Episode 04: The Spoils Of War
Episode 04: The Spoils Of War - https://tiurll.com/2tDdnf
\"The Spoils of War\" is the fourth episode of the seventh season of Game of Thrones. It is the sixty-fourth episode of the series overall. It premiered on August 6, 2017 on HBO. It was written by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, and directed by Matt Shakman.
At Highgarden, Jaime Lannister coordinates the soldiers loading up the spoils of war for transport. The Sack of Highgarden allowed them to seize all of House Tyrell's substantial gold stores, which they send ahead to King's Landing first, before moving on to securing grain shipments. Jaime procures a large bag of gold coins and gives it to Bronn as payment for his services. Bronn, however, is annoyed that this isn't the full reward he was promised, which included a wife from the nobility and a castle. He then half-seriously asks why Jaime doesn't just grant him Highgarden, as they need someone to rule it. Jaime replies that they are at war, Highgarden requires significant upkeep, and Daenerys could arrive at any moment to take it. When Bronn remarks on the riches Jaime is packing up, Jaime says they are not his and the gold will be used to repay the Iron Bank. Bronn is not satisfied and Jaime says when they win the war, Bronn can choose from any castle he likes. He has Bronn assist Randyll Tarly and Dickon Tarly continue seizing grain supplies in the northern Reach.
Sunday night's episode of Game Of Thrones very nearly ended in blood and fire. Instead, it ended in the murky deep, as Jaime and Bronn plummeted into the water to escape dragon flame. The credits roll as Jaime sinks, his plate armor dragging him below.
This was a very, very good episode. The only thing I really want to complain about is how short it was (50 minutes!) and the usual \"how the hell did they get there so fast\" critique. I won't bore you yet again with a discussion of the screwy timelines and fast travel. You can read about that in either of these two posts in which I go into great length about Season 7's problems.
We did learn before the fighting began that Jaime had successfully transported the wagon of gold to King's Landing. This means Cersei will be able to repay the Iron Bank and the Lannisters will get to keep using their unofficial slogan. After tonight's episode, I'm not sure how to feel about that. I could never bring myself to root for Cersei, but I'm having a very hard time rooting for the young Targaryen contender.
I admit, I may be biased. I've written about how I think Daenerys is a villain before, and tonight's episode only stoked my fears. Daenerys has never lived in Westeros, yet she has no problem killing Westerosi with her foreign barbarians and monstrous dragons. It doesn't seem to sit well for Tyrion---and in the preview for next week's episode, we see Varys urging the Imp to steer her away from this path---and it doesn't sit well with me either.
In closing, I just want to say that HBO is truly evil for giving us such a stunted episode. I wanted ten more minutes of great television. I have to dock like 400 points from my score because of this. Sorry, it's just not acceptable. Shame. Shame. Shame.
Dany's grand entrance is huge for a number of reasons, not least of which is that our stubborn Khaleesi desperately needed a decisive victory over the Lannisters after losing Dorne, the Iron Islands and The Reach in the last two episodes.
The way Dany arrived was a showstopper, to be sure, but the fact that she arrived at all is pretty incredible -- as Robert Baratheon predicted way back in Season 1, Dany's invasion marks the first time that the Dothraki have ever crossed the Narrow Sea, and even without her scaly children, that's a big effing deal for Westeros, since its inhabitants have spent centuries resting safe in the knowledge that the Dothraki are no threat to them. We were only five episodes into Season 1 when Cersei outright dismissed Robert's concerns about Dany with the arrogant assertion that \"The Dothraki don't sail... They don't have discipline, they don't have armor, they don't have siege weapons.\"
Cersei may have gold to offer (and now, sadly, she has even more, since Dany arrived too late to prevent the Lannisters from getting Highgarden's stolen swag through the gates of King's Landing), but you might've noticed that even Bronn didn't dare leap after his spilled \"spoils of war\" while Drogon was blasting dragonfire across the plain. How many soldiers will willingly march into battle against a creature with that kind of firepower, knowing that their arrows and shields are no match for a dragon's heat
Kit Harington has already confirmed that Jon is attracted to Dany (duh), and in episode 4, Davos called Jon out for staring at her \"good heart\" (snarky Davos is the best Davos), but the real proof came during their romantic trip into the dragonglass mine together, when the musical cues morphed from something vaguely ominous to a magical mash-up of the Jurassic Park (Opens in a new tab)theme(Opens in a new tab) and the touching moment when Beast reveals his library to Belle(Opens in a new tab) in Beauty and the Beast.
No matter who reaches peak crazy first, with only three episodes left this season (which means only nine episodes left in the entire series), it's a safe bet that everything from here on out will be BONKERS, just like that incredible Arya/Brienne fight, which in any other week would've been the highlight of the episode.
But the fourth episode of season seven, \"The Spoils of War,\" is one the best episode of the season, one of the best of the series, and one of our favorite television episodes of 2017. It stuck with us, even months after it aired.
The complicated way the battle was shot, with multiple perspectives from different characters on multiple sides of the battle, shows how devastating war is in real life and in the fictional world of Westeros. The excellent episode will make you laugh, cry, and pull your hair out.
Season two's \"Blackwater\" is a self-contained episode, with Stannis' attack taking place throughout the episode, never leaving King's Landing. Like \"Blackwater,\" season four's \"The Watchers on the Wall\" depicted one battle the entire episode, this time the Wildling at Castle Black.
In season six, the \"Battle of the Bastards\" actually had two battles: the first was a short one showing Daenerys, Tyrion, Grey Worm, and dragons reclaiming Meereen from the Sons of the Harpy. The rest of the episode showed the iconic battle at Winterfell between Jon Snow and Ramsay Bolton.
This battle, and the following episode where she punishes the men who fought for the Lannisters and refuse to be loyal to her (the person who just slaughtered their people), might hint that Daenerys has a dark future ahead of her, reminiscent of her Mad King father and the many Targaryens before him. That would be a sad end to the series, but would be an effective surprise that this series is known for pulling off out of nowhere.
\"Spoils of War\" might go down in \"Game of Thrones\" history as one of the best episodes of all time thanks to the epic Lannister vs. Dothraki/Drogon battle and another memorable Stark family reunion. But hidden among all the madness were more references to older episodes and smaller important details you might have missed.
After speaking with costume designer Michele Clapton, we know that every detail of the costumes is meant to convey how the character is feeling or thinking, which is why we perked up when Daenerys was seen with a silvery-grey cape on this episode.
But based on the season seven episode, it looks like the lesson finally sunk in for Davos, who has become more and more literate as the series has gone on (mostly thanks to Shireen's teachings, R.I.P.). Now it's Jon's turn to learn the difference between \"less\" and \"fewer.\"
Hi Ginevra,Yes! New Rockstars really rock. They analyse many aspects and achieve interesting and IMO plausible insights. I discovered them last year while poring over reviews of my all-time favourite episode, Winds of Winter. They included the best analysis of the subtleties and thematic ties of Light of the Seven to what was happening on-screen at the time. I like the addition of Maude Garrett this year. BTW, I recently read an article someplace about GoT fan-fave commentators, and it focused on NR.
If you were hoping for more Bronn after his brief, wordless cameo last week, raise a glass (and a cheer), because this episode was a veritable Bronngasm, with Jerome Flynn handed some typically snarky lines about getting his promised castle. His chemistry with Nikolaj Coster-Waldau remains a delight, and it gives what happens later that much more power. And as the Lannisters consolidate their power and transport the rich pickings from their sacking of Highgarden, you just know there will have to be consequences.
The Spoils Of War represented the show firing (pun intended) on all cylinders, both emotionally and on the action front. Dany got to use her special weapon on someone we actually care about, there was significant (and well-written) plot movement on several fronts and the quality of the show's effects and choreography remains sky high. With just three episodes left this season, things are really heating up. Sorry, Lannisters.
Going one step further, a few episodes back, we saw a dagger that looked quite similar in one of the books that Sam Tarly was reading. My guess is that they were not showing a different dagger that looked very similar to this one, but rather that they were the same dagger, which further amplifies the significance of the dagger we saw today. There are some definite question marks around this Valyrian steel dagger, but it seems to be a safe assumption that it is of moderate to major significance.
Perhaps Jaime deserved to die, as this seemed the episode where characters across the plot lines realized they are stuck in Game of Thrones episodes and should expect that things that sound like good ideas will not actually work out. Everything sucks, victory is always fleeting, and few thi