Game of Thrones season seven recap: Episode four, 'The Spoils of War'

Warning: This article contains spoilers for Game Of Thrones season seven, episode four.

Fans devoured Sunday night’s Game of Thrones episode quicker than an ice cream in a heatwave and yes, it was just as satisfying. We were treated to a series of tense meetings including the long awaited reunion between Arya and Sansa Stark, who were genuinely delighted to see each other but whose sibling rivalry had to rear its ugly head. Later, bedraggled Theon arrived on the shores of Dragonstone with what is left of his sister’s fleet, to ask for the Queen of Dragons’s help, only to walk straight into a growling Jon Snow, who was ready to rip his head off for betraying his host family in Winterfell many moons ago.

And lest not forget Bran; the latest Stark child to be subjected to Littlfinger’s well-rehearsed speech about his devotion to Catelyn and their family. Thankfully, we got the impression that the Three Eyed Raven wasn’t swallowing any of it.

Oh, and Dany fire bombed the “s**t” out of Jaime Lannister’s infantry on the back of Drogon for the final 15 minutes of the show.

‘You can count on the Iron Bank, as soon as the gold arrives.’

Our favourite new coupling has to be Mark Gatiss’ Tycho Nestoris, the envoy from the Iron Bank of Braavos, who is in Kings Landing to recoup debt from the Lannisters, and Queen Cersei. In the last episode, we saw the evil ruler promise to repay the family’s debt within two weeks and she thinks she’s on track, since Jaime has captured bountiful Highgarden, the seat of House Tyrell, the regional capital of the Reach.

But the Lannisters never miss an opportunity to prosper and here we see their meeting end with Cersei convincing Tycho that the Iron Bank should invest further in a Lannister/Seven Kingdoms’ future.

Back in Winterfell, Arya battles with guards, again, to get into her home. She stares silently in the courtyard that we haven’t seen her in since season one, episode one. Elsewhere, Littlefinger is crouching beside Bran, and sets to work on getting him on side, but fails. Though he gifts him the Valyrian steel dagger given by Joffrey to the catspaw who almost killed Bran and Bran later gives this to Arya, after she is reunited with Sansa.

Over in Dragonstone, we finally see Dany and Jon flirt with one another as they work through their political positions. She says she’ll fight with Jon if he bends the knee, but he does’t give yet as he can’t lose face with his Lords in the north. Meanwhile, on his little working holiday he continues to mine dragonglass and shows Dany around the cave, alone. They get close and this is the first moment we see sparks fly between the monarchs.

The tension is broken when Tyrion arrives to tell Dany that they’ve won Casterly Rock and we see her anger flare up, and she decides to strike the Lannisters for the first time.

‘Men s**t themselves when they die. Didn’t they teach you that at fancy lad’s school?’

Now in the final throes of the episode, we see Bronn and Jaime chat to Samwell Tarly’s handsome brother Dickon and Bronn makes us laugh when he cackles at his name. The men ask how the shell-shocked commander is faring after his inaugural battle, but Bronn’s trained ear picks up the faint hum of hooves stomping the ground miles away, interrupts their tete-a-tete, and they quickly summon their remaining forces to get in formation. Over the horizon, blood thirsty Dothrakis are shrieking and waving scythes and machetes as they race down the hill like a tsunami and Dany and Drogon fly overhead. Cue a series of close up shots showing quivering Lannister men, who have just realised they are the first army to fight a dragon in centuries.

The Dothraki hack their way through the Lannister foot soldiers and Drogon breathes a line of fire over the men that has the affect of Moses parting the Red Sea, allowing the Dothraki to breach the defence. Jaime orders Bronn to operate the gigantic spear gun and take down Drogon.

After he dashes off, Jamie sits still on his horse and takes in the destruction around him, which is a bit how we imagine Pompeii looked after Mount Vesuvius erupted over the city. Then he sees Bronn successfully shoot Drogon, flooring the wounded dragon, and he snaps out of it. He picks up a spear and races toward Dany to kill the Targaryen queen. His brother Tryion is watching from a nearby hill and curses his stupidity, and just as he reaches throwing distance Drogon breathes fire at Jamie, who is knocked into the water just in time by – we assume – by Bronn. The episode ends with Jamie appearing to drown, but we doubt that he’s dead.

Other events to remember

• Jaime and Tyrion will undoubtedly reunite with the former in chains.

• Jon saw cave drawings showing The Children of The Forest and The First Men fighting together to defeat the White Walkers and convinces Dany that they can do the same.

• We’re left convinced that Bronn will betray Jamie and the Lannisters unless they make him a Lord and give him a castle.

• Littlefinger and Sansa watch Arya show off her fighting skills and we see Sansa’s jealousy return, as Petyr sees more opportunity to manipulate the family.

• The dagger got a lot of screen time. Will it be used to kill the Night King or will Arya stick it into Cersei’s frozen heart?

• Arya and Brienne meet and the little Stark proves she’s a match for the mighty warrior as they spar in the courtyard, sealing their friendship, but Sansa watches from the balcony and gives them a stare that spells trouble for the sisters.

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