This episode of Mahabharata begins with Sage Vyasa visiting Dhritharashtra and giving him The Reason You Suck speech for the injustice done towards the Pandavas. Dhritharashtra pleads that he cannot punish his own son, but Vyasa scolds him that no one should be above the law.
Meanwhile Shakuni instructs Duryodhan to taunt the Pandavas by having a hunting vacation and feast close to where the Pandavas are living in the forest. This appears to initially work, as Bhim and Arjun are really ticked off. But as Yudhistir is attempting to calm them down, Duryodhan accosts some jungle dwelling woman and orders her to come to his tent that night and “satisfy” him.
Turns out this woman is the daughter of the chieftain of the Gandharva tribe - you know, the ones who slew King Chitrangad decades ago. And when she complains to Daddy, he and the tribe are pissed! Meanwhile, Duryodhan, Dushasan and Karna are a whole different kind of pissed (drunk), having imbibed while watching two dancers perform in their tent. They are therefore in no shape to resist when the Gandharva tribesmen kill or capture all their soldiers, and then capture Duryodhan. Karna gets away to wake himself out of his drunkenness, while Duryodhana’s Chief bodyguard escapes to ask the Pandavas for help.
Arjun and Bhim prefer to do nothing, but Yudhistir pleads with them to still go and rescue Duryodhan if anything for Gandhari’s sake. So, Bhim and Arjun go and meet the Gandharva Chieftain and convince him to release Duryodhan on the basis of Bhim’s vow to kill Duryodhan one day by breaking his thigh.
A furious Duryodhan duels his chief bodyguard and kills him for the “crime” of making him indebted to the Pandavas. Unable to bear such a debt, Duryodhan attempts suicide, but Karna talks him down. Later, Bhishma absolutely roasts Duryodhan for allowing himself to be captured, and Karna and Dushasan for not preventing it. Bhishma then demands that Duryodhan repay his debt to the Pandavas by canceling their exile and inviting them back.
Will Duryodhan do that?
Tropes found here are
- Curb-Stomp Battle: The Gandharva tribesmen utterly steamroll the soldiers guarding Duryodhan without any of them suffering even a single wound.
- Debt Detester: Duryodhan hates owing Bhim and Arjun his life so much that he is
- Driven to Suicide: Duryodhan attempts to gut himself with his own sword. Karna talks him out of it though.
- Dirty Coward: Dronacharya accuses Karna of having run away while Duryodhan was captured. In actuality Karna was too drunk to help and had gone to wake himself up by splashing cold water over and over.
- Droit du Seigneur: Duryodhan accosts a woman and orders her to spend the night in his tent because he is the Crown Prince.
- Drunken Montage: Scenes showing Duryodhan, Dushasan and Karna getting shitfaced while watching two dancers perform, are interspersed between scenes of the Gandharva tribesmen attacking their camp.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Duryodhan hates the fact that the Pandavas rescued him. He hates it so much he wants to end it all.
- Forest Ranger / Ranger : The Gandharva are an entire tribe of these. Like Rangers, they even use the foliage as cover to sneak up on Duryodhan’s guards and slay them from afar with arrows.
- If You Let Him Die, You Will Be No Different Than Him: Yudhistir tries to invoke this to convince Bhim and Arjun to rescue Duryodhan.
- I Owe You My Life: Bhishma invokes this about Duryodhan with respect to the Pandavas and orders him to end their exile.
- I Shall Taunt You: Shakuni instructs Duryodhan to have a hunt and feast in the jungle to taunt the Pandavas. It works on Bhim and Arjun, but not on Yudhistir.
- Jungle Princess / The Chief's Daughter: The woman Duryodhan harasses is the daughter of the chieftain of the Gandharva tribe.
- Just Eat Gilligan: Had the Pandavas let the Gandharva tribesmen judge and execute Duryodhan, their problems would have been solved and Yudhistir could have returned as Hastinapur’s Crown Prince.
- Karma Houdini: Duryodhan ultimately gets off scot-free for harassing the Gandharva chieftain’s daughter. For now. He’ll get his eventually
- Nepotism: Dhritharashtra pleads with Sage Vyas that he cannot punish his own son. Vyas calls him out for it, stating that no one, not even the Crown Prince must be above the law.
- The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Bhim tells the Gandharva chieftain to spare Duryodhan because Bhim has a greater right to kill him.
- You Are Too Late: Karna and Dushasan recover from their stupor and go to rescue Duryodhan. However, by the time they get there, Arjun and Bhim have already secured his release - and thereby made Duryodhan indebted to them.
- You Have Failed Me: Duryodhan duels and executes his chief bodyguard for going to the Pandavas for help in rescuing him, thereby owing them his life.
