Sun Quan formally declares war on Cao Cao, while his commander Zhou Yu secretly declares war on their supposed allies.

Zhuge Liang has a little homonymical fun with Zhou Yu as they discuss whether the Southlands should fight or submit to Cao Cao.

When Zhuge Liang finds himself in the same room as the Southlands’ foremost academics, the gloves come off and jabs fly. Verbal jabs, of course.

Zhang Fei’s cunning is the only things standing between Liu Bei and Cao Cao’s army. Well, that and his really loud, really deadly voice.

All hell breaks loose as Cao Cao’s troops catch up to Liu Bei. Out of this hell rides his general Zhao Yun, with a precious package strapped to his chest.

Zhuge Liang burns another detachment of Cao Cao’s troops, but there are plenty more where that came from.

Zhuge Liang blazes to victory in his first battle, but Cao Cao turns up the heat on Jing Province.

While Sun Quan prepares for a retaliatory strike from Liu Biao, Liu Biao and Liu Bei brace for an invasion by Cao Cao.

We leave Liu Bei with his new sage and check in on what the Sun clan has been up to.

We bid goodbye to the once-mighty warlord of the North and delve into the story of a determined assassin.

Liu Bei’s strategy for finding Zhuge Liang: Go up to anyone in Nanyang who can rub two words together and ask, “Are you Sleeping Dragon?”

Liu Bei gets really broken up about Xu Shu’s departure, until he learns there’s someone much smarter.

Approach Liu Bei on the street, sing a song, get invited to his office, advise him to give his horse to an enemy, get C-suite job.

Liu Bei gets invited to a feast, but Lady Cai and her brother ruin the fun when they try to kill him.

The surviving Yuan brothers get a cold reception from their host up north, and Liu Bei commits a dinner-table faux pas down south.

Riding a wave of inevitability, Cao Cao sweeps the Yuan brothers out of their territories.

The eldest and youngest sons of Yuan Shao take on their most hated foe — each other.

Yuan Shao finally has enough of Cao Cao, and now it’s his sons’ turn to get stomped.

Cao Cao puts a couple more smackdowns on Yuan Shao, but then gets distracted by a pesky old foe.

Night raids, catapults, tunnels, fires. All these and more in a CG-packed episode and one of the most important clashes in the novel.

Sun Ce starts seeing his favorite Daoist priest here, there, and everywhere.

Liu Bei and his gang of loyal followers meet up for a reunion tour, with a few new faces in the mix.

Guan Yu unexpectedly discovers a lost brother, who gives him a surprising welcome.

Guan Yu leaves Xuchang with Cao Cao’s blessings. If only Cao Cao had bothered to tell the men guarding the checkpoints along the way ….

Guan Yu does a couple huge favors for Cao Cao and then discovers Liu Bei’s whereabouts.

As Guan Yu prepares to fight to the death against Cao Cao, an old friend gives him three reasons why that is a bad idea and three reasons for surrendering instead. Guan Yu responds with three conditions.

We take a look at the history of the more-trouble-than-it’s-worth imperial hereditary seal that everyone wants and everyone seems to regret getting.

Dong Cheng and company demonstrate how not to run a conspiracy.

While one of Cao Cao’s old enemies submit, he gets trolled by a new thorn in his side who just won’t shut up.

We saw Lü Bu exit stage left a couple episodes back. In this supplemental episode, we take a look at the historical Lü Bu versus his fictional counterpart.

Liu Bei gets out of the capital and does not look back. Yuan Shu becomes distraught after discovering the scarcity of honey.

Liu Bei develops a sudden interest in horticulture, while Cao Cao wonders out loud, “Who’s a hero?”

With Cao Cao baring his imperial ambitions for all to see, the emperor does the only thing he can — give his brother-in-law a spiffy outfit.

While Chen Gong tries to help Lü Bu hold off Cao Cao, Chen Deng and Chen Gui run circles around them.

Cao Cao’s awesomeness draws much fawning from his adviser Guo Jia, while the people of Xu Province express their love for Liu Bei through cannibalism.

Who’s more likely to lose his head in this episode: impostor emperor or granary officer? The answer may surprise you.

Cao Cao decides that he hates Lü Bu more than he hates Liu Bei, so “Liu Bei and I are like brothers.”

Sun Ce lifts off, Lü Bu shows off, and Yuan Shu gets ticked off.

Priceless imperial heirloom as collateral? Check. An old pal as your strategist? Check. Ability to kill by the mere sound of your voice? Check, check, and check.

Cao Cao deploys animal-themed schemes to sow discord between Liu Bei and Lü Bu.

The Han court hits rock bottom, at which point Cao Cao is all too happy to ride in and … umm … defend the honor and dignity of the throne. Yeah, that’s it.

Someone’s wife gets the wrong impression that her husband is cheating on her, and the next thing you know, we’re poisoning household pets, ingesting waste, burning palaces, and abducting everybody who’s anybody.

After spending his down time picking off some ragtag rebels, Cao Cao moves to reclaim his territory, which brings us to a good point to look back at what we have covered so far.

Cao Cao and Lü Bu face off for control of Yan Province in a back-and-forth attempt to out-trick and outfight each other. And then the locusts came ….

Everyone gears up for a fight with Cao Cao over Xu Province, and then all of a sudden it’s the province nobody wants.

Our old friend Cao Cao is expanding his operation. Want to join? You just need to either be a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend of someone who already works there, or be a man-beast who kills dozens of coworkers with your bare hands over a disagreement.

Dong Zhuo learns that broken chariots, wild horses, and melancholy songs are, in fact, not auspicious signs.

Expertly manipulated by Diao Chan, Lü Bu and Dong Zhuo come to blows over who gets to go to bed with a 16-year-old.