Game of Thrones Episode 19: Blackwater

Tyrion Lannister spends the night before Stannis Baratheon’s assault preparing King’s Landing’s defenses, while Cersei remains in the Red Keep with Tommen and considers what will happen if the city falls.

Before the battle begins, Tyrion speaks with Shae, who stays with him despite the danger, and he learns from Varys about the city’s hidden tunnel network. Cersei is also given poison by Grand Maester Pycelle, intended for use if the city is taken. On the walls, Joffrey loudly demands that Tyrion send the city’s fleet out to meet Stannis, but Tyrion refuses and keeps his plan secret.

Stannis’s fleet enters Blackwater Bay and is met by what appears to be a lone, unmanned ship. Davos Seaworth realizes too late that it is a trap: the ship is packed with wildfire, and when the attack is triggered, a massive explosion and firestorm destroys many of Stannis’s ships and kills large numbers of men, including Davos’s son Matthos. Stannis survives and orders his remaining forces to press on with the assault anyway.

As the fighting moves toward the city, Bronn, the Hound, and the other defenders brace for hand-to-hand combat. The Hound is shaken by the fire and the chaos of battle, and he refuses to continue fighting, abandoning the defense. Tyrion leads a sortie through the city’s tunnels and attacks Stannis’s men from behind, initially helping drive them back.

The battle turns against Tyrion when more of Stannis’s forces arrive and he is badly wounded in the face during the fighting. Before he can be killed, his squire Podrick Payne kills the attacker, and Tyrion is carried away as the battle continues around him.

At the same time, King’s Landing is saved by the arrival of Tywin Lannister and the Tyrell forces. Their cavalry charge, led by a rider in Renly Baratheon’s armor, crashes into Stannis’s army and routs it. Stannis is forced to retreat as his men flee back toward their ships.

Inside the Red Keep, Cersei prepares to poison herself and Tommen rather than allow them to be captured, but Tywin arrives before she can do so and informs her that the battle has been won. The episode ends with the Lannisters’ victory secure and King’s Landing spared from Stannis’s assault.