In this episode of Mahabharata, the Pandavas along with Krishna formulate a plan to take down Bhishma.
War rages on for five more days during which both sides take unnamed casualties. On the ninth night, the Pandavas are at their wits send about Bhishma. Krishna sends Yudhistir and Arjun to Bhishma under the pretext of “returning his blessings”, but in actuality he lets slip the only way to defeat him - to have a woman face him on the battlefield.
Bhishma converses with his mother for the last time, frees his servants and prepares for the next day. Meanwhile, after Draupadi offers to ride into battle the next day against Bhishma and is rebuffed, Krishna informs the Pandavas that Shikhandi was previously Amba and is therefore the right choice to face Bhishma the next day. Arjun asks Shikhandi to ride with him tomorrow.
Ashwathama questions his father as to which side are they both on. Dronacharya sidesteps the question, while anticipating his own demise. Dhritharashtra moans and bellyaches some more about ”his bad luck”.
On day ten, Arjun rides out with Shikhandi. Upon urging from Shakuni, Duryodhan gets Bhishma to reveal why Arjun riding with Shikhandi is problematic. Duryodhan orders his army to keep Arjun away from Bhishma at all costs.
Tropes found here are
- Call-Forward: Ganga says that the ground she has just hallowed will be the ground where Bhishma’s corpse will lie.
- Death Seeker: Bhishma already was one, even before the war began. Now Dronacharya has become one too.
- First Law of Gender Bending: Subverted. Even though Shikhandi is a male now, everyone still calls him “half a man”. In fact his female origin is deliberately used to defeat Bhishma.
- Heel–Face Turn: It looks like Ashwathama’s hatred of Karna is about to convince him to switch sides, or at the least kill Duryodhan. Ultimately, he chooses to remain at his father’s side.
- Human Shield: Shikhandi rides into battle, serving as one for Arjun.
- Stay in the Kitchen: Krishna’s admonition to Draupadi when she offers to ride into battle against Bhishma comes off as this.
- Would Not Hit a Girl: Bhishma tells Yudhistir that should a woman be brought forth to face him in battle, he will disarm.
- You Shall Not Pass!: Duryodhan orders his army to keep Arjun away from Bhishma at all costs.
