Game of Thrones: 8.03 - The Long Night

[ctg]

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Nevermind about the Ghost. That lot isn't going to be enough against the Golden Cloaks.

 

[Koopa]

So Harry strictland for hidden Targaryen who will pull a Tudor and marry Sansa to reign as king and queen... anyone

 

[Al Jackson]

So Harry strictland for hidden Targaryen who will pull a Tudor and marry Sansa to reign as king and queen... anyone

I am almost sure the "Griff" will not be introduced at t his late date, after all Dorne is still in the novels but has been given the Bums Rush on the show.

 

[Al Jackson]

I was sure Ghost was going to save Jon after the Night King surrounding him with newly-raised Wights, but alas...

A good episode, but I feel it may have suffered from hype. Also it was so dark I could barely see anything! I much preferred last week's episode.

I also think - at this moment in time - that they messed up the order of the battles. I do feel this should have been the finale, after they'd been forced to deal with Cersei. That said, I'm willing to give the benefit of the doubt until the last three episodes play out.

Yeah , my thoughts were that this would be a knock down drag out tussle but with the end result that the Night King withdrew , biding time to get another shot at Bran. Moved south to attack KL , where , in Ep 5, have the final battle, devastating KL but the NK defeated with the arrival of Northern Forces. I am not so sure that the Long Night needed a definitive end like it did.
Anyway this does leave the intriguing question what happens next!?
Especially Eps 4 and 5, I expect 4 will be a 'quite' story, … then another battle in Ep 5?
Not sure how one trumps the battle at Winterfell?
Kind battled out as it is.

 

[REBerg]

I noticed a common thread shared by the significant characters who took the big dirt nap in this episode: None of them got a dying line.

Some appeared to be attempting to speak, but apparently could do nothing more than move their lips, not voice their parting thoughts.
Ser Jorah came close with “I’m hurt,” hut he still had a little life in his well-ventilated body at that point. It’s possible that he may have just come to the realization that he really had been written out of the series.

Anyway, to correct this glaring omission, I’ve taken the liberty of giving the late characters a few last words.

Dolorous Edd: I always knew you’d get me killed, Tarly.

Lyanna Mormont: Never underestimate a warrior princess!

Beric Dondarrion: Any chance of another resurrection, Priestess?

Theon Greyjoy: What is dead cannot die. Wait! What?

The Night King: Looks like chipped ice for drinks all around.

Jorah Mormont: I guess we’ll never get that first date, Khaleesi.

Melisandre: Beam me up, Lord of Light.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Nevermind about the Ghost. That lot isn't going to be enough against the Golden Cloaks.

Heresy.

 

[Koopa]

2 dragons might help against the golden company without plot armor on Cersei part.

I do think the show hasn't kept us informed enough about the rest of westeros.
We know Yara has probably retaken the iron islands, we know Glover traiterous behind is in deepwood motte.
But how do things stand everyone else. Has the reach found a new leader or are they loyal to cersei.
What is happening in Dorne, who has taken control of the place? Is there a lannister from lannisport hauling ass for cersei in the westernlands?
what is the status of riverrun? Have the remnants of the stormlanders joined cersei? We know almost nothing. And we probably won't ever know.

 

[Venusian Broon]

I am not so sure that the Long Night needed a definitive end like it did.
...
Kind battled out as it is.

Well looking at YouTube comments there's a lot of annoyed people!

I think one of the thoughts I''ve heard/read is that it's a bit like LotR. So the ring and Sauron was destroyed, but we still had the 'scouring of the shire' to finish off the book.

And it's the same here - big bad dealt with, now the "scouring of Kings Landing"

 

[The Big Peat]

2 dragons might help against the golden company without plot armor on Cersei part.

I know Cersei has those ballista things but, based on what we've seen from them so far, I'd have thought a war between Dany + 2 Dragons vs Cersei & Whoever would require extreme plot armour on Cersei's part to be worth watching. Unless she has about a 1000 of them.

Even more so Arya vs Cersei.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

See, I reckon the real war is Jon and Danys

 

[Judderman]

A lot of the comments from you folks sum things up. Some seem happy, but most are disappointed in various points. It is hard to match the hype, but the show has done battle scenes better before. There were no really major deaths except the Night King.

The dramatic fire lighting was impressive but far outweighed by the appalling darkness over most of the episode. I thought this dark scene problem was getting less in Holywood the last few years but it was terrible here. I hope the CGI/graphics folks don't get any award this season, as this was such a major error.

This quote below shows the reasoning. But I don't think it is good:


"Although there's no official word yet from HBO or the show's producers, it would seem this low-resolution presentation of the battle was an intentional choice. Robert McLachlan, a cinematographer on "Game of Thrones," seemed to back up that theory, telling the website Insider that in the later seasons the show's producers wanted to try "to be as naturalistic as possible" when it came to lighting the sets. "


There wasn't many real surprises but there were some. The impact the Red Sorceress had was great. Davos didn't forgive her, but it seems she did what she set out to do.
The bridging by zombies was good, though as said there should have been more efforts with burning oil etc. And perhaps someone should have been burning anyone killed within the castle if possible.
Arya finishing off the Night King was as expected, except that her new weapon wasn't used for the fatal blow. It was one previously used against Bran.

Bran warged into Ravens for ..... what? To help bait the Night King as he noticed this power being used? Bran actually hasn't done anything yet really. He helped out Sam with explaining who Jon is. So presumably Bran will do something in another episode. Maybe just push Jamie off a ledge

I did enjoy the scenes in the castle with Arya, as there was some drama there.

I was really disappointed that none of the major living players were killed. The near killing of various significant characters only to be saved by Arya's miraculous finish was cheesy. Also surely one of Varys, Tyrion and Sansa should have been killed?? Such a big deal made about the crypts.

I was a bit surprised Greyworm seems to have survived.

Dany has lost her army. I would still expect her to do something to try and take over.

Could Arya and Gendry marry to setup another possible rivalry for the Throne at the end of the series?

Where are the knights of the Vale these days?

 

[Al Jackson]

"Although there's no official word yet from HBO or the show's producers, it would seem this low-resolution presentation of the battle was an intentional choice. Robert McLachlan, a cinematographer on "Game of Thrones," seemed to back up that theory, telling the website Insider that in the later seasons the show's producers wanted to try "to be as naturalistic as possible" when it came to lighting the sets. "

Hibberd has some interesting comments about this:

'Game of Thrones' recap of Winterfell battle: A dark, epic bloodbath

Here's who perished during "The Long Night." And was it too dark to see?

ew.com

I was really disappointed that none of the major living players were killed. The near killing of various significant characters only to be saved by Arya's miraculous finish was cheesy. Also surely one of Varys, Tyrion and Sansa should have been killed?? Such a big deal made about the crypts.

Er, Ser Jorah and Melisandre are minor charactors?

Dany has lost her army. I would still expect her to do something to try and take over.

Preview of episode 4 shows that quite a few of the Unsullied survived.
You know we saw foot soldiers of the Vale fighting but none of its Cavalry.
Yeah can Yara marshal an Ironborn revolt?
Supposedly Tobias Menzies, Edmure Tully, is back, what can he get together?
We also see Dany's Targ fleet , which had to be considerable since it brought a hoard of Dothraki on shore.

 

[Culhwch]

So long as the final battle is during the day, that's all I ask!

 

[ctg]

Melisandre are minor charactors?

Melisandre for sure. She is a definitely an important side character, but there's nothing that makes her main one. Jorah, however, had only one job at the end, fighting for that redemption and fulfilling his oath for the Kalishi. After all he was the last man, the last general for the Dothraki army.

Now, is Dany going to bring Second Sons over the Narrow Sea, and is there another set of Unsullied with them? Back then it felt that she never brought all of them, and there are quite number of them waiting for the Queen to return.

 

[Judderman]

Ok not minor characters. Significant characters. But none of the political characters were killed, and a few heroes had fortunate escapes.

 

[Al Jackson]

Melisandre for sure. She is a definitely an important side character, but there's nothing that makes her main one. Jorah, however, had only one job at the end, fighting for that redemption and fulfilling his oath for the Kalishi. After all he was the last man, the last general for the Dothraki army.

Now, is Dany going to bring Second Sons over the Narrow Sea, and is there another set of Unsullied with them? Back then it felt that she never brought all of them, and there are quite number of them waiting for the Queen to return.

For me Melisandre is a major character.

 

[ctg]

For me Melisandre is a major character.

Fair enough.

 

[Bagpuss]

It's just I don't get that if he'd killed the Memory of the World, how that would have solved the problem of man, for which the Children of Forest created him to crack in the first place?

It wouldn't solve the problem of man. Or at least there's no explanation for it. It's an attempt to do something that appears complex but actually has no underlying logic to it. You're supposed to buy into the idea and not examine the reasoning for the NK's actions. I mean, the Children created the NK, but he attacked the Children's Cave in the last series. It's dramatic, but not especially logical. (It's sort of like asking how fast a Starfury flies, and then being told it moves at the speed of plot.)

You could possibly start with the idea that the Children of the Forest want to exterminate the human race. But then, you'd founder on the idea of the Pact (aka the surrender of the Children of the Forest to the First Men) and the apparent history of Westeros which appears to state that the Children, at the end of the Long Night, helped to turn back the killers that they themselves had created. So, the Children of the Forest apparently help Men end the Long Night in some undefined fashion and they then agree to give the Night's Watch dragonglass daggers that would kill the killers that they had created, even though the Children had apparently previously attempted to destroy Men and prevent the invasion of their lands by sending the Hammer of the Waters against the land bridge.

If all of the previous paragraph sounds completely inconsistent, then that's because it is and it can't all be true. Basically the ancient history of Westeros is an illogical mess. And I'm not sure that it's a mess that the rest of the series looks set to resolve. (Small edit: the reason that I think this is that they've destroyed the plot involving the Long Night - it now has no significance whatsoever.)

 

[Al Jackson]

So was Arya’s whole timeline engineered by Essos?


Direct training by Syrio Forel First Sword of Braavos, in Essos.


Jaqen H'ghar become her protector and eventually she winds up at


The House of Black and White (Braavos, Essos) for crucial training….


Super stealth and a move that Nobody taught her.


Interactions with Melisandre of Assha (from Essos) who seems to know


Arya’s importance from their first meeting.


An elaborate dagger with a dragon-bone hilt and a Valyrian steel blade,


forged with dragonfire in Old Valyria… was this blade made in Valyria thousands of years ago with a purpose? (Essos again.)

 

[Judderman]

Melisandre did mention about what do you say to the God of Death. As if the God of Light and the God of Death are somehow linked like black and white. But house of Black and White is for the many faced God. Not much to go on in the show to really explain it. God of Death could also be linked to talking about the White Walkers.

I wonder if Varys still has a role to play. He didn't do much this episode but was left alive.