Season 7 Episode 4

Season 7 Episode 4 "Spoils of War"

The following review will contain SPOILERS for the episode ahead. Consider yourself fairly forewarned, and now to Westeros! Winterfell The north has been an unforgiving place in recent seasons of Game of Thrones, with the exception of retaking Winterfell (which itself was punctured by misery and death), so it’s a pleasant change of tone to get a more positive memory from the region – Arya returns home and to her family. Her return is almost upended before it begins thanks to some over zealous guards but Arya talks her way in before slipping away from them. The two sisters reunite in the crypts before Ned’s remains, with Sansa the clearly more joyous of the two as Arya seems reluctant at first to hug back. Arya has obviously heard the various news and rumours surrounding her sisters stay in Kings Landing with concerns that she may be tainted by Cersei. After an exchange about their family and suffering Arya accepts her sister again, actually hugging her back. Sansa has good line about “Jon’s heart stopping” when he sees Arya alive and also laughs at the notion of Arya’s kill list. The line about Jon seems to suggest that Jon hasn’t even told Sansa about the stabbing at the wall, which is at least consistent with his trait this season of withholding information from her. It’s strange to think that it has been 6 seasons since more than 2 Starks have been in one place at the same time. Finally, Arya, Sansa and Bran are together beneath the Wierwood Tree their father frequented. In season 1 the seeds for the characters they would grow in to were firmly planted – Arya refusing the trimmings of finer, lady like living in exchange for sword fighting and archery, Sansa’s stubborn desire to play the Great Game and politic, and Bran’s Three-Eyed-Crow visions. Bran seems to be the least like himself thanks to his ancient download with Sansa seeming most similar her early character (minus most of the petulance). Sansa also gets confirmation of Arya’s list from Bran, smiling more with pride than credulity this time. Here Bran seems to heavily foreshadow Arya’s role by handing the blade given to him by Littlefinger. Having freaked Littlefinger out by reciting his line of “chaos being a ladder”, how far his knowledge spreads could well be Baelish’s undoing. The manipulations of Littlefinger have seemed to fail at every attempt so far, first Jon in the crypts and now here. With Sansa seemingly barely on board these days, his last vestige of hope to manipulate would be Arya. Next in the North we see Brienne of Tarth continuing her training of Podrick. As Pod rightly points out, Brienne has fulfilled her oath in getting the Stark children home and continuing to protect them. It is that oath that Arya uses to get Brienne to train with her, as she wants to learn from the warrior who bested the hound. This was a very fun and well-choreographed fight, with good pace. A good on screen fight is a small story in of itself, and this little skirmish has its own. Initially, Brienne is weary and sceptical of Arya and her Needle as viable opposition but quickly Arya’s pace and agility begin to show how deadly she truly is. Two seem evenly matched when Brienne becomes more aggressive, smashing Arya in the face and to the ground. The tone of the battle changes as the two seem to be relishing real competition, with each finishing the fight with a killing blow on the other before laughing in appreciation and respect. A nice button on the fight is Arya’s response to being asked who trained her – “No one”. Not all spectators to the fight are as enamoured by Arya as Brienne, with Sansa seemingly upset in either the realisation that Arya is in fact the killing machine with a list or that her other baby sibling is also tremendously gifted. Littlefinger, too, exchanges glances with Arya, seeming very nervous – finally understanding how deep over his head he might be with the Stark Children. Dragonstone and Daenerys Further south, Jon has finally begun accruing the much needed Dragonglass on Dragonstone. The cinematography in this show has become taken for granted due to its consistent high quality but some of the work on Dragonstone looks fantastic. Also, when Jon takes Dany into the Dragonglass cave, the set design of it is mesmerising. It is the cave that sees Dany take a pivotal step in believing Jon and his high tales of undead Icemen thanks to some millennia old carving by the Children of The Forrest and the First Men, telling of how they united to combat the Night King. Dany does seem to turn, saying she will fight the Night King and fight for Jon and his people…. if he simply bends the knee. With Jon still refusing, it’s going to be fascinating as to who’s ego and principles shift first to forge the alliance between Jon and Dany for the betterment of the realm. Dany, however, is growing increasingly impatient for results on her path to the Iron Throne as Tyrion and Varys deliver the bad news about Casterly Rock, the Unsullied ships and the sack of Highgarden. Her main focus in her rage is Tyrion with Dany suggesting that he isn’t giving his all in conquering his homeland and defeating his sister due to his emotional ties. Jon advises her that if she uses her Dragons to burn city and villages to the ruin then she isn’t anything better, just more of the same. Having sat on Dragonstone for weeks, maybe months in universe, Dany decides to finally makes the short voyage from her island to the Westeros mainland to intercept the food reserves being brought to King’s Landing by Jamie. Before she makes land, we see Jamie and Bron overseeing the convoy to King’s Landing, during which we hear that the gold from Highgarden has already reached Cersei and conversely, the Iron Bank. This also means that Cersei can hire the Golden Company if she so chooses with future loans from Bravos. She says she has a need to reclaims "things that belong to me" and what this is could be as nebulous as the remaining kingdoms in revolt or something more specific like Casterly-Rock or perhaps her sense of ownership over Tyrion or Sansa. Now we get to the main event of this week show, the Field of Fire version two. Jamie and Bron are conversing when a low rumble can be heard coming from over the horizon. The clouds in that direction make the oncoming horde seem like a storm heading right for them. The Lannister forces have been spread thin during the march and for a thin line of defence but are – as Bron points out – going to be overwhelmed by the emerged Dothraki horde. The numbers are impressively realised on screen and the moment when Drogon breaks from the clouds, soaring over head is amazing to witness after all the years leading to this moment. The horror amongst the Lannister’s – Jamie included – really adds to intimidation brought by just one dragon, their power clearly going to be needed against the Wight’s down the line is illustrated in the consummate ease that dozens of armoured soldiers are dispatched. Dany also shows a tactical nous we hadn’t seen before when she flies behind the line of enemy soldiers and sets ablaze the convoy of food and resources to pin them in between dragon fire and a Dothraki horde. The effects on show are the best produced by any show, and for the matter most movies, to date with Drogon looking more real than ever before. On a more practical effect level, the manner in which some of the soldiers are turned straight to ash is very reminiscent of the nuclear bomb scene in Terminator 2 and equally impressive as it is harrowing. Amidst the smoke and flames we get a long take tracking shot of Bron moving through the battle in a sequence that really captures the chaos of war, the horror. Helms are melted to heads, screams comes from all directions, Dothraki ride through slaying all around. Bron makes it to the special carriage which has the Ballista stored inside and he takes aim at Dany. Prior to this, we had seen Drogon’s intelligence as her swerved away to protect Dany from regular arrows flying up but here simply flies directly at Bron after the first huge bolt misses by inches. The fact that the show managed to set up tension that Drogon or Dany was in genuine peril despite their headlining status highlights how well the battle was constructed. The second bolt does find its target in Drogon causing him falter and begin falling from the sky. Unfortunately for Bron, the bolt only seemed to enrage the beast further who, once stable in the air again, obliterates the carriage with dragon fire and then, for good measure, crushes it with his tail upon landing. Tyrion emerges over the hill to see the devastation wrought by Dany in only a few moments when he sees his brother make a very stupid decision. With Drogon landed and Dany attempting to remove the bolt from his shoulder, Jamie take up a lance and charges at the Dragonqueen. As one would expect with a giant dragon sitting next to her, Drogon sees the oncoming charge and unleashes a blast of Dragon fire at him. Thankfully for Jamie, Bron intercepts his charge and knocks him in to the nearby lake. Whether this ultimately saves the King Slayer, we’ll have to wait and see as his heavy plate armour sinks him down to the depths. They should probably send the Maester’s to record this lake for its unique basin shape of a 6-inch-deep shore line followed by a sudden several dozen foot drop off 1 foot away from the edge. Truly, a wonder of nature. So, Dany has her first notch in the war for the Iron Throne, the Starks are all home at Winterfell, Jon has his Dragonglass and Jamie has fallen in too deep against the Dragonqueen. What Dany does with the remaining men and what her next offensive play will be, will hopefully be revealed next week so join us after the show next week for rundown of the next episode!

Season 7 Episode 4 "Spoils of War"

The following review will contain SPOILERS for the episode ahead. Consider yourself fairly forewarned, and now to Westeros! Winterfell The north has been an unforgiving place in recent seasons of Game of Thrones, with the exception of retaking Winterfell (which itself was punctured by misery and death), so it’s a pleasant change of tone to get a more positive memory from the region – Arya returns home and to her family. Her return is almost upended before it begins thanks to some over zealous guards but Arya talks her way in before slipping away from them. The two sisters reunite in the crypts before Ned’s remains, with Sansa the clearly more joyous of the two as Arya seems reluctant at first to hug back. Arya has obviously heard the various news and rumours surrounding her sisters stay in Kings Landing with concerns that she may be tainted by Cersei. After an exchange about their family and suffering Arya accepts her sister again, actually hugging her back. Sansa has good line about “Jon’s heart stopping” when he sees Arya alive and also laughs at the notion of Arya’s kill list. The line about Jon seems to suggest that Jon hasn’t even told Sansa about the stabbing at the wall, which is at least consistent with his trait this season of withholding information from her. It’s strange to think that it has been 6 seasons since more than 2 Starks have been in one place at the same time. Finally, Arya, Sansa and Bran are together beneath the Wierwood Tree their father frequented. In season 1 the seeds for the characters they would grow in to were firmly planted – Arya refusing the trimmings of finer, lady like living in exchange for sword fighting and archery, Sansa’s stubborn desire to play the Great Game and politic, and Bran’s Three-Eyed-Crow visions. Bran seems to be the least like himself thanks to his ancient download with Sansa seeming most similar her early character (minus most of the petulance). Sansa also gets confirmation of Arya’s list from Bran, smiling more with pride than credulity this time. Here Bran seems to heavily foreshadow Arya’s role by handing the blade given to him by Littlefinger. Having freaked Littlefinger out by reciting his line of “chaos being a ladder”, how far his knowledge spreads could well be Baelish’s undoing. The manipulations of Littlefinger have seemed to fail at every attempt so far, first Jon in the crypts and now here. With Sansa seemingly barely on board these days, his last vestige of hope to manipulate would be Arya. Next in the North we see Brienne of Tarth continuing her training of Podrick. As Pod rightly points out, Brienne has fulfilled her oath in getting the Stark children home and continuing to protect them. It is that oath that Arya uses to get Brienne to train with her, as she wants to learn from the warrior who bested the hound. This was a very fun and well-choreographed fight, with good pace. A good on screen fight is a small story in of itself, and this little skirmish has its own. Initially, Brienne is weary and sceptical of Arya and her Needle as viable opposition but quickly Arya’s pace and agility begin to show how deadly she truly is. Two seem evenly matched when Brienne becomes more aggressive, smashing Arya in the face and to the ground. The tone of the battle changes as the two seem to be relishing real competition, with each finishing the fight with a killing blow on the other before laughing in appreciation and respect. A nice button on the fight is Arya’s response to being asked who trained her – “No one”. Not all spectators to the fight are as enamoured by Arya as Brienne, with Sansa seemingly upset in either the realisation that Arya is in fact the killing machine with a list or that her other baby sibling is also tremendously gifted. Littlefinger, too, exchanges glances with Arya, seeming very nervous – finally understanding how deep over his head he might be with the Stark Children. Dragonstone and Daenerys Further south, Jon has finally begun accruing the much needed Dragonglass on Dragonstone. The cinematography in this show has become taken for granted due to its consistent high quality but some of the work on Dragonstone looks fantastic. Also, when Jon takes Dany into the Dragonglass cave, the set design of it is mesmerising. It is the cave that sees Dany take a pivotal step in believing Jon and his high tales of undead Icemen thanks to some millennia old carving by the Children of The Forrest and the First Men, telling of how they united to combat the Night King. Dany does seem to turn, saying she will fight the Night King and fight for Jon and his people…. if he simply bends the knee. With Jon still refusing, it’s going to be fascinating as to who’s ego and principles shift first to forge the alliance between Jon and Dany for the betterment of the realm. Dany, however, is growing increasingly impatient for results on her path to the Iron Throne as Tyrion and Varys deliver the bad news about Casterly Rock, the Unsullied ships and the sack of Highgarden. Her main focus in her rage is Tyrion with Dany suggesting that he isn’t giving his all in conquering his homeland and defeating his sister due to his emotional ties. Jon advises her that if she uses her Dragons to burn city and villages to the ruin then she isn’t anything better, just more of the same. Having sat on Dragonstone for weeks, maybe months in universe, Dany decides to finally makes the short voyage from her island to the Westeros mainland to intercept the food reserves being brought to King’s Landing by Jamie. Before she makes land, we see Jamie and Bron overseeing the convoy to King’s Landing, during which we hear that the gold from Highgarden has already reached Cersei and conversely, the Iron Bank. This also means that Cersei can hire the Golden Company if she so chooses with future loans from Bravos. She says she has a need to reclaims "things that belong to me" and what this is could be as nebulous as the remaining kingdoms in revolt or something more specific like Casterly-Rock or perhaps her sense of ownership over Tyrion or Sansa. Now we get to the main event of this week show, the Field of Fire version two. Jamie and Bron are conversing when a low rumble can be heard coming from over the horizon. The clouds in that direction make the oncoming horde seem like a storm heading right for them. The Lannister forces have been spread thin during the march and for a thin line of defence but are – as Bron points out – going to be overwhelmed by the emerged Dothraki horde. The numbers are impressively realised on screen and the moment when Drogon breaks from the clouds, soaring over head is amazing to witness after all the years leading to this moment. The horror amongst the Lannister’s – Jamie included – really adds to intimidation brought by just one dragon, their power clearly going to be needed against the Wight’s down the line is illustrated in the consummate ease that dozens of armoured soldiers are dispatched. Dany also shows a tactical nous we hadn’t seen before when she flies behind the line of enemy soldiers and sets ablaze the convoy of food and resources to pin them in between dragon fire and a Dothraki horde. The effects on show are the best produced by any show, and for the matter most movies, to date with Drogon looking more real than ever before. On a more practical effect level, the manner in which some of the soldiers are turned straight to ash is very reminiscent of the nuclear bomb scene in Terminator 2 and equally impressive as it is harrowing. Amidst the smoke and flames we get a long take tracking shot of Bron moving through the battle in a sequence that really captures the chaos of war, the horror. Helms are melted to heads, screams comes from all directions, Dothraki ride through slaying all around. Bron makes it to the special carriage which has the Ballista stored inside and he takes aim at Dany. Prior to this, we had seen Drogon’s intelligence as her swerved away to protect Dany from regular arrows flying up but here simply flies directly at Bron after the first huge bolt misses by inches. The fact that the show managed to set up tension that Drogon or Dany was in genuine peril despite their headlining status highlights how well the battle was constructed. The second bolt does find its target in Drogon causing him falter and begin falling from the sky. Unfortunately for Bron, the bolt only seemed to enrage the beast further who, once stable in the air again, obliterates the carriage with dragon fire and then, for good measure, crushes it with his tail upon landing. Tyrion emerges over the hill to see the devastation wrought by Dany in only a few moments when he sees his brother make a very stupid decision. With Drogon landed and Dany attempting to remove the bolt from his shoulder, Jamie take up a lance and charges at the Dragonqueen. As one would expect with a giant dragon sitting next to her, Drogon sees the oncoming charge and unleashes a blast of Dragon fire at him. Thankfully for Jamie, Bron intercepts his charge and knocks him in to the nearby lake. Whether this ultimately saves the King Slayer, we’ll have to wait and see as his heavy plate armour sinks him down to the depths. They should probably send the Maester’s to record this lake for its unique basin shape of a 6-inch-deep shore line followed by a sudden several dozen foot drop off 1 foot away from the edge. Truly, a wonder of nature. So, Dany has her first notch in the war for the Iron Throne, the Starks are all home at Winterfell, Jon has his Dragonglass and Jamie has fallen in too deep against the Dragonqueen. What Dany does with the remaining men and what her next offensive play will be, will hopefully be revealed next week so join us after the show next week for rundown of the next episode!