Game of Thrones has its first winner: Bronn

For the third episode in a row, Game of Thrones has devoted its final act to the sort of blockbuster battle sequence that would’ve been unthinkable on TV a few years ago. Now it’s a weekly treat, and the dish presented to us in ‘The Spoils of War’ was the most visceral, disarming battle since Jon Snow and Ramsay Bolton went head to head in the sludge at Winterfell.

Indeed, the sequence – led by a shot of Bronn in the chaos which owes a lot to the opening scene of The Revenant – overshadows all that comes before it. Raised eyebrows abound as Jon and Dany enjoy a deeply flirtatious look at cave paintings, whilst Arya, Sansa and Bran are reunited (reminding us that three way conversations between child actors are, at best, tedious). In King’s Landing, Cersei settles her debts with the Iron Bank and immediately takes out a second mortgage on the Red Keep.