Game of Thrones season 7 - Episodes 3 & 4

The Queen's Justice
Following last season's reveal of Jon's parents, this moment was always going to be a key scene and it was handled with great care. From the awkward formalities to Jon's stiffness and Daenerys' expectations, this was going to be a battle of a different kind. Daenerys demands loyalty and for Jon to bend the knee before further talks but he has little care for petit oaths when he's seen the oncoming threat.

Where a scene as early as this might have concluded with a sense of closure, The Queen's Justice takes a different approach and ends in deadlock when news of what happened with Euron reaches Dragonstone. This will probably be made worse when she learns of Casterly Rock.

Speaking of, Cersei is able to meet the woman who poisoned her daughter and exacts the same revenge with Ellaria's Tyene. It wasn't clear how long the poison will take and if a cure can be found in time but this was this episode's 'dark and meaty' part that was thrilling to watch. Revenge rarely goes to plan in Game of Thrones so colour me curious to see how this will pan out.

The episode then concludes with the fall of Highgarden and the death of Olenna Tyrell who goes out swinging with a nasty sting to Jaime about Joffrey's death. Diana Rigg was a breath of fresh air when she entered the show and has been great to watch ever since so it only seemed right that her character to end with a little more straight-talking. Now will this bring Jaime closer to Cersei having been disturbed by what he found when came home?

The Spoils of War
Bran's return in the last episode gave a small hint towards how his time north of The Wall affected him but now we really saw how the once curious little boy who climbed everywhere has changed. This was present most clearly during his time with Arya and Sansa but Littlefinger was probably even taken aback a little by this.

Littlefinger has had a bad run lately with making characters feel uneasy and making them question how far he can be trusted, but with Bran there was none of that. This time it was the young boy who knew more and could see beyond Littlefinger's games which did not matter to him. I really enjoyed Bran's scenes last season and I'm hoping we'll get to experience more of his visions in the episodes to come.

But Bran's return did not sit easy with Sansa who wants her family back but Arya returns with a sword and kill-list. The Stark children are not exactly on the same path anymore, and I also look forward to seeing if Jon will return in time to find them all. Arya probably stands out the most as she has little interest in what lies north and if she continues on her path, it will be very interesting to see where it leads as she enters the land of three dragons.

Back in Dragonstone, Jon shows some signs of progress with Daenerys but this is quickly halted when she learns of Casterly Rock. We then see the dragon inside her who wants vengeance but Jon wisely talks her back from this and challenges her to do better.

This scene is then followed by a somewhat odd one where Jon and Davos talk with Missandei. I could be reading too much into this but it almost hints that the two are questioning if Daenerys is as good as Missandei claims her to be. If that is the case and if this scene is to develop, I would say that it was the weakest moment this season with Davos' humour added in that didn't quite gel for me. With that said, we quickly moved on to Theon's return and here we witnessed another reunion of sorts.

Further south, Cersei repays outstanding debts to the Iron Bank with gold from Highgarden but then we witness Daenerys unleash her fury on Jaime's men with her dragons and army leading the attack. It was thrilling to watch and a real standout moment packed to the brim with action and horror in equal mix, particularly during Bronn's desperate fight for survival.

Daenerys' dragon takes a critical hit from Bronn who then saves Jaime but now their fate remains uncertain. Tyrion saw the two on the battlefield and is now left in an even worse position than he was at the start should Daenerys leave their fate in his hands...