It could mean one as in One does not simply walk into Mordor or it could just mean man . <| sep |> Season 2 offered a turning point for both characters who until then had largely been tarred by the same brush . They were understandably , and probably justifiably , upset with how they were treated by the more intellectual detectives during the Barksdale and Port Union cases and so both decided to go it alone . Carver in the district , and eventually Herc having his Marlo task force . Carver though took the lessons on board from the overall learnings during the Barksdale and Port cases , but also from the various deep conversations he had with Daniels , and later Colvin . Herc didn ' t really show much learning