The Spoils of War

The Ending Part is really well-done. CGI & Music is sooo good. other parts are good too. Winterfell & Dragonstone.

Easily just as great as the Battle of the Bastards and The Winds of Winter. Action packed from the beginning to the end. It will be hard for the following episodes to compare to this one. If they are remotely close or better, we are in full a ride for the rest of the season. Can't wait till the next episode, to see how this is going to play out. The spoils of war is only 50 minutes, what are the hour + episodes are going to bring? 10/10 easily

A tremendous episode! It features a rather interesting and rather intimate moment between Jon and Daenerys. An unexpected and quite entertaining action sequence also occurs between Arya and Brienne. And Jon Snow encounters still another familiar face.

But this episode will mostly be remembered for the simply amazing battle at the end.

The spectacular and horrific battle sequence had me on the edge of my seat. Never have so many of our favorite characters been placed in so much peril-- including the dragon. The epic battle scene was both astonishingly beautiful and shocking as soldiers on both sides fall victim to the cruelty of war from the ground and from the air.

Ironically, in an earlier conversation, Bronn discusses the myth of the 'glory' of war. Unfortunately,his point is suddenly illustrated when he and Jaime suddenly find themselves enveloped in an absolutely terrifying battle which will probably psychologically scar these characters for life-- if they survive:-)

This season is all about entering the "endgame" phase of Game of Thrones, yet "The Spoils of War" is the jaw-dropping installment that actually made good on promises that go back to the very finale of season 1. What would happen if the Stark kids ever saw each other again? Not just Jon and Sansa, but all of Eddard and Catelyn's living children meeting eye-to-eye, and broken soul to broken soul? And how would it feel if Daenerys finally lived up to the words "Fire and Blood" by raining holy hell upon the fields of Westeros? On the chilly side is the moment where Arya Stark finally came home to Winterfell. So many times in her life she has been denied the chance at a family reunion. She was mere feet away from Ned Stark when he lost his head, hopelessly running toward the doomed papa when a Night's Watchman named Yoren saved her from inevitable capture; she also just as helplessly ran toward the Red Wedding in a vain dash to save her mother, who she always felt she disappointed, and her beloved older brother; failure came again though when the Hound likewise saved her from certain death by stopping her; and then there was that time where guards just turned her away from the Eyrie, revealing that Lysa Arryn was dead while also unhelpfully excluding the fact that Sansa Stark was a mere mountain's trek away. Showrunners David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, who also penned this episode, conjure all these ghostly mischances when Arya on a lone horse, and with her father's haircut, crosses the snowy banks outside of Winterfell. Finally laying eyes on her childhood home as a very hardened adult, Arya fails to experience at all the exhilaration that comes from the end of an epic journey in a Disney movie. Nay, she is closer to Erich Maria Remarque's protagonist in All Quiet on the Western Front, who upon returning to his family's house realizes that he now lives "without feelings," which makes him a stranger to the people he once loved. Slowly but surely, the lines of the endgame are taking firmer shape. And it now is becoming clear that Mad Queen Cersei will figure just as prominently in the final battles as the Night King. Seven Hells, maybe they'll team up? As we approach that end, it's clear that "The Spoils of War" is one of the finest hours in Game of Thrones history. I can attest to that since this review is close to tying my longest in its number of words, and this episode is 20 minutes shorter than the one that spawned that ponderous ramble! So the episode ends with the Lannisters enduring a devastating defeat at the hands of simply Daenerys and Drogon. If she unsheathed her other two dragons, she could finish the job in an afternoon. However, she cannot since the rest of the Lannister forces are going to huddle inside King's Landing for dear life. This too, though, is to her advantage. The Lannister forces are shattered as the weather grows gray. If they leave King's Landing, they will surely die in dragon fire. Until then, Daenerys and her army of Dothraki can begin a siege on the outskirts of King's Landing. This in turn gives the Unsullied Army time enough to march from Casterly Rock to the parameter of King's Landing and join in the siege... cutting off the capital from the bread lines it just won in the Battle of Highgarden. And their edible spoils were also spoiled in flames.

After the events of the previous episode the Lannisters have the funds to repay the Iron Bank; if Jaime can get it back to King's Landing. Arya arrives at Winterfell and is finally reunited with Sansa and Brandon. At Dragonstone John finds the dragon glass and once again asks Daenerys to help in the upcoming battle in the north; he also advises her not to attack the Red Keep... that doesn't mean she isn't going to attack the Lannister forces elsewhere.

I've enjoyed season seven so far but this episode manages to take things to another level. It started well with the first half being dominated by the reunion of Arya and Sansa. These scenes were suitably handled; at first the guards try to deny Arya access to Winterfell; then when she tells Sansa about her list of people she intends to kill her sister is mildly amused... until she sees what an accomplished fighter Arya has become when she spars with Brienne. Maisie Williams, Sophie Turner and Gwendoline Christie are great in these scenes. As good as that was there was better to come as Jaime and the Lannister army are attacked by the Dothraki horde and Daenerys, who is riding a dragon. This was one of the best battle sequences to date; it started gradually as first a gentle rumble was heard; it quickly built to a crescendo as battle commences and Daenerys's dragon burnt dozens of opposing soldiers when close combat lead to the sort of mayhem one would expect... it had the intensity one would expect from a big budget Hollywood movie rather than a mid-season TV episode. I have no idea how the series will follow up this episode but look forward to finding out.