GoT Season 7, Episode 4: The Spoils of War
Warning: thar be potential spoilers in these here waters; if you're not up to date with GoT, sail with caution.
GoT Season 7, Episode 4: The Spoils of War
Another home run swing straight out of Westeros. There was plenty in this episode to clamp our chompers into to help push the story forward and develop a few more characters. Oh, and one thronking great battle starring a dragon! Phwar!
I’m going to hold fire (lol) on talking about the obvious business for a bit and focus on the other bits and bobs that happened beforehand. Consider them the starters to the well done main course.
This time out, we didn’t have the huge selection of different, seemingly unrelated stories across our seven kingdoms. Admittedly, with everyone joining up, there are less of these, but we didn’t touch base with any of Sam, The Unsullied, Euron, or The Hound and co.
Instead, the episode revolved around two main things, the coming war in the north and all of the intricacies and ally building therein, and Cersei’s sudden acquisition of the Tyrell wealth and the associated fallout.
In the north, Littlefinger has been pulling out all of the stops to woo Bran, now he’s back home. As the true Lord of Winterfell, it is obvious that Littlefinger wants him on side, whether Bran would prefer Sansa were in charge or otherwise. His gift of the Catspaw dagger is an interesting one. The dagger that almost killed Bran in Season 1, the dagger that effectively began all the following events. Without the assassination attempt and Littlefinger’s false advice that it was Tyrion’s dagger, we would never have seen Catelyn go rogue and kidnap him. Granted, huge swathes of the events required no intervention, bit this single blade accelerated everything else. Yet, Bran doesn’t seem much interested on the tales of this dagger, nor the manipulative chatterings of Littlefinger. His simple response to the whole thing? “Chaos is a ladder”, a call-back to Season 3’s The Climb, a direct quote from a private conversation between Littlefinger and Varys. Subtly, Bran has let this great manipulator know that all his secrets are common knowledge to him now, that everything he has ever done is a known quantity. For a man who relies on secrets and lies to get head, this is like stripping him of his armour. Unfortunately for Lord Baelish, he has discovered this just after he has literally disarmed himself. Until now, he has been swaggering about at permanent half-mast, but in a heartbeat, that’s all changed. He could well be in trouble now, and he knows it.
We were treated to another Stark family reunion, with Arya (eventually) getting back home. Her interactions with the guards was reminiscent of one she had way bay in King’s Landing in Seasons 1, except now she’s learned how to tie guards in knots with words and how to put them on edge, despite her diminutive stature. After her realisation that heading back home would be imposing a false life upon Nymeria, there was a nagging doubt that she really would opt to head home, but I was thrilled to put that one to bed.
Sansa didn’t seem shocked to hear her sister had returned home (I guess if your weird brother tells you that he watched your rape through some creepy magic, you become somewhat inoculated to surprise) and instantly knew where to find Arya. In front of a statue of Boromir of course. A reunion in the dank crypt below Winterfell may have seemed like an odd place for these two estranged sisters to meet, but I loved it. Dark, mysterious tense, this setting perfectly represented their relationship when they were last together, a mood which was felt again now. But, instead of two very different girls, separated by petty squabbles and childish feuding, this was two very different women, untied by their struggles and their family. The unease between the two was palpable. Sansa has become distrusting and guarded through her struggles, while Arya has developed something of a swagger about her, obviously confident and silently intimidating.
There’s a whole lot more to come from these two know I’m sure. It was only last season that Sansa declared “No-one can protect me”, well look who’s about now, Arya, aka: No-one. Especially now that Arya’s kill list is public family knowledge (although laughing maniacally about it probably isn’t the most relaxed way to break that news to a sister).
Having met Sansa, Arya had to be updated on Bran. Effectively this was Arya being told about Bran’s visions and him confirming this by warbling on about stuff she’s done before giving her his new dagger. In its third set of hands within a matter of minutes, this dagger is certainly taking centre stage. The main comments I’ve heard on this refer to Chekov’s Gun; it isn’t going to have been given this much screen time if it isn’t going to be important. Let’s not forget, it’s made of Valyrian steel. I’d also like to mention Bran’s brand new levitating wheelchair. It’s great that he has go this now, having lost his Hodor, but how does it not leave any tracks in the snow?! There are some clever folk in the north, but that’s a bit special!
Pleasantries aside, we were treated to one last Winterfell reunion, between Arya and Briene. I was utterly unsure how this would go, with Arya snubbing her at their last meeting, but once again, Arya is showing a willingness to learn and adapt, wanting to absorb knowledge from others. What better to learn from Briene that fighting and frankly, who better to learn it from? And of course, the best way to learn is to do, cue a delightful sparring session. It was an enthralling few minutes, showcasing everything the pint-sized punisher has learned from her various mentors and showing that Briene may actually be beatable. It was almost reminiscent of the duel between Oberyn and The Mountain, except this time the safety was left on.
Of course, Littlefinger was in the audience for this, alongside Sansa as always. There was a whole lot going on behind his expression, perhaps he is considering Arya to be a useful tool in the next round of his games, or perhaps she has immediately become an obstacle in his path? Either way, Arya looked like she was ready to get out the parchment and quill and add one more name to her list.
Down in King’s Landing a jubilant Cersei was waxing lyrical to Tycho Nestoris, the representative of the Iron Bank. She has her gold and has paid back the crown’s debt. Now she can focus on running up some fresh debt with the bank. Apparently, Qyburn has already been talking to a group of mercenaries called the Golden Company. Another example of Chekov’s Gun, this is the first we have heard of these sell swords. Apparently though, these guys are red hot. Like, they’re the best of the best and make the Second Sons look more like the Neglected Nephews. With everything coming up Cersei at present [I will not make the obvious crass jokes about Jaime], surely securing their services would be the final piece of the puzzle to all but secure her power?
Further south again, Jon and Dany are continuing their strange courtship/standoff. Jon of course, has been permitted to mine the dragonglass by Dany, although he still won’t bend the knee to her. So, Jon emerging from a mine wasn’t a shock. What was a shock mind, was that this was more of an open cave than a mine. I cannot comprehend how nobody has done anything with this cave before, given how exposed it and the gems within are. What also surprises me is that, when Jon shows Dany inside to see the dragonglass herself, he hasn’t it any of the torches that are kicking about. He’s had a good old neb in there himself in the ruddy dark!
Conveniently, it wasn’t just dragonglass in the cave, Jon had managed to find some lovely scribbles on the walls, telling the tale of the White Walkers. Now if I were more cynical, I’d think that he’s gone and drawn them himself, given just how perfectly they argued his case. Of course, there were bits on there that, if Jon had put there, would have been exceptionally good guesses. But there were a few bits that we recognised from the past. That big swirl on the left, didn’t we see that a good while ago, made from the bodies of dead horses? With the knowledge that the threat from the north is very much real, Dany agrees to help Jon on one condition, that he bends his knee. Interestingly, the scene ends here, before there is any response from Jon. Could he have perhaps bent his limbs off camera? It would help to at least keep things moving forward, but somehow, I doubt it.
Dany’s problems have been mounting for a few weeks now and she has clearly become fed up of listening to the advice of her current crowd. She wants to take action in her own hands and mess up everything in King’s Landing. This wouldn’t be Dany though if she didn’t look to someone else for a few tips and this time it was the man with the straightest legs in the seven kingdoms. Jon, ever the pacifist, urges her to avoid one sudden violent act and that’s that. Surely, she wouldn’t spontaneously do something mental, against the advice of the King in the North?
In a season full of reunions, there was one I wasn’t really expecting; Jon and Theon. But as a battered Theon pulls up on a Dragonstone beach, it was Jon that greeted him. And boy did Theon get off lightly. Clearly saving Sansa goes a long way, because Theon really was responsible for killing pretty much everyone that helped raise Jon. Perhaps he would have removed a few body parts, had Ramsay not already beaten him to it. But when he requests to meet Dany to petition for her forces (which you know, are slightly ruined Theon), all he is told is that she’s not about. I’d guessed she probably wasn’t down at Lidl doing her weekly shop, but where could she be? Surely not doing something mental?
So, to the lovely open, rolling fields of The Reach, where Jaime is successfully reaping the rewards for taking High Garden. Plenty of crops, supplies and, most importantly, gold. He’s more than happy to redistribute this with Bron, his ever-loyal mercenary (loyal so long as you pay him). But gold isn’t what Bron is after these days, he is after something grander. Basically, he just wants a caste of his own, so he can retire from the rat race and live the good life. Not a lot to ask for really, at least not when you’re in the employ of the royal family. Jaime’s other new best mates, Randyll and Dickon Tarley, the new lords of The Reach. Bron has always been one of the characters I most associate with and this was only cemented further when Dickon correct Jaime on the pronunciation of his name (eventually Jaime will remember he’s not called Rickon). Laughing straight in his face over his embarrassing name is really the only appropriate response.
The scene is set perfectly. The Lannister forces are delivering the last of their newly acquired goods to King’s Landing, with a point being made that the oh so important gold has already made it safely there. It’s nice and peaceful, which in Westeros is always a bad thing. First you can see Bron’s ears twitch, he’s heard something. Then we get to her it to, there’s something on the horizon; the Dothraki. It might have been easy to guess from the very second that Bron heard them, but bloody hell, we’ve waited a while to see them fight properly. Ever since King Robert sated that only a fool would meet them in an open field I’ve been waiting to see it happen. Now here they are in the most open fields that Westeros has to offer, attacking a force that has only had the minutes since they heard their war cries to prepare. And then from nowhere, Dany erupts from the heavens aboard Drogon, all fire, rage and death. What isn’t there to love?
Two things. If it were me, I might have suggested that the Dothraki shut their yabbering and charge a little more quietly. You know, to reduce the time the enemy knows they’re about for even longer. Secondly, Dany has almost every angle she wants available to attack from, so why did she take the exact same line as the Dothraki? If she’d have attacked the Lannisters from behind they’d have been thoroughly stuffed. If she’d have just flown along their line, burning everything underneath her, she wouldn’t have needed any help at all, she’d have crisped up all her foes in minutes. And why the obsession with the supply train? Yes, ruining it was a good idea, but if she killed all the soldiers first then she could have done what she wanted to the wagons without people constantly trying to kill her. I guess being sensible would have made for far worse television though and we’d never be chatting about how awesome Drogon was in a proper battle.
He was brutal, slaughtering the Lannisters with every pass and opening them up to the ground assault from the Dothraki. Nothing was safe from him and he was effectively impervious to harm from any standard weapons. But, the Dragon Muckeruperer has apparently been mobilised and is considerable more agile than perhaps we had anticipated. This thing popped out of a wagon and, on its own lazy Susan, was spun by Bron to face one grumpy dragon. After wreaking havoc, would Drogon be instantly killed off? Well thankfully, no; he might have taken one whopping great hit to the shoulder from the over-sized crossbow, but even though it was enough to ground him, it wasn’t enough to kill him. Or was it? Because the actual (worse) name for the Dragon Muckeruperer is The Scorpion. And what is it that scorpions have loads of; yup, claws. And venom (which is completely different to poison, but I think calling it The Iffy Mushroom would have lost a little something). What I’m getting at is that Drogon might not be safe just yet. We know that Qyburn has access to a whole host of nasties and that Cersei wouldn’t not use poison simply because we love the dragons. Whatever the case, I'm hoping Drogon makes a full recovery to turn our current queen to something you might use to absorb a big sick.
What I really enjoyed was the use of the characters in this battle. Yes, we had a lot of extras turned to ash and mush, but the battle was really told through the eyes of our known heroes. Tyrion watching from the distance, almost played the role of narrator, watching on helplessly as Jaime battled away, grabbing weapons to fight Drogon. He was as helpless and invested as we were. Through the eyes of Bron we were shown the horrors of this battle up close, as he was chased by Dothraki, before he made it to the relative safety of The Scorpion. He even gave up his beloved bag of gold in favour of making it to this weapon. Perhaps he could have grabbed it and run, but he didn’t. Although, perhaps he could have reached for it and been turned to pate by Dany’s men.
And Jaime, oh Jaime. For one of the first times in battle, he looked fallible and scared. But, when hi moment for glory arose, he was more than prepared to take it, riding through the shallow waters at Dany. Perhaps he saw his chance to end things once and for all, or perhaps he was looking for some personal glory, but whatever his reason, he went for it. Like an idiot. As if a dragon is going to just let you spear its mum, no chance. Enter a mystery hero, throwing themselves at Jaime to save him from being crispified. Who was this hero though? It looked quite like Bron, but that would have been quite a distance for him to travel in next to no time. Perhaps it was Dickon, proving his worth in his first real fight. My money’s on Bron, but I wouldn’t be too shocked wither way. It may be almost irrelevant who saved Jaime from being killed by fire though, as apparently, rivers in
Westeros drop from six inches deep to sixty-foot-deep in no time at all. The episode went and ended with Jaime sinking to the depths with a shot all to similar to that of Tyrion's fall into the waters of High Valyria. Given that he was in some hefty leather armour and he only has one decent hand, there’s no way back out for him now. I’m sure we’ll be given a little break here, with some mystery hand rescuing him from drowning, but even if he has survived, what position will he be in? Will Dany just let him go? Will he be captured again? Or will he continue the battle until he is killed? Perhaps he’ll even be carried downstream and wind up way away from all the fun. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
All I know for now is that a good few of my favourite characters could start Episode 5 in distinctly ropey situations. Here’s hoping they all make it through; somehow, I doubt they will though.
I’m going to hold fire (lol) on talking about the obvious business for a bit and focus on the other bits and bobs that happened beforehand. Consider them the starters to the well done main course.
This time out, we didn’t have the huge selection of different, seemingly unrelated stories across our seven kingdoms. Admittedly, with everyone joining up, there are less of these, but we didn’t touch base with any of Sam, The Unsullied, Euron, or The Hound and co.
Instead, the episode revolved around two main things, the coming war in the north and all of the intricacies and ally building therein, and Cersei’s sudden acquisition of the Tyrell wealth and the associated fallout.
We were treated to another Stark family reunion, with Arya (eventually) getting back home. Her interactions with the guards was reminiscent of one she had way bay in King’s Landing in Seasons 1, except now she’s learned how to tie guards in knots with words and how to put them on edge, despite her diminutive stature. After her realisation that heading back home would be imposing a false life upon Nymeria, there was a nagging doubt that she really would opt to head home, but I was thrilled to put that one to bed.
There’s a whole lot more to come from these two know I’m sure. It was only last season that Sansa declared “No-one can protect me”, well look who’s about now, Arya, aka: No-one. Especially now that Arya’s kill list is public family knowledge (although laughing maniacally about it probably isn’t the most relaxed way to break that news to a sister).
Having met Sansa, Arya had to be updated on Bran. Effectively this was Arya being told about Bran’s visions and him confirming this by warbling on about stuff she’s done before giving her his new dagger. In its third set of hands within a matter of minutes, this dagger is certainly taking centre stage. The main comments I’ve heard on this refer to Chekov’s Gun; it isn’t going to have been given this much screen time if it isn’t going to be important. Let’s not forget, it’s made of Valyrian steel. I’d also like to mention Bran’s brand new levitating wheelchair. It’s great that he has go this now, having lost his Hodor, but how does it not leave any tracks in the snow?! There are some clever folk in the north, but that’s a bit special!
Pleasantries aside, we were treated to one last Winterfell reunion, between Arya and Briene. I was utterly unsure how this would go, with Arya snubbing her at their last meeting, but once again, Arya is showing a willingness to learn and adapt, wanting to absorb knowledge from others. What better to learn from Briene that fighting and frankly, who better to learn it from? And of course, the best way to learn is to do, cue a delightful sparring session. It was an enthralling few minutes, showcasing everything the pint-sized punisher has learned from her various mentors and showing that Briene may actually be beatable. It was almost reminiscent of the duel between Oberyn and The Mountain, except this time the safety was left on.
Down in King’s Landing a jubilant Cersei was waxing lyrical to Tycho Nestoris, the representative of the Iron Bank. She has her gold and has paid back the crown’s debt. Now she can focus on running up some fresh debt with the bank. Apparently, Qyburn has already been talking to a group of mercenaries called the Golden Company. Another example of Chekov’s Gun, this is the first we have heard of these sell swords. Apparently though, these guys are red hot. Like, they’re the best of the best and make the Second Sons look more like the Neglected Nephews. With everything coming up Cersei at present [I will not make the obvious crass jokes about Jaime], surely securing their services would be the final piece of the puzzle to all but secure her power?
Further south again, Jon and Dany are continuing their strange courtship/standoff. Jon of course, has been permitted to mine the dragonglass by Dany, although he still won’t bend the knee to her. So, Jon emerging from a mine wasn’t a shock. What was a shock mind, was that this was more of an open cave than a mine. I cannot comprehend how nobody has done anything with this cave before, given how exposed it and the gems within are. What also surprises me is that, when Jon shows Dany inside to see the dragonglass herself, he hasn’t it any of the torches that are kicking about. He’s had a good old neb in there himself in the ruddy dark!
Dany’s problems have been mounting for a few weeks now and she has clearly become fed up of listening to the advice of her current crowd. She wants to take action in her own hands and mess up everything in King’s Landing. This wouldn’t be Dany though if she didn’t look to someone else for a few tips and this time it was the man with the straightest legs in the seven kingdoms. Jon, ever the pacifist, urges her to avoid one sudden violent act and that’s that. Surely, she wouldn’t spontaneously do something mental, against the advice of the King in the North?
So, to the lovely open, rolling fields of The Reach, where Jaime is successfully reaping the rewards for taking High Garden. Plenty of crops, supplies and, most importantly, gold. He’s more than happy to redistribute this with Bron, his ever-loyal mercenary (loyal so long as you pay him). But gold isn’t what Bron is after these days, he is after something grander. Basically, he just wants a caste of his own, so he can retire from the rat race and live the good life. Not a lot to ask for really, at least not when you’re in the employ of the royal family. Jaime’s other new best mates, Randyll and Dickon Tarley, the new lords of The Reach. Bron has always been one of the characters I most associate with and this was only cemented further when Dickon correct Jaime on the pronunciation of his name (eventually Jaime will remember he’s not called Rickon). Laughing straight in his face over his embarrassing name is really the only appropriate response.
The scene is set perfectly. The Lannister forces are delivering the last of their newly acquired goods to King’s Landing, with a point being made that the oh so important gold has already made it safely there. It’s nice and peaceful, which in Westeros is always a bad thing. First you can see Bron’s ears twitch, he’s heard something. Then we get to her it to, there’s something on the horizon; the Dothraki. It might have been easy to guess from the very second that Bron heard them, but bloody hell, we’ve waited a while to see them fight properly. Ever since King Robert sated that only a fool would meet them in an open field I’ve been waiting to see it happen. Now here they are in the most open fields that Westeros has to offer, attacking a force that has only had the minutes since they heard their war cries to prepare. And then from nowhere, Dany erupts from the heavens aboard Drogon, all fire, rage and death. What isn’t there to love?
Two things. If it were me, I might have suggested that the Dothraki shut their yabbering and charge a little more quietly. You know, to reduce the time the enemy knows they’re about for even longer. Secondly, Dany has almost every angle she wants available to attack from, so why did she take the exact same line as the Dothraki? If she’d have attacked the Lannisters from behind they’d have been thoroughly stuffed. If she’d have just flown along their line, burning everything underneath her, she wouldn’t have needed any help at all, she’d have crisped up all her foes in minutes. And why the obsession with the supply train? Yes, ruining it was a good idea, but if she killed all the soldiers first then she could have done what she wanted to the wagons without people constantly trying to kill her. I guess being sensible would have made for far worse television though and we’d never be chatting about how awesome Drogon was in a proper battle.
And Jaime, oh Jaime. For one of the first times in battle, he looked fallible and scared. But, when hi moment for glory arose, he was more than prepared to take it, riding through the shallow waters at Dany. Perhaps he saw his chance to end things once and for all, or perhaps he was looking for some personal glory, but whatever his reason, he went for it. Like an idiot. As if a dragon is going to just let you spear its mum, no chance. Enter a mystery hero, throwing themselves at Jaime to save him from being crispified. Who was this hero though? It looked quite like Bron, but that would have been quite a distance for him to travel in next to no time. Perhaps it was Dickon, proving his worth in his first real fight. My money’s on Bron, but I wouldn’t be too shocked wither way. It may be almost irrelevant who saved Jaime from being killed by fire though, as apparently, rivers in
All I know for now is that a good few of my favourite characters could start Episode 5 in distinctly ropey situations. Here’s hoping they all make it through; somehow, I doubt they will though.
"Dragon messuruper"
ReplyDelete