Game Of Thrones Season 7: 10 Ups And 2 Downs From 'The Spoils Of War'

3. Arya Trains With Brienne

Article lead image
HBO

It's not just Sansa who Arya sees again here, as she comes face to face with Brienne, the woman she watched duel (and ostensibly murder) the Hound back in Season 4.

We get a reminder of that, and an even closer look at the Catspaw dagger, which is surely going to become more prominent in the coming episodes - say, to, kill Littlefinger with perhaps? There's definitely some foreshadowing of that here, and it's more than welcome.

The fight with Brienne itself is great to watch, as it moves from some gentle sparring to a more intense duel, and an excellent clash of different styles. There is a lot of Arya's training with Syrio Forel in this fight, as she dances around Brienne's slashing sword, but also shades of the Hound and the Waif too. The callbacks ("No one" taught her to fight like that) only served to make this unexpected fight all the more satisfying.

Poor Pod though: that guy can't catch a break.

Advertisement
Contributor
Contributor

NCTJ-qualified journalist. Most definitely not a racing driver. Drink too much tea; eat too much peanut butter; watch too much TV. Sadly only the latter paying off so far. A mix of wise-old man in a young man's body with a child-like wonder about him and a great otherworldly sensibility.