‘Game Of Thrones’ Season 7, Episode 4 Recap Of ‘The Spoils Of War’: Daenerys Takes Matters Into Her Own Hands

Episode 4 of HBO’s Game of Thrones has been overshadowed by its leak prior to the air date. While many people have already illegally downloaded this episode, for those who chose to wait, here is what went down.

SPOILER ALERT: This article reveals details about Episode 4 (titled “The Spoils of War”) of Season 7 of HBO’s Game of Thrones. Please proceed with caution if you wish to avoid spoilers.

Since Highgarden was taken in Episode 3 of Game of Thrones, Bronn (Jerome Flynn) is now asking Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) for it. Jaime, however, refuses insisting the war is not won yet and they really should be getting their spoils of war back to Braavos so the Lannister debt can be paid off. Bronn grudgingly agrees.

Meanwhile, in King’s Landing, Braavos is impressed with how quickly Cersei (Lena Headey) has amassed gold to pay the debt and are now offering their services, happily, to the Lannisters again: so long as the gold actually makes it to Braavos.

In Winterfell, Arya Stark (Maisie Williams) finally returns home. The guards don’t believe her at first, but the problem is eventually rectified and Arya and Sansa (Sophie Turner) are reunited. There is much for them to catch up on but Arya won’t reveal the names on her list. She also gets a happy reunion with her brother, Bran (Isaac Hempstead Wright).

Bran is finding many people are catching up with him in Episode 4 of Game of Thrones. Meera (Ellie Kendrick) wants a heartfelt goodbye from Bran now she has completed her task by getting him safely home. Bran, now the all-seeing Three-Eye Raven, is not the person she used to know and this goodbye does not really go according to Meera’s plans.

Littlefinger is also spreading himself thin, trying to get in tight with all of those he thinks are important now in the game of thrones. He offers Bran the knife that was once used in the foiled assassination plot against Bran. Littlefinger thinks he might be in sweet with Bran until the Stark uses a line Littlefinger once used in a conversation with Varys (Conleth Hill). According to the Independent, the line, “Chaos is a ladder,” was used by Littlefinger back in Episode 6 of Season 3. Littlefinger can likely assume Bran knows everything about him and he just might want to watch his back around Bran, as well as all of the Starks, if he really wants to stay safe in Game of Thrones.

In addition, if you are a fan of watching Brienne (Gwendoline Christie), Episode 4 of Game of Thrones Season 7 is a great one for you as Brienne and Arya manage to have a mock sword fight in between all the other intrigues at Winterfell.

Back in the South, Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) is struggling with getting Jon Snow (Kit Harington) to bend at the knee in Episode 4 of Game of Thrones Season 7. She is also losing armies at a staggering rate, so she knows she needs the King in the North. He knows it too, but he isn’t about to bow to her without arguing some more about the white walkers. Lucky for him he has found, not only the dragonglass under Dragonstone, but a cavern that shows drawings from the Children of the forest. These images show that they also once fought the white walkers with the help of the First Men. It’s still not enough. Daenerys will only help if Jon bends at the knee.

Daenerys is also trying to figure out what to do about her loss of armies. She wants to hop on her dragons and burn the Lannister army to the ground. Jon doesn’t think this is a good idea. Daenerys goes against him, anyway. She also questions Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage) about his loyalty to her.

So, Daenerys flies off on her dragons in search of Jaime’s army. She takes the Dothraki with her in an attempt at a fair battle on the ground.

And what a battle it is.

Where Game of Thrones fans lose in episode length, they more than gain in CGI. Daenerys is seen flying over the top of Jaime’s army, the dragon burning everything in sight. The Dothraki then storm through the flames and attack those still standing.

Tyrion looks on. At times, he seems both sad and fearful for Jaime.

But, there is little time to reflect on this because Jaime is sending Bronn off to ready the dragon-killing crossbow they have on hand. Bronn actually manages to make it through the battle unscathed. His horse doesn’t, but Bronn doesn’t need his horse to help him fire the crossbow, and eventually, he does let a round off at Daenerys on top her dragon.

Does it work though?

At first, the audience doesn’t know because the bolt misses. It is close enough for Daenerys to get a decent look at it though.

The second arrow pierces the dragon and suddenly Daenerys is falling along with the dragon. Before fans have a chance to catch their breath, though, the dragon has regained its flight and burns the crossbow to a crisp. It then staggers around while Daenerys tries to pull the bolt free.

Jaime sees his chance and runs towards them. Tyrion is horrified as he watched the dragon ready itself to blast Jaime. However, Jaime is knocked out of the way at the very last second and pushed into the river.

As for whether Jaime survives the fiery blast or not, fans will have to tune into next week’s Game of Thrones episode to find out.

What did you think of Episode 4 of Game of Thrones Season 7? Let us know your thoughts and theories by commenting below.

Season 7 of HBO’s Game of Thrones will return on Sunday, August 13, with Episode 5.

You can view the trailer for Episode 5 of Game of Thrones Season 7 below.

[Featured Image by Macall B. Polay/HBO]