**This post contains spoilers from “Game of Thrones” Season 8, Episode 3**
It has now been two days since the latest “Game of Thrones” episode (titled “The Long Night”) aired and, interestingly, I have not yet scoured the Internet for articles and podcasts earnestly and obsessively chatting about what went down. Normally I would jump on that first thing Monday morning, but I decided to write this post before reading or listening to anything because I didn’t want anything to sway me from my initial thoughts and feelings about the episode. And what an episode it was.
I rewatched it last night for several reasons: I always watch Thrones episodes multiple times because I never catch everything the first go-around; our first viewing was incredibly dark and blurry, likely due to streaming issues, and I couldn’t see a thing; and, most importantly, because I couldn’t truly get a grasp on how I initially felt about the episode. And last night—despite the better-quality streaming and, therefore, visibility, on HBO—didn’t really change my mind. I know I will probably be in the minority camp when I say this, but I can’t help but feel, well, disappointment. (I had originally said “crushing disappointment” but I amended that after rewatching.)
Now, before you revile me, let me say that the spectacle of the show was flat-out amazing and the special effects were, of course, awesome and really, really cool. That shot of Jon and Daenerys on the dragons floating above the clouds—beautiful and breathtaking! The dragons fighting in the sky! The Dothraki’s arakhs lighting up with fire! Arya’s silent creeping within the broken shell of Winterfell! The blue fire pouring from Viserion’s mouth as he stalked Jon! Dany’s quiet use of her life-saving “Dracarys” on the Night King, which failed her for the very first time! The quiet war preparations through the viewpoints first of Sam, then Tyrion, and then slowly pandering up the castle walls to Davos and Sansa! These were all brilliant, mesmerizing scenes. (I cannot express enough how much I loved that moment where the camera seamlessly moved from Sam’s viewpoint to Tyrion’s. I just adore how they shot that!)
Yes, those were all wonderful scenes and I appreciated them so much more the second time. But, in my humble opinion, they still don’t make up for some of the other moments that bother me. In a nutshell, here are my thoughts, in no particular order:
1. Over the course of eight seasons, the show has built up and built up the threat from the Night King, portraying him as this terrifying, lethal, and unstoppable character. And yet, from the beginning he never really did anything (well, other than take down The Wall at the end of season 7, but if it wasn’t for the stupid plan to capture a wight, he never would have even ended up with a dragon in the first place). He always lurked in the background, watching and waiting. Much like we the audience watched and waited for that moment where he finally confronts his Stark enemy and we get to witness some sort of showdown. But instead, we get an entire episode of him sitting on a dragon (granted, those were cool shots) until the last few minutes when he stalks toward Bran sitting in the godswood, and before he’s even able to pull out his sword, he’s dead. No confrontation. No fight scene. No nothing. He just explodes into shards of blue. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the shot of Arya killing him. It was awesome and totally unexpected and I’m so happy Arya was the one to take him down. But dammit, couldn’t we have at least gotten a fight scene between him and Jon or him and Arya or, hell, even him and Bran! It just felt very, very disappointing. And a very anticlimactic moment for a character who’s been scaring and antagonizing us for years. I don’t know, maybe part of the problem is that I honestly wasn’t expecting the Night King to die in this episode.
2. Where were all the deaths everyone was anticipating and dreading? Granted, I didn’t want to see an episode where they literally wiped out the entire cast just to move the story forward. No fan would ever want that. And we did see several cherished characters die, most notably Theon Greyjoy and Jorah Mormont, although I did feel their deaths were slightly muted. But for a show that used to have no qualms about killing crucial characters (think Ned Stark, everyone at the Red Wedding, even Joffrey Baratheon), it felt a little dishonest (is that the right word?), a little unbelievable that so many core characters could face thousands of undead wights wielding weapons and slashing left and right and still come out of it unscathed. And all this following on the heels of an episode (“A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms”) that truly felt like a farewell to so many of our beloved friends. Perhaps I’m being slightly unfair because obviously the crucial character deaths I mention above were all in George R.R. Martin’s books, so it’s not like the showrunners chose to kill them of their own accord, but still. My point is that in an 82-minute battle episode, seeing at least one core character’s death would have gone a long way toward authenticity. Now, maybe some would argue with me on this, saying, well, we got Theon’s and Jorah’s deaths, and they are core characters. Yes, they are, and I’m still mourning them. But their arcs were essentially complete and there honestly was nowhere else for them to go. That said, I will severely miss them.
3. Where was the emotion in this episode? On this point I’m willing to concede that maybe I’m just a hugely emotional person who loves to cry. I do. I love it. It’s so cathartic for me. I’m a very sentimental, passionate, and sappy person and when I love someone as much as I adore these characters, I want—no need—to feel something, especially when they die! And in that this episode was sorely lacking. I wanted to cry over Theon’s death. And Jorah’s death. Even Dolorous Edd Tollett. He was such a small character, but still one I cared about, and his death, his sacrificing himself for Samwell, his sworn brother of the Night’s Watch, was done and over in a heartbeat. What?! And don’t get me started on Theon. I don’t know what I was expecting or what I wanted to see in terms of his redemption arc, but this wasn’t it. I mean, I love that he went out defending Winterfell and protecting Bran. That scene with Bran: “Theon, you’re a good man. Thank you.” Loved it. The tears in Theon’s eyes. Loved it. Alfie Allen really did a wonderful, beautiful job acting Theon. I’m gonna miss him. But I can’t help but feel he deserved more in the end other than charging the Night King and bleeding to death alone on the ground. I don’t know, maybe I’m just too hard to please.
4. With this episode I realized that I tend to appreciate Thrones more during the quieter, intimate, conversational moments, which are when the show’s writers, and the actors for that matter, truly shine. These hardcore battle scenes are very difficult to watch—literally and figuratively. They are dark, they pass by in a blur, it’s hard to tell who’s who and what’s happening, and, for me, they lose a little something as a result. But that’s just a personal thing, I guess, and all in one’s perspective. Case in point: My husband, who loved the episode, said he really liked all these qualities because that’s what battle looks like—dark, smoky, blurry, fast-paced, confusing. And I see his point. After rewatching, I can appreciate the hard, tiring work of making a quality, life-like battle scene, and in that the show did a fabulous job.
5. The last thing that struck me about this episode is that it’s really the first time this season that things felt rushed. And that’s saying something considering this was the longest episode in Thrones history. I know this has been a complaint in previous seasons—and I’ve agreed with that—but I think I’m getting a stronger sense of it now because this is the final season, we’re only getting six episodes, and we’re already three episodes in. So, when I see the Night King (and his White Walker minions) die in a matter of seconds without having accomplished anything and without really getting any answers, it just really bothers me. When I see Theon rush to Winterfell to defend the Starks, only to stand in the godswood for the entire episode, waiting for the perfect moment where they need him to die because his character arc is complete, and then just having him charge the Night King who dishes out a quick sword thrust and Theon’s done. That just irritates me. Or even the Jorah scene. Winterfell is huge; the battle is huge; zombies are everywhere; there’s snow, smoke, debris, dragonfire, you name it clouding every horizon, and yet he still manages to be in the right place at the right time to save Daenerys—again. Come on. On the “Inside The Episode” recap following “The Long Night,” the showrunners explain that they had Jorah’s arc end the way he would have wanted it: defending and dying for Daenerys. I get that and, yes, in a way it’s a beautiful ending for one of my favorite characters. But I couldn’t help but feel that it follows the same argument people had back in season 5 when several separate scenes depicted core characters stumbling upon each other in random bars and taverns.
Some other thoughts and questions I have:
1. Why did Jorah, Ghost, and the Dothraki charge at the start of the battle? Why didn’t they wait for the wights to attack?
2. What happened to the undead in the crypts of Winterfell? We saw one or two climb out of the walls but nothing really developed after that. That was also anticlimactic considering the number of times the characters called out the safety of these crypts in the previous episode, which we all anticipated were clear foreshadowing.
3. With the thousands of wights we see swarming the castle, why were they essentially nonexistent during Arya’s scene within the walls?
4. Was the significance of Melisandre all along simply to play her role in the battle for Winterfell? Was that always going to be her endgame, even back in the early seasons when she was fighting with and for Stannis? Clearly, she was meant to bring Jon back to life to even get us to this battle for Winterfell. But why did she die after the Night King was defeated? Was she connected to him in some way? What am I missing?
5. What was the purpose of the White Walkers? They essentially became ancillary characters that died without serving any purpose. And how did Arya manage to sneak past all of them to get to the Night King at the end? Is that lazy writing? I don’t know.
6. I originally had a question about Ghost’s fate, but my husband (who’s been reading up on the episode in my place) informed me that Ghost is alive and well and included in the trailer for episode 4—thank goodness!
I’m sure this all seems like I’m being super nitpicky and I’m not trying to be that person. I didn’t hate the episode, although I can see why one might think otherwise. And after watching it again, I not only enjoyed it a lot more, but I understand why probably most people will think this is the coolest and best episode of “Game of Thrones” ever. Like I said, my husband thought it was awesome (although he did admit after rewatching the episode that he agrees with many of these points I’m making and that there are holes in this story). He enjoyed it much more than the preceding two episodes, as a matter of fact. Then again, he enjoys war movies and battle scenes and the chaotic momentum that go with them. I don’t, and maybe that’s all this is—a difference in taste. And that’s totally OK. I can appreciate his (and probably everyone else’s) opinion, and hopefully everyone can understand and appreciate mine, too.
Phew, this episode truly was emotionally and mentally exhausting! (I secretly love that, though. It all goes back to my last blog post on the wait, the anticipation that builds up in the weeks between episodes. Being able to ponder and analyze and blog about all of this is so much fun, maybe even more fun than watching these final episodes. Naaaaaah, let’s not go that far! 😊)
Anyways, let’s put all of that aside and move on to my Thrones-themed feast for this last episode! Living in these Thrones moments is what I’m all about these days. Coming up with these menus and hosting these dinners with my favorite Thrones couple have been so much fun for me and I can’t believe we only have three more Sundays to do it. ☹ I’m just grateful for all the times we have been able to share in this together and while we have them, I intend to make the most of every minute!
So, here’s what was on Sunday’s menu (unfortunately I cannot take credit for some of the names used here—they are all over the Internet):
1. The Army Of The Unsullied
This is a shout out to Daenerys Targaryen’s slave army. I simply marinated chicken legs and thighs in honey and fresh garlic and then roasted them to perfection.
2. Greyscalloped Potatoes
A play on the lovely Thrones disease “greyscale,” a fictional severely contagious condition that turns the afflicted’s skin to stone. I used this recipe from Gimme Some Oven, and they were delicious! Everyone went up for seconds, too!
3. Swords Of The Kingsguard
In a nod to the royal bodyguards of the Iron Throne, I seasoned asparagus spears with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and EVOO and then roasted them.
4. Rhaegarlic Bread
In honor of Prince Rhaegar Targaryen (Jon Snow’s true father), my husband—we’ll call him Ser Nick—baked this delectable homemade bread and slathered it with butter, fresh garlic, basil, and Parmesan.
5. The Crossroads Inn Honeycake
This is the inn in Martin’s book that lies at the crossroads between the Kingsroad running north-south, the River Road west through the Riverlands to the Westerlands, and the High Road east to the Vale of Arryn. I used this recipe from Sugar & Soul. It’s a yummy spice cake that made us all feel like we were enjoying an authentic Thrones dessert in Winterfell’s Great Hall!
6. White Walkers
Our good friend, Ser Aaron, whipped up this icy blue cocktail using Blue Curaçao, rum, and lemonade—on the rocks, of course, in honor of the “icy” North!
And that’s all she wrote, my friends. I’ll be back at you next week after what I’m assuming will be a lonely trek down the kingsroad and a visit to King’s Landing. I can’t wait to see what Cersei has in store for us, and I wish you all good fortune on the long road ahead.
Related Game of Thrones Content:
GoT Finale: A Mom’s Watch Has Ended (Episode 6)
GoT: A Thousand Lives (Episode 5)