by a prince famous for his mastery of poison.
  • Ser Dontos, Joffrey's humiliated (sensing a theme here?) former knight and Fool, who appears right before Joffrey dies to tell Sansa to get the hell out of there.
  • That's not even getting into the fact that this won't be the first time someone in between Stannis and the throne has died unexpectedly, though poison doesn't really seem the Red Lady's style...
• Worst Aid: Not that anything would have saved him, but Cersei did exactly the wrong thing by flipping a choking Joffrey onto his back.

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