History Recap / GameOfThronesS6E1TheRedWoman

* ThisCannotBe: "A bloody woman!" becomes the last words of a Bolton soldier when Brienne turns up.

** {{Subverted}} by Nym and Obara. Even though their motive was nothing short of asinine, offering an honest fight and a clearly inferior opponent to encourage Trystane to turn his back on the other could be called clever, except then Nym starts bitching about the KillSteal, proving it wasn't planned at all and she really did intend to go head-to-head against a RoyalRapier in extremely tight quarters with just a ''[[WhipItGood whip]]''.

* YouGotSpunk: Khal Moro re: Dany, before he finds out she's a former khaleesi.

Towards sundown, the khalasar stops at the nameless river leading to the Womb of the World. Dany is only allowed a few moments respite after the forced march before she's hauled up and dragged along to be presented to the khal. Moro's bloodriders are immediately appreciative of Dany's bedraggled beauty, Moro's wives... less so. The elder wife gives Dany one look and claims that all blue-eyed women are witches. [[labelnote:Note]] Emilia's are actually aqua with a hazel nimbus. So technically they are closer to green or grey. Yes, fans are still upset that the Targs don't have their distinctive purple-ranging eye colours... [[/labelnote]] Since her unique features get her pegged as a maegi, the jealous wife tells her husband to cut off Dany's lovely head in perfect DissonantSerenity. But Moro is intrigued by this white-haired witch and mocks their insecurities; he compliments Dany in one breath then promises to make her naked for all present to see the next as he circles her admiringly. Just before he can make do on exposing a pair of pert breasts, Daenerys commands him to unhand her in Dothraki with all the authority she can muster. Surprised and even a smidgen intimidated, Moro releases his grip on her tunic and hears her out. The silver queen recites her titles with far more fire and nobility than Missandei does at court but covered in the dust of the road and clothed in ash-stained tatters, without an army or her dragons at her back, all Khal Moro can do is laugh at her audacity. He cups her neck and quietly proclaims that whoever she was, she is now his slave and concubine and that she will bear him a son. Dany remembers her first son all too well though and rebuffs him just as softly; reciting Mirri Maz Duur's prophecy. This rankles the wives some more but Moro is taken with Dany's courage, she then plays her ace; that she is the widow of Khal Drogo. Evidently Moro has not come across any Lyseni in his travels and is inclined to believe her. That, or he doesn't think anyone would make such a statement lightly. Unfortunately for Dany, though this means she is off the rape menu for tonight, she will instead be taken back to Vaes Dothrak to join in the hallowed ranks of the Dosh Khaleen; the wise women of the Dothraki. Which for some reason wasn't made clear to viewers at the end of Season One when Drogo died. ''*Sigh*'' Better late than never.

-->'''Ser Jaime Lannister:''' ''Fuck'' - prophecy. Fuck fate, fuck everyone who isn't us. We're the only ones who matter, the only ones in this world! And everything they've taken from us - we're going to take back and ''more''. ''(embraces her)'' We're going to take everything there is...

Yeah, keep telling yourself that. The next day, in '''The Great Sept of Baelor''', poor Queen Margaery is still languishing in the church's underground cells getting a pious earful from Septa Unella; although it seems as if she's not treated quite as bad as Cersei was. Unella restricts it to just beatings instead of beatings ''and'' deprivation! About to clout her with the good book, Unella is interrupted by the High Sparrow who tries to play the good septon to Unella's bad septa. Margaery yearns for news of Loras but the High Sparrow wants a concession of any kind before he will allow King Tommen to visit her.

-->'''Ser Alliser Thorne:''' Ser Davos. [[BlatantLies We have no cause to fight.]] We are both anointed knights.
-->'''Ser Davos Seaworth:''' [[DeadpanSnarker Hear that, lads? Nothing to fear.]]
-->'''Thorne:''' I will grant amnesty to all brothers who throw down their arms before nightfall. And you, Ser Davos, I will allow you to travel south, a free man, with a fresh horse.
-->'''Davos:''' ... And some mutton. I'd like some mutton.
-->'''Thorne:''' Wha - ?
-->'''Davos:''' [[HeroicSelfDeprecation I'm not much of a hunter.]] ''(moustache twitches, trying not to laugh)'' I'll need some ''[[SecretTestOfCharacter food]]'' if I'm gonna make it south without starving.
-->'''Thorne:''' We'll give you food. You can bring [[TitleDrop the red woman]] with you if you like. Or you can leave her here with us, whichever you choose. ''But'' surrender by nightfall. Or this ends with blood.
-->'''Davos:''' ''(brightly)'' Thank you, Ser Alliser. We'll discuss amongst ourselves and come back to you with an answer.

Davos was too busy pwning Stannis Baratheon in duty to ever be deceived by the miserable master-at-arms; and Alliser and his lickspittles grumble silently that their trap has failed. Davos and his boys won't be dying the easy way. The onion knight relates how he's run from tyrannical men like Thorne all his life but now they have to throw down. They've got five swords, Ghost, Edd and the slim hope of reinforcements plus a red-headed sorcerer in their corner. Thorne has forty armed men. It doesn't look good but Davos hints that Melisandre might be able to turn their fortunes around with a bit of help from her Lord.

And here endeth the Season Premiere.

And HBO said "Let there be a sixth season." And there was a sixth season.

** Ellaria and the Sand Snakes killing Myrcella in the previous season was already several steps up from their plans in the books, but they take it UpToEleven in this episode when they commit treason and kinslaying by massacring the remainder of House Martell in a bloody coup. For reference, in the books, the notion that even ''Cersei'' might try to kill Trystane is enough to shock and appall them.

** Jaime arriving back in King's Landing with the dead Myrcella recalls what Tyrion said to her about her "joy turn[ing] into ashes in [her] mouth." Cersei goes from being as giddy as a schoolgirl to [[AdultFear understandably]] distraught upon seeing her only daughter under a cloth-of-gold shroud.

* ThisCannotBe: "A bloody woman!" becomes the FamousLastWords of a Bolton soldier when Brienne turns up.

* RealityEnsues: In true Game of Thrones fashion, several people are smacked with reality here.
** Theon and Sansa are about as successful at evading bloodhounds as you can expect of them, and Theon's attempt to lead them away is utterly useless.
** Trystane expects a duel with the person he picked out, but the person he didn't pick takes advantage of his distraction.
** Podrick's skill with a sword is where a person with his level of training and experience would be. He barely wins the fight on horseback and is nearly killed by an actual soldier when on foot.
** Brienne is a hell of a fighter but she's not a OneWomanArmy so taking on three trained soldiers in succession quickly wears her down. The second one unhorses and nearly kills her and she barely has the strength to finish off the third. If the other two hadn't been occupied with Podrick and Theon, she'd almost certainly have been killed.
** The Boltons' problems aren't over just because they've beaten Stannis, since they are once again in rebellion against the Iron Throne and a proper Lannister invasion will be all but impossible to defeat without the support of the rest of the North.
** Daenerys trying to get the Dothraki to free her by listing her many titles goes nowhere since they've never heard of her and they do not respect names and bloodlines, only strength.

* TheyHaveTheScent: Bolton's bloodhounds, and the [[RealityEnsues usual TV tricks]] of crossing rivers or leading them off don't work.

* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: It is shown that Ramsay actually really did care for Myranda, mourning her death in his own way.

-->'''Ser Jaime Lannister:''' ''Fuck'' - prophecy. Fuck fate, fuck everyone who isn't us. We're the only ones who matter, the only one's in this world! And everything they've taken from us - we're going to take back and ''more''. ''(embraces her)'' We're going to take everything there is...

Doran is aghast at the death of Myrcella but he has no time to react because at that very moment, he notices his bastard niece remove a dagger from a sheath on her calf and thrust it into Areo Hotah's spine. The Captain of the Guards looks like he has just soiled himself and crumbles dead to the floor. Doran doesn't even have to time to digest this before Ellaria removes a concealed blade from her wrist bracelet and plunges it into Doran's heart. Doran grabs her wrist, shocked and horrified at the look of pure hatred directed at him and he realizes too late that his own guards stand by without moving as the royal government of Dorne is remorselessly purged before their eyes. The maester tries to run for it but Tyene removes the dagger from Areo's corpse and flings it into the base of his skull. As Doran collapses from his chair bleeding out, Ellaria begins to gloat that he's been blind to affairs of state, that his own people have (apparently) ''always'' held him in contempt. Never mind that he ruled Dorne for twenty years without rebellion after Elia was murdered and commanded the now brain-dead Palace Guards without a whisper of dissent when the Sand Snakes pulled their rebellion last year. The people have long clamoured for vengeance for his royal sister and brother! They'll achieve it by... murdering -- him? ''WTF?!'' He's not a Dornishman, Ellaria declares. ''"You're not our Prince."'' Doran's final words are of him begging to know the fate of his son Trystane, but Ellaria sneers at him. Trystane is as feeble as his father and ''"Weak men will never rule Dorne again."'' With this final failure confirmed, Doran Martell dies, his efforts to protect his family and people coming to nought despite his best intentions. Undone by a quartet of mad women.

** Ironically, Prince Doran is murdered ''specifically'' for failing to be the MagnificentBastard he is in the books, both in how his killers are offended by the very "weaknesses" he actually subverts in the novels and in how TheChessmaster of the books would never fall victim to ZeroPercentApprovalRating, BodyguardBetrayal, or TheFarmerAndTheViper.

** Tyrion's reaction to the burning of the fleet is "We won't be sailing to Westeros any time soon," which begs the question why Daenerys's enemies would do such a thing? How does forcing her supporters to stand and fight rather than cut and run halfway across the world further her enemies' quest to take back Meereen? We can only guess that they think with Daenerys gone the time is ripe to strike, destroying the fleet so her supporters can't return at some future date and retake Meereen.
*** This is hinted at in future episodes, as the backing for the Sons of the Harpy [[spoiler: are two rival cities that Daenerys had conquered and have since been retaken by the Masters, who would prefer she only be able to attack from the land rather than land and sea. We also find out later that their planned counter-invasion consists almost entirely of their navies; with the dragons either chained and uncontrollable or missing Mereen is rendered helpless without her fleet]].

*** This is hinted at in future episodes, as the backing for the Sons of the Harpy [[spoiler: are two rival cities that Daenerys had conquered and have since been retaken by the Masters, who would prefer she only be able to attack from the land rather than land and sea]].

* EvenEvilHasStandards: {{Averted|Trope}} by Ellaria and the Sand Snakes, who ''gleefully'' slaughter their own kin, the very people who only let them live because blood is ThickerThanWater.

* DueToTheDead: Evil subversion. Ramsay [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes extols his fondness]] for Myranda in a monologue that's obviously meant to make you expect this trope, but caps it off by having her fed to the hounds instead. Played straight with Jon Snow's friends, who bring his body out of the cold and stand vigil over it.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: {{Averted}} by Ellaria and the Sand Snakes, who ''gleefully'' slaughter their own kin, the very people who only let them live because blood is ThickerThanWater.

* BeingGoodSucks: Once again a rare Lord (Doran in this case) who showed compassion and actually ruled justly is rewarded with betrayal and murder at the hands of the people he forgave, and dies knowing his loved ones will be slaughtered as well. Which makes House Martell the third family (alongside the Starks and Tullys) to get virtually wiped out for trying to be the good guy in [[{{CrapsackWorld}} Westeros]].

* EveryoneHasStandards: Many within the Night's Watch who were adamantly opposed to Jon's reforms are nonetheless horrified and disgusted by Thorne's rebellion. Quickly {{subverted}}, however, when a brief MotiveRant is all Thorne needs to be EasilyForgiven by everyone who will listen.

That morning, in the mess hall, the traitorous scum with a receding-hairline called Ser Alliser Thorne makes his case for why he and the other officers stabbed their duly-elected superior in the belly; thankfully, most of the black brothers are a mite ticked off with the bastards committing the most disgusting act of treason (out of the two) in the living memory of their order. Ser Alliser uses some appeal to patriotism fallacies and a slippery slope argument and most of the low-born curs murmur and grumble in response, their moral compasses skewed in apathy and unwilling to raise their hands against the ''real'' traitors sitting at the hight table.

** Khal Moro is detailing his desire to strip Daenerys naked... until a rhetorical question prompts his bloodriders to break into a MontyPython routine that completely throws him off his groove.

* ShoutOut: Two for one. The bloodriders' undercutting of Khal Moro's rhetorical question about what's better than your first look at a beautiful naked woman is essentially Film/ConanTheBarbarian1982's "What is best in life?" recited like Film/MontyPythonsLifeOfBrian's "What have the Romans ever done for us?"

* ZeroPercentApprovalRating: Ellaria claims the Dornish people demand vengeance against the Lannisters to such an extent that they are ready to turn on Doran as she enacts her coup.

** Brienne swears her loyalty to Sansa with the same oath she gave Catelyn in Season 2 and tried to give to Sansa in season 5 (when she refused hher)

** Brienne swears her loyalty to Sansa with the same oath she gave Catelyn in Season 2.