In this episode of Mahabharata, Duryodhan and Dronacharya devise a novel strategy that could bring them total victory soon.
After Draupadi pays her respects to Bhishma while introducing him to Abhimanyu’s wife Uttara, she insults Duryodhan one more time. Duryodhan orders a pit dug around Bhishma to ensure that insects and wildlife cannot get to him. He then returns to his camp.
After Duryodhan, Dushasan, Karna and Shakuni fret about Dronacharya’s unwillingness to kill the Pandavas, Duryodhan decides to order his General-in-Chief to capture Yudhistir instead of killing him. When he relays the order to Dronacharya, the latter is overjoyed as he assumes that Duryodhan has become wiser, and now wants to win this war to save face, so he can “gift” Yudhistir Indraprasth.
However, it turns out that the Pandavas have a spy in Duryodhan’s camp. The spy reports to Dhrishtadyumna that Dronacharya’s strategy from here on is to capture Yudhistir alive. Krishna opines that this is actually a brilliant strategy. A dead Yudhistir becomes a martyr for others to fight for, not to mention that there is at the moment, a long list of successors to the throne of Indraprasth, who must continue the fight for their kingdom. However, a prisoner of war is considered enslaved and a slave has no right to anything, therefore even his “heirs” lose their claims over Indraprasth. Therefore, Krishna states, Yudhistir must be protected at all cost.
On Day Eleven, the Kauravas launch a straight up frontal assault while the Pandavas turtle up around Yudhistir. Distressed at the sight of common soldiers being slaughtered en masse by Dronacharya, Yudhistir orders his brothers to leave his side and attack. But before they can explain why they must stick to Yudhistir at all costs, the Pandavas are attacked. Arjun duels Karna and knocks him unconscious with an arrow to the forehead. Bhim duels Duryodhan with his mace and knocks the latter off his chariot. Abhimanyu wounds and routs Jayadrath, Nakul defeats his uncle Shalya while Shakuni duels Sahadev. Dronacharya engages Yudhistir, breaks all of the latter’ s weapons and prepares to capture him. But Arjun swoops in and drives him away, saving the day.
Shantanu frets about the state of his beloved Hastinapur and visits his fallen son Bhishma.
Tropes found here are
- Big Damn Heroes: Arjun arrives just in the nick of time to rout Dronacharya and save Yudhistir from capture.
- Blade Lock: Sahadev and Shakuni lock blades and grapple till sunset.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Arjun kicks Karna to the curb, Nakul easily dispatches Shalya, Bhim knocks Duryodhan out, but Dronacharya systematically obliterates all of Yudhistir’s weapons, leaving him defenseless and easy to capture.
- Distress Ball: Apparently no one thought to inform Yudhistir that he is being deliberately targeted for capture. He therefore orders his brothers to leave his side and attack.
- Distressed Dude: Yudhistir finds himself disarmed and defenseless, seconds away from capture by Dronacharya.
- Dressing as the Enemy: The Pandavas’ spy is dressed in the brown uniform of a Kauravas’ army soldier.
- The Infiltration: Apparently the Pandavas snuck in a spy into the Kaurava camp. How long he’s been there is never revealed.
- It's All My Fault: Shantanu and Bhishma argue over who is ultimately responsible for Hastinapur being in the state it is in. Shantanu thinks his love for Satyavati is to blame, while Bhishma states that he is to blame for renouncing the throne.
- Paper Tiger: For all the talk (mostly by Duryodhan) of Karna being Arjun’s equal and how his absence denied them victory, Karna lasts for only about two minutes in an actual duel against Arjun. An arrow strikes him in the forehead, knocking him unconscious.
- Straight for the Commander: Duryodhan and Dronacharya plan to capture Yudhistir, thereby ending the entire causus belli. They almost get him.
