This episode of Mahabharata begins with Gandhari groveling and pleading with Draupadi to not curse anyone, begging her to forgive everyone. Draupadi agrees to forgive everyone except for Duryodhan, Dushasan, Karna and Shakuni. Gandhari then delivers one hell of a scolding to her sons and brother, then turns her ire on Dhritharashtra. A shaken Dhritharashtra agrees to grant Draupadi anything she desires to repay her for the humiliation she had to endure.
Draupadi demands that the Pandavas be granted their freedom and then have their weapons and armor be restored to them, as that should be all that warriors ever need. Dhritharashtra goes way beyond and returns everything to the Pandavas - their wealth, their kingdom and subjects, everything.
And as the Pandavas prepare to depart Hastinapur for hopefully the last time, numerous people make Heel Realization and Broken Pedestal speeches.
Tropes found here are
- Armor-Piercing Question: When Arjun starts ranting to Bhishma and Dronacharya that he will slay Duryodhan, Dushasan, Karna and Shakuni, Bhishma and Dronacharya ask him “Will you kill us too? Because you have to go through us to get to them.”
- Broken Pedestal: Kunti used to think all her sons were paragons of virtue. But now she is disappointed in them becoming five gamblers who staked their own wife.
- Bhim also states that had Yudhistir not been his elder brother, he’d have smashed his skull in for staking Draupadi.
- Go Through Me: Bhishma and Dronacharya state plainly that they are honor bound to protect Hastinapur against all enemies. Since the Pandavas are now rulers of independent Indraprasth, any attempt to get at Duryodhan will require the Pandavas to go through Bhishma and Dronacharya first.
- The Grovel: Gandhari pleads before Draupadi to not curse the entire Kuru dynasty. Draupadi agrees to forgive everyone except Duryodhan, Dushasan, Shakuni and Karna
- My God, What Have I Done?: Gandhari, Vidhur, Bhishma and Dronacharya give these.
- Please Spare Him, My Liege!: When Dhritharashtra lets Draupadi ask for anything, she requests that the enslaved Pandavas be freed and all their weapons and armor returned to them. A magnanimous Dhritharashtra returns everything that they lost in the dice game.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Gandhari also gets in on the act and skewers everyone present in the game room.
