Recap / Game of Thrones S6E8: "No One"

In Braavos, Lady Crane movingly performs her role as Cersei grieving over Joffrey's death again. She seems to have taken Arya's advice that Cersei would be angry at her son's death. After receiving applause (the first time this rabble has applauded anything other than Toilet Humor on the show), she returns to her dressing room, hears something, and cautiously opens her wardrobe to find Arya hiding inside. She brings Arya back to her home, dressing her wounds. Arya comments on her skill, wondering where she learned to do this. Lady Crane says she is a jealous women, and was often in relationships with bad men. She'd get angry with them for cheating, fight, and put holes in them. Afterward she'd patch them up again, and grew good at it. And good at putting holes in them, Arya says, to Lady Crane's amused agreement. Arya wonders where Bianca, the actress who hired the Faceless Men to kill her, went. Lady Crane says she'll have a hard time working as an actress after what she did to her face. She says the company is moving to Pentos soon, and that Arya should go along with them, feeling she'd be a good actor. Arya refuses, saying she couldn't remember the lines, and they'd be in danger anyway while the Waif is hunting her. Lady Crane asks where she'll go, and Arya says she'd like to go find out what's west from Westeros, which is not on any map. Lady Crane gives Arya milk of the poppy for her pain, and she goes to sleep.

However, Arya's rest does not last long, because the Waif manages to find her, killing Lady Crane before moving on to Arya. Arya runs away, her wounds opening again, and leads the Waif to her hideout, where she cuts a lit candle to plunge the room in darkness. Then, at the House of Black and White, Jaqen finds a blood trail that ends in the Waif's face... and Arya's sword to his back. Jaqen congratulates her, saying she is finally No One, but Arya proudly proclaims her name is Arya Stark and leaves for Westeros.

In the Riverlands. Sandor Clegane comes across a group of men, among whom were two that helped commit the massacre. Wielding his ax, he swiftly and brutally kills them all.

The next day, he comes upon the Brotherhood Without Banners, including Beric Dendarion and Thoros of Myr. They are preparing to hang the men whom he has been pursuing for the same reason Sandor wants them dead, since it transpires that the Brotherhood did not authorize the attack. Due to his loss, they agree Sandor can kill two. He approaches one to kill him with his ax, but they insist on hanging instead. At last he reluctantly agrees. Before the man even stops kicking, Sandor steals Lemoncloak's combat-ready boots and swaps them with his work shoes. Afterward, Beric and Thoros try to persuade him to join their campaign, but Sandor notes that didn't work out when he tried the last time. Thoros, just as Brother Ray had, says things happen for a reason. Sandor again is unimpressed - after all, lots of horrible shit happens for a reason. Beric echoes Brother Ray's words that he can still help, and that it isn't too late for the man who was once the Hound to do some legitimate good in the world. This time, Sandor seems to take it to heart, and weighs his options.

In Meereen, a Red Priestess preaches to people that Daenerys was sent by the Lord of Light as their savior. Tyrion and Varys walk through the market toward the harbor. Tyrion comments that their alliance with the High Priestess is paying off, with the message of her preachers bringing life back into the city. Varys is still uncomfortable with it, though, warning that this may backfire against them. He is going back to Westeros in hopes of finding Daenerys new allies and ships. Tyrion replies they need her most of all, and Varys assures him she will return before departing.

In the great pyramid later, Tyrion is sitting with Missandei and Grey Worm. Happy over the revival of the city, he urges them to drink with him. Though reluctant, they accede at his urging. Wistfully, he says he'd like to own a vineyard himself in the future after Daenerys has won. He tries to get them telling jokes, but fails. He instead tells them a Westerosi joke, but it falls flat with them. With his urging and the effect of the wine, Missandei manages to tell a weak joke herself. Grey Worm even manages one himself, and we see him actually smile for the first time. The bells begin ringing, interrupting, and they run to the balcony, seeing a fleet of ships bearing the harpy emblem of the Masters of Yunkai and Astopor approaching Meereen. Grimly Missandei says they have come for their property.

That night, the city has begun to be bombarded by the fleet, with fires starting from their flaming missiles. Tyrion admits his error, but urges them to defend the city from the beaches. Grey Worm dismisses his suggestion, saying the pyramid is the only defensible spot in the city, where they will wait. Suddenly they hear a great crashing sound from the roof overhead. They prepare to fight, but it is only Daenerys, returned at last to help them just when they need her most.

In King's Landing, Qyburn tells Cersei a group of the Faith Militant have come into the Red Keep. She asks who let them in, and he does not answer, but Tommen is aware they are there so it's implied to be him. Cersei confronts them alongside Qyburn and Gregor Clegane. Lancel is leading them, and says the High Sparrow wishes to speak with her in the Great Sept of Baelor. She declines, but he says this is not a request. After she still will not go along, they attempt to take her by force, but Clegane steps in. Lancel tells her to have him step aside or there will be violence. Cersei retorts that she chooses violence. One of the Faith Militant strikes at Clegane, but with no effect, only embedding the spikes of his club into Clegane's chest. Clegane lifts him up by his throat and throws him down the stairs. As the others retreat warily, Clegane picks up the man once more. With his bare hands, he rips out the man's head and spine. Cersei watches with satisfaction, and says the High Sparrow is welcome to visit her in the Red Keep at any time.

Later, in the great hall, Cersei enters with Clegane and Qyburn. She speaks to her uncle Kevan, who confirms there will be a royal announcement, but does not answer when Cersei wonders why no one told her. He stops her when she tries to take her place beside the throne, sending her to the gallery with the noblewomen instead. Cersei reluctantly goes there instead as Tommen takes his seat on the throne. He announces that her and Loras' trial will begin soon in the Great Sept of Baelor. Trial by combat is also hereby abolished, as he characterizes it as a scheme for corrupt and brutish nobles to avoid true justice. Instead they will face seven septons as their judges, to Cersei's dismay. Afterward, Qyburn reports to her that an old rumor Cersei had him look into has turned out to be far more than that...

At Riverrun, Brienne and Podric ride to the Lannister camp. As she meets with Jaime, Bronn ambushes Pod playfully and teases him by saying the pair are having sex, then offers to teach him "real" fighting when Pod mentions Brienne is training him in swordfighting. Jaime and Brienne reminisce over all that has happened since they last met. He congratulates her on fulfilling her oath to Catelyn Stark by finding and rescuing Sansa, saying he didn't think it would happen. However, as she is a suspect in Joffrey's murder still, this is a complication. At last he asks what she's doing here, and Brienne says she came for the Blackfish, hoping to use his troops to help retake Winterfell from the Boltons. Jaime notes they are occupied, given they're under siege. They argue over the rights and wrongs of the situation before Brienne proposes he permit her to enter Riverrun under flag of truce and convince the Blackfish to surrender, then give them safe passage into the North with his troops. Jaime is incredulous, warning her that he's even more stubborn than she is. Nonetheless, he agrees, hoping that at least the Blackfish's troops might listen. Jaime gives her his word they will have safe passage if she succeeds. Brienne tries to give him back his sword, but Jaime tells her to keep it. She warns that if her attempt fails, she'll be duty-bound to defend Riverrun along with the Tullys, being Sansa's kin. He is not surprised, simply hoping it won't come to that. In the castle, the Blackfish again refuses to surrender, and is skeptical that Brienne really represents Sansa. He is especially suspicious given her prior association with Jaime. Brienne at last convinces him of her bona fides, but he refuses the proposal still. Defeated, Brienne has Pod get a message to Sansa by raven saying she failed.

That evening, Jaime visits Edmure Tully in the tent where he's kept prisoner. Jaime talks with Edmure of his son, whom he sired with his wife on the night of the Red Wedding (who he has not seen), and offers both of them a comfortable life in Casterly Rock. Edmure, disgusted, is incredulous and wonders if Jaime really thinks he's a decent person after all that he's done. He wonders how Jaime lives with himself. Jaime says he cares only for his sister, wanting to return and be with her no matter the cost. He has to take Riverrun for that, and threatens to kill Edmure's son. We next see Edmure approaching the castle and demanding to be let in. The Blackfish tells the commander not to, but he says Edmure is lord of Riverrun and they must obey him. Over the Blackfish's strenuous protests, they let Edmure in. He orders all of the troops to lay down their arms and surrender. The besiegers enter the castle unopposed and take them prisoner. Edmure orders that the Blackfish be taken prisoner and handed over to the Freys. The Blackfish is meanwhile leading Brienne and Pod off to an underground boat they can escape on. Brienne begs him to come along with them, but he refuses, and goes off to fight. A Lannister soldier tells Jaime that he was killed. He spots Brienne and Pod on the boat, but rather than pursue them, waves goodbye.

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This episode contains the following tropes:

• Adaptational Heroism: The Brotherhood Without Banners, having become Knight Templars in the corresponding point of the books, still hold to their mission, especially considering Beric Dondarrion continues to lead them, and Lady Stoneheart is Adapted Out. The nastier aspect is taken by some members who went rogue and turned to brigandry.
• Adaptational Villainy:
  • Lem Lemoncloak never turns to brigandry in the books.
  • In the novel, Jaime's threat to kill Edmure's child is a bluff, as he's seriously trying to reform. He's estranged from Cersei at the time and just wants to end the siege without bloodshed, keeping an oath he swore to Catelyn Stark not to bear arms against the Tullys. In the show, it's ambiguous. He does try to settle the matter diplomatically at first, but his speech to Edmure claims he's doing this to return to Cersei, while in the books he abandons her to her well-earned punishment, having gone off her by this point.
  • The Blackfish has a downplayed case. In the books, Blackfish continues to hold Riverrun because that's what his king last ordered him to do, and to protect Queen Jeyne, and continues to display the direwolf above Riverrun out of loyalty to the Stark cause. In the show, he acknowledges that Sansa genuinely needs his help but still refuses to help her, even after there's no chance of him defending Riverrun.
• Adaptational Wimp:
  • Book Edmure takes the small risk of arranging for the Blackfish's escape while surrendering Riverrun in accordance with Jaime's peace offer. In the show, neither of them even attempt it.
  • Tyrion Lannister. In the book, it was Daenarys's own political incompetence that led to the mess know as the Second Siege of Meereen. Here, due to Tyrion arriving sooner, he's responsible for the whole mess, thus receiving Adaptational Wimp while Daenerys got Adaptational Badass.
• Age Lift: Edmure's child hasn't even been born yet when Jaime makes his threat in the books, which is somewhat important in that Jaime suspects that if it's a boy, Edmure will have outlived his usefulness. In the show, the child is known to be a boy and Edmure laments that he has yet to see him. This makes sense, as the show moves forward closer to real time than the books do (allowing the actors and their characters to be closer to the same age), and the child was conceived near the end of Season 3.
• Ain't Too Proud to Beg: Lemoncloak tearfully pleads for Sandor to spare him while the noose is around his neck. The Hound has as much mercy for him as Lem did for the people he massacred.
• All for Nothing:
  • Brienne fails to convince the Blackfish to stand down, she fails to secure his troops for the war effort up north, and she fails to even bring him back with her. She has no choice but to return to Sansa empty-handed.
  • The Waif murders Lady Crane, rendering Arya's attempts to save the actress' life pointless, beyond turning it into a Pyrrhic Victory for Bianca, who Crane indicates she disfigured so badly that she'll never work as an actress again.
  • Cersei was banking on The Mountain to see her through her upcoming trial. And then her own son promptly abolishes trial by combat across the Seven Kingdoms, thwarting her.
• Any Last Words?: Or rather, "Any Other Last Words?" Sandor is unimpressed with the last words of the brigand he axed in the balls, so he lets him try again. When the answer is a case of Country Matters, he gives up.
  Sandor: You're shit at dying, you know that?
• Armor-Piercing Question: Edmure poses one to Jaime, calling him out on his smarmy diplomatic approach and reminding him that there can't be peace between them:
  Edmure: You imagine yourself a decent person. Is that it? After you've massacred my family?
• Armor-Piercing Response: Jaime however instantly shuts Edmure up by reminding him that unpleasant things happen during war.
  Jaime: I’ll remind you that our houses are at war. I’m sorry if that’s an inconvenience for you.
• Assassin Outclassin': Arya's extended chase with the Waif ends up leading up to a trap in a kill-room, where she has Needle and can turn out the lights. A non-lethal version occurs when Jaqen is distracted by the bloody trail and the Waif's face in the hall, letting Arya somehow sneak up behind him.
• Ass Shove: Shortly before Sandor arrives to kill them, one of the brigand Brotherhood members playfully shoves his finger into another member's butt, making the victim jump back and curse him.
• Badass Boast:
  • Done by Arya after she reasserts herself as her own person and not No One.
  Jaqen H'ghar: A girl is finally No One.
  Arya Stark: A girl is Arya Stark of Winterfell. And I'm going home.
  • Clegane says he beat Beric because he was a better knight both before and after Beric died a few times. Beric admits he's probably right.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Lady Crane did something to Bianca's face that she assures Arya will make it hard for her to be an actress from here on out. Given that she says she'd stabbed multiple lovers in the past for infidelity, it probably wasn't good...
• Big Damn Heroes: Daenerys returns to Meereen just as they are being laid siege to by the Masters is treated as this by the Unsullied and her small council, though the episode only shows a distant shot of Drogon flying around without showing any potential damage she may have caused on the way in.
• Black Comedy: The Mountain's fight with a Faith Militant. It's almost a repeat of Wun Wun vs the mutineer archer in Episode 2, even down to the imagined Silent Snarker "really?" reaction.
• Body Horror:
  • After a Faith Militant slams a spiked mace into The Mountain's armor to no effect, he slams the man to the ground and pulls his head and spine out Sub-Zero style.
  • While we don't see it happen, Arya cuts the Waif's face off and places it in the Hall of Faces. Normally this wouldn't qualify because of all the faces in the Hall being a normal occurrence, but the Waif's face wasn't taken with care, so it is slack-jawed and bleeding from vacant eye and mouth holes.
• Bond Villain Stupidity: The Waif leaves a Dead Guy on Display for Arya instead of just stabbing her before she can get out of bed and opts for I Shall Taunt You to give Arya a chance to run, then alternates between running Le Parkour and Ominous Walk to avoid catching up until Arya finally corners herself, at which point the Waif monologues again to give Arya the chance to draw her sword and put out the lights. In fact, Arya was deliberately leading her there, so the Waif walked right into an easily avoidable trap.
• Brutal Honesty: When Beric ponders aloud why he lost to the Hound in their last encounter, the Hound bluntly responds that he was and still is an inferior fighter. Beric isn't insulted and even gets a small laugh out of it.
• The Bus Came Back: The Brotherhood Without Banners, including Lord Beric and Thoros of Myr.
• Call-Back:
  • Bronn's comment about Podrick's "magic cock" refers to the season 3 episode where he made an impressive performance in the brothel.
  • Half the conversation between Lord Beric and Sandor Clegane is composed of call backs, up to and including the latter's preference for chicken.
  • Tyrion begins his story of going into a brothel with a honeycomb and a jackass once more, but is again interrupted.
  • Jaime muses on the "things we do for love" to Edmure Tully, just as he did before showing Bran out the window. This time, it precedes his threat to kill Edmure's son if he won't get Riverrun to surrender.
  • Jaqen isn't terribly upset at the Waif's death. After all, as he told her, the Many-Faced God demands a face, but never said it had to be a specific one.
  • Jaime and Brienne share another Longing Look as they depart yet again.
  • Sandor still has his contempt for archers. "Drop that arrow, you bloody girl. Tougher girls than you have tried to kill me!"
  • The way Kevan addresses Cersei, sounds awfully familiar to the way Tywin informed Joffrey of why he was not informed of the council meetings.
• Can't Hold His Liquor: as would be expected for someone who doesn't drink alcohol, Missandei grows a bit tipsy with less than half the wine cup Tyrion served her while they're telling jokes. Of course, the sight of the enemy ships sobers her up immediately.
• Captain Obvious:
  Pod: It looks like a siege, m'lady.
  Brienne: You have a keen military mind, Pod.
• Chekhov's Skill: All that blind fighting Arya was subjected to allows her to overcome the Waif.
• The Chosen One: Sandor is hyped as this. The representatives of two religions (Ray for the Faith of the Seven and Beric for the Lord of Light) claim the gods have a plan for him.
• Combat Pragmatism:
  • Arya turns the tables on the Waif by fighting in a dark room. She is trained in fighting in the dark and has a better reach with Needle than the Waif has with her knife.
  • Bronn gives Pod some lessons in the not-so-gentle art of surviving against the not-so-honorable.
  • Sandor marches up to the Brotherhood bandits and kills the first one without a word. They're so taken off guard he's able to cut down three of them before they can even fight back.
• The Comically Serious: Grey Worm's poor attempt to tell a joke while remaining his usual straight-faced humorless self ends up getting the biggest laugh out of both Tyrion and Missandei.
  Grey Worm: That is the worst joke I ever heard.
  Missandei: You don't even know what the joke is.
  Grey Worm: I am soldier all my life. You think I never hear joke?
  Tyrion: You lied to us.
  [beat]
  Grey Worm: I make joke.
• Commonality Connection: Attempted by Jaime, but defied by Edmure.
• Continuity Nod: Lady Crane has taken Arya's advice to change Cersei's speech, moving from a grieving mother to a Mama Bear's demand for a Roaring Rampage of Revenge.
• Cowardly Boss:
  • Edmure Tully takes command of the castle and immediately surrenders. Excusable as he was coerced by Jaime threatening to kill his son. Though his own soldier is reluctant and appalled, he still obeys.
  • Lemoncloak, the leader of the band who burned Sandor's newfound home and killed all the people, winds up crying for mercy before being hanged.
• Cruel and Unusual Death:
  • Lady Crane somehow gets stabbed into a stool in a particularly grisly (and anatomically inaccurate) death.
  • We don't see the Waif's death, but when Arya removed her face it is bloodied up and blood was leaking all the way from the entrance of the House of Black and White to the Hall of Faces, suggesting that Arya repaid the Waif's sadism to Lady Crane in kind.
  • Defied by Beric, who refuses to allow Sandor to execute the Brotherhood members on his terms, forcing Sandor to settle for a hanging that he gets to cause.
• Deadly Graduation: A girl finally becomes no-one by killing the fellow trainee sent to kill her.
• Death Seeker: Jaime accuses the Blackfish of being this. Considering that even after Riverrun falls he would rather die fighting Lannister troops that leave to help Sansa, Jaime might have a point.
• Defeat Means Friendship: Beric isn't too bothered by the fact that The Hound "killed" him in their previous encounter, even going so far as to invite him to join the Brotherhood.
• Didn't See That Coming:
  • The first of the men Clegane kills had virtually no time to realize what was going on before his head was chopped off.
  • Just like Grey Worm and Missandei predicted, the Masters went back on their agreements and attacked Meereen to reclaim their "property". Despite profuse apologies, Grey Worm refuses to listen to Tyrion's suggestions to aid the city's defense.
  • A literal example in the case of the Waif; she expected Arya to fight with Needle in a Hopeless Boss Fight and not put out the lights. She definitely did not see her death coming in the dark.
  • Cersei did not expect Tommen to outlaw trial by combat, making her ace in the hole worthless.
• Didn't Think This Through: Once again, Cersei sacrifices long term planning and plotting for immediate satisfaction. Having her Champion kill The Sparrows allows her to feel smug and in control for a brief second, only to find out that by doing so she's given The High Sparrow what he needs to convince Tommen to outlaw Trial by Combat thus ruining her plans.
• Dissonant Serenity: The Waif is extremely calm during her chase of Arya. It, combined with her Psychotic Smirk, makes her seem like a villain of a Slasher Movie.
• Domestic Abuse: Lady Crane mentions actually stabbing multiple lovers in the past for infidelity.
• Double Meaning: The Waif's monologue to Arya ostensibly means You Can't Fight Fate, but it takes on another meaning when you consider that both of them are not yet "no one" (not to mention the episode title).
  The Waif: The Many-Faced God has been promised [Lady Crane's] name. He has been promised another. I can't change it. You can't change it. No-one can.
• Everyone Can See It: Bronn states that anyone can tell how Brienne feels about Jaime just by how she looks at him. He also implies that he thinks Jaime feels the same way.
• Exact Words: As Lancel and a squad of Faith Militant have come for Cersei to bring her to the High Septon.
  Lancel: Order your man to step aside or there will be violence!
  Cersei: I choose violence.
• Eye Scream: The Waif's face has blood dripping from the eyes, leaving little doubt where Needle ended up.
• Failed a Spot Check: An entire fleet somehow approaches Mereen, in broad daylight, bearing the colors of Masters, without any kind of alarm sounding until they're nearly at the shore. You'd think that even without expecting an attack they would have watches, scouts, informants in enemy cities - nope, nothing.
• Face Death with Dignity: Invoked by the Waif, who asks a cornered Arya if she'll die on her knees or her feet. Arya stands up and draws Needle from under a rug, then shows that it will be neither by cutting the sole candle in the room and killing the Waif in the dark.
• Face of an Angel, Mind of a Demon: Edmure mocks how Jaime looks just like the heroic archetype with his noble face and golden armor.
• Framing the Guilty Party: Even if the trial is stacked against Cersei it's already against her favor since she is guilty and they have her accomplice testimony.
• Friendly Enemies:
  • Both Jaime and Brienne are on opposite sides of the siege at Riverrun and are aware that they may have to fight one another. They both still clearly care for and respect one another, and hope it doesn't have to come to that. As Brienne rows away, having lost completely, they still bid each other a fond farewell.
  • Similarly, Bronn remains chummy with her squire, Podrick, and offers to teach him how to fight better (and dirtier).
  • Sandor, Beric and Thoros behave like old acquaintances (which technically they are, from Robert's court) reminiscing about merry moments and become increasingly friendlier as they talk about the time they wanted Clegane dead and Sandor killed Dondarrion.
• Fruit Cart: Several baskets of oranges are tipped over during Arya's flight.
• Groin Attack: One of the camping Brotherhood men gets a fatal case of axe-through-privates.
• Gory Discretion Shot: We don't get a full frontal view of the Mountain ripping the Faith Militant's head and spine out.
• Guile Hero: How Arya defeats the Waif. She had experience working and fighting in the dark in her period of blindness, she deliberately leaves a blood trail for the Waif to follow knowing that she is sadistic enough to follow her into a corner, and then upon leading her to her dark cellar she uses her sword to douse the only source of light, using her terrain to her advantage and defeating a stronger foe.
• Hollywood Healing: Despite being stabbed in the abdomen three times, having the knife twisted, taking many painful falls, plunging into what was probably a very filthy canal and quite likely getting dirt into the wounds, having her sutured wounds reopen after exerting so much physical activity, Arya is still able to stand, walk, and talk as if nothing happened by the end of the episode, only looking a bit pale and shaky from her ordeal.
• Honor Before Reason:
  • Blackfish would rather go down fighting for his homeland rather than lend any aid to his remaining family in the North, even after the castle has been taken.
  • The soldiers of Riverrun are loyal to Edmure above all else, even when Blackfish warns that Edmure will almost certainly surrender the castle. When Edmure does just that, they follow orders without protest, as he's their lord and they swore to obey him.
  • Brienne tells Jaime that she is honor bound to defend the Blackfish if Jaime attacks the castle, even if it means fighting Jaime himself.
• Hope Spot:
  • After staunchly refusing to hear Brienne out, Brynden becomes emotional once he finally reads Sansa's letter, noting how she's just like Catelyn. He still refuses to lend aid.
  • It seems that Tyrion's efforts to restore order to Meereen have paid off and the city is finally settling down. And then the Masters show up with their warships en masse.
• Idiot Ball:
  • It's not like Arya had many options, but taking refuge with the same woman the people hunting her also want to kill wasn't a very smart move.
  • Tyrion, normally very clever, fails to consider that the Masters won't take the long-term, pragmatic option and is blindsided when they attack Meereen. While his insistence on negotiating a non-violent solution is defensible, his complete lack of forethought for even the possibility that the Masters might not go along with it isn't.
  • Tommen is talked into outlawing Trial by Combat and instead having Cersei tried by the Septons, an arrangement almost certain to end with her being found guilty. It seems not to occur to him that one of the charges against her is that her children, including him, are incestuous bastards with no claim to the throne. Doubly so because this would also be a major blow to the Faith Militant, who rely on the king's decrees to legitimize their rule. As smart as the High Sparrow has shown himself to be, one would hope he's taken this into account if Tommen hasn't. Then again, they didn't need the king's decree to capture Cersei or whip the former High Septon.
• If I Do Not Return: Varys tells Tyrion that if he does not return, then Tyrion will know his secret mission didn't go well.
• Implacable Woman: The Waif chasing Arya relentlessly through the city has quite a Terminator vibe. Unlike Arya, after all their running, she isn't even breathing hard.
• I Told You So: Grey Worm and Missandei both remind Tyrion of their warnings about the Masters when the Masters lay siege to Meereen. For his part, Tyrion does apologize repeatedly for underestimating just how much they wanted their slaves back.
• It Has Been an Honor: Subverted. It looks like Tyrion and Varys will part ways like this, but instead they crack wise about the former being the most famous dwarf in the world. Their faces and eyes say it instead.
• It's All About Me: Jaime is delving further and further into this, becoming what he was in Season 1 again. He even echoes his intent to kill each and every one of his enemies standing between him and Cersei.
• Jerkass Has a Point: The High Sparrow manipulates Tommen into abolishing trial by combat so Cersei's unbeatable champion won't influence the outcome. Tommen rationalizes the decision by deeming the process a way for the guilty to cheat justice, which is exactly what Cersei intended to do (it was also a historical criticism of the practice). Not that the alternative trial is more balanced, mind you, being a Kangaroo Court stacked against Cersei.
• Kangaroo Court: Tommen abolishes Trial by Combat because it unfairly allows the guilty to escape justice as long as they can hire a good fighter, and the one Cersei has is one of the best. The trial will instead be presided over by a jury of seven septons, blatantly rigging the trial against her. Trial by combat would actually give the defendant a better chance to defend themselves than Cersei would have in this instance.
• Karmic Death: The Waif had previously beaten Arya repeatedly while she was blinded. It's very fitting that her death comes in the dark, with Arya now better trained to fight without her eyes.
• Kick the Dog:
  • In case anyone, somewhere, for some reason, didn't dislike the Waif, she goes ahead and murders Lady Crane gruesomely.
  • In order to convince Edmure to play ball, Jaime threatens to kill his son.
• Killed Offscreen: The Blackfish and the Waif.
• Kill Steal: When Clegane finally finds the leader of the Brotherhood responsible for killing his friends, he's about to be hanged by Beric. The two end up getting into a debate over who has more of a right to kill him. Eventually, Beric allows Clegane to hang two of the three men caught (one of them is Lem) while Beric hangs the other.
• Know When to Fold 'Em: The Faith Militant back off after the Mountain beheads one of them with his bare hands.
• Living Prop: Lord Tyrell stands idly next to Kevan Lannister in a non-speaking role during the scene in the throne room. Apparently Mace has not suffered any blowback from his failed clash with the Sparrows, unlike Jaime or Olenna.
• Made of Iron: Arya, evidently, as not only does she apparently sleep off multiple stab wounds of the type that has killed many other Game of Thrones characters, she manages to jump out of windows, land and roll down stone staircases, and survives to not only take out the Waif, but take her face off and put it on display without getting caught on the way in.
• Masochism Tango: Lady Crane has a thing for bad boys, but also a habit of stabbing them for infidelity, then feeling guilty the next day and patching them up.
• Mass "Oh, Crap!":
  • The members of the rogue faction of the Brotherhood in the beginning when they see Sandor heading towards them with an axe. At least the ones that can see Sandor.
  • Lancel and the Faith Militant also quietly freak out when one of their men is killed by The Mountain, though they hold it together and make a Tactical Withdrawal.
• Mood Whiplash: In-universe: Lady Crane's performance as Cersei mourning her dead son Joffrey has the audience in tears. As she exits the stage, the very next scene performed is Tyrion killing Tywin amidst fart jokes and sound effects.
• Mythology Gag
  • In the books, Lem wears the Hound's helm after his supposed death. In the show the Hound wears Lem's shoes after his death.
  • Beric tells Sandor that the Red God has some great plan for him which is the same thing Moqorro tells Victarion Greyjoy in book 4.
• My Master, Right or Wrong: The commander of the garrison at Riverrun opens the gates for Edmure Tully, whom he's sworn to obey, despite the Blackfish ordering him otherwise. He also obeys Edmure's command to surrender the castle and have the Blackfish seized.
• My Name Is Inigo Montoya:
  A Man: Finally, a girl is No One.
  Arya: A girl is Arya Stark of Winterfell. And I'm going home.
• Neck Lift: The Mountain lifts the Faith Militant enforcer who attacked him this way, strangles him, throws him aside then tears his head off.
• Never My Fault: The Waif claims that Lady Crane's cruel and painful death is Arya's fault for not poisoning her in the first place.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero:
  • Tyrion's attempt to barter with the Masters falls flat on its face when they decide to take back Meereen anyway. The city is ultimately less prepared for his efforts, since they aren't expecting the attack.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain:
  • All the brutal blind fighting and Training from Hell that the Waif put Arya through gives the latter everything she needs to kill her.
  • Cersei refusing to meet with the High Sparrow and having the Mountain attack the Sparrows gives them ammunition they needed to have Tommen outlaw trial by combat.
• No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Done with an axe by Sandor Clegane to the men who butchered his friends in the previous episode. They have barely any chance to react before he's lopping off heads and crushing skulls.
• No-Sell: One of the Faith Militant puts a spiked mace right through The Mountain's armor. He doesn't even flinch.
• Offscreen Moment of Awesome:
  • Arya's sword fight against the Waif in the dark. It ends with Arya having skinned the Waif's face off.
  • The Lannister officer's demeanor implies the Blackfish put up a good fight, even though he had expected to make a fool of himself.
• Off with His Head!:
  • Sandor beheads a member of the Brotherhood with an axe.
  • The Mountain rips the head off a member of the Faith Militant with his bare hands.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • The Faith Militant who attacked the Mountain, first when his attack does nothing, then when, already on the floor, the Mountain grabs his jaw.
  • Lancel as well, after the kill is done. Also beforehand, when Clegane moves to block his path to Cersei, all the while growling like an animal waiting to be let off the leash.
  • Cersei's reaction when she realizes her ace in the hole (the Trial by Combat) has been taken away.
  • Tyrion's peace talks with the Masters of Yunkai and Astapor were ultimately useless, as he realizes they are attacking Meereen with their fleet.
  • The Riverrun officer's reaction when Lord Edmure orders them to stand down is subtler, but still counts.
• Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: Rory McCann's Scottish accent comes through in his "better than you" speech.
• Orphaned Setup: Tyrion (yet again) can't finish his story about the time he brought a jackass and a honeycomb into a brothel.
• Out-Gambitted:
  • Once again, Cersei is outwitted by the High Sparrow. After the Mountain tears the head off of one of his Faith Militant, the High Sparrow talks Tommen into abolishing trial by combat to take that advantage from her.
  • Tyrion's peace talks to keep the Masters of Yunkai and Astapor at bay backfire dramatically.
• Papa Wolf: Jaime threatening Edmure's newborn son is enough to send him into a rage (to no effect, but still).
• Le Parkour: Arya running for her life through the city involves several jumps from windows and heights.
• Plot Armor: Arya took quite a stabbing in the previous episode. Several main characters have died from less, yet Arya manages to recover after a short period of convalescence and medical treatment at the hands of Lady Crane.
• Pre-Mortem One-Liner: Two epic ones from Sandor-Fucking-Clegane:
  • "You're shit at dying, you know that?"
  • When told that he's getting old, Sandor gestures at Lem and replies, "He's not", before kicking the support away and allowing the rogue to hang.
• Psycho for Hire: The Waif is revealed to be one. The Faceless Men are supposed to be efficient and emotionless in their killings-for-hire. The Waif clearly enjoys inflicting pain on others and tries to prolong her target's suffering. She clearly was not a right candidate for the order of assassins and Jaqen seems to be actually pleased that the Waif died rather than Arya.
• Revenge Before Reason: Averted: The Hound, under protest, agrees to Beric and the Brotherhood's compromise of personally hanging two out of three of the renegades who massacred Brother Ray's village, rather than butchering them with his axe.
  Sandor 'The Hound' Clegane: Bunch of nancies. [throws down his axe] There was a time I would have killed all seven of you just to gut these three.
  Thoros of Myr: You're getting old, Clegane.
  Sandor 'The Hound' Clegane: He's not. [kicks the barrel out from under one of the noosed men]
• Right for the Wrong Reasons: Tommen's outlawing trial by combat is, on the face of things, the right decision seeing how Cersei intended to use the tradition in order to get herself acquitted of crimes she's clearly guilty of (and, on the flip-side, how Tyrion was wrongly convicted of murdering Joffrey thanks to Oberyn Martell's Idiot Ball moment when fighting Ser Gregor). However, the reason for doing so, even if he himself doesn't appear to see it, is implied to be so that the High Sparrow can turn Cersei's trial into a Kangaroo Court and ensure her conviction.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Sandor is on the warpath, massacring anyone responsible for the slaughter of his village.
• Rule of Scary: The way that Lady Crane dies is rather anatomically inaccurate, but that just goes to further show how disturbing the Waif is that she could, and would, pull it off.
• Running Gag:
  • Sandor mentions that the food is okay, but he prefers chicken.
  • Tyrion's explanation of what happens when you bring a jackass and a honeycomb into a brothel is once again interrupted.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: A girl is again Arya Stark of Winterfell, and has had enough of Braavos.
• Shoot the Dog: According to the Show Runners, Tommen is aware of the implications behind outlawing the Trial by Combat, essentially selling out his mother in order to uphold the peace.
• Ship Tease: Bronn asks Pod if he thinks Brienne and Jaime are fucking. When Pod looks surprised, Bronn explains that Everyone Can See It.
• Shout-Out:
  • Arya's method to defeat the Waif—lead her to a dark room and then cut the lights, using her experience in fighting in the dark to defeat her—is one to the Burt Lancaster adventure film The Flame and the Arrow where the hero wins a duel against a superior Master Swordsman by throwing the lights and using the dark to his advantage.
  • The Waif running after Arya is heavily reminiscent of Robert Patrick's T-1000 in Terminator 2: Judgment Day, in both the calm way she runs and the near lack of expression on her face.
  • During the chase, Arya spills several oranges, symbols of death in The Godfather.
• Significant Wardrobe Shift: For Riverrun itself, as the Tully banners are replaced by Lannister and Frey banners.
• Smug Snake:
  • Lancel has a smug smile on his face...until the Mountain gets in his.
  • Cersei again can't help but smile smugly when The Mountain kills a Sparrow and tries to prove she still has power by asking the High Sparrow to come visit her instead after the murder. The High Sparrow knocks her down a peg by making sure she can't use the Mountain to weasel out of her trial.
  • The Waif wastes no opportunity to sneer at Arya and prolong her suffering in the process of her attempts to assassinate her.
• Staircase Tumble: Arya takes a nasty roll down several stairs. She crashes though several baskets of oranges and reopens her wounds.
• Stealth Expert: Arya might not be a full blown assassin, but sneaking back in the House of Black and White to place the face of the Waif in the Hall of Faces was an impressive infiltration. She even manages to get the drop on Jaqen (himself a skilled assassin) while he's distracted.
• Step into the Blinding Fight: Arya snuffs out the candle to put her fight with the Waif into total darkness.
• Targeted to Hurt the Hero: The Waif gruesomely kills Lady Crane and drapes her body over a stool in a disturbing fashion in order to taunt Arya even further.
• Then Let Me Be Evil: Jaime, in response to Edmure asking him if he actually thinks he is a decent person, goes on a rant about how Cersei is the only person he cares about in the world, and that he'll kill anyone in his path as long as she can be happy.
• Too Cool to Live: Lady Crane joins the show's long-held tradition of offing likeable minor characters soon after their introductions.
• Trail of Blood: After Arya's wound opens up and her blood gets on her hand, she puts her hand with the blood on it on a wall which the Waif sees and follows her.
• Trial by Combat: Defied. Tommen officially abolishes this in the Seven Kingdoms, thwarting Cersei's plan to get acquitted this way.
• Under the Truck: Arya does the medieval version, on foot under a handcart. The pursuing Waif leaps over the top.
• Unexplained Recovery: Sandor's limp from the previous episode is now gone. His desire for a Roaring Rampage of Revenge seems to have helped him shrug it off.
• Villains Out Shopping: Some of the Brotherhood brigands are shown chatting and pranking each other around a campfire... just before Sandor comes in and kills them all.
• Wham Line:
  King Tommen: After much prayer and reflection, the crown has decided that from this day forward trial by combat will be forbidden throughout the Seven Kingdoms.
• When She Smiles: Grey Worm looks positively adorable for a few seconds as Missandei laughs at his joke, showing that he is Not So Stoic where she is concerned.
• Would Hurt a Child: Jaime threatens to kill Edmure Tully's son if he won't surrender Riverrun.
• Wounded Gazelle Gambit: Arya Stark pulls off a masterful one against the Waif. While it looks like she's running to escape in any way possible, Arya is actually leading the Waif into a trap, making sure to leave an obvious Trail of Blood to follow until the trap is sprung and the showdown happens.
• You and What Army?: Jaime asks what army Sansa has to take Winterfell. Turns out Brienne intends to borrow the Tully army.
• You Can't Fight Fate: The gist of the Waif's monologue to Arya about the Many-Faced God being promised a name.
• You're Insane!: Edmure's response to Jaime justifying everything he does through his love for Cersei.

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