WARNING: Serious "Game of Thrones" spoilers... really.
At the half way point of the shortened seventh season of Game of Thrones, there has been no shortage of drama and action — something viewers have grown accustomed to.
Using the first two epodes as building blocks, the third and fourth episodes deliver the type of television that has kept Game of Thrones fans on the edges of their seats since season one premiered six years ago.
The Queen's Justice
The big payoff in this episode is the long-awaited meeting between Daenerys, now settling into her throne at Dragonstone and Jon Snow, King of the North. However, fans that were expecting the two to get along at first were probably disappointed as they bickered and argued.
Daenerys' constant attempts at getting Jon to "bend the knee" were futile as Jon's only focus was to try and get Daenerys' support in the imminent war against the Night King and his White Walker army. Daenerys has a hard time believing in the existence of White Walkers in the first place. The two are left in a sort of stalemate.
To the west, Euron Greyjoy returns to King's Landing with a prize for Cersei: Ellaria Sand, the woman who murdered Cersei's daughter and also Sand Snake, Tyene who is Ellaria's daughter.
Cersei, hell-bent on revenge, imprisons both Ellaria and Tyene. Cersei then kisses Tyene with lips coated with the same poison Ellaria used to kill Myrcella in season five.
Ellaria, chained up now has to endure a fate worse than death: watching as her daughter dies from poison while she can't do a thing about it. Cersei tells Ellaria she will "force food down her throat" so that she will stay alive long enough to watch her daughter's body decay and turn to dust.
This moment further accentuates what we all already knew: Cersei is a heartless monster who will stop at nothing to get revenge after losing all three of her kids throughout the seasons.
The Spoils of War
The fourth episode of the recent season is without a doubt the most exciting and is arguably one of the most exciting in the show's history.
With Bran returning to Winterfell in the previous episode, viewers were hoping to see his older sister, Arya return Winterfell as well. Viewers were not disappointed as Arya returns to Winterfell a seemingly whole different person than the little 11-year-old girl we saw when the series started.
After years of training with her sword, 'Needle' Arya is now quite the swordswoman, able to surprisingly beat Brienne, the much bigger and experienced fighter in a friendly duel.
Although Jon is in Dragonstone, Bran (now the 'Three-Eyed Raven'), Sansa and Arya are all in Winterfell and it is the first time we have seen that many Stark children together in the same place since the first seasons of the show.
However, the real excitement of episode four comes when Deanerys decides she is fed up with "foolish plans" and decides to take things into her own hands.
The Breaker of Chains takes her Dothraki army and goes on the offensive. The battle ensues between Jamie Lannister and the Lannister army vs. the Dothraki and Daenerys who enters the battle on the back of her dragon Drogon (so awesome).
As expected, Drogon destroys everything in his path with blazing hot dragon fire and there was not much Jamie and the Lannister army could do about it.
However, it is not completely hopeless as Ser Bronn of The Blackwater takes charge and unleashes the Lannister's secret weapon: A giant crossbow contraption capable of cracking dragon skull.
Bronn connects with Drogon, hitting but not killing the dragon, which brings Daenerys and Drogon down from the air. While on the ground Daenerys and Jamie come face to face with each other. Irrationally, Jamie decides it is a good idea to charge at an angry dragon, Drogon breaths fire and Jamie is barely saved as, presumably, Bronn jumps to save him, knocking him into the water.
The combination of an action-filled Dothraki battle and the heartfelt emotion of reunited Stark children make this episode one to remember.
As we all know, in Game of Thrones, no character is safe and anything can happen in George R.R. Martin's fantasy world. Therefore, fans should be counting down the days for episode five.
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