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How do you even begin to recap that episode? Wait… how do you recap that episode at all? Which dragon was that? Did Jaime just die? Was that Beric? Who just got stabbed?
I’ve been concerned about the lighting since we found out about the 55-night shoot. But if the story is that the NK and the Frozen Cadavers show up at Winterhell at night, then it is what it is.
What I do know is that if you are not a Lord of Light worshipper yet, you should probably reconsider your priorities. Join a man for a Long Night…
Lets be honest… I don’t know how any of them survived.
The Cold Before the Storm
Lots of movement. Not a lot of dialogue. The episode sets the tone from the beginning with intense music while some frantically make last minute preparations while others ponder their existence.
Sam’s hands are cold. Lyanna shouts orders (hell yes). Tyrion reluctantly heads to the crypts. The rest watch over the wall or stand on the battlefield waiting on the first signs of the impending doom. How many of them will be left, if any?
Ghost!
The Unsullied surrounding Winterfell were really a sight to behold. Dany and Jon watch over a hillside ready to find the Night King and attack by air.
And then… RED VELVET!
Melisandre lights up a Dothraki fatty, tells Davos she’ll be dead before the dawn, and before they even get a good toke in, they all go dark.
You gotta know you’re in a buttload of trouble when the same Dothraki who tore through the Lannister army during the Loot Train go down immediately to the AOTD. This is probably when my brave ass would have found a good horse and started trotting south. Sayonara MF’s!
But visually, that symbolic fire-to-darkness was actually one of my favorite scenes. Jon apparently wanted to wait for the NK to arrive. But Dany having seen all of her Dothraki faithful bite the dust in a matter of minutes is ready to take action.
And then, Winterhell broke loose.
When Dany and Drogon swoop in and light the first line of arctic ambassadors up, we get a sense that maybe there is hope. But it would go south from there pretty quickly, which is coincidentally what I was begging everybody at Winterfell to do the whole damn time, Cersei and the Golds be damned.
The Storm
At this point, it’s just a matter of which character we know and love is going to die first. I still don’t know how as many of them made it out as they did. The magic of television, I suppose.
Someone forgot to tell Jon and Dany that flying a dragon in a blizzard is not an ideal weather condition, but they try it anyway. Do dragon wings freeze up?
On the ground, it’s just utter chaos. Brienne. Jaime. Sam. Jorah. Clegane… all just fighting for their lives, and us at home holding our collective breaths.
The first major casualty was Edd, right after he saves Sam.
At the request of Arya, Sansa heads down to the crypts which is a sign to everyone down there that things above are not going well.
Brienne and Tormund begin commanding everyone fall back to the castle and Lyanna orders the gate to be opened to allow reentry. Worm and the Unsullied stand to protect the retreat where I was fully prepared to see him die next. Instead, he backs up and orders the trench to be lit and struggles with the decision to pull the bridge knowing that he is leaving his Unsullied brothers to die.
Davos signals to Dany to light the trench, but blizzard conditions. So, they try to do it with arrows which fail because of, you know, blizzard conditions.
RED to the rescue! The Lord of Light lights it up again. And the Hound REALLY retreats.
Back down in the crypt, Tyrion is itching to be up where the action is but Sansa wisely reminds him that there is nothing he could do. Sansa tells Tyrion that he was the best of them and goes on to say that a marriage now wouldn’t work out because of their divided loyalties. Missandei reminds them that without the Dragon Queen, they would already be dead.
This was your subtle reminder that even though a victory eventually happened, there are going to be issues with sides even after this is over. Yes… more Jon and Dany drama.
Back at the Weirwood, Theon tries to apologize to Bran. But Bran interrupts and tells Theon that he is exactly where he needs to be… home.
World War Z 2
We finally get a glimpse of the NK who orders the dead to start sacrificing themselves by laying on and smothering out the trench fire, creating bridges and leading to World War Z Pt. 2. In the meantime, Jon spots the NK on his dragon and takes back to the air to chase him down.
Once the walls were breached, I just don’t know how any of them survived (how many times am I going to say this), especially Jaime, Brienne and Pod. At one point, it looked like Jaime had four dead on him and a few seconds later he was freed. Don’t get me wrong… Im happy he made it. His presence will definitely make the eventual meeting with Cersei more intriguing. But come on.
Ok. Enough nitpicking. For now, anyway.
As the dead encroach, our hero Arya gets to work smashing everything she sees much to the amazement of Davos. The only thing that could get the Hound back in the game was to see Arya in trouble as she had saved him earlier with an arrow shot from the wall.
One of my biggest fears for all of them were the giant wights. Unfortunately, it was the brave Lyanna Mormont who would get the misfortune of meeting one of them first. And it didn’t go well. In her final act of heroism and even after her insides had been crushed, Lyanna stabbed the giant in the eyeball with dragonglass, killing it instantly. RIP Lady Mormont.
In one of the most iconic scenes, Jon and Dany find the NK in the air and get hazed with blue fire. The two dragons flying above the clouds during their search in the moonlight were beautiful.
Arya somehow finds herself in a library that Sam is NOT in, but instead is full of dead people. In one of the more terrifying sequences, Arya finds herself on the run (the scene from the trailer, no less) and eventually crashes through a door where Beric and the Hound are standing. Beric throws his lightsaber to save her life but also leaves himself unarmed. Dammit… this would be the end of the great Beric Dondarrion.
Velvet makes it clear that the Lord of Light brought back Beric to serve a purpose and that the purpose had been served (to save Arya). Then, she reminds her about the “eyes” comment. Brown. Green. BLUE.
The dead begin to encroach on Bran while Jon and the NK battle dragons in the air. The NK is knocked off Viserion as is Jon off of Rhaegal. And when Dany has her chance… Dracarys. Unfortunately, and unsurprisingly, it doesn’t work.
But Jon sees his opportunity to go after ol’ blue eyes himself. Of course, the issue is that blue eyes can raise the dead surrounding him and Jon never makes it. When the dead start rising all around the castle, the general reaction from everyone was, “we’re fucking toast.”
To make it worse, the dead in the crypts rise as well and now all of the women and children are as good as gone. Tyrion and Sansa share a sentimental moment realizing that they are both about to perish. Maybe they do end up together after all, and it is considered a betrayal. But that’s just some worthless Oz conjecture for ya.
As Dany lands to save Jon (who then runs to save Bran), Drogon is piled on by the dead knocking Dany to the ground. Drogon is forced to fly off just to survive and Dany is aided by Jorah.
Meanwhile, Jon does everything he can to get to Bran while Theon does everything he can to protect him. But Jon cant get there due to the ice-fire-blaster Viserion burning the joint down.
Whenever the Djawadi piano music hits in GoT, be ready for tragedy. In this case, Jorah goes down fighting like hell and Theon goes down on a suicide run at the NK. Both gave their lives. Both redeemed. Fuck this show anyway.
And just as Jon is about to get freeze barbecued and Bran is about to get NK’d, Arya jumps in like a wolf to attack ol’ Blue Eyes. When he catches her in mid-air, I was sure she was done. But Arya drops the dagger into her other hand and plunges it into the NK. He shatters. The dead all drop. And the Great War is concluded.
With her job fulfilled, Velvet walks among the piles of bodies, drops her necklace, and quickly dies of old age as Davos looks on.
Poetic. Haunting. Tragic.
Episode 803 Personal Awards
Favorite Quotes:
“Stick them with the pointy end.” -Arya
“At least we’re already in the crypt.” -Varys
“Fuck off! We cant beat them.” – Clegane
“Brown eyes. Green eyes. BLUE eyes.”
The unspoken “I’ve always loved you” by the dying Jorah Mormont.
Favorite Sequence: Way too many to pinpoint. So much of it was visually stunning. I’ve already watched it twice and really can’t wait to watch it again.
The “Ow, That Shit Hurts Award” goes to: There were plenty, but Beric’s damn death by a hundred jab holes was horrible for me.
Official Season 8 DEAD Penis Count: A HUNDRED THOUSAND
Death Toll: Jorah, Beric, Red Velvet, Lyanna Mormont, Theon, Edd, Qhono, and the Night King with all of his groupies.
Overall Thoughts: The expectations for this episode were so high that there was no possible way it was going to meet everyone’s expectations. But for me, it did. To truly understand how incredibly difficult it had to be to film this at night over an extended period of time and to even get close to getting the lighting right without making it look like there were spotlights everywhere is really astounding.
That said, it was difficult to follow at times. But hell, it should have been. Thousands of dead people invading should invoke chaos. And on screen, it looked chaotic. Yes, there were plenty of television’s magical “happened to be in the right place at the right time to save someone” sequences. But I’m not going to take a dump on something that had me on the edge of the couch for an hour and twenty minutes and felt like a movie over a couple of lucky coincidences.
I’m probably most pleased with the fact that it was neither Jon nor Dany who killed the Night King. It was f’in Arya!
What are your thoughts? Share them below and let’s discuss. We ain’t got many left.
Until next week, hang out and stay awhile. Invite a friend to join us. And may there always be peace in your realm. –Oz
Follow Oz on Twitter.
**SPOILER NOTE: The Management of this fine site would like to remind you that spoilers (book or leak) are not allowed in Unsullied posts. This includes spoilers covered by code or otherwise. Personally, I appreciate feedback from Sullied and Unsullied alike, so long as they do not include any type of hinting or conversation related to the written verse. However, spoiler coded comments do tend to lead to further Sullied conversation and for that reason, we ask that you please refrain from posting any SPOILERY content whatsoever in Unsullied posts. Thank you for the coop, ya’ shits. -Oz
Dany fighting with her sword was fucking awesome! Also kudos to Emilia and Iain, they killed it!
I didn’t hate the episode or anything like that… but I’m disappointed by the overall execution. I’m all for subverting our expectations, and I’m fine with fan service, but some of this was just… too much contrivance. Pretty much everyone should be dead after the way they were swarmed. But plot armor saved almost everyone important.
I’m so grossed out by the fact that all the POC were on the frontline to defend the racist xenophobic trash of the North. Even the fact that Sansa was STILL throwing out the “dragon queen” whilst Dany was out there on a dragon fighting for their lives. I’m so glad Missandei was there to defend our Queen.
Sorry, but the episode sucked.
Very little about it made sense. Mel appears alone out of nowhere right on time, why? Dothraki charge into darkness alone, why? The “raising of the dead” on the crypt got like 3 people killed and they just went and hid in a different corner. Made no difference. Were Tyrion and Sansa making a suicide pact or a fighting pact? Wtf was Sansa talking about “shoving the truth in their faces”? Whose faces? The whole episode was too dark, the scenes that weren’t too dark were too snowy, and the cinematography was awful. Too choppy – it felt like a bunch of little pieces separate that didn’t flow well together. Grey Worm, Tormund, Brienne etc just battling random pockets of wights alone and you never felt like they were in real danger. WTF was Jon basically just yelling at a dragon when he was trying to just get to Bran? Theon rushing at the NK for no reason. Did Arya really just run by like 200 WWs without being noticed? No explanation for Mel? There were like 5 deus ex machinas out of nowhere (Jorah for Dany, Dany for Jon, etc.) And after 8 years of hyping up the night king, he dies in one battle? Maybe that’s not the “end” to the White Walkers and NK backstory/history/current story but if it is, with no further explanation of NK/Bran, then its an enormous disappointment.
And oh yeah… The Night King TOUCHED ARYA… but she’s Ok?????
Nogo,
True… I am liking Sansa less and less with each episode.
Sapochniks battle episodes have never reached the heights of Hardhome and Arya offing the NK with 4 hours left to watch, meh, anti-climatic is too small a word.
I enjoyed watching it, but when I think of it.. everyone exchanging significant looks in this episode and the previous episodes about Dany being different from her father is tiring the hell out of me.. and ( Sansa frankly… is acting like cersei.. with just a bit compassion) I think they are going to go with Jon and Dany .. who is the heir conflict.. which I absolutely think out of character for both of them.. in the coming three episodes.. I just hope they won’t manufacture drama like they did with Arya and Sansa last season. Those were the absolute worst scenes ever.
Thrones knocked it out of the park, again. The haters have to be the most miserable people in the world.
Hey Oz, i’m so glad you enjoyed this episode as much as I did.
I was on the edge of my seat all night, I honestly did not know what each next second would bring. I was so shocked by how it played out. I mean, now that it has happened, it makes sense. Arya’s arc, and I have always said this, meant she had an important role to play in the battle against death. I honestly did not expect her to end the war, but I knew she had importance, and even more so after Bran gave her the Dagger.
Jon’s arc is about his identity, it always has been and continues as such: bastard — Lord Commander – Reborn — King in the North — Stark — Targaryen. In the end his purpose was to bring everyone together (which he did), people who would never have come together if it was not for him. But, its not over for Jon… still lots to go.
And Dany, I feel bad for her character right now, I feel like she is being underrated. She has sacrificed so much to try and save everyone, she lost her entire army, and she spent the battle trying to save everyone by risking her life and burning thousands of wights, and then, she fought like a boss girl. I loved it and I loved that it happened with Jorah, perfect ending for their story. I think that she may rain fire and blood after losing everything, and knowing what she knows about Jon. I was always love her, shes one of my favorite characters.
And as for the rest of the episode, well it was effing fantastic. Sansa and Tyrion <3 Beric, the Hound, Arya, and Mel…. and I loved how they closed the loop on Mel's story.
The score, the cinematography, the battle, the dragons fighting, Ghost, death, fire. Just absolutely amazing.
I have so much more to share but ill stop now.
I have absolutely no idea where this is going… I cant stand Cersei and Euron.
Also, I think there is another twist? I dunno.
Help me!
Brandon,
Hahahahahah
Also, who is the green eyes?
Ryan,
I agree. The visuals made any sense impossible.
And Dany, I feel bad for her character right now, I feel like she is being underrated. She has sacrificed so much to try and save everyone, she lost her entire army, and she spent the battle trying to save everyone by risking her life and burning thousands of wights, and then, she fought like a boss girl. I loved it and I loved that it happened with Jorah, perfect ending for their story. I think that she may rain fire and blood after losing everything, and knowing what she knows about Jon. I was always love her, shes one of my favorite characters.
—> And what do she get for it? Snide remarks… sorry I am posting so many times.. but Sansa effing stark is absolute worst of all the good guys.. she has been always.. I pitied her in season 5.. but post that.. she’s just meh
Dee Stark,
The world is filled with people with green, blue and brown eyes. They had not made their decision to have Arya kill the NK when that line came out so it’s surely irrelevant.
Osentalka,
That entire episode was one big climax.
I love Dany for picking up a sword! Finally!
I love that Arya hit the NK with the sneak attack… It never even dawned on me that those were the “blue eyes” Melisandre was referring to. I thought she was talking about her own.
It was such an intense episode, but with that being said… I kind of expected way more than just a stare-down b/t NK and Bran while we waited for Arya.
So Long Night was one night and not sincle Walker were fighting in it? Not what I was expecting after eight season.
Dee Stark,
There’s most definitely a few more twists to come and apparently there’s a lot more story to be told, especially now that the NK is out of the way. When you get rid of him that quick, something else we didn’t see coming is coming.
My biggest concern with Dany is that Arya is the one that killed the NK. To me, this sets up driving a wedge further between Dany and Sansa which was pretty much set up with the conversation last night between Tyrion and Sansa and the interjection by Missandei.
I feel like Sansa is going to look around and wonder why they need Dany, the foreign invader, at all considering Jon is a Targ and Arya is now a historical warrior.
If Dany and the dragons had killed NK, everyone is having a different conversation this morning and the remaining characters would be looking at her a lot more favorably come next week.
I could be WAYYYY off. The obvious conflict is Cersei. But the internal conflict between Dany and Sansa could be much more crucial to the ending.
The music was nucking futz in a good way. In the start of the episode the beat of the music started to ramp up with the horrific intensity of what we were watching.
Honestly I can’t put it into words how badass the score was.
I easily paused it 8-10 times to get my heart rate back under 140.
3 episodes left. I guess 4 will be find survivors, burn the dead and start south. 5 will be KL and 6 will be the end of epic-ness.
I agree with everyone here Danny was a Boss, she has given up everything and all she has loved for everyone else. Her losing Jorah was heartbreaking , when Drogon landed and morned with her I lost it – that dragon has so much personality. If he dies … lets not even think it!
Thank god she still has Missandei! And that she reminds Sansa that Danny has given every thing for her love for Jon “Missandei reminds them that without the Dragon Queen, they would already be dead.”
I used to love Sansa and Jon but both are leaving a bad taste in my mouth. Jon better support Danny! You might have seen him running to save Bran – but I saw him watching his friends need help as they fought for their lives and he just run by! All ep he was lame, he could have lit that ditch! Was just sitting on the wall watching at that point.
Arya had the goods at the end I loved that scene.
Bran is such a wet fish – what was with him taking a break form the battle – I was waiting for some big Bran saves the moment…nothing
The Dragon visuals were superb. Loved seeing Dany and Jon sweeping the field with fire, (briefly) double teaming wightViserion, and dipping above and below the clouds. Also loved her clearing a path for him to try to get to Bran.
Also clapped when I realized the Winterfell Weirwood tree survived.
So many dead. Still hope that addressing the magnitude of the alliance’s losses and wounded is an important plot point for the remainder of the season.
I know it’s gonna be an unpopular opinion, but I just thought this episode was dreadful. Chiefly all centred around the camerawork and framing. At no point could I tell which dragon was which. It was just constant confusion of – is that Tormund or a wildling lookalike? – was that Jorah flying by, I can’t tell – I thought Sam was dead already – etc.
Just a confused mess. Important moments were too short and then abruptly cut away to a completely different abrupt moment. There were far too many scenes with basic timing problems, some too long, others far too short given how difficult it is to identify characters amidst the chaos. I would have sent this one back to editing another three times.
On the plus side, I did think everyone’s performance was fine. In fact Clarke gets the best scene she’s had in ages. Not blaming the actors in any way for this one.
Loved it! It was better than Avengers Endgame..LOL. I am surprised so many people survived..I was expecting more deaths. I am glad Ghost and the dragons survived. So Alys Karstark goes into the Godswood with Theon to protect Bran, we don’t see her death but I am assuming she died
Emily,
jorah didnt fly anything
Reek,
I think she was just referring to the overall confusion in the episode. Not that he was actually “flying” on a dragon.
Brandon,
You are correct. Everybody who I have talked to in person has loved this episode. This is a small vocal minority who just want to hate on something because it is popular. There is a tinge of sexism in here too because it was Arya who did it. The same girl who talks about protecting the pack and has been trained since season 1 on how to be a killer.
The episode was probably the most amazing 80 minutes of TV of all time.
What about Ghost?! 🙁 What about Rhaegal?! 🙁
Also, what was the point of Bran’s warging in to the ravens? I assumed it was to find the NK, but Bran stayed warged well after everyone knew where the NK was…..
I liked the episode, but I have to say Battle of the Bastards is still my favorite battle episode.
The Bastard,
I’m not hating because its “popular”. I love GOT and Ep. 2 was one of my top 5 episodes ever.
This episode was a clunky, formulaic, unsuspenseful (Past the first 10 minutes), dark, disjointed, unexplained mess for reasons I noted above.
My favorite quote of the night? Melisandre to Arya, “And what do we say to the God of death? and Arya, “Not today.” I don’t remember how Melisandre knows that line, but maybe Ms. Red Knows All Sees All just does or I’m not remembering something. The look on Arya’s face is surprised so she doesn’t know either.
I loved the episode and look forward to better light in the following three. I don’t think the drama is over. I still think Dany may resent Jon/Aegon over the throne, but we’ll see. I think there’s way more to come.
The Red Witch definitely earned her gold star in this ep. Where the hell she came from I’m not really sure as it seemed she apparated between the army of the living and the dead.
For those hating on the darkness. People, come on, it was War, at night, during a flippin’ nor’easter. Of course it is chaotic and frenzied as should hand to hand combat be vs the army of the dead.
I definitely saw the similarities to World War Z and also felt a little Walking dead thrown in.
Pretty sure I can say there will never be another 82 minute episode on TV again that compares to it.
On a positive note, the score was brilliant. The first few scenes were also great. The Dothraki swords lighting up, then getting extinguished in the distance, was a perfect way to start the fight. Grey Worm is also the greatest military commander who ever lived, period.
The most standout scene is when Sam is literally about to get his face eaten – and Jon walks past because he has more important stuff to do. That was COLD and hit me in the gut. (Apparently though Sam survived, somehow?? Seriously, how?)
I also love Tyrion and Sansa. Why did nobody in the crypts have any dragonglass though? Were they supposed to sit and knit by the fire?
The whole point of the ep being dark WAS to confuse us. WAS to keep us…wait for it… in the dark! about our fave characters.
Am I the only one who understood this?
Did anyone else feel like this was an ending? I know D&D said last three eps were one complete story, but this ep really felt like an ending to me. What else is there to do, really, after defeating death?
What does Cersei matter? They could all just head to Naath and chill out on the beach. Let the bitch keep the 7 kingdoms. They are all in ruins anyway. Stay and sit on a throne with a bunch of dead bodies for company?! 😜
Ryan,
I’m not hating because its “popular”. I love GOT and Ep. 2 was one of my top 5 episodes ever.
This episode was a clunky, formulaic, unsuspenseful (Past the first 10 minutes), dark, disjointed, unexplained mess for reasons I noted above.
Hear, hear. The previous episode was beautifully paced and perfectly shot, not a note wrong. This one was just too much of a mess, after a promising start.
Dee Stark,
Cersei and Jamie both have green eyes.
It was an astounding battle, the darkness and chaos and confusion made me experience the fear and tension of the actual participants, kept me on edge the whole time. And Arya’s leap and final blow – I couldn’t stop cheering! It might have made sense if more main characters had died, given the numbers of the undead and their inexorable advance, but I am thrilled that so many survived, and happy and relieved that Ghost and the two dragons are alive. This battle was the art form of episodic television at its best!
It was splendid! I loved it!
No Ice Spiders
0/10 for me!
Just kidding! 1000/10! Loved it all the way through!
My favourite scene is probably Arya in the library. That was intense.
And I loved it that it was Arya who got to kill the NK. But it also wouldn’t have been possible without the others. From The Matrix,
“The path of the One is made by the Many”. To me everybody had their role to play and not just this episode.
Great recap Oz!
Fun read Oz, thank you. I was wondering…was Beric actually resurrected one last time? Off screen? When NK raised everyone, did that include Beric, or since he fulfilled his purpose protecting Arya did he have some kind of protection from the Lord of Light from being raised again?
Sapochnik said that 3/4/5 were one complete arc. Not 4/5/6.
Karen,
Remember when Kinerva showed up in Meeren and told Varys about the night he was cut? I think the Red Priesti see/know everything.
Ryan,
The Night King is dead now so… With Bran, he touched him, broke the magic of the 3ER cave and knows where Bran is. Since he’s dead he’s no threat to Arya.
Thanks for the great rundown Oz
You wrote something that really “jumped” out at me. “And just as Jon is about to get freeze barbecued and Bran is about to get NK’d, Arya jumps in like a wolf to attack ol’ Blue Eyes”
I didn’t think about Arya jumping like a WOLF!! Thanks so much. This makes perfect sense now. I was trying to figure out why she would take a running leap like that (other than he’s tall), but the fact that she’s channeling her inner WOLF makes perfect sense now, and makes the scene even better for me.
Oz, your words ring true…this episode was so hyped that there was NO WAY everyone would be satisfied. And right away you get a number of haters. I’m assuming the ones who didn’t like it at all were expecting a “Red Wedding” twist? To have the NK make it until the end and jam in finales with Cersei and NK all in one episode? Have the NK battle go the entire season like Negan and Walking Dead? I understand and feel sad for those of you who didn’t like it at all. Absolutely every main character on the ground should be dead. The death toll should be everyone except maybe Dany.
But we have been with these characters for so damn long. I want the ones that die to have good death moments that mean something…Jorah and Theon and Beric were well done. Without cheesy “last lines before death” quotes. The general fanbase doesn’t want Tormund to be overrun and then…that’s it.
Regardless, the last two episodes were some of the best TV I have ever watched.
God I hate I’m dissapointed but I am. Don’t get me wrong: it was epic. It was spectacular and they did deliver. My problem is with the plot.
I thought the worst thing was losing some of our fav characters but canceling some of their arcs feels worse. I’m very sad about what was done to Jon’s arc and on Dany’s arc as well. Arya killing the Nk even if cool, wasn’t earned, as it would have been for either Jon or Dany or even Bran, but especially for Jon who’s been on the NK matter for almost all seasons; even if he had died – and I would have been heartbroken – it would have been a glorious way to close his arc. Or at least fight the NK and Arya rescue him, so that there’s done human connection some logic in what happens.
The problem is that they can’t go back from this and whatever they do from now with his character can’t remedy this. They might need to just kill him off in an anticlimactic situation and thus provide an alien end to his character’s arc. Burn him with wildfire, have him fight Euron or Cercei or even worse kill Dany’s character development and his too and have them fight and eliminate each other.
I don’t care much about Cercei and Co or Sansa and relevant drama.
I’m grateful for the otherwise fab episode; just sad about what I feel has destroyed my fav characters arcs.Hype somehow destroyed too.
Maybe they manage in a miraculous way to turn things around! I hope!
But that’s that. I accept and move on, less interested and less invested. 😊
Don’t want to ever watch a horror flick again, but DAYAM, this one was the one to watch! Beautiful cinematography and Sapnoc… managed to make watching 50min of battle hell as non-fatiguing as he hoped. For me, this beat Helm’s Deep by a long shot.
What’s up with haters? Lots of my theories didn’t come through, but surprises were more enjoyable than being right. Besides, it was all getting so complex in my head…..
I wish I knew what Ghost was doing all that time, and how the other few wight Giants died… guessing Dothraki and Ghost did some major moves in the dark.
All in for a Sansa/Tyrion union and baby Starklings.
The Valerian steel didn’t really have a sparkle moment, did it? Ok, one.
How the hell did Red Lady slip past the AOTD?!!
Theon… requiem for the unknighted hero!
Jon has got to master his dragon! And, did he survive a fire blast guys? I mean, check out how close Danerys’s dragon fire was to him as she wiped out the horde overtaking him. We got a big moment still coming up with him yet….
Dany was fierce warrior queen! I’m not on board she’ll be rejected or go crazy. The people will respect her as the fighter and savior and now the north will fight for her, just like Jon said. I’m all for sharing the throne anyways.
I’ve tidied up the character endings:
Ser Arya & Gendry get Storm’s End
Sansa & Tyrion return to KL as the Hand & his lady
Jon & Danerys rule the realm
Sam becomes meister of the realm
Ser Brienne leads the Kings Guard, RIP Jamie, with Pod & Hound
Bran keeps watch at Winterfell for the new Stark generation
Tormund remains as Bran’s commander
Bron gets his castle
Dead: Cersei, Euron, Mountain, creepy Hand
SiriuslyStarkTarg,
I agree with you. While I loved the episode, I care more about the characters arcs, the actual story. For 8 years, we’ve been fearing the NK. We’ve heard how deadly his army is, how nothing else matters BUT this… And for Arya to kill him (albeit I was sooo jumping up and down screaming with joy), afterwards I was like “Wait… so that’s it? He’s dead?” I couldn’t believe it. I wanted more. More than just a stare down between him and Bran. I actually thought NK was going to speak for a minute!
We’ll see where the next 3 episodes take us…
Hope this post gets past from something.
It was good episode. Until the end. So as soon as Walkers gets past the Wall they lose in one night? That is it? And what did it matter if Jon was resurrected by R’hollo when he did nothing? And not even one Walker vs human fight? Brinne, Jaime, Jon and Jorah haave valyrian steel swords and nothing? Was that The Long Night after all these years of building up to it?
The Bastard,
It makes all the sense in the world that Arya would do it. They couldn’t win in a straight fight, they needed an assassination. She was their assassin, case closed.
WELL SAID!! I agree with every one of your points.
I loved pieces of the episode but the overall “payoff” for 7.5 years of “Winter is Coming“, “The Great War“, & “War To End All Wars” seemed EXTREMELY rushed all in an effort to appease the whiny hardcore book-fans who ONLY want more “…But I’m the rightful ruler of Westeros…” nonsense.
has anyone realised this is the first time cersei has been gone for two episodes in a row?
Brandon,
Exactly
The NK was ready for everything. They were losing
I hope arya kills cersei too! maybe then the fandom will quit life HAHA
JK
AMAZING episode for some reasons but retarded end and ABSURD plot armor.
10/10 CGI
10/10 Directing
10/10 Acting
10/10 Soundtrack
3/10 wiritting and plot ( and im being NICE)
The writing for this show has really fallen of these two past seasons and this epic battle is a clear cut example. Game of thrones has lost its ability to be unpredictable with who can die at any moment, it’s what made it stand out among every other show in the first place, it’s lost it’s soul. The plot armor in this episode is just to much to ignore. One hand Jamie and Sam the slayer survived while starting on the front lines?? Just too much.
Meanwhile, 10,000 Dothraki died in 30 seconds, but this battle lasted another 50 minutes? The dead should have over run the living when Danny and Jon got confused in a snow storm for 15 minutes.
I know this is a bit ranty but god damn I’m frustrated! I’ve been waiting years for this very episode and it was utter non sense for the most part. It makes me hardly even want to watch the rest of it as this show has lost what made it special.
In conclusion, read the books.
Tron79,
Arya, in 6×08 when the Waif is chasing her, does several amazing leaps. And she shows off some ninja moves with Brienne. I do like the Wolf description and there is precedent how she learned to leap like that (for those who think it came out of nowhere).
Raenarys,
Thank you Raenarys, nice to see there’s someone else feeling the same way. 🙂I was reluctant to comment fearing I may sound ungrateful to all these people who worked so hard to give us this epic episode but we as fans are emotionally invested to the show too.
But as you say, let’s see where we go after that.
Just a few quick, stray thoughts:
– I loved how seeing Arya in danger snapped Sandor out of his fear. He truly cares for her. He really does!
– Jorah’s death was expectedly hard, but Theon’s and Beric’s deaths hit me harder than I thought. Seeing Beric use himself as a shield to protect Arya was really heartbreaking, and Arya comforting him as he died.
– I loved how Tyrion kissed Sansa’s hand. I almost expected them to make some kind of suicide pact..
So many great moments in this episode!
Does anyone know for sure that Sam is alive? Last I can find of him he’s laying there stabbing at wights when Jon runs by trying to get to the NK. They don’t show him in the previews for next week….not that I could see through my bleary eyed tears…will watch again tonight to see…let me
I for one am satisfied with the arc of all the characters, I think it’s going to bring a layer to Jon, that he WASN’T the hero for once…we all need a taste of humble pie now and again…yeah yeah he died, whatev’s that was many seasons ago.
Have to make a change to my character endings. Hound goes with Arya as her right personal body guard.
ShameShameShame,
Yes I agree about her leaps in “No One”.
Reading the comments many are just disappointed it happened so quickly for Arya and they were hoping for a long drawn out duel of some kind with Jon. I think this was a team effort no matter how you look at it. The scenes where Sandor picks up Arya and comes to her rescue while Beric takes it for the team is all part of what happened. Mel coming back and giving Arya the “Not Today” pep talk put things in motion. Many may have forgotten about Arya while the battle continued. Jon did help by keeping Viserion busy and giving the NK a sense of victory after he chased Jon off with an army of new Wights. That would have been the chance for a Jon/NK duel, but it wouldn’t have been a fair fight since the NK still had the new army of the dead to help him. I wish they could have shown more of Arya’s training in Bravos, but her arc makes sense to me and I’m not disappointed. I’m just not quite sure if the story tellers will let her take down Cersei too, even though she could do it. And they did give her vulnerability. She showed fear for the first time in quite some time as she was just about killed by the hoard of Wights before Sandor came to the rescue. The hound jumping back into action to save her (and actually picking her up like the old days) was one of the best moments for me. Arya again charged in to save Beric, like she tried to charge in to save Ned and again tried to charge in to save Robb at the red wedding. Someone was always there to pull Arya back.
I’m gonna be honest here.
I loved the last 3 episodes (yes, even the premiere) and I’m not bothered by the resolution at all.
However, I just realized that my excitement for episodes 4-6 is currently… sub zero.
With the NK defeated in this recent outing, I don’t seem to really care what happens next. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not here just to see massive action sequences, but knowing that some things I’ve been waiting for since episode 1 are never gonna happen has made my interest plummet. (I REALLY wanted to see the dead make it south, especially after all the ridiculing and dismissing by the south and surrounding areas. As well as an immense sacrifice or huge dilemma in order to defeat him) But now, with only 3 episodes left, I just don’t really care at the moment.
If the biggest threat is already dealt with in episode 3, then the next 3 episodes better be the most epically amazing, astonishingly surprising, insanely jawdropping, awe inspiring pieces of fiction I’ve ever seen.
But right now I’m like… what else is on next Sunday?
Dee Stark,
Cersei has green eyes!
Crystal Conner,
i know 😉
Ryan,
It’s been a TV show since the 6th season. As far as a TV show goes, it was fine. A lot of dramatic scenes just for an effect that had little to do with the consequences of the story.
In the past, Melisandre did the same thing to Jon, when she suddenly said “You know nothing, Jon Snow” to him. If I have a little bit of a problem with her story and with the otherwise perfect episode, it’s that the red priestesses (and where their weird powers come from) are never explored.
The look that Melisandre gave Arya when she first saw her on top of the battlements makes me think she came to Winterfell knowing it was Arya that would take down the Night King. They kind of lingered on this look and at first I thought it was just to show us that Melisandre and Arya did meet again. But then, when they actually had a longer scene together, I realized that it was probably because Melisandre had been looking for Arya. So between Melisandre leaving Westeros in season 7 and her return, she went somewhere and learned something. I wish we knew what it was.
Ryan,
Thank you!
The ending especially bothered me.
Arya is limping around one minute, and a pep talk from Ms. I-Put-Leeches-On-Your-Boyfriend’s-Junk get her up and hoppin off to Bran, which seems to be no problem, but also takes her forever. She gets there right after Theon gets skewered, but right before the Night King manages to make the slowest draw of a sword ever.
They don’t even explain why he can get blasted by dragon fire and be fine (I think he is a Targeryan, but who TF will know for sure)?
The White Walkers were sooooo disappointing! The whole series started off there. With who they were and how terrifying they were. They did absolutely nothing.
I had hoped this was the overall arc of the series. I cannot believe this would fall like Ramsey Bolton or Joffrey, maybe not even with that much respect.
It was way to contrived. Fan candy.
I had fun watching it, but had to go beyond suspension of reality to the suspension of reason.
Tron79,
I agree. And while Jon ultimately wasn’t the one to kill the NK, he is indirectly responsible for it. If he didn’t give Arya Needle she never would have gotten all that training. Ned decides to give her her first sword lessons because he sees her with Needle in s01e03. So in some way Jon is responsible for the death of the NK even though he didn’t do it himself.
Stick ’em with the pointy end!
I’m worried that Dany has lost one of the few people that can influence her and just generally wanted her to be the best she could be for herself.
This whole show would have been better if the night king wasn’t a mute. Would have liked to hear what he had to say.
I wish Bran would have at least said something to him. I do love that the NK smirked when Dan tried roasting him.
Raenarys,
I agree with you. Not sure if my viewing experience was better or if the darkness just didn’t bother me. War is chaotic. Night is dark. These elements enhanced the viewing experience by putting you into those shoes. I thought they used darkness really well to inspire tension, and it worked on me. I was a bit scared of the dark corners in my house all night!
Personally I feel more than a little insulted. The people that counted, Jon primarily, knows you can’t beat the wight army by swinging metal. It just won’t work. How can you beat an army that reanimates after killing AND increases itself from your own dead? The entire strategy was just flat out wrong. Fire was the key. Fire fire and more fire. Every person should have had something flaming in their hands with pots of flaming pitch at their sides dragging troughs of fire behind them with an extra bic lighter in their pockets. That was the best and actually ONLY strategy. Jon knew this. He demonstrated it in front of everybody when he lit the wight arm afire. Trying to beat the army by arm strength was simply not possible.
Ayra sneaking up on the NK is implausible in the extreme. OK she’s a badass kickass assassin yes, but damn. Really? And she had to literally and actually LEAP on him? A thrown or shot projectile would have done the same thing. She was a deadeye marksman with both, we saw that.
And the NK being old as dirt apparently was stupid as hell by putting himself in harms way in any way until the way was sure. His unstoppable force could ONLY be stopped by him dying. I feel kinda insulted.
I agree with you about haters and theories that didn’t work out. I figured the danger was important and that Arya was going to do the move she did in practice with Brienne. I just didn’t know who would be the victim. I was thrilled it was the NK. It took a team to beat the guy so who got him doesn’t diminish the contributions of everyone else.
The Red Lady was protected by the Lord of Light…at least that’s how I see it.
I’m a Dany fan and given all her actions so far I don’t think she’s Mad King material. She is a conqueror, would the day to day grind of ruling be enough for her?
I loved the episode overall. I really liked how it ended visually with Melisandre walking into the sunrise; she can rest now
A few observations, I know GRRM was influenced by Tolkien and there are a lot of parallels to LOTR. The women in children in the caves/crypt silent and listening to the sounds of war around them. The Dothraki riding out to meet the AOTD reminds me of Faramir riding out with the knights of Gondor riding out and not many coming back. Killing the Night King kills all the bad guys, like tossing the ring in Mt. Doom destroys Sauron and all the bad guys. I wonder if Arya is going to be affected by being touched by the NK as Frodo was by being stabbed by the Witch King? If so, there may be too much coincidence for me.
Really sick of Sansa SNARK but liked the scenes with Tyrion. Confused why they did not have weapons in the crypt just in case. Why did Bran warg? What was the point? I too expected the NK to speak in a language perhaps only Bran understood. For a minute I thought Theon was not dead and would end up killing the NK. Thought for sure Brienne and/or Grey Worm would have met their end. If Arya kills Cercei, as some predict, it will be too over the top
Personally, I am ready to move on from the AOTD. I always liked the intrigue and drama of the politics better. Hopefully, if they are headed into Kings Landing it will give Tyrion and Varys something to do. It has been painful to see these two characters sidelined
I loved the bit where you see the White Walker’s hair move in a slight breeze signaling that Arya has just slipped past them to attack the NK. I knew from the look on Bran’s face when he made sure Arya took that dagger from him last season that it would be used to kill someone important. I wasn’t sure it would be the NK though – nicely foreshadowed!
Jenny Maxx,
IMO, the Night King can survive a blast of dragon fire due to his control of the weather. Remember when he walked through the fire in the Hold the Door episode? His winter winds blows the flame out and acts like a forcefield so he can walk right past it. Same thing here, he just has to project winter winds around himself to protect from the flames.
So now that we know that 95% of this show cannot be predicted with any measure of confidence, it’s safe to say that most of what anyone is thinking for the final three episodes will also likely be way off. Not necessarily in coming to a general conclusion (e.g. Pod dies or whatever), but rather how it gets to that point.
About the only thing 100% certain is that at some point the Hound must fight the Mountain. Other than that, anybody can do anything at any time, or wind up dead or alive in the end. The writers are in their own world now.
BostonDave,
Yeah, I thought it was going to be Jon gettting beaten down by the NK, with Bran about to get slashed, and Arya doing the knife throwing trick she showed to Gendry in the forge. One in the back to turn him, and one in the heart for the win. That grouping had to have meant something other than to show Gendry she’s a cool killer. At least that would have been semi-realistic. She’s human, after all. Not the invisible girl. Her running In the Winterfell halls showed a normal person’s abilities and nothing magical. Oh well, “the ink is dry” and it is what it is.
Dee Stark,
Got to be Cersei. She is always describes as having either emerald or green eyes.
I wondered on the mark of the dead on Arya too. Maybe it’ll never be explored. Did he just touch her cloth? Will have to watch closer.
Agree with you on let’s get on to KL and the intrigue that takes down the evil queen!
Bran warging…. somebody have any ideas what was so important there? Was he influencing people somehow? Wish it was explained as such, like getting dragons around Viserion, guiding their flight, helping ghost escape and kill the missing wight giants, something!
Olli,
Honestly, that’s what I was thinking: Bran warged into Ghost to help him escape somehow.
Also, Walder Frey had green eyes. Am I the only one who wants his to be the green eyes Mel was referring to? Let someone else kill Cersei, sheesh LOL
Damn that was an intense hour or so of TV :O
I’ve also been surprised by the amount of nerd rage going on!
D&D have been very consistent – even boring – with their practice of leaving the most climactic material until the end: usually EP9, sometimes 8 (Hardhome), sometimes 10 (The Winds of Winter).
If this was the big climax the whole thing was building up to, why didn’t they deliver it as the second-to-last episode of the season?
The fact they are able to deliver this level of holy shit with three more episodes to go should tell us, they have more twists up their sleeve.
Also you can be sure, what’s yet to come is from GRRM’s outline. The show runners wouldn’t dare to venture so far from their winning formula.
Love that Jaime and Brienne defended WF together with the 2 swords melted down from Ned’s.
Arya will kill Cersei, The mountain will then kill Arya. Then the Clegane bowl begins!
This kicked my ass. I was shouting at the screen, my heart beating in my throat. It’s gonna take me a couple of days to recover, but I’m watching it again, just have to. This was the BEST cinematic moment ever.
There are a growing number of things not to like about this show, starting with Euron’s involvement. Euron has been terrible, Season 7 was rushed and had some stupid plots and Episode 1 of Season 8 was awful. I was worried, but Episode 2 and last night were terrific. Euron not being in either one helped a lot, but last night’s battle was full of tension – making me remember Hardhome. I liked what they did and I was surprised by who did it. My money was on Theon after Episode 2, and I was close but once again wrong. Highly entertaining and well done by everyone. I’m sad about Jorah, almost as sad as Drogon was.
Rodent,
I wish we could have had more of a backstory on the Red Witch. I wonder if her saying to Arya those words, “what do we say to death”… somehow brought Arya back to a purpose. I noticed after that Arya didn’t seem afraid any longer. How epic was this!
Euron will be a big part of the second half of the season. Kinda surprised he ended up being one of the last 2 main villains at the end.
Julia,
Syrio said those words to her in Season 1. Mel was just echoing them.
Sure there were some cheesy moments, but overall, I really enjoyed the episode and the big ending.
Really well done. I thought that I was going to re-watch it again immediately, but I was too exhausted after the first viewing.
I find the criticism that the chaos in this episode was a bad thing weird. What were you hoping for, that the wights would pair off and 1v1 the main characters? It’s as realistic as you can get in a fantasy show, because if previous battles have taught us anything, it’s that they are, by nature, chaotic. I thought it added to the sense of dread, because when they first meet, the living are immediately overwhelmed by the wave of undead. I for one was on tenterhooks the entire time. Looking back on it now, I realize that in the midst of absolute chaos, this episode had a lot of heart. Some standout moments in that regard, for me, were:
• Daenerys refusing to stand idly by while her men were getting slaughtered.
• Jon turning his back on Sam, his best friend, because getting to Bran was more important.
• Theon – who last season literally jumped ship to avoid a fight – running straight at danger / death personified.
• The moment between Sansa and Tyrion, after the dead have risen in the crypts.
• The Hound being pulled out of his breakdown upon seeing Arya in danger.
• Jorah and Daenerys both fighting to protect one another. I had been okay up until the point where Jorah dies in her arms, at which point I just started bawling uncontrollably.
Some of my favorite shots were the Dothraki, with flaming arakhs in hand, charging across the battlefield (that shot from Daenerys + Jon’s POV was breathtaking), the dragons above the clouds, the fire in Melisandre’s eyes after she’s lit the trenches, the Night King’s smirk after he’s been doused in Drogon’s dragonfire and the subsequent shots of him approaching Winterfell / the Godswood on foot, moments before he raises the dead.
Although at various points I didn’t know how they were going to defeat the Night King and his army, I assumed he’d be dealt with early-ish in the season. His goal was for an endless night, to erase the world’s memory in Bran/3ER; it’s kind of…. shallow? Yes, they had built the White Walkers up since the beginning, but the bigger thread always seemed to be the interpersonal conflict between the human characters, The Game of Thrones, so it seemed obvious to me that Cersei would remain to be the final antagonist. Maybe once I’ve recovered from this episode, I’ll be able to think clearly about the future, but right now, we have three (longer than most, IIRC) episodes left and short of a leak (which seems to be a common occurance this season??), I have absolutely no idea what’s going to happen next. I’m fucking excited, man.
Can’t say that this episode was one of my favorites. It was so dark, literally, that I couldn’t tell what I was watching. That was disappointment for me. My screen basicially looked totally black. then it looked totally cloudy. Either way I couldn’t see what I was looking at. Three quarters of the way through I started to be able to see just in time for Ayra to save the day! I still love anything GoT. Looking forward to next week.
Brandon,
Haha
Honestly, I think people may be reading too much into this. They are death. That is all they are. They have one purpose and that is to kill humans. Does not matter who, where how etc. Night King has extra powers and can see things, but still KILL HUMANS, that’s it!
L.Roy,
I can assure you Sam is in the trailer for the next episode 🙂
At around 0.18 in the trailer here, he’s walking with a torch
https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/4/29/18522423/game-of-thrones-season-8-episode-4-preview-last-war
Halcyon,
Love this and totally agree
<3
ShameShameShame,
Some people don’t watch trailers.. like me 🙁
haha
Dee Stark,
Don’t feel bad, I don’t watch them either. I like being surprised 🙂
Raenarys,
me too 🙂
L.Roy,
Yes, Sam is alive. You can clearly see him in the promo for the next episode, standing behind Daenerys in front of Winterfell: https://youtu.be/ksTqLXLUvQ4?t=18
He shouldn’t be, though. Nor should several other main characters including Brienne, Jaime, Podrick, Tormund, and possibly Grey Worm. If this was GoT of 6 seasons ago, they wouldn’t survive.
I found the episode very atmospheric and visually well made. The music was fantastic too. Too bad the plot is completely devoid of logic and depth, but I’m used to that at this point.
Olli,
The NK is actually dead . His mark doesn’t matter.
Dee Stark,
Just wanted to say “Hi” to you Dee, good to see your comments in the threads again. 🙂
Well it was a great battle episode, sure.
But Brienne, Jaime, Podrick, Grey Worm, Sam, Missandei and Gilly should have died. Probably even some of Sansa/Tyrion and Varys. It makes no sense they all just lived being besieged by wights.
Ghost showing up just to die was sadly what I expected, but it being offscreen and not defending Jon was lame.
Rhaegal is dead, right?
Arya killing the Night King makes sense, but the technicalities do sadly not add up. Where did she show up from? How did she not get stopped by the other White Walkers?
Yeah, the biggest problem of this episode was how predictable it was yet how few (named character) casualties there were.
That said, the end of Theon’s arc was epic. Same with Lyanna Mormont. Those two deaths were very touching. (I just wish the others got the same sendoff – looking at you Braime and company.)
EDIT: Forgot about Gendry and Tormund, both should also probably have died.
TOIVA,
Neither Ghost nor Rhaegal are dead.
And everyone questions Arya’s stealthiness bothers me. What do you think all her training was for?
questioning*
That Episode was by far the BEST!!! I had goosebumps, chills, tears and that Moment, when Arya made the final blow, I swear my heart and breathing stopped. Goddammit! What a hell of an Episode! That one will haunt me for awhile. My Hands are shaking again, just that I write About it.
Great recap Oz. I had the same reaction: how the f;;; did anyone survive? It was horrible to see everyone overrun with writhing dead; I thought Brienne was a goner at least twice. She has a very distinctive scream. When she and Jaime and Pod were overrun at the wall, I was sure they were all going to die. I’m glad they didn’t but damn …
My take on the looks between the NK and Bran, was that the NK was waiting for Bran to cower in fear and make an effort to get away. Yet, the closer he got to Bran, the calmer Bran looked and it started to confuse and startle the NK. We know by the little smile he gave when the flames from Drogon subsided and he was standing there unscathed, that he has a degree of cockiness in him. We know by the look he gives Jon every time he raises the dead that he likes to toy with his observers. He couldn’t understand why Bran wasn’t screeching in terror, and it caught him off guard. Thank goodness. Not today, indeed.
I don’t know how Arya got to where she was, undetected. I might have expected her to come from behind the tree or something. But I guess this generation of Starks was meant to foil the NK no matter what, to be touched but unscathed.
Loved the episode, not as much as 2, but I was held enthralled and unmoving, except to hold my head in sadness when it looked like all was lost, for almost an hour and a half, so it ranks high. Not once was I tempted to leap up muttering, “oh this is bull….,” and head for the kitchen for something to drink, as I have during some past episodes. My eyes were glued to the screen, and I wasn’t going to miss a second of it.
One of the interesting things to me is Sapochnik asked if he could do episodes 4 and 5 since he knew he could only do two. And D&D wanted him for 3 and 5.
Sapochnik said it’s like a beginning middle and end… So I have to say some pretty exciting sh’t is due to happen in episodes 4 and 5. I think in some ways they needed to get the story of the NK finished to move on to what they really have in mind for the conclusion. To me, the AOTD story couldn’t have continued past episode 3…Either the Dead would have won and overrun all of the living or the NK had to be defeated right then and there. I’m just excited to see what’s next for everyone. I don’t think it’s all about Cersei either…
Raenarys,
What?! How is everybody freaking alive after death itself came for them?! This is the one thing that really pisses me off about the episode. This should have been an apocalyptic bloodshed.
The undetected Arya approach is really only a very minor nitpick. Really a detail of hardly any importance. The reason while I mentioned it (and many people are entirely fine with it) is simply because Arya’s Braavos adventures never made sense for me, particularly the dead Arya chase scenes, my suspension of disbelief only goes so far.
But yeah, the White Walkers should have managed far more. Part of me wanted Westeros to be annihilated and only select few escaping overseas. That notwithstanding, most of current Winterfell residents shoud have died at least.
Agree, although it took me a while last night to come to that conclusion. Even though I would have loved for the Grand Maesters at the Citadel to have to see that devastation and eat their words about the safety of the Wall, it would have been too much damage to the world. I have never wanted to see the entire world left decimated and bereft, with just tumbleweeds bouncing across an empty land. So, the NK had to be finished in the North.
Dee Stark,
Yep, 100% agree. Most people really want to know more behind the NK, WW and AotD. But it’s simple, like what Bran and Sam said…they want to eliminate the humans. That was WHY they were created in the first place.
Sometimes my wife asks the meaning behind what I said or did that was stupid and most of the time it’s as simple as “I’m an idiot”. The point is that the answer is as simple as what is most obvious.
My favorite part was
“what do we say to death?”
Oh, and the Night King isn’t dead! I have 0 evidence to back this up but I have a feeling we’ll see him again
TOIVA,
I have to agree with you. Even though I didn’t want to see anybody go, i definitely assumed more than half our faves would meet their demise. It was very in-throne like to leave most of them alive. But this only means that the big bad is actually Cersei (another aspect that bothers me), and those that survived the AotD, will be killed but Lannister soldiers. Which seems so far fetched, but hey… it’s a fantasy show.
Thronetender,
Yes..It was obvious to me once the NK raised all the dead soldiers there just was no chance. Everyone was f’d at that point. Perhaps a couple could have fled on dragons, but I think the ATOD would have been unstoppable at that point. Even though I would have loved to have seen Cersei’s face when a Tyrion Wight came for her, I couldn’t see that happening if humanity was going to survive.
Episode 3 went almost as I thought after the first two episodes of Season 8. Although the episode was great too watch and good quality on German Sky pay tv, not too dark, I was already disappointed last week when everything was setup to have the NK defeated this week. For next week I expect some surprises as Cersey had now a lot of time to set up some plans, actually she said when all the other are in the north we get our places back. I also expect that not all Dothraki and unsullied went to Winterfell and I think the second born with Dario have hired into the golden company, of course still fighting for Dany. This as it is much unlikely they come up with a twist for Strickland Family to be a Targaryen follower since ages. They definitely do not bring an Aegon with them. Quiburn will habe developed his own undead Army now and did anyone else notice the new black steel armours of the kings guard? Black steel has been traditionally Targaryen armour style. Being not too unhappy with a dead NK I can’’t Wait next week to find out more. But one thing should happen, Bran giving some explanations and showing some flashbacks. But chances for this are quite low. Oh nearly forgot, Love will be stronger than moral, Please let the two Targaryen have a baby and a new Dragon. I bet Tyrion found one egg in the crypt.
Having just checked three different sites, David Bradley (Walder Frey) does indeed have green eyes.
Olli,
lmao i started to see this actually happening.
if this the direction they decided to go all the way.
+ missandei and greyworm coming back to naath to enjoy pineapple juice in the beach while looking at the beautiful native butterflies.
I enjoyed the episode, but I have some mixed feelings about where things stand now. There must be some kind of twist coming up, right? Ending the entire story with everyone vs Cersei seems a bit odd to me. I hope they have something surprising planned.
Arya had been in the godwood before the WW came in and jumped from godwoodtree onto NK. Considering the size of this tree it is very obvious.
Raenarys,
Yeah, it just wasn’t as devastating as I was preparing (for months now) for it to be.
Hopefully there are some big events still in the future so it doesn’t end on this bitter disappointing taste.
Talking about the bad stuff, perhaps it is time to honor some wonderful scenes:
1) Bran thanking Theon was one of the best scenes of GoT ever. Theon was really an outstanding character played beautifully by Alfie Allen.
2) Sansa and Tyrion hiding in the crypts was touching (pity there wasn’t more tragedy against which it would better stand out).
3) Lyanna Mormont. Nothing more needed to say.
Thinking about it, Ghost surviving is probably better than him dying offsreen, so Yay! for that too. Hopefully he gets some great scene at long last.
No https://www.instagram.com/p/Bw16cGlA0Ub/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=tpddcg8vzje1
Ghost and Rhaegal are both in the 804 preview.
Jack Bauer 24,
Yes, Jack. I found that incredibly moving as well. Ice was there to defend Winterfell in Jaime and Brienne’s hands!
Halcyon,
Yes, Halcyon. You expressed that so well. The Dothraki getting lit up, then charging, then disappearing one by one. Just stunning filmmaking!
Thanks, Oz for the recap!
I’m amazed not one other person has commented on the terrible strategy of the battle and how it should have been all based on fire. All of it. Trying to hack the AOTD is futile. That was never ever going to work.
I think my biggest gripe is my own…I had very high expectations for this episode and when it was over, I was reluctantly underwhelmed by what I saw. I have to keep telling myself that there are still three “feature length” episodes left so there is a lot of story to go but here are my my takeaways:
– I was really looking forward to seeing the Army of the Dead marching on Cersi and King’s Landing and seeing how she was going to deal with it since she never really took them seriously.
– The Night King and the AOTD had been building up since the pilot. To see them all perish in their first “real” battle (other than Hardhome) was a huge disappointment. one knife to the guy was all it ever took?
– I have to imagine that Arya being touched by the Night King may play into something, this can’t be the end of the White Walkers, can it?
– Theon and Jorah got the ending we expected but there was no reason for Theon to charge the NK, he could still be alive if Arya rained down sooner.
– We knew Jaime and Tyrion were not going to die in this episode or else Bronn’s mission in episode one was pointless, so there’s that.
– Disliking Sansa less and less over the last two seasons
– Jaime’s arc is my favorite in the series. S1 you hated him, S8 you are rooting for him.
– I can’t rank this as the best battle in GoT history…I would still put Hardhome, Castle Black and Battle of the Bastards ahead of this one.
Such a cool thought!! Poetic!!
Greetings from Germany…and I admit, it was a very dark night – on the screen and in Winterfell…to come to the point: I was bored very soon, because at an certain point it seemed to develop only different ways of slaughtering undeads (that is a reason I never watched the Walking Dead, it is just repeating the same); I liked some scenes, though: The disappearing of the Dothraki in Darkness – that was equal height of suspense and art; The dragonfight in the air (It could habe been even better if Drogon had somehow hesitated to kill his brother, but–never mind), the scenes between Arya and Sandor, of whom I still think they should head off together after all of Westeros has been destroyed in the next war; Aryas claustrophobic walk in the library (it would have been nice if Littlefinger was also there…) and her ultimate killing of the Night King; thank you for the “blizzard conditions”…and I hope the acclaimed producers now can go back to what they have done so fantastic for the past years; to show us the battle und the dragons INSIDE the characters or give us a battle with the suspense and focusing of certain characters and the epic choreographie of the Battle of Bastards or the Loot train attack; you can do far better than this guys! but there are still episodes left, and my beloved drogon is still alive.
Jack Bauer 24,
Yes, Raenarys already pointed that out, it makes no sense but at least Ghost might get somethig better to do than dying pointlessly offscreen.
It was never a plan to hack through the dead. The plan was to kill the Night King, while everybody else delays his armies as long as possible. And in theory, had Daenerys sacrificed all the troops as was the plan, they might have managed to pick on the Night King with both Dragons at once and hopefully kill him in the process. But with them first torching the wights, they were somewhat occupied and then the snowstorm hit and any plan really went to shit.
There has to be something wrong with you people. Please enlighten me on what the hell Dnerys gave up for her love for Jon, on how exactly is she fighting Jon’s war???
She did lose Viserion, alright, but before ep3 happened she gave up NOTHING ELSE for Jon. At most she paused on her rivalry against Cersei but on the other side, thanks to Jon she was given the North, ie one more kingdom out of her future seven! If she hadn’t fought against the AotD, she would’ve ruled ASHES, as it was pointed to her in s7. So how was this Jon‘s war only???
If Dny wants to rule, she had to defend her soon-to-be kingdom, and the North is supposed to be part of that kingdom, right, since granting them independence seemed to be out the question?
So please. Everybody should be grateful she stayed true to her commitment to save the North’s ass, yes, but remember that her help came at the cost of their independence. Trailer for ep4 already showed us that Daenerys is clearly expecting the North-or what’s left of it- to fight Cersei in her name. Of course Sansa is entitled to point out that she and Tyrion have serious political differences!
raemontargaryen,
missandei and greyworm coming back to naath to enjoy pineapple juice in the beach while looking at the beautiful native butterflies.
If the final episode does not consist entirely of this, I will be demanding my money back.
I am also still on board with Sansa and Tyrion moving to a nice manse in Pentos, albeit minus Shae. (Though I expect Arya and the Hound will pop over every Christmas. Tyrion has the best house parties.)
My thinking too. But doubt we’ll get confirmation on this. Oh, but that doesn’t explain the wind wisping the white walkers hair.
I’m wondering what arc that could be. I think it concerns Dany/Jon. But that was started in episode 1 already. Or maybe Tyrion’s betrayal of Dany, that could have started in this episode.
King in the North East,
I’m the same, I’m ok with him gone, I understand it a bit, but my excitement for GoT is somehow gone. So I hope episode 4 will up that again.
While everyone else is debating over prophecies, foreshadowings, and other mysteries, I’m sitting here thinking that Arya had her biggest moment ever and Ten Bears has gone AWOL! 😀
OK after the bits I didn’t like, time for my fav moments:
Ser Jorah’s arc was beautifully written even to the details such as drogon giving a ‘hug’ to his mum and Jorah’s body.
Theon’s end too, especially with what Bran said to him before the end, it was more than a redemption arc, and he did deserve it! It was truly beautiful. I cried at both scenes! Rip Ser Jorah, Rip Theon😢
Hound overcoming his fear of fire just to save Arya. ❤️
Tyrion Sansa moment when he kisses her hand. (I loved how Missandei told her off too)
The Jon vs NK dragon fight was fab and also Jon running trying to get to NK before raising the dead, I was screaming at my TV!
And the dead in the crypts a wtf moment!
Dany saving Jon from overflow of new wights.
Melissandre lighting the swords and etc excellent moments in her arc along with reminding Arya what she says to death! And the way she died as the sun is rising very poetic.
Also the sequence were Jon is trying to get to Bran a nd passes by his friends but this time he can’t help he must try to get to Bran and kill the Nk.
Also Arya running away from the wights one of her most human moments.
I loved all the battle sequences and the small moments of interaction between characters Jaimie&Brienne, Edd&Sam (rip brother Edd😢) and etc
It was an excellent piece of cinematography.
Also acting : 10/10 all of them Nailed their scenes, 5 stars to all of them.
Music 9/10 – I keep my 10 because it’s mid season and I’m sure there’s more excellent music to come!
Writing:… I decided to give them the benefit of the doubt for the moment. I’ll wait to see where they go from here and how they handle the remaining arcs and perhaps justify why they made these choices on ep3 .
I didn’t have any problems watching, the lighting and colors where fine on my TV! Just watched with very low lights.
Enharmony1625,
Yeah I know…. I’ve been waiting… Maybe someone actually had to work…
I’m working now but not really….since I’m back on…
Thronetender,
I found it interesting that Bran warged just as the battle was getting intense. With the storm, it would be hard for the crows to see much so why were they flying and where to? Aren’t crows used to carry messages? Was Bran sending out messages? Did he thank Theon because he bought him time to complete what he (Bran) wanted to do?
Well, I’m sorry but that’s just silly for some to say that Arya pounced from the tree, for goodness sake. It’s bad enough to justify her magically getting past hundreds of dead, and dozens of WWs to get to pounce in the first place. But now clinging to ideas that she hid in the tree precisely because the aforementioned stealth mode was just way too good to be true? Besides, she came from behind, not above, in an arcing jump. It’s as clear as day and in slow motion to boot. It is what it looks like – the writers felt all of her training and experiences was enough to justify the stealth ambush and plot twist. I’m not sold on it, but like it or not, that’s what we got.
Of course, one must wonder what stabbing him in the back would have done, if she’d really caught him by surprise? Guess we’ll never know, nor where his magic, dead-raising, power comes from. If the CotF could make a creature that could harness the weather, raise AND command the dead, warg like the 3ER in some aspects, then they had the power to defend themselves without him, one would imagine. That power of his had to come from somewhere? A God?
In the end, I guess this also means Bran can see the future and played all the chess pieces to perfection. He could have let Theon live by telling him to get behind him and wait for Arya. He could have X or Y or Z, or any other plot twist since he knows ALL. If he can’t see the future, he was completely useless in the fight. And now, he has no purpose either since that threat is finished. Do we even need a 3ER with no NK? Who knows?
Oh well, at least I enjoyed it while it was happening. It’s only later when the doubts creep in…for the show is dark (literally), and full of errors.
Good question about Bran. I don’t know what his purpose is anymore…
Though it would make sense for some “evil” to survive and thus the Three-Eyed Raven needs to exist as well. I mean, clearly another long winter must again come in the future, however many centuries or millenia it takes.
Netheb,
Fair point. Dany referred to it as “Jon’s War” when she spoke to Sansa in Ep. 2. Of course, this was never just Jon’s War. This was a war for the survival of everyone in her kingdom. It makes you believe that Dany never really saw the big picture (which is inexplicable given what she witnessed beyond the Wall), or that she was so hell-bent on obtaining the throne that it blinded her, or it was just messy writing (which I seriously doubt).
Whew- can’t believe I read thru all those comments. But I think I needed it to digest my mixed feelings of last night eps.
My husband was PISSED that there was no fighting from Jon! He thought they should have had him and NK battle until JS thought he had the upper hand, and THEN have NK resurrect the dead to escape. Anyone else wonder if JS can’t be burned? I thought that maybe when Dany was lighting up NK, JS would go in the fire to take try to take him out. And no action from the WW? They are just standing around for 8 seasons?
I just felt like the dragons weren’t giving enough fire. I felt like the were hunting down the NK for too long, while they could have been helping along the front. Another commenter mentioned how JS should have had castle better prepared, and I agree. Why didn’t they have pots of melted iron or something they could pour on climbing wights? Explosive traps? More fireballs flying thru air, and from castle walls? I know they were unsure of affects of dragon fire, but why not try it???
I also think a bigger character should have died in the castle fight. This was a battle 8-seasons in the making! Beric, Edd-type characters are dispensable. We are sad, but not surprised to see them gone. We needed a heart wrenching, kick in the gut, a la GoT-style! I knew the Hound was destined for a battle with his brother, so he wasn’t going anywhere (yet). But I think Brianne, Jaime or Greyworn should have perished. Like having Bri die right in front of JL, seconds before all wights die around them! (And I’m screaming at the tv abt the injustice of her not living for a minute longer!!!) Theon just wasn’t as hard of a death as what was needed. We needed someone to be grieving abt today. Tho I will day I WAS sad abt Jorah. I loved his death and their final moments together, but it wasn’t the shocking death that was due.
Wondering why Red Witch couldn’t have brought her own little troop of LoL witches to help, which would help explain where she has been since we last saw her. We needed all the damn fire we could get! Also happy that Mel/Davos arc got full closure. 🙂
I also think there’s much more to Bran warging the whole damn time. Can he not help his team A LITTLE by giving them some insight/foresight? Or, as my husband thinks, he’s NOT helping bc he’s the real bad guy, and that’s why the NK REALLY wanted to kill him.
Anyone else expecting to see wight Hodor??? That would have broken my poor heart over and over!
Even tho I have lots to whine abt, there was still much to love. The music! Holy cow, I needed a Xanax just for the first 10 min on non-action. I loved Lyanna’s death. I loved watching Arya (and I hope Jon will see her fighting skills 🙏)! The horror movie/library zombie scene had me hiding behind my pillow. I love Hound coming to her rescue. I love Beric fighting to The. Very. End! I loved Sansa/Tyrion unspoken goodbye. I love (and hated) all the wights on Drogon! 😱
And I do agree with everyone who felt spent over the hype of this episode beforehand and roller coaster of emotions after. And find myself not caring abt Cersai, KL or the Iron Throne, and wonder what’s left to leave us with after this is all done?
Sent from my iPhone
Lord Parramandas here
FIrst I need to say that I had an absolutely “wonderful” day as I had to finish a report for university and I was busy from 3pm to 10pm straight with no time to watch GoT episode. Imagine how hard it was for me, awaiting my most anticipated episode while having hands full of work.
As for episode itself, I can proudly announce my ranklist has a new no.1 episode. This episode represented everything I love regarding TV and is not just my favorite GoT episode, but also one of my very favorite TV episodes in general. I’ll write more about it in detail in my review whenever I get time to write it as it’s already late (the usual forum thread).
And something I truly loved regarding this episode is that I was able to get attached to pretty much every character in this episode. I was brought to tears when that piano theme started playing which also says a lot about my personal enjoyment. ANd also, I very much expected the Night King to die in this episode, especially in second half of the episode where everything seemed to be lost. And I loved the idea of Arya being the one to do it and not Jon and/or Dany. Jon and Daenerys already had an awesome part in this episode and I love how they didn’t rely on them to “save the day”.
Anyways, enough rambling for today.
Also I managed to completely avoid ALL spoilers about this episode today. And I’m soo glad I did.
And I’m always happy to read a positive review from you, Dee. Sometimes I truly wonder why is it so goddamn hard for some people to enjoy GoT for what it is. Like, I do have a ranklist of GoT episodes but even the lowest episode on my ranklist is an episode I look forward to rewatching every year.
Funny to see the complainers about how Arya took out the NK. She didn’t do it alone…the Hound saved her. As did Beric, the red woman, Jon, Dany…GRR suggested he doesn’t like magic to be the end all beats all so no surprise that it took a huge effort from all to win. Bran was Dr Strange and yes, this was the 1 in 14 million times it took to win. Also I think the Dothraki had to die. You couldn’t have them running around Westeros – they never belonged there. Remember what the witch said – what did I prevent by Kahl Droggo’s death? He/his son – they won’t murder and rape and conquer the world.
Ryan,
I really understand. That should not be disapointment, thats the normal “storytelling” of B&W and visually it’s awesome. It really is the best battlescene I saw, and I had to adjust my TVs settings, but … the worst storytelling like they used to tell, since they ran out of books.
I do not expect an actionmovie to be logic and this one is not, not even the strategies in fight. But it is great.
I apologize for my kas … english 🙂
Well said!
Don’t know what was up with Bran, except to say that in the beginning of his being 3ER, he was totally overwhelmed with everything going on in his head/visions, and now it seems he is coping a bit more. I base the “coping” idea on the very fact that he did give Theon some kind words and actually did say Thank You.
I had always been highly annoyed at the way he sent off Meera. If you remember, she said she would have liked to stay with him, but felt she should be with her family. She knew the portent of what was coming, she knew the sacrifices that had been made by her and Jojen. Yet, Bran not only did not say thank you and wish her well, he said nothing, and the look on his face was something like “well, get the fuck out then.” I rewatched the whole series, and when I came to that point I yelled at him once again for sending her away without so much as a faint smile of acknowledgement.
I don’t think he’s evil, there has been nothing I can think of that suggests that he has, or ever had, evil inside him. I think he is getting the hang of being 3ER now, and it will come to a grander fruition in the war with Cersei. At least I hope it’s something like that. If not, then the whole, all-seeing 3ER and The Children and all the lore of Winterfell will have been one big, useless sidetrack.
Yes, some excellent points. I was getting really tired in prior episodes to hearing her say “bend the knee,” and “I am Queen.” I love the way Emilia is portraying her. But her character is getting more and more annoying, to the point where I was almost surprised that she rescued Jon in this episode, after he told her of his parentage and she realized what that meant. I figured she must really love him or she would have let his fine ass roast out in the snow with the NK.
I don’t know what her end-game is. You were right about her attitude in the previews. I believe there is going to be trouble not only between her and Sansa, but bigger trouble between her and Jon. Jon is going to win that one, if there is any truth to the prophecies shown in the House of the Undying. She reached for the Iron Throne, but didn’t really touch it, and went through another door at the sound of her dragons. Of course, the prophecies might all be a bunch of nonsense, too. Unless, more sadly, they both meet a bad outcome because of her attitude. 3 more episodes. This one had me a wreck. I can only imagine what the others will do.
And then… RED VELVET
Yes, hooray. Of many redemptions that have happened, she certainly redeemed herself, didn’t she? I had been wondering how she was going to make an appearance, based on what she told Varys. During Ep 2, I was busy checking the faces of all the old women coming into Winterfell, thinking that she had snuck in that way. The way she came in, through the front door in full Red Woman regalia, was better, much better. No need to hide, no need to cower, she was there to complete the mission she has been working to complete all these years. She might have been too wrong in her interpretations, too zealous in past years, but she gave everything that was in her to do the right thing for humanity.
And may I add to my Red Woman comment above, Carice looked fabulous. Those close up shots of her eyes when she was trying to light the trenches were AMAZING. Perfect look, flawless complexion. Who can stand such close-up in these days of 4K tv? She did, she went out perfectly.
I was on the edge of my seat throughout, but Arya … D&D admit they came up with that three years ago to be different. So, no, those weren’t clues in earlier seasons. I’m all for swerve, but some things are fixed points. Too much has been laid down in the show for Jon (with Dany) to kill the NK. So it did feel disappointing for the NK to be killed by anyone else.
Missendai made her point, but the “divided loyalties” comment was more about their marriage — once upon a time Sansa wouldn’t have been with him because of his looks — than meant to be a shot at Dany. Though it also sprinkled in foreshadowing perhaps. Especially if Dany is back to “I’m the f’n queen” mode.
So if I reply to oz the comment will not show up is that it
Good to hear it’s humankind vs WW because every year everyone said it’s Jon war and Norths war and dany had nothing to be part of it…
In the same episode tyrion mentions how they are all there to defend Wintrrfell house of Starks not once but twice..I don’t see anyone pointing that out either..
After last week review of your dany..Iam glad you did the same with Sansa.. oh wait..
Let’s say Sansa think that ..Why do we need dany let’s just push her out of north..it would have been nice if only she had done that couple of episodes earlier..
But let’s keep that aside and Do say how you feel about it…Why when it comes to dany you guys give your perspective and to others you guys give their perspective..why didn’t you the do the same when it come to dany..
I do remember your stannis the mannis days OZ…if it were him who had been in Dany place would you react the same..
Netheb,
But are they greatfull of her assistance …do they understand the amount of chance dany had given them for survival..is the question here…so far there has been zero evidence they understand that and especially Sansa seeing how she is in the next epsidoe..
Lets say it was dany duty and she didn’t do anything special or sacrifice …but she did help them what will the North give her in return…she had given them everything she had got …what will the North give her in return..
It’s remarkable how this fandom has criticised every dany mistake and exaggerated them but never appreciated her for what she had done…
Dee Stark,
Cersei has green eyes, as do most Lannisters.
Great recap, Oz! I share in your sorrow over Beric’s passing. He became one of my absolute favorite characters after he returned to the show in Season 6, and I loved the realization of just what his ultimate purpose was. As he said to Jon in Season 7 in what is perhaps my favorite piece of dialogue in the entire show – “Death is the enemy. The first enemy and the last. The enemy always wins, and we still need to fight him. That’s all I know. You and I won’t find much joy while we’re here. But we can keep others alive. We can defend those who can’t defend themselves.”
Arya is obviously more than capable of defending herself – but even the strongest among us sometimes need help. And Beric gave it to her when she needed it most. Rest in piece for a seventh and final time, Lightning Lord.
Jay,
Yes!
I haven’t seen this mentioned much, & it’s such a spectacular detail
That ww had a surprised look on his face 😂
Also, I had forgotten about Arya sneaking up on Jon in the Godswood at their reunion in episode 1
So much great foreshadowing for her rhetoric actions throughout the whole series run from season 1 ep 1
Joe Blanquie,
Dude! Night King and all his homies shattering into ice particles looks pretty dead.
Can someone tell me in which episode that earlier conversation between Melissandre and Arya took place? Thank you!
Ryan,
lol so true, a ridiculous episode in so many ways
Dragonbringer,
You probably didn’t read my comments. I critise dany last week and the week before. And I praised her this week. I even stated she was the one that turned the tides. Without her they would have been death in 5 minutes.
But from you I only hear the good parts never the bad parts. Ozy and the ones that criticize dany aren’t the one being subjective. They are in fact very objective. But your assumptions are always fueled with subjective because dany is your favorite character.
Urs,
Season 3 episode 6 if I’m not mistaken. The climb.
Dee Stark,
Cersei
I enjoyed the episode for what it was (Helms Deep it ain’t, it won’t come close to knocking it off the top battle spot because half the stuff you couldn’t see and while that might looks cool its no good if the audience don’t know what is happening) there are a lot of things that didn’t make sense, were badly thought through and quiet clearly had a strong smell of lets get this show over and done with; which given the material you had to work with shocks me, you were given prize material and you pissed on it.
However there are some great moments in it…
Little Bear kicking off right to the last, you go girl.
Sansa being taught who is the real Queen by Mesandi. Sansa didn’t even attempt to defend the people in the crypt from the dead. She had a dragon class knife and I really thought she was going to step up and show why she should be Queen of the North but no she just bitched her jealous mouth off and then got put down.
The shot of Beric standing arms spread out Christ like in a crucifix pose, taking hit after hit was excellent.
And no matter how implausible it was I was on my feet cheering when Arya took out the Night King… you just gotta watch those little people you don’t see them coming.
I loved that the NK had his own Jaws like theme tune.
But the fact that I couldn’t see a lot because it was beyond dark on my TV which was maxed to the hilt on the brightness scale was so disappointing.
Enharmony1625,
Agree about the Beric death. Was I alone in spotting the Christ symbolism in the way Beric held his arms out and blocked the passage as he was stabbed?
Thronetender,
I do think she did the right thing but there can be no redemption for her, having a child burned alive, no there is no way to right that wrong and she knew that and didn’t expect redemption.
I couldn’t agree more. For the love of the gods, let somebody else kill Cersei.
Rob,
Christ doesn’t exist in this world, so I really hope that was just a coincidence…
Flora Linden,
Awww thank you!! HI 🙂 Missed you all!
Jack Bauer 24,
Some people don’t watch previews… and then get spoiled when people say things about previews haha
Lord Parramandas,
I know right 🙂
And thank you!
Urs,
Season 3 Episode 6
Dee Stark,
You’re welcome! I’m just getting ready to write my own review (on my forum thread). I would have done it yesterday if it wasn’t already way past 11pm when I finished watching episode and I took quite some time to calm down from the hype and emotions. Truly, for me, this episode lived up to my expectations.
Kevin1989,
Thank you, Kevin1989! 🙂
Dee Stark,
Thank you, Dee Stark! 🙂
I think it was great. Could Samwell or Podrick have died? Sure. Could Sansa and Tyrion have done something more befitting their characters in the crypts? Sure. Was I expecting Azor Ahai? Yeah.
But the episode was breathtaking. It doesn’t matter if characters didn’t die if you really thought they were going to – I’m talking Dany, Arya here. All the Arya scenes were perfect. Melisandre gave her that prophecy in 2013! It was foreshadowed when she fought Brienne (much stronger) and pulled the knife on her in season 7. A fitting end. I wish Jon was there in the Godswood too but hey he’ll get his moment in the second half of the season.
Gotta say one thing not getting nearly enough praise is the CGI.
The dragon fights and all shots were amazing. Particularly Viserion with holes in his neck and face devastating Winterfell and basically making it into his comfy lair.
Oh, and Drogon protecting and mourning with Daenerys.
Mormont,
You got Azor Ahai… Arya. 😉
Not sure he is dead! Remember Emperor Palpatine is back in business
The last shot will be of a dragon egg cracking apart… Remember who said it first
I agree that for the time being, Northerners haven’t exactly been thrilled by Dany’s messianic arrival and may seem a bit ungrateful. But then again, wasn’t their reaction justified, given their history with Targaryens (Lyanna’s abduction and rape, Brandon and Rickard Stark’s murders) ? The North remembers, and such crimes are not easily forgotten. Jon told Dany that.
Now that the AotD is defeated and that Dnerys’ forces helped a lot (even though credit should be given to Arya too), they should definitely warm up to her…
…. unless she goes megalomaniac again right after this terrible battle, demanding that the war-weary Northerners follow her to KL to take the IR in her name because she feels a debt is owed.
And imho, we’re heading straight that way.
Someone will become the new knight king, only reason they went this route. Its not over with the dead yet.
K. Elly,
Great comment! I was an absolute wreck throughout the whole episode. It made complete sense to me that it was Arya who struck the final blow after I remembered all of her training and practicing. Every character was in their place and did what was expected of them.
Thanks to Oz for the excellent commentary.
After numerous hours of work, I finally managed to complete my review. Now THIS has been draining.
http://forum.watchersonthewall.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=337&p=3389#p3389
So in the final scene right before Arya drops on NK, Jon is seen screaming at Ice Dragon. People are saying that he is saying “Go, Go, Go!” directed at Arya???
This would be incorrect. Lol
Yeah, the only explanation I will accept for the NK’s insanely, suspiciously early death (ugghh) is that Arya leapt off the large tree branch. -_- Only thing that makes any sense.
I hope that Dany realized “Jon’s war” truly was everyone’s, and just worded it that way because he was the one leading it and to convey that she had not manipulated him…if anything, he’d gotten her off her original track and caused her to lose a dragon-child.
Mel didn’t expect forgiveness, but redeemed herself in my eyes, especially since (unlike other murderers/attempted murderers) she had only the noblest of intentions.
Personally I heard “Nooooo! No!!” from Jon like “Nooo don’t barbecue me”, but I was so stressed out I may have heard wrong. It’s not really easily to tell lol. Maybe he did spot Arya trying to sneak into the godswood, I’d love that kind of teamwork.
Either way, right before Arya appears behind the NK, there’s a breeze moving the WW’s hair. I believe that was clue that Arya got past them?
I think you’re putting the finger on the problem. I’m afraid she’ll feel that the North owes her now, and demand that they pay that debt by sending what’s left of their troops take ‘her’ IT. Not a good thing imho if she wants to ensure their love and loyalty.
Ryan,
Jon was yelling “Go GO GO”. It seems he saw Arya arriving, and kept the dragon attention while she passes.
Agree that that would be an inadvisable and unwise attitude to take, and I truly hope they don’t take her in such a direction.
If it was a stand alone episode of the Twilight Zone it would be incredible. Especially now HBO removed the bandwidth saving super compression and you can actually see it. Way cheesy HBO on the biggest episode of the series. With great moments of spectacle, tension enhanced by the past reputations of early seasons, Sapochnik directing genius, clever cinematic choices, all make it a compelling experience that left me breathless.
However, to make such a dramatic and subversive twist to a near decade long build up requires great care. There is a difference between the expectation an audience brings from its own outside experiences of storytelling and those the writer intentionally leads them to within a particular work. There is no denying that the Night King plotline is Jon Stargaryen’s A plot journey. Arya’s B+ plotline has always been her list of vengeance, topped by Cersei, and developing the skills to see it done. In true GOT style each path was segmented completely as its own arch with very little meaningful crossover other than basic shared truths of the world. To suddenly remove the A story hero from his own journeys climax and supplant him with the B+ hero invites serious trouble. Have her easily kill the ultimate threat to all humanity, A plot, villain in an unrealistic, unimaginative, single stroke and the result is catastrophic collapse of the narrative for many. This will cause a loss of suspension of disbelief which in turn brings over examination of every flaw and, ultimately, loss of a large portion of audience that feels cheated or fooled. A reliable indication a subversive writing approach failed is a divided audience.
While this episode was compelling and well made cinematically it was critically flawed in writing choices. It was a failed attempt at subversion that was unimaginative, risky, and extremely anti-climatic long term. The benefit of a shortsighted thrill of surprise does not justify the the long term consequences. While it did contain inherent relief of suspense and tension (hence the touchdown like cheers for the NK’s death), those are short term emotional rewards that quickly fade to the negative impact on the intellectual narrative. When a writer explicitly leads an audience to intended events and poorly subverts the expectations the responsibility belongs to the writer. Fans with a near decade of devotion to a artistic presentation should never be ridiculed for mistakes they had no control over. The larger concern is the disastrous implications a subversive approach of this magnitude could have on the value of the work as a whole. It could render huge portions of the previous story meaningless and unwatchable. How many hours of Bran’s Three Eyed Raven training plotline will be watched knowing none of it impacts the story or battle in any rewarding way? That could mean devastating financial implications for new viewership, rewatchability, and merchandising. Sadly, the Star Wars franchise is a chilling example of what failed subversion could mean for future revenues and projects. Such a risky choice would require a certain level of misguided confidence left unchallenged or writing room warnings unheeded. One cannot dismiss a suspicion of arrogance on behalf of those in charge. Such a suspicion could be a clue as to why HBO would not want nearly half of it’s subscriptions in the hands of such arrogance and explain why a wildly popular, billion dollar program is ending at its height.
Sorry so long but it can’t be said any other way and it needed to be out there after nine years and eight seasons.
Oh god this episode was so good, the bit where the Dothraki are annihilated and seeing the lights go out was chilling although I didn’t like seeing Jorah ride back that just felt cheesy. Also the bit where Grey Worm has to sacrifice the majority of the Unsullied to light trench is a punch to the gut. Theon and Jorah’s deaths were tragic but I do feel too many named characters survived given the hammering the humans took.
I had the exact same thought when watching it, there were only a couple of hundred survivors yet almost all the main cast got through it. Unless there is a surprise arc then Podrick, Greyworm and Pod should all have fallen to make it more realistic. Jamie should have died too given he’s one handed.
Same unless we get Mad Queen Dany, I’m sensing the final three episodes will be more a damp squib and we’ve peaked last week. I hope I am wrong but I also fear a silly ending where Jon gives the throne to Dany or they marry and live happy ever after, none of which fit with the long term narrative.