What did you think of the third episode of Season 08, “The Long Night?” Leave your feedback here and let us know! We’ll share your thoughts and discuss your reactions in our next episode!
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Best. Battle. Ever!
By far the best battle episode of the series, I’m just glad I saw Endgame before watching it. The Battle of Winterfell put the battle against Thanos to shame and did it on a tv budget. Lyanna using her last moments to kill zombie Wun Wun was one of the best scenes of the series, Arya killing the Night King, while a bit predictable, was incredibly satisfying and the actor playing the Night King was brilliant. Between the scene where Dany tried to kill him and his confrontation with Bran, he said so much with just his body language and the slight facial expressions he could do with all of that makeup on. My only disappointment is that more characters didn’t die. I’d mentally said goodbye to all of my favorites during the previous episode so it just feels a bit awkward now.
Superb
“The Long Night” was an excellent episode with a battle that suited Melisandre’s epithet “the night is dark and full of terrors”. It was filmed with wonderful detail and also with an otherworldly feel from the ice laden air effects.
So now we know for sure that Arya and Bran have been groomed from season two to be the Stark warrior and Stark tactician to kill the Night King. And interestingly it appears that Melisandre and Jacquen Hagar may have been working in parallel, if not working together.
The acting was sublime, the fighting was amazing (I can see why so much time was spent on it) and the many deaths were earned. And the final scene – with the ancient high mage of ice dead its time for the ancient priestess of fire to rest.
Cinematic Masterpiece
Absolutely fantastic. It was a roller coaster. I had hope, then would lose it, find it again, then lose it once more. Very surprising. The pace was wonderful how it switched between so many beloved characters. I didn’t expect anything that happened honestly.
I really need to rate this? Come on
Hi lads,
Remember last week when I said I’d probably prefer episode 2 to episode 3? Yeah, about that….
You know I’m always short and sweet, so here’s 5 moments:
1 – The flaming blades of the Dothraki slowly dying out.
2 – The pause: “Brown eyes, green eyes……….blue eyes”
3 – ‘Not today’
4 – Every character having at least one moment when we were all convinced they were dead.
5 – And this is the hill I will die on. Lyanna Stark’s tomb intact. No one came out of because no one ever went in it.
*Sideshow Bob voice* You’ll see! You’ll ALL see!’
Why i’m so angry at the Show
Honestly, the beginning was great. Terrifying. This was, to me, the episode i’ve waited for all these years. The show had warned us, prepared us to this event. White walkers, a threat, bigger, stronger, even more frightening than any other characters of the show (you could think of Cersei, the Mountain, or Ramsay Bolton).
But the show disappointed me. For seven seasons, the purpose of some characters of Game of Thrones was to annihilate White Walkers, in other terms : the survival of the Human race (and other creatures if you count dragons, giants, etc) against them. 7 fucking seasons. Blown away. In one episode. An episode lasting 1h20, indeed, nevertheless, it’s certainly not enough. The plot was so interesting, breathtaking. The first episode of season 1 showed us what was actually the threat. Not the conflict between the 7 Kingdoms. Not Cersei fucking Lannister, and her fleet. Nor Euron Greyjoy. The conquest of the Throne is another plot, not as much important as the true one. Like Jon Snow said, it is there that lies the true war. War confronting Life against Death. Summer VS Winter. Light and Darkness.
“For the night is dark and full of terrors”
“All men must die”
The 7 seasons lead us to this episode.
But it’s all gone now. I thought, at one moment, that Melissandre was telling Arya she was in fact Azor Ahai. I thought “why not, i would accept that”.
But in the end, all we have to see, is Arya, coming out from nowhere (how did she do that? Because she has the secret ability of sneaking around silently? You would make me believe that the Night King couldn’t hear her? THAT was his weakness? The thing that made him fall? I can’t believe that, sorry).
Bran, the Three Eyed Raven, the one that sees everything, the one who’s supposed to fly, the one who can become everything and everyone…
What did he do? He took possession of.. ravens?? Really? I hope it’s not the case. I hope he did something else. And honestly, i do hope that we’re not done with white walkers. Not yet. It’s impossible to me. Now we’ll have to focus on Cersei? And don’t misunderstand me, i love Cersei and i’m really thrilled to see what’s coming up for her, but she isn’t the purpose of the show, she isn’t the mighty big villain. Well… now she surely is.
There were other points that disappointed me, but i won’t write more. Just.. my hopes for this episode were higher; seeing this killed me.
Hi Sekai,
Great points and I share your sentiments about the White Walkers. The only thing I can think of that fits the direction they took is ‘What do we say when we are faced with death’ (whether it’s White Walkers or our own mortality) ‘not today.’ It makes you think that the story is wrapped around Syrio Forel’s words to Arya? Are they saying the Game of Thrones is more important?
The show writers are big on twists, so may be the Night King had warging abilities and warged into a raven or maybe even Ghost and is plotting revenge? Then he will eventually warg into a person and then the threat continues…(Like at the end of that movie Fallen with Denzel Washington.) That way if they want to do a sequel (yikes) they can do it with the surviving cast and new faces. There’s television for you right? 🙂 A course correction after the fact, though wouldn’t have the same effect though right? I hear you and agree with you whole heartedly.
Superb!: Epically dark; violent; confusing; chaotic; gritty; bloody and hell in Winter!
Overall:
95 out of 100
This episode blew me away with the goals it took on. Elaborate, gritty, heroic medieval epic war action; meets quiet dialog at times under duress; tempered with revolving check in on characters helped balance things out. I was visually exhausted in two places where I literally had to pause my video stream feed; once at 40 minutes and then a little past an hour. I was confused at times due to how darkly lit most of the episode was as well as some cameras being out of focus on occasion made also for difficult viewing. I suppose all that was intentional.
BTW: I would hate to be custodian on clean up at Winterfell right now. There’s not
enough Medieval Febreeze available to deal with the smell. If there was ever a medieval equivalent to Burning Man; it will be at Winterfell now…Literally… 🙂
Arya Stark wins this weeks Game of Thrones for me by killing the Night King and saving everyone who was still alive.
Good:
*YES!!!! Arya slays the Night King! Mel teased this in her conversation with Arya, however when it happened I was cheering and yelling at the screen.
*I did feel like I was in the battle. It was per amidst winter conditions. If all that was intentional then that was really well done.
*Ser Jorah meets his end defending his love; very romantic and chivalrous; every bit the way I thought it would play out.
Bad:
*Some of the impact of the war tactics was underwhelming because there was never any specific talk about how to use the Dragons in the battle, which
is a point commenters made last episode. They couldn’t get the dragons to light the trenches because the Night King obscured the sky with winter weather and it took me a few seconds to understand the plan that was being referenced that I never knew about to begin with.
*After the ferocity and numbers of attackers; somehow almost all the major characters survived. This is understandable for those who have already battled the undead which actually is all of them but Grey Worm and Jaime. Jaime also has one hand. I know at one point he was arguably the best sword in all of Westeros, however given the volume of opponents my suspension of disbelief was hard to maintain.
*At a certain point there is so much going on it gets too overwhelming to process.
I honestly think they could have kept the intensity and spread the action over a couple of episodes. This one is hard to watch multiple times.
*I think the sudden removal of the Night King and the Army of the Undead from the story arc at this point in the season is acting like a giant wildcard and is going to change the dynamics (or calls into question) about what is most important to different characters; in some cases this may run contrary to established canon.
Jon: Now the Night King has been dealt with; and Jon now knows he is Aegon; and his lack of acknowledging to Dany that the throne doesn’t matter to him in Episode 2, is Jon still of that mindset or has that changed for him and wants the Throne now?
Samwell: Defying considerable odds he has finally has provided the proof that he is a Tarly and a fighter. Does he fight with Dany as Lord Tarley or Maester Samwell? One could say he always was a Maester (never a fighter) and that fighting just proves he’s a Tarly. It’s not his true calling.
Jaime, Brienne, The Hound, Tormund, Podrick, Gendry and Grey Worm: were just dog piled by the undead with hours of relentless fighting with looming certain death always nearby. All of them should be able to take anything that Cersei dishes out from a fighting perspective and still survive. If they don’t then to me that’s a little strange.
*At one point Jon is very close to the Night King and stops. Why?? This gave the Night King time to resurrect the dead fighters Jon used to have. Why are they attacking him a few at a time? Wouldn’t the Night King just order all of them to swarm him?
Unknown:
Bran seemed to know Theon was going to die and the way he looked at the Night King made it look like he knew Arya was going to kill the Night King.
Does Bran know the future? I think so and that he has limited influence on present day characters towards the visions he sees.
*Does a major character have to die in battle of this scale to show the devastational impact to the overall story? I think you probably would get a 50/50 consensus on that. I know I was surprised at how few of them died and that did have an impact for me. I suppose from a Benioff and Weiss story line perspective; keeping most of the major character alive for episode 4; offers enough possible deceptive resolution points to twist around the audience for the next three episodes. That being said, the major underlying tension of an existential threat that has existed for years to us is no more; putting an increasingly sharp focus on the Game for Throne and putting more relevance back into that game. What’s the overall message there? Is it people will still play games regardless of the looming threat of death? Not sure…
This leads to the following questions:
*Did Cersei just get lucky with her ignorance of participating in the Long Night battle or was that a brilliant well plotted move on her part looking to the witches prophecy for guidance about the beautiful woman that would succeed her?
*Will Jaime and Brienne die heroically in a battle against Cersei? Will they end up together?
*Will Tormund end up with Brienne?
*Will Sansa end up with Tyrion (if the Dany issue is resolved)?
*Will Arya kill Cersei? Perhaps using Euron or Qyburn’s face?
*Who ends up on the Throne? (Now that matters again).
*Is Dany pregnant?
*Clegane bowl? It’s looking more and more like this will happen.
*How does Bran function now in the rest of the story? Will he fade into the background like Lord Varys has the past four episodes?
*What troops does Dany’s forces have now to fight Cersei? Dornish? Troops in the Reach? Are there any troops left from the Vale?
Deepwood Mott had bowed out of participating in the Long Night, are there any inhibitants left who could lend a hand?
Have we seen the last of Meera Reed? What about her father can he help out Dany with troops?
*What was Bran’s warging session accomplishing? Was it just positions on the Night King or was he getting the lay of the land for the final battles with Cersei for King’s Landing?
Tin Foil theory wise:
*Did Qyburn figure out how to mass produce versions of the Mountain for Cersei?
Forgot about Lyanna!
Forgot about Lyanna!
A lady who’s actions lived up to her strong words. That was the most spectacular death of the episode (aside from the Night King). My honor and respects are with you my Lady! The Mormonts fought and died harder than anyone!
Tag back on the fighters mentioned
One thing to clarify in my audio comments about: Grey Worm, and Jaime being the only main characters who didn’t fight the Army of the Undead prior to this battle and engaged in the fighting. I forgot Arya and Brienne. That being said, these also are arguably the best fighters in the land, so they were fully experienced going into battle.
Grey Worm was raised to be a fighter.
Brienne was arguably the best Knight in the land also prior to the battle (just not in title.)
Arya’s entire training was done fighting Death in different forms.
I have to assume one handed Jaime survives because of Brienne and his abilities. The point above about them dying against Cersei though still stands. If they can face and survive the worst enemies known to that world, why wouldn’t they all survive the next three episodes fighting Cersei?
Golden Company? Could they flip sides?
Is the Golden Company firmly on Cersei’s side? Did she pay for them with her own money or was that expense made by the Iron Bank of Braavos? If it’s the Iron Bank, they may side the troops with Dany so they can get their investment back.
Jaquen Hagar is really the guy running the Golden Company. Right when you think they will fight the armies of the north, all thirty surviving soldiers, surprise, big reveal.
A for spectacle
F for story
I watched this episode twice so far in order to more accurately put into words what I felt at the climax of the episode. I felt blah, perhaps disappointment, definitely foolishness that I invested eight years into this show and finally, hope that GRRM lives long enough to complete his books and that his ending is completely different.
The good- there was tension before the battle. The CGI dragon battle was pretty slick, I think, because I could not really make that much out because my TV must suck something awful. Everything was way to dark.
Jorah Mormont died like a boss, defending his unrequited love. That was good but I would not at all be surprised if he is not sitting in a bed with some bandages, he was stabbed in the gut but that does not matter in this world, right? Think Arya in that one ridiculous season.
At least the food situation in Winterfell is solved. The thirty or forty people who survived should be good to go for the rest of winter.
The mediocre- no one important died. I was not emotionally attached to anyone who died. The cracking of bones with Lyanna Mormont was pretty gruesome but is was a rip off from a scene in American Horror Show, that was way more emotional. Is it a requirement that if you are a zombie or a Wight Walker or the Knight King that you move as slowly as possible when you are in the vicinity of named characters but really, really fast if you are attacking nameless redshirts.
Theon died well, I guess, but his arc kind of required he battle someone and win. He was just a looser, who lost everything, all of the time. Although, if you look at Theon’s wound it was also just in the gut so he will probably be laying in a bed next to Jorah getting medical attention.
The Silly- Every time a main character looked like he or she was about to be overrun some one would jump in and save him or her. That happened like six or seven times at least
Gray Worm survived. One moment he was in the front rank then he was teleported to the rear with the gear.
The Makes me want to rage quit-
What relationship did Arya have with the Knight’s King? Would it not have been better that when she drops her dagger that Bran catches it and stabs him or that Meera Reed shows up with her father and his army with the sword that she took from the cave and surprise it was a long forgotten Valerian Steel sword and stabby stab. I guess Meera’s story is over.
Questions for the future-
What are Jon, Bran, Sam, Sansa, Arya, Bronze Yon Royce, I assume he was taking a nap, maybe a trip to the privy (old men get prostate problems that make them have to pee but not be able to) during the battle, stories going forward?
Are they really going to just set up a conflict between Jon and Danny? Really that is the best the show has to offer. A male – female right to rule conflict? By all the laws of feudal succession, in the book, on the show, in real life, all of it, the grandchild of the former king has precedence over his other children. But it doesn’t even matter if they get married, then who cares. The fact that they are aunt and nephew hasn’t come up and probably never will.
What was the Knight’s King’s motivation? Doesn’t matter
If you are the Phantom Menace starship that controls all, why would you do your own killing? Doesn’t matter
Where did Melisandra come from? Doesn’t matter
What were the words that Varys heard when his junk was burned? Doesn’t matter
Why did Melisandra die at the end? Doesn’t matter
Was Davos really going to kill her after she saved the North? Doesn’t matter
Does Danny know that Gendry is the son of the man who killed her brother? Doesn’t matter
Prediction for the ending-
Arya will become lady Baratheon and have a bunch of kids and that will be her bittersweet ending.
Jon will hold Danny in his arms as she dies in giving birth to their child bittersweet ending. “Promise me Jon that you will take care of Aegon VII” or whatever the name is going to be.
Sansa and Tryion will remain married, its not like there are divorces in this word, and rule the North. Bittersweet
Brienne and Tormound will become the Lord and Lady of Bear Island or The Last Hearth, probably Bear Island- the Bear and the Maiden Fair. Bittersweet.
I am going to watch the last few episodes because I am a glutton for punishment.
Hi Guys!
I left a twitter message, but just wanted to say, House Mormont, respect! They were the real ones.,jorah hurt more than I thought.
And, Sansa, I was rooting for her, but she still talking smack about Daenerys while she is fighting and she is hiding in a crypt. I just can’t.
Theon. Respect.
I mentioned on Twitter I wish Jon had a fight scene with The Night King. Also, what army do they have left for Cercei?
AND, I hope they stomp the grounds at House Glover and take their troops, then ask Dorne and get Daario to help her get some elephants from his former crew. 🙂
Thanks guys!
I Survived the Long Night
Epic episode; wish I could see it in a theater! The cinematography and sound were superb.
Starting with quiet heightened the suspense. We were expecting Melisandre at some point, but lighting the Dothraki’s swords was so cool and to see these flames (and sounds of the Dothraki) wither away was amazing and terrifying. The Unsullied, standing ground and the terror in Grey Worm’s eyes! Arya’s weapon was badass, as was she. Arya needed that break and so did we. Lord Beric’s purpose revealed!! I loved the reference back to season one…”Not Today!” It had never occurred to me that the blue for the eye colors was the Night King until that moment, but I still didn’t know what to expect. Lady Mormont was also badass! I believe Sam was a liability out there but I’m sure, so many were. The sequences with the Dragons with the storm, Drogon & Dany knocking the Night King off, that shot of Rhaegyll and Drogon above the clouds! I was happy to see Dany pick up a weapon and taking out a few wights. Ser Jorah had to be the one to protect Dany. When he heard Drogon at one point during the battle, I knew he was running toward that direction. Theon!! He fought like a true warrior in protecting Bran. The way he ran toward the Night King and death was so heroic. Let’s not forgot the amazing Ser Brienne, Ser Jaime et al. The Night King was a bit of a schmuk for avoiding one on one with Jon and raising the dead; although, that was super cool. At this point, my resting heart rate was > 120! That last sequence with Jon trying to get to Bran; his eyes were desperate and determined as he saw the others pinned against the wall and Sam sinking and the Night King with his entourage walking up to Bran. As intense as this was, the amazing music during this sequence was haunting and beautiful, increasing the intensity of the different scenes with Tyrin and Sansa holding hands, Dany and Ser Jorah, Ser Brienne, Ser Jaime, Pod, Jon’s faceoff with Viserion…the..gotcha! Arya, using her years of training removes the magic that kept the Night King and Undead alive! Right before her sneak attack, the one White Walker sensed something. I know some people were disappointed that it was Arya, but I thought it was very cool.
In the immediate aftermath, I loved everyone’s shocked expressions as the wights were dropping. I loved how Drogon comforted Dany. One last thought, even though the Night King raised some of the dead in the crypts, it still was safer than the castle! RIP Theon, Ser Jorah, Lady “badass” Mormont, Lord Beric, Dolorous Ed, Dothraki army & Melisandre! Good riddance Night King and the Undead!
I believe Arya, Lady Mormont and Melisandre won the week! What happens next?
An Epic Episode but I'm Conflicted
It’s been hard to figure out how I feel about this episode. On one hand, this is the single best episode of television I have seen from a cinematic perspective and it’s not even close. The presentation was outstanding with expert cinematography, beautiful CGI effects and a tremendous atmosphere. This was every bit of the grand battle that I was expecting and it was a total joy to watch. But on the other hand, the result of this battle and the direction the story went in left me feeling so underwhelmed and disappointed that I’m not confident I can say this was an excellent episode, despite me being completely hooked for the first 60 minutes.
I’ll start with the good stuff. The action was phenomenal. I was a little worried by the prospect of an 80 minute long battle sequence, but it was paced to perfection with enough breaks from the action and changes of scenery. The best examples of these were the short conversation scenes between Tyrion/Sansa and Bran/Theon, as well as the brief horror movie interlude with Arya sneaking around the wights. These scenes were fresh and captivating, allowing us an effective break from the chaos going on during the battle.
The deaths were all very impactful. The minor deaths like Beric, Edd and Lyanna were very well done and impressed me in different ways. The major deaths towards the end of the episode were more played to our emotions and I thought they were written very well. Seeing Jorah go down fighting for Dany after watching their relationship develop for 7 seasons was absolutely heartbreaking. Just as powerful was the conclusion of Theon’s redemption arc, as he had finally done enough to atone for his many sins. Theon went out like a truly noble man, charging headfirst into certain death.
Even though the spectacle was awesome (who doesn’t love dragon fights), I had some problems with the tactics surrounding the battle. I was confused by Dany and Jon diving straight into the blizzard on their dragons to find the Night King. Why would they do this? The dragons are the single most useful weapon for killing the wights, so surely they would be used for this purpose. Furthermore, I thought that Bran was being used to lure the Night King, so why didn’t both of them simply wait for the Night King to arrive at Winterfell and fight him then? Instead, they opted to waste time flying around in a blizzard. The Dothraki charge was a spectacular moment but it makes little sense from a strategic standpoint. The entire cavalry unit just got sacrificed, and for what? All that was accomplished was that the living now had to fight undead Dothraki as well which can’t possibly be an improvement. Surely someone would have brought up the point that every dead man would just become another enemy. Lastly, I was in actual pain when I saw the trebuchets positioned in front of the infantry line. The Age of Empires player in me was freaking out about all of the resources that would be wasted when they were inevitably destroyed without doing much damage at all.
The biggest problem with this episode was the distinct lack of consequences for major characters. This was the ultimate showdown that the show has been building up to since the first few seconds of the pilot. Yet, the conflict was resolved in just a single episode with the White Walkers making no real impact on the story or the characters as a whole. You could probably do a rewrite of the whole series and completely remove the White Walkers if this is all that they did. There is a notable lack of pay-off from a story perspective even if this was a super cool battle episode. Major characters made mistakes in this episode and yet none of them faced the consequences. Drogon should have died when Dany discovered that dragonfire did not work on the Night King. Jon should have died when he stupidly charged the Night King. There should have been many more deaths inside Winterfell when the castle became overrun with wights. None of these consequences happened. But the most egregious consequence that wasn’t realize wasn’t even a part of the battle. Cersei refused to acknowledge the threat of the dead, and surely that was a mistake that she would pay the price for. But she gets no penance for this mistake and instead comes out looking smart for just ignoring the threat. Not only does this lack of consequence go against the spirit of the show, but by proving Cersei to be correct, it makes the White Walkers feel like just another distraction that we were stupid to worry so much about.
Finally, I thought that the defeat of the White Walkers felt anticlimactic. Arya killing the Night King was a cool moment, but it’s hurt by the fact that after all the hype, the NK was just another villain. He had no real motive, even though it had been hyped up that he does, and he also made all of the cliched blunders that villains make in any generic film/TV show. In the end, he was nothing special; the main villain was always Cersei. This feels like an underwhelming development because I don’t think of Cersei as anywhere near as big of a threat as the White Walkers were. It’s a step down in terms of stakes, which is a dumb thing to do when we are heading into the show’s grand finale. Plus, it’s a slap in the face to the main theme of the show, which is that all of the political wrangling for the Iron Throne is meaningless because everyone needs to band together and face the real threat (The White Walkers). To focus the final conflict of the show on the Iron Throne shows a fundamental misunderstanding of what this story is about. After all, “Game of Thrones” is just the name of the TV show, and the first book of the series. The real title of this series is “A Song of Ice and Fire”.
The Ice and Fire battle is still going
Love your comments.
Re “I was confused by Dany and Jon diving straight into the blizzard on their dragons to find the Night King. Why would they do this? The dragons are the single most useful weapon for killing the wights, so surely they would be used for this purpose.”
I thought the weather overtook them and the had no option other than to go through it to get down to the battle.
“Furthermore, I thought that Bran was being used to lure the Night King, so why didn’t both of them simply wait for the Night King to arrive at Winterfell and fight him then?”
Danerys reacted when she saw the Dothraki fall. The Dothraki and Jorah got excited when Melisandre lit their swords and charged. I took the charge be intended to keep the Undead army away from the castle. What they didn’t allow for is how quickly the undead could kill horses.
Melisandre also wanted the Winterfell armies to appreciate the full horror they were facing.
Also, Bran’s whole plan seems to have been to play to the Night King’s arrogance and get the Night King on the ground and over confident. It worked at a terrible price.
“The real title of this series is “A Song of Ice and Fire”.
Fire Targ – Danerys
Ice and Fire Targ- Jon
Blackfire Targ – Golden Company
A heart of Ice and a stash of Wildfire – Cersei
Ice necomancer and Ice Undead- Night King and the White Walkers
Fire necromancer and Fire Undead – Qyburn (even has Burn in his name) and Gregor Clegane
Ice – Westeros
Fire – Essos
Still a lot of story to go – the Lord of Light just gave Sandor a task via Melisandre’s comment to ‘accept the fire within him’.