History Recap / GameOfThronesS6E3Oathbreaker

After an [[GilliganCut ironic cut]], we next see Qyburn, making himself in '''King's Landing''', co-opting Varys's network of little birds. He is making himself useful as Cersei's new master of whisperers. He also refers to "Ser Robert Strong" directly as "Ser Gregor Clegane," all but confirming a theory that had yet to be made explicit in the books. Cersei and Jaime have bigger fish to fry: they barge in on the Small Council, currently consisting of Ser Kevan Lannister, last surviving son of Tytos Lannister, Lady Olenna Tyrell, called the Queen of Thorns, Grand Maester Pycelle, and Lord Mace Tyrell. Jaime declares that is a part of the small council in his office as Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, but Uncle Kevan is having none of it, moving the meeting away from the twins.

** Sam can deny being seasick as often as he wants, but if he keeps throwing up shortly after that, nobody buys it.
** Ramsay insists that Bolton died of poisoning to Lord Umber. Umber easily sees through it.

* AdaptationInducedPlotHole: The dialogue from Ned's fever dream in ''Literature/AGameOfThrones'' where Arthur Dayne wishes him good fortune in the wars to come before fighting him outside the Tower of Joy, and Ned says, "Now it ends," is presented as something that literally happened, whereas in the book it was a conflation in the mind of the dreaming Ned, who already knew was coming next. This creates a plot hole whereby Dayne apparently knows he's going to lose the fight despite being the better warrior and very nearly winning if not for Reed striking him in the back.

* AdaptationInducedPlotHole: The dialogue from Ned's fever dream in ''Liteature/AGameOfThrones'' where Arthur Dayne wishes him good fortune in the wars to come before fighting him outside the Tower of Joy, and Ned says, "Now it ends," is presented as something that literally happened, whereas in the book it was a conflation in the mind of the dreaming Ned, who already knew was coming next. This creates a plot hole whereby Dayne apparently knows he's going to lose the fight despite being the better warrior and very nearly winning if not for Reed striking him in the back.

* AdaptationInducedPlotHole: The dialogue from Ned's fever dream in ''Liteature/A GameOfThrones'' where Arthur Dayne wishes him good fortune in the wars to come before fighting him outside the Tower of Joy, and Ned says, "Now it ends," is presented as something that literally happened, whereas in the book it was a conflation in the mind of the dreaming Ned, who already knew was coming next. This creates a plot hole whereby Dayne apparently knows he's going to lose the fight despite being the better warrior and very nearly winning if not for Reed striking him in the back.

* AdaptationInducedPlotHole: The dialogue from Ned's dream in ''A Game of Thrones'' where Arthur Dayne wishes him good fortune in the wars to come before fighting him outside the Tower of Joy is presented as something that literally happened, whereas in the book it was a conflation of Ned's mind. This creates a plot hole whereby Dayne apparently knows he's going to lose the fight despite very nearly winning.

* AdaptedOut: In the books it's 7 Northerners against 3 Kingsguard. There's also no mention of Arthur Dayne wielding Dawn, nor the names of Ned's other Northern Companions. [[labelnote:From the books]]In addition to Ned and Howland, for those who are curious, they are: Lord Willam Dustin, Ethan Glover, Martyn Cassel (father of Jory Cassel from the first season), Theo Wull and Ser Mark Ryswell. The missing Kingsguard Knight is Oswhell Whent, with the unnamed Knight confirmed by actor Eddie Eyre to be the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, Ser Gerold Hightower.[[/labelnote]].

-->'''Bowen Marsh''': You shouldn't be alive! It's not right.
-->'''Jon Snow''': [[ThisIsUnforgivable Neither was killing me]].

They fight. It's six on two. But these two knights were members of the Kingsguard at a time when the office meant something. Ser Gerold and Ser Arthur fight against all six men evenly. Ser Arthur cuts down one of Ned's number immediately. Ser Gerold kills one Northman in a fit of rage, but Ned eventually avenges his comrade and slays him. Ser Arthur with his double swords fights all four remaining Northmen with impeccable timing. He's far and away the most skilled and invincible swordsman glimpsed on-screen. The Northmen try to circle him but Ser Arthur slips out and uses his dual swords to kill one man in a single blow. He stabs and knocks out Howland and kills another un-named Northmen in a scissor cut across the neck. Finally it's only Ned against Ser Arthur Dayne. Bran recalls his father claiming that the Sword of the Morning was the toughest MasterSwordsman Ned ever faced; and as they watch, it becomes clear that Ned is about to lose. Bran is puzzled since he knew obviously that his father won this duel, otherwise he would not have been born. Ned matches Ser Arthur to the best of his abilities, but Ser Arthur is far beyond his own impressive skill. Finally, Ser Arthur [[BladeLock locks blades]] and disarms Ned. Arthur pauses before raising his sword to deliver the killing blow, but at that instant Howland Reed climbs behind him and stabs him in the neck with a single dagger. The Sword of the Morning collapses to the ground and loses his grip on his swords, and - while bleeding profusely - looks up at Ned with an expression most easily described as "get it over with, then". Ned is amazed and shocked at this sudden reversal, and his expression even suggests sympathy for a Knight of [[MasterSwordsman such stature]] to be [[DroppedABridgeOnHim defeated in such an anticlimactic way]]. He delivers the killing blow to Ser Arthur. He looks in silent sadness at the fallen knight for a moment. During the death of Ser Dayne, Bran has been looking on, and is upset with the truth. "He stabbed him in the back." he says, with disgust in his voice.

** Minor one: in the books, Ned tells Bran about Howland Reed saving him from Arthur Dayne, never telling Bran he was the one who killed Dayne. As Ned was able to deliver the killing blow due to the help of Howland Reed, this might be a FromACertainPointOfView kind of truth.

We begin where the previous episode left off. It's all dark at first, then we fade in and hear gasps of breath and we see Ser Davos staring in shock. Melisandre's ritual worked after all. Jon Snow lives again, staggering to his feet, gasping for air like a drowned man, freezing in the cold air. Ser Davos rushes to him with a coat. Jon, still shivering and confused, gazes at the knife wounds on his chest, questioning how he can still be alive after being stabbed through the heart. He remembers being stabbed by Olly, Thorne and others. Meanwhile, Melisandre enters the room in the meantime and her eyes open in shock at seeing the fruit of her magic. She rushes to Jon Snow and asks him what he had seen in the hereafter (answer: [[TheNothingAfterDeath nothing]]). Melisandre mentions that the Lord of Light brought him back to the living, and that Stannis wasn't the Prince That Was Promised, which means that Jon is. Davos, having had his fill of magic for one evening, moves her out of the room and discusses practical matters with Jon Snow. It's absolutely insane that he's back, and it must obviously be more insane to the resurrected man. Jon laments about his betrayal, noting that he has failed in uniting the Night's Watch behind his agenda. He tried to [[NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished do the right thing and he ended up getting stabbed for it]]. Ser Davos tells him that it's good he accepts that, now it's time to fail again at doing the right thing. Jon then descends into '''Castle Black''' accompanied by Ser Davos. The crowd gathered outside the cabin, Wildlings and Watchmen both, stare at him in shock, not believing their eyes. They make way as Jon Snow clad in his Lord Commander's robes wades into the crowd, with the people making way for him as he reaches Tormund Giantsbane. Tormund tells Jon that the Wildlings think Jon a god. Jon says he's not a god, to which Tormund says that he knows he isn't and he's glad that Jon agrees. After all: "I saw your pecker. What kind of god would have a pecker that small?" The two of them hug each other. Jon moves forward and glimpses loyal Dolorous Edd and heads straight to him and the two hug it out, with Edd expressing gladness at postponing the cremation.

* BrokenPedestal: Bran was always led to believe that his father defeated Dayne fairly. He's disappointed that the duel was a good deal less elegant than he was held to believe and that Dayne was only brought down thanks to a stab in the back by Howland Reed, with Ned then finishing him. Though Bean seemed to have no problem with Ned’s men attacking an outnumbered opponent (which naturally involves surrounding them and aiming many attacks at their backs).

* BrokenPedestal: Bran was always led to believe that his father defeated Dayne fairly. He's disappointed that the duel was a good deal less elegant than he was held to believe and that Dayne was only brought down thanks to a stab in the back by Howland Reed, with Ned then finishing him.

* JerkassHasAPoint: Ser Jaime and Cersei gatecrashing the Small Council seems petty, but Jaime the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard ''has'' in the past had a seat there, and he raises a valid concern about the death of Princess Myrcella and the effective secession of Dorne from the Seven Kingdoms.

* RealityEnsues:
** Melisandre's religious fervor is back and good as new after her successfully conducted resurrection. After all the mishap with Stannis wasn't enough to break fanaticism that was cemented over what we learned to be centuries.
** While Tyrion is a charming and charismatic person in Westeros, he's still a foreigner in Meereen and his attempts to strike up a conversation with two people who were slaves and are used to a culture in which they do what they are told without any further small talk or banter doesn't automatically work on them.
** Being the greatest swordsman in the world won't save you from a sneak attack.
** The news of Wildlings makes the Umbers side with the Boltons as the lesser of two evils. After all, it's an army of people that raided their lands every time they passed the Wall.
** After five seasons of hearing of Varys' "little birds" as if they're an elite team of trained operatives, it turns out that he's been using street children for his spying. Qyburn is able to turn them in no time flat by simply offering sweets as street urchins could care less who's in power in the city but will do work for anyone who offers some food.

** Thorne tells Jon that he considers the latter a traitor to the Watch because by letting the Wildlings past the Wall, Jon brought in "an army of murderers and raiders." He seems to have forgotten that [[ArmyOfThievesAndWhores description]] easily matches the Night's Watch [[NotSoDifferent as well]].

* XMakesAnythingCool: The sigil of House Umber (four chains forming an X pattern) is seen on a banner passing an actual flayed man on a cross (sigil of House Bolton) outside Winterfell, which highlights a subtle NotSoDifferent moment between the two northern houses.

We return to '''Castle Black''', where Jon Snow is sitting alone brooding. He looks down at his old and ruined peascod which he wore while he was assassinated. Dolorous Edd pops in to tell him that it's time, and Jon straps on Longclaw and his giant shaggy cloak and descends to the yard. The four remaining conspirators -- First Builder Othell Yarwyck, First Steward Bowen Marsh, master-at-arms Ser Alliser Thorne, and Olly the steward -- await hanging, all have their nooses wrapped around their necks and stand above a gibbet in front of a large crowd of Wildlings and watchmen. Ser Davos and Melisandre watch from the ramparts. Jon Snow addresses his four killers and asks if they have any FamousLastWords. Bowen Marsh notes that it isn't right that he came back from the dead. Jon points out that them stabbing and killing him wasn't right to begin with. Othell Yarwick apologizes and asks Jon Snow to tell his mother he died fighting the Wildlings, Jon Snow doesn't respond either way. He then confronts Ser Alliser Thorne, his nemesis since the day he first arrived at Castle Black.

* WhoWantsToLiveForever: Thorne in his FamousLastWords points out that his watch is ended, but Lord Snow is going to be fighting his battles forever.

** Arthur Dayne's sword, Dawn. In the books, it's a massive BFS made of meterorite that's all but stated to be as strong as Valyrian steel sword. Here it's just a normal long sword.

'''Tormund:''' I know that. I saw your pecker. What kind of god would have a pecker that small?\\

* TeenyWeenie: Tormund jokingly comments Jon couldn't possibly be a god because his cock is too small. In fairness, it was rather cold on that slab.
* ThereAreNoTherapists: In his attempt to get Jon back to leading the Night Watch, Ser Davos completely overlooks that Jon is [[ShellShockedVeteran going through some form of PTSD]] (with Jon remembering being stabbed in the heart, dying and [[TheNothingAfterDeath then discovering there's no after-life.]]) Of course, the concept is likely not very well known (if at all) in Westeros.

* ArmorIsUseless: Two of the Northmen get stabbed by the Kingsguard despite wearing a coat-of-plate over mail and a shirt. As noted by [[http://winteriscoming.net/2016/05/15/schola-gladiatoria-breaks-down-the-tower-of-joy-fight/ a medieval combat specialist]] this is impossible to achieve even with a straight thrust.

Ned then addresses the tower, hearing cries of pain from the highest window. Bran wants to know what's inside it. [[HolyShitQuotient So does the audience]]. But the three-eyed raven warns Bran from rushing forth. Bran ignores him and calls out to his father, who amazingly stops at the step of the tower and looks back. Bran is shocked and thrilled that he is seemingly interacting with the past, but at that moment, the Raven appears and pulls him out. The Raven reminds Bran that he can become trapped in the past if he uses the MentalTimeTravel of green-seeing too much. But Bran shouts at him and wonders what exactly is he supposed to do, become a withered old tree like him? This disrespect shocks the Children of the Forest in the Cave, and the Raven then sighs that he has been waiting a thousand years for the likes of Bran to arrive. No, Bran won't become an old man in a tree like him. He will leave the cave one day but not before he has finished learning. Learning what, asks Bran. "Everything."

Ser Alliser says that he has no regrets. He did what he thought was right. Jon Snow let the Wildlings through the Wall ([[SelfServingMemory again forgetting his involvement in said action]]) and that if it were to happen again, he only hoped that he had the courage to do the right thing again. This time he lost but he's going to a place of rest now, while Jon Snow will continue fighting for a very long time. The Lord Commander moves to the last condemned man, Olly, the boy he had once saved, mentored, promoted and who he now has to kill. Olly merely gives him a DeathGlare.