Game of Thrones season 7 episode 4 ‘The Spoils of War’ review: Chaos is a Ladder!

Yesterday’s episode of Game of Thrones should be renamed as The Spoilers of War as half the world had already seen the chaotic episode after the unfortunate leak by some hackers a few days ago. But, we noble fans patiently waited for the genuine episode to air dodging all the spoilers and chit-chat about it and thanks to all the seven gods of Westeros, it was worth the wait!

For the last couple of episodes, Cersei has been outsmarting Daenerys and, her faithful hand, Tyrion in their on-going quest for the iron throne. Firstly, the Mother of Dragons lost the Greyjoys and the Sandsnakes due to Euron’s roughshod over them. Then, in the previous episode she also lost Olenna Tyrell who went out in style after drinking the poisonous wine and confessing to Jamie that she was behind his son’s death. So, naturally we were all expecting some sort of retaliation from Dany and it was a ferocious reply to her enemies.

So the episode starts with the Lannister army departing from the Highgarden after collecting all their grains and gold. Bron is rewarded in gold by Jamie for his role in conquering the Tyrells but he complains that he still hasn’t been given the castle he was promised.

From there we move to Winterfell where Littlefinger hands over the valyrian dagger to Bran that was once used to nearly kill him in the very first season. They were interrupted by Meera who was leaving Winterfell to be with her family. After expecting to hear some words of solace from Bran, Meera was left disappointed by him and she realised that the old Brandon Stark had died in the cave after the attack of the white walkers and he’s gradually becoming a dispassionate three-eyed raven.

Then we move on to all the legitimate Stark children (minus Robb & Rickon) re-uniting as Arya finally arrives at Winterfell. She met Sansa in the crypt while she is gazing at their father’s statue. They hugged each other and Sansa takes her to meet Bran. Bran gives his newly acquired valyrian dagger to Arya and asks her about her murderous list which alerts Sansa.

After seeing Brienne and Podrick duel, Arya asks Brienne to fight her. They both show some impressive moves while Sansa and Littlefinger watches them disapprovingly. 

At Dragonstone, Jon shows Daenerys the dragonglass filled cave. He also brings her attention to the carvings and paintings which are engraved on the walls of the cave which depicts that the children of the forest along with the first men fought together against the white walkers. Dany also agrees to fight for the north with Jon only if (yeah! you guessed it correct) he bends the knee.

Tyrion and Varys inform Dany about the situation emerging from Casterly Rock and Highgarden. Dany is furious to know that she is being outmanoeuvred by the Lannisters and realises that she has to lead the battle from the front, she has to be what Olenna asked her to be, she has to be the Dragon.

When Jon and Ser Davos are discussing about Daenerys with Missendai, they noticed a Greyjoy ship heading towards the Dragonstone. There, Jon is angry to see Theon who wants the Queen’s help in rescuing his sister from Euron.

But the Queen has some other plans as she along with Drogon and the Dothraki army are rushing towards the Lannister army. After seeing the Targaryen girl’s manpower, Bron asks Jamie to leave for the King’s Landing but Jamie refuses to abandon his men. And then the fiercest battle of the show commenced which in my personal opinion even outshines previous year’s battle of the bastards and the hardhome battle, the year before that. 

Drogon and the Dothraki army annihilate their enemies, destroying all the goods and grains they had collected from the Tyrells. Amid the battle, Jamie asks Bron to bring out Scorpion, the Dragon killing device that Qyburn had made. Tyrion, who is a little dispirited after seeing the men whom he once represented getting obliterated, is observing the battle from a distance.

Poor Drogon got hit by the spear from the Scorpion (guess, he also doesn’t understand the concept of Zig Zag like Rickon) and came crashing down towards the ground but manages to regain its balance at the last moment. Dany tries to remove the spear from Drogon as the opportunist Jamie marches towards her to kill her. Tyrion is pissed to see his brother’s valiant but indeed stupid action. As Jamie is about to take advantage of the situation, Drogon comes in for her mother’s protection and launches a scorching stream of fire at Jamie who is just saved by either Dickon or Bron in the nick of time.

So what do we think about this episode?

If previous episode was more dialogue heavy and comprised of less action set pieces as stated in our previous review, this was a slaughter-fest. The sheer spectacle of Dany riding Drogon as it breathes death inducing fire is indescribable. This episode also brings out a lot of conflicting emotions. On one hand, we want Cersei’s rule to end, we cheer for Drogon as it runs roughshod over the battle field, but we also care for Jamie and Bron and wants them to survive the battle. And that’s the beauty of the show; it makes us viewers care about a man who once tried to kill a child by pushing him out the window.

It was heart-warming to see all the three Stark siblings in Winterfell at the same time, though, it would be interesting to see how Bran’s character move forward as we know he’ll be involved in some big revelations later in the season or in the next season.

Also, the chemistry between Dany and Jon was palpable in this episode until Dany uttered the words “Bend the knee”. 

Final Verdict: The only complaint that we have with the episode is its runtime but considering the last 15 minutes or so was CGI filled orchestra, the 50 minutes runtime is justified because of a tighter budget per episode. It was truly very compelling episode with no dull moments and we can’t wait for the next one.

With only three episodes left in this season, it will be interesting to see how the battle between the Lannisters and Targaryens pans out.

What do you guys think of the episode? Do share your opinions in the comment section and subscribe for more fun and interesting articles.