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'Game of Thrones': 'Spoils of War'

This post discusses plot details from Sunday's episode of "Game of Thrones," "The Spoils of War."

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (left) and Jerome Flynn in Sunday's "Game of Thrones," "The Spoils of War."
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (left) and Jerome Flynn in Sunday's "Game of Thrones," "The Spoils of War."Read moreMACALL B. POLAY/HBO
    by Ellen Gray
    Published 

You know the drill by now: This post contains plot details from Sunday's episode of Game of Thrones, "The Spoils of War." And speaking of spoils — I'm not paying attention to any fruits of the HBO hack, so if you know something I don't that doesn't come from watching this episode, please keep it to yourselves. Otherwise, comment away.

Daenerys, Dothraki, and a dragon…

Oh, my.

Lady Olenna Tyrell (Diana Rigg) didn't live to see it, but Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) channeled her inner dragon Sunday, climbing aboard one of her scaly babies and taking viewers for quite a ride.

Do we really have to wait a week to find out if Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) can swim in all that armor? To see if Bronn (Jerome Flynn) survives? I'm as eager to upset Cersei (Lena Headey) as the next person, but the loss of the brother to whom she's always been a bit too close would hurt me, too.

And it would certainly upset Tyrion (Peter Dinklage), who had some choice words for Jaime's idiocy in charging a wounded dragon.

I've never been a fan of watching even fictional people (and horses) burned alive, but we do seem to need periodic reminders that dragons are dangerous creatures, and not to be used lightly. A battle that combines elements of an old Western and an air attack also isn't something we see on TV every day.

And after recent setbacks, Daenerys did seem to need the win. Assuming it is a win. If Randyll Tarly (James Faulkner) is to be believed, the gold — the spoils of war — has already made it back to King's Landing so Cersei can pay off the Iron Bank. (Which, like any credit card company, seems eager to get her to borrow again.) And how badly hurt is her dragon?

Meanwhile, back at Winterfell, the long-awaited return of Arya (Maisie Williams) was funny, but also a little sad, because  it was so clear the surviving Stark children weren't children anymore. Bran (Isaac Hempstead Wright) was given the fancy Valyrian steel dagger once used in an attempt to murder him, but almost immediately regifted it to Arya, who has always liked pointy things. Sansa (Sophie Turner) continues to struggle with Bran's insistence that he isn't really Bran anymore, but a Three-Eyed Raven — it's a lot to get one's head around — but I think Arya's having a list of people she plans to kill probably didn't shock her as much as it once would have.

I wouldn't be surprised if Sansa, too, has a little list by now.

My favorite scene in the episode (sorry, Dany) was the one in which Arya and Brienne (Gwendoline Christie) sparred. Pure wish-fulfillment, that.

A few other thoughts about "The Spoils of War":

  1. I'd have liked to have gotten a clearer view of the dragonglass (it's dark beneath Dragonstone), but the cave paintings of the White Walkers were a nice touch.

  2. Missandei (Nathalie Emmanuel) and her queen sharing a moment while discussing the absent Grey Worm (Jacob Anderson) was a bit of fun. I do hope he's still OK.

  3. I don't think I have never been more confused by the timeline of this show than this season, where travel's speeded up so much I have no idea how long Daenerys was gone when Theon Greyjoy (Alfie Allen) showed up at Dragonstone.