Okay, I am always screwed with the periods and 'then' language on cards.

On Lion's Gate (Lanni trait manip location - 0 cost), do I have to locate someone with power on them? Or can I target anyone considering the period/then statement?

Here is the text FYI:

If it is not Winter, Lion's Gate gains: "Any Phase: Kneel Lion's Gate to discard 1 power from a non-House card in play. Then, give that card a Trait of your choice until the end of the phase."

The short is answer is yes, you must discard 1 power from the card for the "then" effect to work.

The longer answer is in the FAQ:

(4.9) The word "then"
If a card has multiple effects, all effects on the card are resolved, if possible, independently of whether any other effects of the card are successful, with the following important exception:

If a card uses the word "then," then the preceding effect must have been resolved successfully for the subsequent dependent effect to be resolved.

Take for example the card You've Killed the Wrong Dwarf (CORE L167):

"Any phase: Choose and kneel a non- {character, Then, that character claims 1 power."

In this example, because of the use of the word "then," claiming power on the character is dependent upon that character first kneeling. In other words, the card cannot be played on an already-kneeling character to claim power for that character.

By contrast, the card Cersei Lannister (CORE L39) does not use the word "then," and its effects are not dependent on one another:

"Dominance: Kneel Cersei Lannister and pay 2 gold to choose a character. Kneel that character if it is standing. That character does not stand during the standing phase this round."

In this case, the two effects (kneeling the character and preventing it from standing) are considered separately: The chosen character will be prevented from standing if it was knelt by Cersei's effect, or if it was knelt previously in the round.

Thanks FM! I thought that the case, but then over-thought it more.