Winter is Coming
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We saw “The Spoils of War” on the big screen at one of HBO’s special screenings

ByDan Selcke|

Game of Thrones is one of the most lavishly produced shows in existence, to the point where it often looks more like a feature film than a TV show. It just seems like it belongs on the big screen, with the battles and the dragons and whatnot.

HBO must feel the same way, because they’re currently holding screenings of “The Spoils of War” — the best episode from the most season of Game of Thrones — in select theaters across the nation. The tour has already hit New York City and has yet to get to Los Angeles. I was lucky enough to catch it in Chicago this past weekend, courtesy of HBO.

To start, the organizers went all out gussying up the theater for the occasion, with Game of Thrones flair everywhere. The entranceway in front of the escalators alone was worth writing home about:

They also had a wall of props and character photos, with Jon Snow in the middle:

I also loved the full-scale map of Westeros they had, modeled after the one on Dragonstone:

Fact: If three or more people stand around this thing, they will, through no conscious choice of their own, start planning the invasion of the continent.

But the highlight was probably the two thrones: the Iron Throne…

…and the Dragonstone throne:

Naturally, visitors were invited to sit upon the thrones. A good king or queen needs more a throne to rule well, but it helps.

HBO is doing all of this to celebrate the release of the Game of Thrones season 7 home boxset, which comes replete with audio commentaries, behind-the-scenes featurettes, History and Lore mini-documentaries and more. To that end, before the episode began, we were treated to a sneak peak of several of those features, and saw Conquest and Rebellion, an animated documentary about Aegon Targaryen’s original invasion of Westeros, in full. Check out a snippet below:

The documentary covers everything from the fall of Valyria to the building of Dragonstone to every detail of the invasion itself and beyond. Part of the reason Game of Thrones feels so at home on the big screen is its tremendous scope, and Conquest and Rebellion definitely embraces that. On top of that, it’s narrated by a number of series mainstays, a couple of whom even perform dialogue. (Harry Lloyd as Aegon Targaryen! Pilou Asbæk as Harren the Black!) The whole thing is well worth a look.

As for “The Spoils of War,” it’s every bit as impressive in a movie theater as you’d expect, particularly the battle. Some of the shots the production pulled off for this episode — the Dothraki clashing with the Lannister shield line, Drogon burning through a wagon train, Jaime charging down Daenerys — are so big and bold and exciting that it’s going to be hard going back to watching them on TV.

However, other parts of the episode don’t fare as well. Game of Thrones sometimes has a dark color palette, as in the scene where Arya and Sansa reunite in the Winterfell crypts. While it’s easy to excuse or ignore this when watching from your couch, seeing the image on a huge movie screen highlights how dim it is, although the emotions between the two sisters come through as strong as ever.

Overall, the experience was an absolute blast. After Game of Thrones is over, I recommend some theater somewhere show the whole thing on repeat forever and ever. But until then, you’ve got one more chance to see “Spoils” on the big screen when it comes to Los Angeles next weekend:

Los Angeles

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