Game of Thrones fans?

[Reichsmarschall]

Never really been a big Game of thrones fan but fingers crossed Night king slaughters all the living and sits on the Iron throne for eternity.

jokes on you he is dead
Arya killed him

 

[Thəorətic Muslim]

The writing of 8x03 this was terrible....

 

[Cookie Monster]

The writing of 8x03 this was terrible....

The writers had been upping the powers of the Night King so much that they probably dug themselves in too deep and didnt know how to bring him down...
...that whole thing with Arya taking him down like that in a matter of seconds seemed too rushed/unrealistic/bad writing

I know that Arya is a skilled fighter but the Night King was supposed to be super strong. He came out of dragon fire unscathed...he has taken down many skilled fighters...
...and not to mention he was surrounded by his lieutenants and hordes of undead...previously they have displayed a sort of hive mind mentality...so if any of them saw Arya, the Night King would've known immediately. This would make sneaking up on him extremely difficult if not down right impossible.

The fighting scenes were touted to be one of the longest ever shot...and I was expecting it to span over at least two episodes(this one and the next one) before any sort of conclusion. But it kinda just ended...quickly at the end in just this one episode. Not to mention there were huge flaws in their planning...with the intel they had on white walkers, they could've come up with far better defensive strategies than the sh*t one they pulled off. Meeting them out in the open field and charging at them...wasn't very bright. It's a no brainer that it would just add to their numbers. Not putting oil in the trenches to light on fire later...not having multiple defensive layers to fall back...not having a ton of archers raining down flaming arrows...barely using long range catapults...not lining up castle walls with dragon glass(all sections)...and the worst of all not having central command(general)...they had only local level commanders(like Brienne, Davos, etc). In terms of strategy it seemed rather stupid.

 

[Kambojaric]

Im an avid GoT fans but this was just disappointing. The battle was being hyped as more epic than Helms Deep. From the little one could see (it was ridiculously dark) it was just a massacre until one teenager somehow manages to sneak past a horde of undead and kill the strongest entity alive.

 

[dexter]

Well i would say this episode was quite good compared to first two as well as they really worked hard for it. But it still it lacked so many main aspects of defense & planning during a siege or battle.
Things that were quite stupid :

• Dothraki charging the army of dead
• Some parts of battle are so dark that we can't see shiit
• Arya sneaking pass the Night King
• Killing Ghost in start of battle
• Pointless deaths of Jorah & Theon
• Bran doing nothing, maybe watching Endgame

R.I.P. : Dothraki, Ghost, Edd (Night's Watch), Lyanna Mormont, Balearic Dandarian, Jorah Mormont, Theon Geyjoy, Night king & his army of dead.
Also, all hype for Jon snow vs Nightking fight.

 

[Kambojaric]

Well i would say this episode was quite good compared to first two as well as they really worked hard for it. But it still it lacked so many main aspects of defense & planning during a siege or battle.
Things that were quite stupid :

• Dothraki charging the army of dead
• Arya sneaking pass the Night King
• Killing Ghost in start of battle
• Pointless deaths of Jorah & Theon
• Bran doing nothing, maybe watching Endgame

Well it being better than episode 1 & 2 was kind of given, as 1 and 2 were simply building up ep. 3.

Add to your list sending the women and children down to the crypts. I mean by this time even a child knows the Night King can bring the dead back, and where do the geniuses decide to send their women and children? Why to a glorified underground graveyard of course!

All of this is not to say that the episode was terrible. The start was encouraging, Arya tip toeing around the wights was nerve-wrecking (albeit this is an old technique and nothing groundbreaking). The courtyard fighting scences were alright (shout-out to Lyanna Mormont). Overall however it was very disappointing.

 

[dexter]

Well it being better than episode 1 & 2 was kind of given, as 1 and 2 were simply building up ep. 3.

Add to your list sending the women and children down to the crypts. I mean by this time even a child knows the Night King can bring the dead back, and where do the geniuses decide to send their women and children? Why to a glorified underground graveyard of course!

All of this is not to say that the episode was terrible. The start was encouraging, Arya tip toeing around the wights was nerve-wrecking (albeit this is an old technique and nothing groundbreaking). The courtyard fighting scences were alright (shout-out to Lyanna Mormont). Overall however it was very disappointing.

Yeah, Arya fighting multiple zombies was good, it really shows how much she learnt from his teachers Syrio Forel & Jaqen H'ghar.
The line that Ser Syrio Forel said to Arya & repeated by Red lady was also a good reminder of episode 1.
While Lyanna Mormont was badass at the last moment, taking out a giant with her.

 

[Cookie Monster]

Well it being better than episode 1 & 2 was kind of given, as 1 and 2 were simply building up ep. 3.

Add to your list sending the women and children down to the crypts. I mean by this time even a child knows the Night King can bring the dead back, and where do the geniuses decide to send their women and children? Why to a glorified underground graveyard of course!

All of this is not to say that the episode was terrible. The start was encouraging, Arya tip toeing around the wights was nerve-wrecking (albeit this is an old technique and nothing groundbreaking). The courtyard fighting scences were alright (shout-out to Lyanna Mormont). Overall however it was very disappointing.

Not at all better than the first two episodes. At least the first two episodes served their purpose...showing preparations, logistics for the upcoming war...incoming refugees from surrounding areas, weapons being forged and the tensions between the northmen and the foreigners, etc. It was consistent and kept the normal flow of the story that has been built up since the start of the show. In contrast this episode seemed more like the writers thinking "crap we only have 3 more episodes left to conclude the series so let's end one of the most powerful figures(night king) and one of the biggest threats to humanity(his undead army) quickly".

Night King and his army were such a big threat that the last time they fought humans(First Men)...it left such a huge psychological impact that the legends/stories were passed down generation after generation for thousands of years. They built a giant wall and formed Night's Watch to defend against any such threat in the future...and then that monstrously powerful villain is taken out in less than a minute...
...so anticlimactic and inconsistent with the flow of the story.

They had been building it up in a way between the Night King and Jon that everyone was expecting them to eventually face off. The Night King took a special interest in Jon...so while Arya could still be the one to kill him...there still should've been a long and detailed melee between Jon and the Night King.

As for the battle strategy employed in this episode...it was one of the stupidest one I've ever seen in this show. They just served up the Dothraki on a platter as an appetizer to the huge undead army...the catapults fired ONCE...

They knew the enemy...the night's watch, Jon, Bran, the Hound, Tormund and Beric had faced the undead army before. They knew full well their "swarm with huge numbers strategy"...they also knew the Night's King can raise the dead...meaning those at winterfell who fall in battle can then be raised by the Night King, which will effectively be constant dwindling the numbers of the living while Night's King can keep adding numbers to his army. Keeping this in mind(not to mention the huge numerical inferiority) Jon and his advisors should've ruled out any offensive strategies and gone for a full defensive one. They should've dug in more trenches...not just that one they dug...but more layers further out. In front of the trenches on ground put those wooden(dragon glass tipped) obstacles. In the trenches dump some oil so it's easier to light up with flaming arrows or dragon fire. They should've acquired(or at least tried) the formula of wildfire from the maesters or whoever else bcuz that would've come in really handy. They should've put dragon glass shards all across the castle walls, which would've made it impossible for the undead to climb the walls. There should've been way more archers on top the castle walls. They should've made more use of catapults, archers, and the remaining two dragons to inflict heavy casualties and keep them at bay while the elite fighters(in groups) go stealthily hunting for the Night King or his lieutenants bcuz this would kill off a huge number of the undead(or all of them if it's the NK). I could go on and on but...the point is this episode seemed very rushed and poorly written...this is so unlike Game of Thrones.

 

[Kambojaric]

Not at all better than the first two episodes. At least the first two episodes served their purpose...showing preparations, logistics for the upcoming war...incoming refugees from surrounding areas, weapons being forged and the tensions between the northmen and the foreigners, etc. It was consistent and kept the normal flow of the story that has been built up since the start of the show. In contrast this episode seemed more like the writers thinking "crap we only have 3 more episodes left to conclude the series so let's end one of the most powerful figures(night king) and one of the biggest threats to humanity(his undead army) quickly".

Night King and his army were such a big threat that the last time they fought humans(First Men)...it left such a huge psychological impact that the legends/stories were passed down generation after generation for thousands of years. They built a giant wall and formed Night's Watch to defend against any such threat in the future...and then that monstrously powerful villain is taken out in less than a minute...
...so anticlimactic and inconsistent with the flow of the story.

They had been building it up in a way between the Nigh King and Jon that everyone was expecting them to eventually face off. The Night King took a special interest in Jon...so while Arya could still be the one to kill him...there still should've been a long and detailed melee between Jon and the Night King.

As for the battle strategy employed in this episode...it was one of the stupidest one I've ever seen in this show. They just served up the Dothraki on a platter as an appetizer to the huge undead army...the catapults fired ONCE...

They knew the enemy...the night's watch, Jon, Bran, the Hound, Tormund and Beric had faced the undead army before. They knew full well their "swarm with huge numbers strategy"...they also knew the Night's King can raise the dead...meaning those at winterfell who fall in battle can then be raised by the Night King, which will effectively be constant dwindling the numbers of the living while Night's King can keep adding numbers to his army. Keeping this in mind(not to mention the huge numerical inferiority) Jon and his advisors should've ruled out any offensive strategies and gone for a full defensive one. They should've dug in more trenches...not just that one they dug...but more layers further out. In front of the trenches on ground put those wooden(dragon glass tipped) obstacles. In the trenches dump some oil so it's easier to light up with flaming arrows or dragon fire. They should've acquired(or at least tried) the formula of wildfire from the masters or whoever else bcuz that would've come in really handy. They should've put dragon glass shards all across the castle walls, which would've made it impossible for the undead to climb the walls. There should've been way more archers on top the castle walls. I could go on and on but...the point is this episode seemed very rushed and poorly written...this is so unlike Game of Thrones.

Agreed with this all. Winterfell should have fallen and at least the north should have fallen completely under the control of the dead to do the army of the dead some justice. The previous long night had lasted a complete generation. One whole generation was born, grew up and lived and died fighting the dead in darkness. This "long" night lasted a couple of months at most. Completely out of tune with the lore.

Also barely any characters died. How did Game of Thrones go from killing off its main "protagonist" (ned stark) in season 1 to letting a dozen or more key characters survive a full on assault by the army of the undead. One of the biggest reasons GoT caught the attention of fans were moments like the Red Wedding. Barring Sir Jorah no character of note died in this episode (and even then with all due respect to Jorah, I am really stretching the definition of a "character of note"). Hardhome was by the far the best depiction of battle between the living and the dead. I am sure its budget was a mere fraction of this episode. Just goes to show money is not the only thing defining an epic battle.

The Battle of Helms Deep from the second movie in the Lord of the Rings trilogy is a great example of how a feeling of darkness can be conveyed to the viewer whilst they are still able to see what is going on! Honestly half the time in this episode of GoT (8x03) I was just trying to guess what I was seeing, forget getting immersed in the battle!.

 

[Winchester]

Very lazy writing !

So apparently Cercei is a bigger villain than the Night King. The guy had been preparing for 10,000 years and him and his whole army gets done in one moment.


Anyways that frikidoctor leak about the ending is now confirmed.

 

[Hassannn85]

Guys just wanted to say that the only thing hotter than Cerci is the surface of the Sun.

 

[JonAsad]

Queen Arya -

 

[Cookie Monster]

Agreed with this all. Winterfell should have fallen and at least the north should have fallen completely under the control of the dead to do the army of the dead some justice. The previous long night had lasted a complete generation. One whole generation was born, grew up and lived and died fighting the dead in darkness. This "long" night lasted a couple of months at most. Completely out of tune with the lore.

I don't have that much of an issue with them not making the long night last a generation. A few reasons are that...
- the long night in the lore could have some exaggerations added to it over centuries.
- even if it did last that long...at that point the white walkers were a new threat...the Night King had been created by the children of the forest and they didnt know how to stop him. I'm not sure if they had valyrian steel at that point since the Targaryens hadn't conquered yet(it was just the first men and the children of the forest who fought the white walkers with dragon glass).
- in contrast they had valyrian steel this time(which as we saw killed the Night's King). They knew that if they kill the Night's King or his lieutenants it wipes out a portion or all of the undead army(all if it's the Night's King). So this time around the long night didnt have to last a whole generation.

Their strategy should've been about having layers and layers of defense utilizing dragon glass/valyrian steel(weapons), fire/wildfire(arrows and catapults), and dragon fire to keep the hordes of undead at bay for as long as possible while some teams of elite fighters go hunting for the Night King's lieutenants. Jon and Dany on their dragons should have hunted for the night king(as they did)...and using Bran as the bait and Arya's skills along with Jon taking him on...the battle could've concluded without the long night lasting a generation. They just went about this whole thing in a stupid manner.

Also barely any characters died. How did Game of Thrones go from killing off its main "protagonist" (ned stark) in season 1 too letting a dozen or more key characters survive a full on assault by the army of the undead. One of the biggest reasons GoT caught the attention of fans were moments like the Red Wedding. Barring Sir Jorah no character of note died in this episode (and even then with all due respect to Jorah, I am really stretching the definition of a "character of note"). Hardhome was by the far the best depiction of battle between the living and the dead. I am sure its budget was a mere fraction of this episode. Just goes to show money is not the only thing defining an epic battle.

That's fine...I dont take an issue with them killing off characters or keeping them alive. GoT has proven unorthodox in terms of making predictions as to who would live and who would die. The only thing that surprised me is that Jaime and Sam lived...which is a bit inconsistent...since far more skilled warriors died. Jaime with his off hand is very unimpressive in his fighting and Sam was never a good fighter to start with. The only reason they should've been kept alive is if they have a role to play in the remaining episodes...in which case they should've made it a bit more realistic...as in show those two eventually retreating down in the crypts and that's how they survive. It seems unbelievable that they kept on fighting out by the castle walls while the bulk of their forces...ppl who were far more skilled had fallen...and they were getting swarmed.

The Battle of Helms Deep from the second movie in the Lord of the Rings trilogy is a great example of how a feeling of darkness can be conveyed to the viewer whilst they are still able to see what is going on! Honestly half the time in this episode of GoT (8x03) I was just trying to guess what I was seeing, forget getting immersed in the battle!.

Yes I've seen the Lord of the Rings trilogy many times over. This was a great and detailed battle...and yes u r right they could've used better lighting. I understand that it had to be fought at night time(the long night)...but they could've chosen to film it on nights when it was a full moon and use additional artificial lighting(like moonlight) to light up the scenes enough so that the viewers can see clearly what's happening.

 

[LeGenD]

@Cookie Monster

Slow down with your over-the-top critic of battle sequences - they were spectacular and well done in large part. Battles do not necessarily turn out as per planning in advance, particularly up against an unpredictable adversary.

[1] Army of the dead was too spread out and vast for the living to consider flanking from any direction. Dothraki were fantastic warriors and they were known to cut through formations of standing armies like butter, but formations of the dead proved too strong. Dothraki experiment was the only way to find out how the living would fare against the army of the dead out in the open.

[2] Night King was subjecting the region to stormy conditions which created lot of complications for the living. Fires were not igniting on the traps set for the dead; numerous fighters could not see clearly and decided to take their chances with the dead inside the Castle as the dead began to cut through formations of the living like butter out in the open; and even the dragons could not attack properly. Night King's powers prevented the living to fight effectively in short. What could human commanders do under such circumstances?

[3] The dead were way too many to cope with - even with pieces of dragon glass embedded on the top of the walls of Winterfell and a large number of men raining fire arrows on the dead from top of the walls, the dead managed to break through and this is not UNREALISTIC. Keep in mind that the dead did not had limitations of the living - they were not afraid and not tiring out. In fact, they were climbing over each other and creating pathways through obstacles in this manner.

[4] The dead eventually broke through the main gate and it was open season on the living afterwards.

My CRITIC is that I was expecting a higher number of notable characters to die, and Arya Stark taking out the Night King was certainly underwhelming in the sense that she pulled it off all on her own. In fact, PLOT ARMOR for some of the notable characters was frustrating to observe, but a spectacular episode on the whole. Storylines do not necessarily turn out in the way we all are expecting them to; fan-servicing do not make for compelling stories.

 

[dexter]

Whatever you guys say, i am satisfied with this episode. They put up lots of hardwork to bring us these episodes.
People like me just enjoy the show, if you want every episode upto level of Redwedding or other major episodes i am sure thats not going to happen.
Remember they have to end this show and they will have to make some decisions to wind it up quickly.
Otherwise, keep criticizing you guys will never be satisfied.
Shoutout to all characters died in this episode and the actors that played them.
The last 3 will conclude this show, so no more GOT.