S6┬ÀE8 ÔÇö No One
The hour retold
The Hound gets his reckoning in installments this hour, working through the men who destroyed his commune two at a time with an axe and very little conversation, while the Brotherhood Without Banners offers him something rarer than revenge: a cause to point the violence toward. In KingÔÇÖs Landing, Cersei answers the Faith MilitantÔÇÖs growing power with the only argument she trusts, sending the Mountain to remove a septonÔÇÖs head in front of witnesses, and Tommen ÔÇö horrified, and finally decisive about something ÔÇö abolishes trial by combat altogether, quietly and permanently taking away his motherÔÇÖs last legal escape hatch from the charges waiting for her.
At Riverrun, Jaime solves the siege the way he solves most things now, with a threat instead of a battle ÔÇö releasing Edmure Tully to reclaim his own castle bloodlessly, while the Blackfish dies offstage, sword in hand, exactly as stubborn in death as he was in every scene he was given. And in Braavos, the seasonÔÇÖs longest-running mystery finally resolves in a dark cellar: the Waif hunts a supposedly blind, supposedly broken girl through the House of Black and WhiteÔÇÖs tunnels, only to discover ÔÇö far too late ÔÇö that Arya spent her blindness training for precisely this. A girl is Arya Stark of Winterfell, she tells the man behind the many faces, and this time the House lets her leave rather than argue the point.
What happens
- The Hound reclaims his axe two heads at a time; the Brotherhood offers him soup and a cause.
- Cersei chooses violence; the Mountain de-heads a Faith Militant; Tommen abolishes trial by combat.
- Jaime frees Edmure to take Riverrun bloodlessly; the Blackfish dies sword in hand, offstage and unbowed.
- The Waif hunts Arya through Braavos ÔÇö into a dark cellar where a blind girl trained. Valar morghulis; a girl goes home.
The people of the episode
Arya Stark ÔÇö A girl is Arya Stark of Winterfell, and the House of Black and White lets her go.
Jaime Lannister ÔÇö Took the unbreakable castle with a threat and a rowboat.
Brienne of Tarth ÔÇö Failed to move the Blackfish; kept the sword and the mission.
Cersei Lannister ÔÇö Her trial's teeth pulled: no champion, no Mountain, no chance.
Tyrion Lannister ÔÇö The Masters' fleet arrives mid-toast; peace was rented, not bought.The fallen ÔÇö spoilers
- Brynden "Blackfish" Tully ÔÇö Refused to yield his family's castle twice; died defending it sword in hand.
- Lady Crane ÔÇö The actress who sheltered Arya, the Waif's parting cruelty.
- The Waif ÔÇö Sent to kill a girl in the dark ÔÇö where the blind girl had every advantage.
- Lem Lemoncloak & the rogue Brothers ÔÇö Hanged by the Hound and the Brotherhood, two by axe-argument.