So what do you suppose transpired before they came out of the cave after that scene ? Part of me thought he did say F it and just bent the knee. Between doing that and facing the white walkers without Dany’s help what difference would it make. Plus the whole thing with the hieroglyphs and everyone coming together for one cause.
OTOH I guess she could have given in after seeing the drawings.
I think he bent …her over the rocks for some hot Auntie/nephew action.
Davos did suggest something along those lines !
I’m not sure what was leaked, but the better ending would have been for Tyrion to have saved Jamie, not Bronn. At least then there’s a justified pause in the fighting so that they can talk (and have Jamie surrender) before the dragon roasts them both alive.
How do we know that was Bronn who knocked Jaime off his horse? The scene was shot so as to deliberately not expose the identity of the second rider.
And how do we know that action was to save Jaime and not to defend Dany?
I can actually think of three people who that might have been: Dickon Tarly, Bronn, or (talk about a crazy thing) Jorah who was defending Dany?
Can the dragon drag the two of them back from the bottom of the lake?
Could even have been Dickon (not Rickon 
who knocked Jaime off his horse and into Blackwater Rush.
In addition to the great battle sequence, I thought a key highlight of the show was Littlefinger realizing that he is screwed between Bran knowing everything he has done, and Arya now having the catspaw dagger and also knowing that he plotted against the Starks (remember her as Tywin’s cupbearer at Harrenhall way back when?). Good to see him squirm.
Episodes like this also make you appreciate the camerawork, editing and stunt work that go into pulling off a complex battle scene like that. Very cool to see the Dothraki go up on one knee while on horseback to shoot arrows.
Baelish is boned to the Nth degree. Couldn’t have happened to a nicer scumbag.
This is outstanding.
Agreed. Awesome explication, and he cleared up a few things as well. Let’s see next week how his prognostications play out. 
This really is one of the greatest shows ever made. Are there really only 2 episodes left???
Yup. Only 2 for this year and 8 for next year, which is the also the series’ end, sadly. Next year, several of the episodes are supposed to be longer than ever.
I think there are still 3 left this year.
That video explication that Mr. JSA posted implied that this is the season with 8 episodes. The fellow on the video said that “we are officially halfway through this season” with Episode 4. I could have sworn there with six shows this year and eight next. But who cares? There’s more GoT to go than I thought.
I wouldn’t be surprised if it was Dickon
I couldn’t figure out where Dickon came from this season since the actor also was in Blacksails. After looking it up this morning I realize that he was a recast and where his character fits in. It was distracting trying to figure out how the pirate went back in time.
https://winteriscoming.net/...me-thrones-season-7/
He’s mentioned a bit in the first book, with Samwell’s arrival at Castle Black and his father’s disowning (as well as threatened murder) of him if he didn’t take the black and join the Night’s Watch. Dickon, Rickon…that’s been a running joke the last couple of episodes. First it was Jaime with Randyll Tarly, when he first meets Dickon and asks “You’re Rickon?” Then Bronn has some sport with his name.
Dickon seems a good egg, though. I hope he made it through all that dragonfire. I’d hate to see his calcined bones in the next episode. LOL!
Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard had his cameo last night; of course they had him throw something where he was a Lannister soldier who threw a spear through one of the Dothraki.
But it was Drogon who brought the heat
Hahahahahahahahahaha! Best rejoinder of the Episode 4 thread portion so far!
That was classic, what she had the dragon do with its first fire burst: breach the enemy’s line and then pour forces through it so that they could get in the Lannister army’s rear and wreak havoc. Then she had the dragon destroy the supply train in bursts (in between providing fire support for her Dothraki troops). The dragon was working its way toward the wagon carrying the Scorpion bolt and probably would have gotten to it, but until it was unveiled it looked like any other supply wagon. It was also clear that she didn’t want to kill every enemy soldier, figuring she’d need more converts to her cause, all while showing that she’s a merciful conqueror. Yada yada (LOL!).
Dany’s not a tactician or even a very good strategist, so she wouldn’t have necessarily been skilled at picking out a heavy weapon like the Scorpion wagon among all those grain and other loot wagons. At least, that’s what I saw. But I’m often wrong, so who knows?
Using the dragon to make a breach in the line was smart, since it’s pretty hard for cavalry to get through a well-marshalled spear line (at least it is in any of the more credible historical fiction books I’ve read…). Setting fire to the supply wagons just seemed plain stupid to me, given that earlier in the episode she herself had made the point that she had the biggest army to feed and Cersei had just taken all the Tyrell food supplies. Maybe she needed to set fire to the front of the line to cause the rest of the wagons to back up, but after that point she should have been killing troops and trying to capture as many wagons intact as possible, both for supplies and loot to keep her troops happy.
If Jaime ends up a prisoner are we going to see a prisoner exchange for Yara?
That’s my point about Dany not being an able tactician and definitely not a strategist. But having an entire firebreathing air force can overcome battlefield tactical foul ups as well as allow her to dictate strategy even when she doesn’t know what that should be at that time. She listened to Tyrion, and when what he was saying wasn’t jibing with what she was seeing she turned to Jon Snow, who she knows has controlled armies and developed strategy before. And his counsel was wise and timely.
So what do you suppose transpired before they came out of the cave after that scene ? Part of me thought he did say F it and just bent the knee. Between doing that and facing the white walkers without Dany’s help what difference would it make. Plus the whole thing with the hieroglyphs and everyone coming together for one cause.
OTOH I guess she could have given in after seeing the drawings.
I think he bent …her over the rocks for some hot Auntie/nephew action.
I was waiting for one of us filthy animals to make exactly that comment. Thanks for delivering, sir.
I guess the other factor is that burning wagons makes for great TV, and in a show where fleets can go round whole continents in the blink of an eye then magicking up some more grain isn’t going to give the writers too many sleepless nights…
With so few episodes left there’s one storyline I feel won’t be resolved. Given that there are so few true armies left in Westeros, it’s fairly easy to see how the iron throne & night king storylines can resolve themselves in so few episodes.
The one I fear won’t be resolved in time will be Sam. No way he becomes a maester in 8 (or however many are left) episodes.
I guess the other factor is that burning wagons makes for great TV, and in a show where fleets can go round whole continents in the blink of an eye then magicking up some more grain isn’t going to give the writers too many sleepless nights…
It’s funny, because grain is also discussed in the Winterfell/Sansa storyline at the moment (including last week’s episode). Sansa is really focused on grain stores, perhaps in a more realistic manner than is treated in the King’s Landing/Jaime/Lannister loot train storyline.
You’re right: I don’t think the writers will crack too much of a sweat over some grain stores going up in a flash of dragonfire.
With so few episodes left there’s one storyline I feel won’t be resolved. Given that there are so few true armies left in Westeros, it’s fairly easy to see how the iron throne & night king storylines can resolve themselves in so few episodes.
The one I fear won’t be resolved in time will be Sam. No way he becomes a maester in 8 (or however many are left) episodes.
There’s something coming up in next week’s episode, because the preview showed Jon Snow telling everyone that Brandon/Three-Eyed Raven had seen the Night King’s army approaching Eastwatch-by-the-Sea, the castle and port at the eastern end of the Wall. Didn’t Jon and Tormund of the Wildlings agree that Tormund’s people would go to Eastwatch and guard it against the army of the dead? They’re in deep shiite if that’s case.
It’s like bringing an F16 to Little Big Horn! She could have wiped them out without losing a man. She lost a number of fighters.
Yes but based on that she only needed one ? !
Maybe she knew after one got hurt that they are somewhat vulnerable so why not hold the other ones back.
That or it’s harder to control them unless she’s in direct contack, i.e riding on one ?
I’m going for your first guess. She controlled all three just fine when she destroyed the slaver fleet at the battle for Meereen.
I think it’s the matter of control. At Mereen there were no other forces in the water, the dragons had free reign to burn at their will with no risk of friendly fire. The Blackwater was different.
Great episode though. Shame the gold got through to KL though. That would have been an interesting set up for the rest of the war: both sides only having the forces in the field to command with no prospect of mercenaries to bolster them (or better yet, Euron goes and gets the golden company, then they arrive to find that Cersei can’t actually pay them).
So what do you suppose transpired before they came out of the cave after that scene ? Part of me thought he did say F it and just bent the knee. Between doing that and facing the white walkers without Dany’s help what difference would it make. Plus the whole thing with the hieroglyphs and everyone coming together for one cause.
OTOH I guess she could have given in after seeing the drawings.
I think he bent …her over the rocks for some hot Auntie/nephew action.
I was waiting for one of us filthy animals to make exactly that comment. Thanks for delivering, sir.
My pleasure but credit all goes to my wife.
It’s like bringing an F16 to Little Big Horn! She could have wiped them out without losing a man. She lost a number of fighters.
Yes but based on that she only needed one ? !
Maybe she knew after one got hurt that they are somewhat vulnerable so why not hold the other ones back.
That or it’s harder to control them unless she’s in direct contack, i.e riding on one ?
I’m going for your first guess. She controlled all three just fine when she destroyed the slaver fleet at the battle for Meereen.
I think it’s the matter of control. At Mereen there were no other forces in the water, the dragons had free reign to burn at their will with no risk of friendly fire. The Blackwater was different.
Great episode though. Shame the gold got through to KL though. That would have been an interesting set up for the rest of the war: both sides only having the forces in the field to command with no prospect of mercenaries to bolster them (or better yet, Euron goes and gets the golden company, then they arrive to find that Cersei can’t actually pay them).
Yup. Essosi sellswords and that Golden Company could make things a bit sticky for Dany and her Unsullied and Dothraki forces. If there were no money to hire them they wouldn’t be a complicating factor.
I thought she destroyed a lot of the gold with all the dragon fire burny ashes.
I thought she destroyed a lot of the gold with all the dragon fire burny ashes.
Nope. The gold wagons made it through to King’s Landing all in one piece. That battle scene opens with Randyll Tarly telling that to Jaime and Bronn.
I guess the other factor is that burning wagons makes for great TV, and in a show **where fleets can go round whole continents in the blink of an eye **then magicking up some more grain isn’t going to give the writers too many sleepless nights…
I’ve heard lots of people complaining about how “fast” the traveling is done. It’s not that they are traveling fast, the show is skipping long periods of time between the scenes and episodes. Time does indeed go by at it’s normal pace, we just don’t see it. It’s an important difference.
But the accelerated pace is distracting and abrupt.
.