Game of Thrones Review: The Spoils of War (Season 7 Episode 4)

Game of Thrones Season 7 Episode 4 “The Spoils of War” marks the halfway point of the season — and oh, how the time has flown by. But these things do happen when a season is only seven episodes long.

The shortened season can really be felt, too. Gone (for the most part) are the scenes where characters share dialogue where the sole purpose isn’t pushing the narrative along.

As if the metronome of this season has considerably picked up tempo, Game of Thrones — more than ever before — is simply moving along, desperate to get to its endpoint as quickly as possible.

But what is that endpoint? It’s dreadfully clear that the series is moving steadily towards that finish line — but is it the final resolution/death of Cersei (Lena Headey), or is it the climactic battle between the living and the White Walkers? Is it both?

In certain ways, the Night King’s story finally coming to a head with the rest of the narrative both does and does not fit in with the show we’ve always been presented with.

The Night King, as we’ve seen him portrayed thus far, is evil incarnate. Having him as the ultimate Big Bad does, in a way, fit in with some of the villainous characters we’ve had in the past.

Joffrey, Ramsay, and even Euron were bad people who did bad things. There was nothing redeemable about them, and they had practically no nuance. They also were (and are) embodiments of evil.

On the other hand, we also have characters, like Cersei and Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), who are nothing but nuance.

They are characters that exist on a fluid moral spectrum. Even when they do despicable things, there’s at least a small amount of relatable humanity at play there.

Ultimately, this is a question of who is the Big Bad: the Night King or Cersei? Which of the two makes the most sense viewed in the span of the series? The show wants us to think it’s the former. This is a show that, at one point, surprised us. Perhaps it can subvert our expectations once more.

In any case, off to the finish line we go.

As has been true all season, a near reckless abandon to get to that point has resulted in a flurry of plot points that just seem to be occurring. Tick, tick, tick, goes the metronome.

This all could result in diminishing returns if the conclusion of this season — and the series overall — isn’t immensely satisfying. As with most things, execution is key, and what lies ahead often flavors what came before. The only way this rapid burning of plot is ultimately worth it is if the payoff is excellent enough to warrant that.

In the meantime, Game of Thrones is giving us worthwhile character beats, even if they mostly are in service of a greater narrative — and some moments end up being infuriating.

One such moment occurs between Littlefinger (Aidan Gillen) and Bran (Isaac Hempstead Wright). Why on this green Earth would Littlefinger give Bran the Valyrian dagger that an assassin attempted to use to kill him? It makes zero sense.

Before Littlefinger sent Sansa (Sophie Turner) to marry Ramsay Bolton at Winterfell, he always seemed like someone with a meticulous plan, and anything that anyone ever did played perfectly into it. Since then, however, he has given the not-at-all subtle impression that he is, in fact, dumb.

These two Littlefingers are at severe odds with each other and eventually this disparity needs to be resolved.

On a happier note: One can’t escape the heartwarming tenderness of the Stark girls reuniting.

It’s so powerful that you almost forget that these two bitterly hated each other in the first season — and a large part of the reason why we forget is that they forget it, too.

The huge bright spot of this episode is undoubtedly the Lannister/Dothraki battle at the end.

This season all but promised a battle with a dragon at some point, and it did not disappoint. This was also the exact right moment for this battle. Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) could only stay on the sidelines for so long before Chekhov’s Gun would demand this very sequence.

Plus, Team Daenerys needed a win for once.

Game of Thrones has often wondered what a dragon-centric battle would look like in Westeros, and it turns out that it’s violent and destructive. Who knew?

Some Stray Thoughts:

• Did anyone else scream at Meera: “Just go. Forget about this weirdo. You’ve been pulling him around for about a century!” Just me?
• Is there a reason Davos is suddenly the weirdest guy in the room when he’s around Missandei? Beyond the obvious?
• Daenerys and Missandei gossiping about their respective sex lives might be the best thing.
• No, you freaked out when Bran fired back at Littlefinger with Littlefinger’s own “Chaos is a ladder” line.

What did you think of this episode of Game of Thrones? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

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Game of Thrones airs Sundays at 9/8c on HBO.

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