Blackwater


 * This article is about the Season 2 episode, for other uses see Blackwater (disambiguation).

"Blackwater" is the ninth episode of the second season of Game of Thrones. It is the nineteenth episode of the series overall. It premiered on May 27, 2012. It was written by co-executive producer and writer of the novels George R.R. Martin and directed by Neil Marshall.

The episode won two Creative Arts Emmy Awards, for Sound Mixing and Sound Editing, in 2012. It went on to win the prestigious 2013 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form.

In the Seven Kingdoms
Tyrion Lannister leads the defense of King's Landing against an assault by King Stannis Baratheon in the Battle of the Blackwater. He spends the night before the expected siege in bed with Shae, telling her she can still leave the city. Tyrion has Varys provide him with a map of the tunnel network beneath the city. Varys tells Tyrion that he is all that stands between them and defeat. Bronn drinks with the Lannister men and has a confrontation with the Hound. Stannis plans a naval assault aiming to overcome the city's small defensive fleet and land his troops at the walls of the city near the Mud Gate. From the battlements, Joffrey berates Tyrion as to why his ships aren't meeting Stannis. Tyrion has anticipated his strategy and does not field his fleet. Instead he sends a single ship filled with Wildfire into the heart of Stannis' fleet, leaking the volatile substance over the surface of the water. He tasks Bronn with detonating the ship; he goes outside the city to the shores of the bay to fire the burning arrow that triggers the explosion. The ensuing conflagration devastates Stannis' fleet and destroys the ship of his High Captain, Davos Seaworth, as well as killing Davos' son, Matthos.

Stannis responds by putting his men ashore inside row boats, landing further from the walls to avoid the still burning inner bay. With less protection for his troops he predicts that thousands will die. He leads the assault personally and is the first to reach the walls. Tyrion orders Sandor Clegane to lead a sortie beyond the Mud Gate to repel the attackers. Sandor does as asked but is terrified by the fire and breaks down emotionally. Ser Lancel Lannister accompanies him and is wounded by an arrow. Bronn joins the fight in time to save the Hound's life. The Hound retreats after losing half of his men and refuses to go out again. He demands wine, tells off Tyrion and Joffrey, and walks away from the battle and his place in the Kingsguard.

Queen Regent Cersei Lannister offers protection to the ladies of the court in Maegor's Holdfast. She had earlier obtained Essence of Nightshade (which is deadly unless taken in tiny amounts) from Grand Maester Pycelle and keeps the headsman Ser Ilyn Payne at her side at all times, preparing for the worst. She drinks heavily during the assault and torments her captive Sansa Stark with dire predictions of what will befall the women if the defenses fail. She questions Shae, who seems to Cersei to be an unlikely handmaiden. When Lancel comes to tell her that Stannis has reached the walls Cersei orders him to bring Joffrey back to the Red Keep, ignoring his protests that it would damage morale.

Joffrey willingly leaves the defensive line with Lancel and charges Ser Mandon Moore and Ser Boros Blount of the Kingsguard to fight in the King's name. The gold cloaks' morale is broken by his departure. Tyrion steels himself to lead a sortie of his own. He rallies his men by telling them to fight for their city, their homes and their women, if not for their king. He leads his men through the tunnels beneath the city and is able to defeat Stannis's troops manning a battering ram at the Mud Gate. Tyrion is betrayed by Ser Mandon while fighting against a group of reinforcements. Mandon slashes Tyrion across the face with his sword. Tyrion's squire Podrick Payne comes up behind Ser Mandon with a spear and is able to intervene and kill Mandon saving Tyrion's life. Tyrion, barely conscious and held by Podrick watches a that battle seems lost.

Lancel returns to Cersei to warn that they are defeated unless Joffrey returns. When Lancel tries to be firm with her, Cersei ignores his counsel, pushes him out of the way (deliberately causing him pain by hitting his injured side), and storms out. Sansa tries to keep up the morale of the other women, frightened by Cersei's sudden departure. Sansa leads them in singing a hymn. Cersei has taken Tommen to the throne room. She sits with him on the Iron Throne, and tells him a story about a young lion and how it did not need to fear other beasts of the forest, the wolf and the stag. Shae tells Sansa to go to her chambers, lock herself in, and await Stannis, as he would not harm her, but Ser Ilyn might. Sansa finds the Hound waiting in her room. He offers to take her north to Winterfell, but she says she will be safe there when Stannis takes the throne. The Hound scares Sansa telling her his perspective of the world, that it is made up of violent men, even her father, Robb, etc., unlike the songs she believes in the world is run by trained killers like him, but he will not hurt her. Though he promises to protect her, she is still too afraid of him to go with him. Cersei sits on the Iron Throne and prepares to poison Tommen in order to prevent him from being taken captive.

The forces of Tywin Lannister and his new allies in House Tyrell join the battle. Their cavalry charge is led by a warrior dressed in the armor of Renly Baratheon and decimates Stannis's army. The survivors flee to their ships. Stannis is dragged from the battle by his guards, screaming for his men to stand and fight. Tyrion collapses into unconsciousness as the battle turns in his favor. Tywin goes to the throne room to announce the victory, stopping Cersei from killing Tommen in time. Ser Loras Tyrell reveals himself as the knight wearing Renly's armor.

Recap

 * Main: Blackwater recap

A detailed recap of the episode scene by scene.

Appearances

 * Main: Blackwater/Appearances

First

 * Ser Boros Blount (first identified)
 * Ser Imry Florent

Deaths

 * Matthos Seaworth
 * Ser Mandon Moore

Cast
Starring
 * Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister
 * Lena Headey as Queen Cersei Lannister
 * Charles Dance as Lord Tywin Lannister
 * Liam Cunningham as Ser Davos Seaworth
 * Jack Gleeson as King Joffrey Baratheon
 * Sophie Turner as Princess Sansa Stark
 * Rory McCann as Sandor Clegane
 * Stephen Dillane as King Stannis Baratheon
 * Jerome Flynn as Bronn
 * Conleth Hill as Lord Varys
 * Sibel Kekilli as Shae

Guest starring
 * Roy Dotrice as Wisdom Hallyne
 * Julian Glover as Grand Maester Pycelle
 * Eugene Simon as Ser Lancel Lannister
 * Kerr Logan as Matthos Seaworth
 * Finn Jones as Ser Loras Tyrell
 * Sahara Knite as Armeca
 * Tony Way as Dontos Hollard
 * Wilko Johnson as Ser Ilyn Payne
 * Stephen Swift as Singing Lannister soldier
 * Callum Wharry as Tommen Baratheon
 * Daniel Portman as Podrick Payne
 * Gordan Mahon as Ser Imry Florent
 * James Doran as Ser Mandon Moore
 * Kieran Cunningham as a Baratheon officer
 * Michael Grennell as the Captain of the Archers

Uncredited
 * Unknown as Ser Boros Blount

Cast notes

 * Only 11 of the 25 starring cast members for the second season appear in this episode.
 * Starring cast members Alfie Allen (Theon Greyjoy), John Bradley (Samwell Tarly), Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen), James Cosmo (Jeor Mormont), Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister), Natalie Dormer (Margaery Tyrell), Michelle Fairley (Catelyn Stark), Aidan Gillen (Petyr Baelish), Iain Glen (Jorah Mormont), Kit Harington (Jon Snow), Isaac Hempstead-Wright (Bran Stark), Richard Madden (Robb Stark), Carice van Houten (Melisandre), and Maisie Williams (Arya Stark), and are not credited and do not appear in this episode.
 * Rory McCann is credited ahead of Sibel Kekilli when he was credited after her when they last appeared together in "The Prince of Winterfell."
 * Rory McCann is credited ahead of Stephen Dillane and Jerome Flynn when he was credited after them when they last appeared together in "Garden of Bones."
 * Jack Gleeson is credited ahead of Sophie Turner when he was credited after her when they last appeared together in "The Old Gods and the New."

Memorable Quotes
"Fuck the Kingsguard. Fuck the city. Fuck the king."

- Sandor Clegane

"Any man dies with a clean sword, I'll rape his fucking corpse!"

- Sandor Clegane

"The gods have no mercy, that's why they're gods."

- Cersei Lannister

"Tears aren't a woman's only weapon. The best one's between your legs."

- Cersei Lannister

"Those are brave men knocking at our door, let's go kill them!"

- Tyrion Lannister

"Someone bring me a drink. Fuck the water, bring me wine."

- Sandor Clegane

"The worst ones always live."

- Sansa Stark regarding Joffrey Baratheon

"I'm entirely sure you're entirely sure what I'm suggesting."

- Tyrion Lannister to Varys

"That would make me the quarter man, and that just does not have the same ring to it."

- Tyrion Lannister after Joffrey Baratheon threatens to have him chopped in half "Don't feel sorry for him, he'll be half-way up your ass before the night's through."

- Bronn to Armeca, referring to his nose

In the books

 * The episode covers material from A Clash of Kings, book 2 of A Song of Ice and Fire. The episode is adapted from the following chapters of A Clash of Kings:
 * Chapter 58, Sansa V: Sansa talks with Tyrion; Joffrey then forces Sansa to kiss his sword immediately before the battle. She takes refuge with the women of the court in Maegor's Holdfast. Sansa and Cersei talks about why Ser Ilyn is present.
 * Chapter 59, Davos III: Davos sails towards King's Landing with the fleet behind him, their drums sounding the call to arms. The Wildfire explosion throws Davos overboard.
 * Chapter 60, Tyrion XIII: Tyrion sees the destructive power of his Wildfire. The Hound flees the battle. Tyrion decides to lead a counterattack.
 * Chapter 61, Sansa VI: Sansa and Cersei are talking when Ser Mandon Moore announces the capture of some traitors. Cersei commands Lancel to fetch Joffrey back to his chambers. She reveals that she lied about Ser Ilyn and says that he is there to ensure that Stannis will not take them alive.
 * Chapter 62, Tyrion XIV: Tyrion is attacked by Ser Mandon Moore in the midst of the battle. He is rescued by Podrick and passes out in the squire's arms. Stannis scales the castle walls.
 * Chapter 63, Sansa VIII: Lancel tells Cersei that their troops are routing. She ignores his pleas to return Joffrey to the front and storms out of Maegor's Holdfast. Her guests panic and Sansa is left to calm them down. Sansa returns to her chamber where she is found by the Hound. He tells her that he is leaving.
 * The battle takes place by day; Stannis's fleet lasts much longer and is destroyed by the combination a chain that is raised at the river entrance and the Wildfire. Bronn plays a crucial role in the battle by raising the chain across the mouth of the river, to prevent Stannis' ships from fleeing the Wildfire. The TV version condensed this down for time and budget, so that Bronn still plays a vital role in destroying Stannis' fleet: he fires the flaming arrow which sets off the explosion of the ship filled with Wildfire.
 * In the TV series, Stannis' entire attack is launched from the sea. In the books, Stannis' 200 ships are filled with as many men as they can hold, but the larger part of his 20,000 man army has marched up the coast from the Stormlands to the southern side of Blackwater Bay, across from King's Landing which is on the northern side. The intent was for Stannis' fleet to land an initial invasion force to secure a landing zone on the northern shore, then for the fleet to ferry soldiers from the main army back and forth from the south shore to the north shore. Only eight of Stannis' ships survive the Wildfire to land troops. Thankfully for Stannis, Imry Florent didn't think much of Salladhor Saan due to his status as a pirate, so he left his sellsail fleet of thirty ships in reserve to guard the rear entrance of Blackwater Bay. As a result, Salladhor's fleet is not trapped behind the chain with the Wildfire, and plays a vital role ferrying troops to the northern shore after the main fleet's destruction.
 * The Hound does not offer to escort Sansa North.
 * It is Garlan Tyrell, not Loras Tyrell, who wears Renly's armor and breaks the siege. Garlan is Loras' older brother, Mace Tyrell's second son, but he hasn't been introduced in the TV series, so they just condensed these actions into Loras' role. Wearing Renly's armor convinced many of Stannis' soldiers, who had once served Renly, that it was the "ghost of Renly" riding out for revenge, at which they panicked or threw down their weapons and surrendered.
 * In the TV series, when people in the city are discovered trying to steal horses to flee, Cersei orders Ser Ilyn Payne to behead them. In the books, several wealthy merchants of King's Landing attempt to hand over the city to Stannis by opening the gates. When they are discovered, Joffrey has antlers physically nailed into their heads - for the stag of Stannis' House Baratheon - after which the bloody men are loaded into the catapults and launched over the walls at Stannis' army. They are later referred to as the "Antler Men".
 * Cersei notes that Shae is from the Free City of Lorath, as she recognizes her accent from a Lorathi handmaiden she used to have. In the books, Shae isn't actually from the Free Cities at all, she's just a camp follower of the Lannister army and her backstory is never gone into in detail, but she is from Westeros. The TV producers stated that they changed it so that when she is introduced in Season 1, Shae is stated to be "from the Free Cities" (they hadn't settled on which one yet) because they enjoyed the audition of actress Sibel Kekilli, but wanted to have some explanation for why she speaks with a German accent. What's curious about this is that five novels into the series, no named characters, save from Jaqen H'ghar, whose origins are unknown, come from Lorath and very little is said about it, due to its relative lack of importance. Identifying Shae as Lorathi, however, also serves to explain Jaqen's similar accent.