GoT Ep 704 "The Spoils of War"

Image via HBO.

Holy flaming battlefield Batman! This episode was extra crazy and I loved it.

The spoils of the battle for Highgarden (including all of that gold) are being transported back to Kings Landing. Jaime stops one of the carriages to give Bronn his promised cut, but Bronn wants to know when he will get the other things he was promised, like his castle. He wouldn't mind taking Highgarden off the Lannister's hands. Jaime tells Bronn it's probably not a good idea for him to move into Highgarden at the moment since Daenerys Targaryen may try and take it back. Jaime is in a foul mood and Bronn can tell. Bronn asks if the old lady (meaning Olenna Tyrell) got one last punch in before her death, but Jaime doesn't answer. Lady Olenna's confession that she was the one who plotted Joffrey's death has clearly frazzled him. I'm not really sure why he is that surprised. It was obvious that the Tyrell's wanted power and that Joffrey was a sociopathic douchebag. As well as clearing out all of that lovely gold - which Cersei will use to pay back the crown's loans from the Iron Bank of Braavos - they will also take the harvests of the farms around Highgarden. Jaime commands Bronn to help Lord Randyll Tarly and his son Dickon in the collection of those crops.

Cersei tells Tycho (the rep from the Iron Bank) that the gold is on its way. He remarks that this is the first time a loan has been paid in full and at such a high amount. He says the Iron Bank will miss the interest payments made by the crown and then begins to pitch new investment opportunities to Cersei. She says her first priority is reuniting the seven kingdoms under her reign. She has reached out to the Golden Company - one of the sellsword companies in Essos made up of a lot of exiles from Westeros - to join her army. 

Littlefinger tries to worm his way into Bran's good graces. He is visiting with Bran and pulls out the Valyrian steel dagger that was used in the plot to kill Bran back in Season 1. Littlefinger confesses his guilt over not being there with Catelyn Stark - the Stark children's mother - when she was killed at the Red Wedding. He would've taken her place if he could, but since he wasn't able too he will do everything in his power to protect her children. He offers Bran his assistance in whatever way he may need it. Bran asks if he knows who the dagger belongs too. Littlefinger told Catelyn Stark in Season 1 that the he lost the dagger to Tyrion Lannister as a result of losing a bet on a tournament. This sparked Catelyn to capture Tyrion. A move that was a catalyst for the War of the Five Kings and the disarray in Westeros for the past few years. However, he tells Bran he doesn't know who it belings too. Littlefinger says he cannot imagine what Bran has been through in his adventure north of the Wall and making his way back to Winterfell only to find chaos at his home. Bran replies with, "Chaos is a ladder," something Littlefinger said to Lord Varys back in Kings Landing. Littlefinger is surprised when Bran repeats this and he also looks a little worried. Meera walks in and breaks the tension. She has come to tell Bran goodbye. Littlefinger takes his leave and calls Bran "Lord Stark," but Bran says he is not a lord. After Littlefinger leaves the room, Meera tells Bran she feels he is in a safe place now and no longer needs her help so she wants too go home to be with her family before the Night King comes with his army. Bran doesn't seem to emotional over her leaving and kind of just gives her a "cool, see you later" type goodbye. Meera is floored by his response to her departure and asks if that is all he has to say to her after her brother and Hodor died getting him to the great tree and she almost died as well. Bran says he is no longer Brandon Stark. He has his memories, but they are jumbled together with all of the visions in his head. Meera says whatever was left of Bran died in the cave with the previous Three-Eyed Raven. Oh yeah, Bran also has a snazzy new wheelchair courtesy of the current maester at Winterfell.

Another Stark child has made it back to Winterfell. After hearing of Jon's defeat of the Bolton's Arya decided to go back to Winterfell either giving up on or pushing back her plan to get to Kings Landing and kill Cersei. While I'm happy about another Stark reunion, someone needs to take care of the evil tyrant in the Red Keep. Arya tries to walk through the gates of Winterfell, but these two guards (who I will refer to as Frick and Frack) stand in her way. She tells them she is Arya Stark and they of course think Arya Stark is dead. She tells them to get Ser Rodrik Cassel or Maester Luwin. They've been dead since Theon attacked Winterfell years ago and these two idiots have never heard of them. She then tells them to get Jon. Well, he's at Dragonstone. She finally asks who is in charge and Frick and Frack say, well Lady Stark of course. Arya asks which Lady Stark and Frick says she should know the name of Lady Stark if she is pretending to be her sister. So, she finally figures out that Sansa is in charge for the moment. She asks to see Sansa, but Frick and Frack still don't believe her and say that Lady Stark is to busy to deal with imposters. Arya is finally over these two idiots and tells them she is getting into the castle one way or another, so do they want to get Sansa or get in trouble when Sansa finds out they turned Arya away. Frick and Frack are at a total loss here so they ask Arya to sit and wait while they decide who will tell Sansa. Neither one is brave enough to go and when they turn around Arya has vanished. For some reason this prompts them to go to Sansa and tell her that there is a girl impersonating her sister, but that she need not worry about it because she's disappeared. Oh wait, but they'll find her so don't worry. Then they mentioned the fake Arya asking about Ser Rodrik and Maester Luwin. Sansa knows the girl is really Arya, because no one else would know those names. She tells Frick and Frack not to worry because she knows where the girl is. Sansa finds Arya in the crypts of Winterfell at their father's tomb. Arya sees her sister and asks if she has to call her Lady Stark now. Sansa answers yes in a somewhat playful way and then hugs her sister. Sansa asks why Arya ran from the guards and Arya says she didn't run from them, they are just idiots and she should find better guards. Sansa says Jon will be so excited when he gets back from Dragonstone. He was happy when Sansa came to the Wall and he is closer to Arya so he may die from excitement when he sees her. Arya asks Sansa if she is really the person who killed Joffrey like everyone is saying. Sansa says she didn't, but she wishes she had. Arya tells Sansa that Joffrey was on her list of people to kill. Sansa laughs, thinking it's a joke. She asks what Arya's been up too and Arya asks the same of her. They both tell each other that they each have a long story. (I'm sure they will catch up at some point, but at this point in the show the writers have decided that if the characters have this dialogue it will be off screen. Just like Jon and Tyrion from past episodes this season. At this point, it's full steam ahead towards battle scenes with dragons and White Walkers). Arya says that neither of their stories are over. Sansa tells her that Bran has made it home as well and they go to visit him in the godswood. Bran says he is surprised to see Arya because he saw her at the inn at the crossroads. He thought she was going to Kings Landing to kill Cersei since she is on her list. At Bran's mention of Arya's list Sansa decides to ask more about this special list of Arya's. Arya explains that most of the people on it are dead already. Bran pulls out the Valyrian steel dagger that Littlefinger gave him. When he mentions this Sansa warns Bran that Littlefinger never does anything unless he is going to get something back in return. Bran says not to worry and gives the dagger to Arya. (So, she's basically doomed to have an interaction with the White Walkers at some point, otherwise why give her a Valyrian steel dagger? Has he seen this in vision? Maybe she'll use it to kill Littlefinger). Brienne sees that Arya has made it home and Pod tells her she should be proud. Brienne says she can't take credit for that.

Nothing has been heard from the Unsullied at Casterly Rock making Missandei very nervous. Dany asks what happened between she and Grey Worm before he left. Missandei blushes and says lots of things happened. Dany wants to know more, but they have reached Jon, who wants to show Dany the underground mountain of dragonglass before they mine it. Dany is amazed by the dragonglass when Jon tells her there is something else he needs to show her as well. He leads her back further in the cave where he shows her paintings/carvings on the wall. They were done by the Children of the Forrest way back in the day when their land still extended that far south. The images are also of men working with the children and the catch is that their are pictures of the White Walkers as well. The paintings tell the story of how the First Men and the Children of the Forrest came together to defeat the White Walkers. Jon tells Dany this is proof that what he says is true and that they must put aside their differences and join together. Dany tells Jon she will fight for him and the north, but he must bend the knee. Jon says the people of the north will not accept a southern ruler after everything they've been through in the past few years. Dany says they will if their king does and asks if their survival is more important than his pride. Before Jon can answer Tyrion and Varys have come to tell the queen the bad news about Highgarden and Casterly Rock. Dany is fed up with listening to their battle plans and thinks its time she released her dragons against the Lannisters. Tyrion thinks they still have enough Dothraki and that they should attack Kings Landing immediately. Dany questions his loyalty and says she is taking her dragons to the Red Keep because what kind of queen is she if she won't fight for her people. She then asks Jon what he thinks she should do. At first he says he would not presume to tell her what to do, but she insists. He says the people who follow her know she made something impossible happen when she hatched her dragons. They believe because she made that possible she can make other impossible things happen as well, but if she uses her dragons to melt castles and cities then she is no different from the rulers of the past.

Then we go back to Winterfell where Arya is watching Pod train with Brienne. She walks up to them and Littlefinger and Sansa happen to be walking on the pathway above. Arya asks Brienne to train her how to fight. Brienne says Arya would be better served by the master at arms, but Arya says she doesn't want to learn from him. She wants to learn from the only person who was able to defeat the Hound. Arya unsheaths Needle and Brienne tells her she can't use that sword because it's too small. Arya tells Brienne she'll try not to cut her. Arya is awesome, either blocking Brienne's attacks or maneuvering around them. Finally, Brienne kicks Arya in the chest and startles herself. She didn't mean to do it, but got carried away. Arya jumps right back up and Brienne is impressed. She asks Arya who taught her how to fight like that and Arya replies, "no one." Brienne looks up to Sansa, who she thinks will also be impressed by Arya's skills, but Sansa has walked away with a weird look on her face. Littlefinger nods to Arya, but she is smart enough not to trust him and gives him a dirty look instead.

The show then goes back to Dragonstone. Jon and Ser Davos are walking and Davos asks Jon what he thinks of Dany. Jon says he thinks she has a good heart. Davos says he noticed Jon staring at her good heart, but Jon shrugs it off and says he doesn't have time for things like that. The Night King and his army are coming. They bump into Missandei and she asks why Jon doesn't have the Stark name. He explains that his mother and father were not married, therefore making him a bastard. (I think this is total forsehadowing and that we will somehow find out that Jon is the legitimate son of Rhaegar and Lyanna, because they must've gotten married). She doesn't truly understand this bastard term because they don't have marriage or bastards where she comes from, the Isle of Naarth. Sounds like a pretty good place. Jon asks why she left her homeland and she tells him she was taken to be a slave, but Dany bought her from her master and then set her free. Ser Davos is confused because Missandei is clearly serving Dany. Missandei corrects Davos and tells him she follows Dany because she wants to, not because she is made too. Jon isn't buying it and asks what would happen if Missandei told Daenerys she wanted to go back home to Naarth. Missandei says that Dany would give her a boat and wish her well. Dany is not their queen because she's the daughter of some man they've never met. She's their queen because they chose her. Ser Davos jokes with Jon asking him if he would mind if he switched sides. They notice a Greyjoy ship coming in and go down to meet it. There were many times that I held my breath or jumped for joy in this episode and this is one of those moments that made me nervous. We all knew Theon was on that ship, but what would happen when Jon saw him? Well, Theon is more than surprised to see Jon and during the awkward moment says "hello" to him. Jon grabs him and tells him that what he did for Sansa is the only reason he's still alive. Theon asks if Sansa is alright and Jon tells him she's fine. Theon tells them that Euron has taken his sister and he needs Dany's help to get her back. Jon tells him Dany isn't there at the moment.

And then we get to the best part of the episode! The Lannister soldiers are almost back to Kings Landing. The gold has made it's way safely to the capitol and they just need to get the rest of their forces there. They are in an open area and since they are split up, they are vulnerable. Lord Tarly suggest flogging the stragglers, but Jaime tells him to cool off and wait for a while. The men fought hard at Highgarden. Lord Tarly clearly thinks Jaime isn't stern enough and turns his horse and trots off. Jaime talks to Dickon (and Bronn, by the way, finds Dickon's name hilarious) and asks him if that was his first battle and how he felt. He tells Jaime that he feels a little weird. He's been pledged to Highgarden his entire life and knew most of the men he fought against. Jaime says the men didn't deserve to die, but it's basically Lady Olenna's fault because she went against her queen. Bronn hears a noise in the distance and when they realize what is about to happen they practically shit themselves. Bronn tells Jaime he needs to flee, but Jaime won't leave his men and he thinks they can hold the line against the Dothraki warriors heading straight towards them. The Dothraki break through the line and start slaughtering some Lannister soldiers. Drogon comes flying through the air over the Dothraki and Dany says that famous line, "dracarys" and dragonfire is spreading everywhere. She's too late for the gold, but all of the wagons of food are still there so she destroys those along with a lot of soldiers. The soldiers shoot arrows at Drogon, but of course they don't penetrate his skin. By the way, Drogon is the only dragon Dany brought with her to this particular battle and it turns out, he was the only dragon she needed. Jaime tells Bronn to go prepare the ballista (the weapon Qyeburn came up with to shoot spears at the dragons). Bronn tells Jaime to do it, but Jaime points out that he can't shoot it with one hand. A Dothraki man comes after Jaime and almost kills him, but Dickon Tarly saves Jaime. Another Dothraki is following Bronn and cuts off his horses leg throwing Bronn to the ground. He gets up and goes to a wagon with the Dothraki man following, but the man is surprised when he opens the curtain and sees a huge spear come flying at him. Bronn has to reload the weapon, which doesn't seem to take too long. He looks for Drogon, but can't see him. This is about the time we find out that Tyrion is there as well. He is watching the battle from above on a hilltop. Tyrion sees the carnage below and you can tell he's affected by the innocent soldiers who are fighting for Cersei and Jaime because they don't have any other option. His Dothraki friend standing next to him tells him, "Your people can't fight." Against a dragon? No, they cannot. Bronn spots Drogon and shoots a spear towards him. He just barely misses Drogon and Dany. She decides to head straight for Bronn, who is hurriedly reloading the weapon. As Drogon comes swooping down, Bronn looses another spear and this one hits Drogon. Drogon starts flying out of control. Luckily, the spear has only gotten him in the wing. (He's faced much worse in the pits of Mereen so I think he'll be okay, fingers crossed)! He can't fly to well with that spear in his wing. He does manage to torch the wagon with the ballista and Bronn narrowly escapes by diving off at the last second before Drogon lands and smashes what is left of the weapon with his tail. Bronn sees a white horse, but we see something else and so does Jaime. Daenerys is on the ground trying to pull the spear out of Drogon's wing. Jaime sees a chance to end the war. Tyrion knows what his brother is about to do and silently to himself pleads for Jaime to flee, but he doesn't. Jaime steers his horse towards a spear and rides straight towards an unknowing Dany. Tyrion mumbles, "You fucking idiot." and as Jaime almost makes it to the queen, Drogon's head pops in front of her and his throat lights up. Jaime's about to be dragon food, but Bronn shows up like a knight in shining armor and jumps onto Jaime. They both land in the water. Jaime sinks to the depths below and the credits start to roll.

Hopefully we will know Jaime's fate next week. The bad thing is, besides all of that heavy armor he has on, he also has that damn golden hand weighing him down. I don't think his story ends just yet. Dany has finally dealt a fatal blow against Cersei and it looks like her advisors are worried she will continue to reek havoc with her dragons. While I feel bad for the soldiers, Dany had to do something. Cersei took out half her army and the saying goes, fight fire with fire. Do you think Dany was right to do what she did or do you think she went too far? And what's up with Sansa? Is she jealous that her siblings came back with awesome skills or is she just weirded out because they aren't the same little kids from Season 1?

Until next week...

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Courtenay | Mother of Dragons