History Recap / BlackadderS4E6Goodbyeee

* InternalDeconstruction: The series has largely been a grimly hilarious satire on the madness of war. However, the episode slowly begins to show the severe consequences of that madness: the characters who we've come to love and laugh at are being sent to a grisly end, the people in charge don't give a damn, and as the reality of the situation dawns on them, they quickly go from quirky to despondent. Even Blackadder can't mock or belittle his fellow soldiers, offers them a solemn farewell, and all the characters are killed in the trenches.

** While they're discussing Darling's arrival in their dugout. To this point in the episode, George has happily awaited the order to advance, going so far as to turn down an offer to leave with General Melchett before the battle.

* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: Baldrick's poem, "The German Guns," which goes thusly:

-->'''George:''' Well, er, Jacko and the Badger bought it[[note]]died[[/note]] at the first Ypres front, unfortunately. Quite a shock, that. I remember Bumfluff's housemaster wrote and told me that Sticky had been out for a duck[[note]]in cricket, being out for a duck means a batsman is out without having scored any runs, so Sticky was likely killed not long after being sent to the front line for the first time[[/note]], and the Gubber had snitched a parcel sausage-end and gone goose-over-stump frogside[[note]]shot by a German bullet and killed in action in France[[/note]].

-->'''George:''' Well, er, Jacko and the Badger bought it[[note]]died[[/note]] at the first Ypres front, unfortunately. Quite a shock, that. I remember Bumfluff's housemaster wrote and told me that Sticky had been out for a duck[[note]]in cricket, being out for a duck means a batsman is out without having scored any runs, so Sticky was likely killed not long after being sent to the front line for the first time[[/note]], and the Gubber had snitched a parcel sausage-end and gone goose-over-stump frogside[[note]]maybe shot by a German bullet and killed in action in France[[/note]].

** By this time in the war, the guns would still have been firing since the "Creeping Barrage" was standard practice - the artillery gradually extended the aiming point at roughly the same speed as the advancing infantry. The ArtisticLicense involved adds to the impact of the scene because it sounds like the war's just ended... and then Darling's line hits you, and you know what's just happened.

* InternalDeconstruction: The series has largely been a grimly hilarious satire on the madness of war. However, the episode slowly begins to show the severe consequences of that madness: the characters who we've come to love and laugh at are being sent to a grisly end, the people in charge don't give a damn, and as the reality of the situation dawns on them, they quickly go from quirky to despondent. Even Blackadder can't mock or belittle his fellow soldiers, offers them a solemn farwell, and all the characters are killed in the trenches.

Waiting for the now-inevitable assault, Blackadder recounts his past military career, including how a unit including him and the man who would eventually become Field Marshall Haig massacred the peace-loving pygmies of Mboto Gorge and stole all their fruit. Baldrick performs a recital of his wartime poetry, while George recounts how he and his friends from the local tiddlywink group all signed up together at the start of the war, before realising that he is the last surviving member of said group. Baldrick then suggests a way out for Blackadder, namely calling Field Marshall Haig and asking to be reassigned elsewhere, which Blackadder realises could actually work given their past connection. George is still gung-ho about going over the top however, but Baldrick is much less keen, and angrily questions why they can't all just put their weapons down and go home; George struggles for an answer, before telling him to go clean the latrines.

* DisproportionateRetribution: Melclett mentions that he executed an entire platoon of soldiers for trying the exact same tactic at ObfuscatingInsanity [[OhCrap Blackadder is using right now]], which leads to Blackadder pretending that he is not acting crazy, he is just pointing out what those other blokes did. Thankfully, Melchett buys it.

-->'''George:''' Well, er, Jacko and the Badger bought it[[note]]died[[/note]] at the first Ypres front, unfortunately. Quite a shock, that. I remember Bumfluff's housemaster wrote and told me that Sticky had been out for a duck[[note]]in cricket, being out for a duck means a batsman is out without having scored any runs, so Sticky was likely killed not long after being sent to the front line for the first time[[/note]], and the Gubber had snitched a parcel sausage-end and gone goose-over-stump frogside[[note]]maybe wounded on a foray into Germany then killed in action in France[[/note]].

-->'''George:''' Well, er, Jacko and the Badger bought it[[note]]died[[/note]] at the first Ypres front, unfortunately. Quite a shock, that. I remember Bumfluff's housemaster wrote and told me that Sticky had been out for a duck[[note]]in cricket, being out for a duck means a batsman is out without having scored any runs, so Sticky was likely killed not long after being sent to the front line for the first time[[/note]], and the Gubber had snitched a parcel sausage-end and gone goose-over-stump frogside[[note]]no, us neither[[/note]].

* ContinuityNod: Another Mrs. Miggins is mentioned in conversation, and Baldrick joined as part of the "Turnip Street Boys".

* IOweYouMyLife: Blackadder saved Haig from a pygmy who was wielding a deadly mango fruit at the battle of Mboto Gorge. Years later, he tries calls in the favour. Unfortunately for him, Haig just tells him to try the ObfuscatingInsanity tactic that he'd already tried and failed with earlier.

** The same is true for General Melchett, if he ever was on the sharp end, and he see the whole advance as a jolly game compared to playing sports at school.

* Irony: If Baldrick's plan was to get all four of them intentionally injured on the nail sticking out of one of the ladders to avoid going over the top, it probably would've worked. But the one time Baldrick has a good plan, Blackadder won't listen.

--->'''George''': No, really, this is brave, splendid and noble! ''[Pause]]'' Sir?

* NobodysThatDumb: For all his delusions and incompetence, Melchett ‘’isn’t’’ going to fall for the insanity trick. This becomes PlayedForDrama, since it has fatal consequences for Blackadder.

* NobodysThatDumb: For all his delusions and incompetence, Melchett ‘’isn’t’’ going to fall for the insanity trick. This becomes PlayedForDrama, since it means Blackadder can’t get out of the battle he wants to avoid.

->''I heard that it started when a bloke called Archie Duke shot an ostrich 'cause he was hungry.''

* KillEmAll: We don't actually ''see'' anyone getting killed on-screen, but the creators have confirmed that, yes, Blackadder, Baldrick, George and Darling were all cut down by machine guns within a matter of seconds. The episode's original ending actually did show the latter three dying and Blackadder surviving by playing dead, but the footage looked so awful that a new ending was hastily thrown together in editing.

* MirrorCharacter: A downplayed version. We learn over the course of the episode that both George and Baldrick signed up with their friends, and are now the [[SoleSurvivor only surviving]] members of said groups. For all their differences in social class, hygiene and (to and extent) intelligence, their experiences haven't been that dissimilar.

After receiving word that the generals are preparing for yet another "big push," Captain Blackadder decides to get himself removed from duty on grounds of insanity, via wearing a set of underpants on his head, stuffing pencils up his nose, and saying the word "wubble" a lot. General Melchett arrives to see if Blackadder really has gone mad, and lets slip to George that not only does he know perfectly well that the wearing of underpants on one's head is a common way of feigning insanity, he has had people court-martialled and shot for that very offence. Fortunately, Blackadder overhears this and, clearly not wanting to rely on [[Recap/BlackadderS4E2CorporalPunishment George's uncle bailing him out of another execution]], quickly removes his disguise and claims that what he actually meant was that he was "mad with excitement" for the big push, which Melchett is all too happy to believe.

Waiting for the now-inevitable assault, Blackadder recounts his past military career, including how a unit including him and the soldier that would eventually become Field Marshall Haig massacred the peace-loving pygmies of Mboto Gorge and stole all their fruit. Baldrick performs a recital of his wartime poetry, while George recounts how he and his friends from the local tiddlywink group all signed up together at the start of the war, before realising that he is the last surviving member of said group. Baldrick then suggests a way out for Blackadder, namely calling Field Marshall Haig and asking to be reassigned elsewhere, which Blackadder realises could actually work given their past connection. George is still gung-ho about going over the top however, but Baldrick is much less keen, and angrily questions why they can't all just put their weapons down and go home; George struggles for an answer, before telling him to go clean the latrines.

Meanwhile, General Melchett wakes up Captain Darling in the middle of the night and gives him a just reward for his faithful service: a commission for the front line. Melchett explains to the horrified Darling that it would be wrong to keep him out of such a historic victory. He is completely oblivious to all of Darling's attempts to explain that he wants to stay where he is. Eventually, Darling is taken away to the front line.

* ObfuscatingInsanity: Blackadder tries to pretend he's crazy so he doesn't have to go over the top.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: For the entirety of the series, Blackadder rarely said anything that wasn't a sarcastic remark or an insult. Before heading into No Man's Land, he wishes his comrades a sincere "Good luck, everyone." Not even he can dismiss the horrors they're about to face.
* PetTheDog: When Darling arrives in the trench towards the end of the episode you'd expect Blackadder to mock him for his misfortune. Instead Edmund treats him with relative kindess, even addressing him by his title instead of just "Darling", and goes along with the fiction that Darling volunteered for the mission despite the fact that he's clearly there under duress and is visibly terrified.