Lots of casualties this episode for sure. I agree with you on Lady Mormont but at least she went out like a bawsss.
I was waiting for Arya to make the save then totally fell for it when the Night King grabbed her. So the knife switch blew me away.
She pulled the exact same move while sparring with Brienne in the previous season. Loved that call-back!
"Sooner or later, humans will kill all the Aen Seidhe. All dwarves and gnomes. Then they'll start murdering one another. Your kind knows no other way. It's in your genes. You keep killing each other until only one remains. The strongest among you. A thousand years from now, a dim-witted human barbarian will climb to the top of a pile of bones, sit down and proclaim: "I win"."
Weird opinion incoming, but I have to admit, I'm kind of... disappointed by this episode and I guess by this whole season so far in general.
I just finished episode 8x03 a few minutes ago, completing my re-watch of the entire series over the last ~3 weeks, and my first thought - after the initial shock had worn off - was that I can't wait to read the books. Because there's no way this story is actually going to end that way.
Don't get me wrong, the action surrounding the battle at Winterfell was just epic, easily beating anything the show has done before. Yet there were also a couple of cliché "TV tropes" that the show had been above in its earlier season.
- Ed's death was a total cliché that has been done like that, basically frame by frame, a hundred times over in tons of movies and TV shows.
- The unexplained silence inside the castle - even in rooms with windows! - while there was the largest battle of all times raging outside. All so Arya could play hide-and-seek in the library with the Walkers while seconds ago she had been taking them out like flies.
- The insane amount of plot armour going around in the thick of the battle!! To think that Ed and Lady Mormont were the only ones of the extended circle of main characters who were killed in the bulk of the fight, with tenths of thousands of wights pouring over the battlefield, was just all kinds of ridiculous! I guess one might also include Beric Dondarrion here, even though he died inside the castle and in yet another cliché death. *ugh* And let's be honest here, while all these characters were awesome, brave, and died heroic deaths, they were also faaaar from being main characters.
All that being said, I think the deaths of Theon and Ser Jorah were very well done! While Theon's death did seem a bit pointless at first, it was the culmination of his character arc, completing his redemption and bringing him home, as Bran noted so aptly. And, if anything, he bought enough time for Arya to get to them to save the day! I guess if anyone had asked Ser Jorah at any time during the show how he wanted to die, this would have been pretty much it. A sword in his hand, defending his Queen. In that regard, the scene was absolutely perfect and I really loved it, despite the fact that Jorah Mormont was my favourite character on Game of Thrones over the course of the entire show. But, hey, maybe he was just badly hurt and exhausted in the end there, and passed out, right?? RIGHT?
But to come back to my overall disappointment, I just can't fathom even the possibility that this is how GRRM wants the story of the White Walkers to end. I just... can't.
EDIT: Lol, and here I bothered typing that all out! Looks like I'm not the only one less than thrilled about "The Long Night".
"Sooner or later, humans will kill all the Aen Seidhe. All dwarves and gnomes. Then they'll start murdering one another. Your kind knows no other way. It's in your genes. You keep killing each other until only one remains. The strongest among you. A thousand years from now, a dim-witted human barbarian will climb to the top of a pile of bones, sit down and proclaim: "I win"."
I think ending the Night King story in episode 3 was bold for sure, but I'm going to wait to see what they have left for us before I get too upset over it. The Cersei arc is secondary for some viewers to the Night King one, but I think for most this is about the seven kingdoms and the iron throne. So let's see how they wrap that up.
Honestly, the more I think about the episode, the more I dislike it. So many stupid things, in addition to the ones I named in my earlier post, that it would take me forever to write them all down.
Luckily, there's always the internet:
(Warning up front: This video, while very entertaining, would completely shorten out any swear word filters with its excessive use of foul language! Doesn't make it any less true, though. )
One complaint that the video only mentions briefly, but that I know I'm not alone with, is the atrocious picture quality of the episode. Apparently, in addition to being filmed very dark in the first place, there was also a problem with the compression rate while streaming the ep, leaving many viewers, me included, unable to make out large parts of the battle. Seriously, for me most of the episode didn't look much better than what you see in this Youtube video! And to think that they spent 55 nights filming this, only for tons of people to end up seeing sh*t!
"Sooner or later, humans will kill all the Aen Seidhe. All dwarves and gnomes. Then they'll start murdering one another. Your kind knows no other way. It's in your genes. You keep killing each other until only one remains. The strongest among you. A thousand years from now, a dim-witted human barbarian will climb to the top of a pile of bones, sit down and proclaim: "I win"."
Honestly, the more I think about the episode, the more I dislike it. So many stupid things, in addition to the ones I named in my earlier post, that it would take me forever to write them all down.
Luckily, there's always the internet:
(Warning up front: This video, while very entertaining, would completely shorten out any swear word filters with its excessive use of foul language! Doesn't make it any less true, though. )
One complaint that the video only mentions briefly, but that I know I'm not alone with, is the atrocious picture quality of the episode. Apparently, in addition to being filmed very dark in the first place, there was also a problem with the compression rate while streaming the ep, leaving many viewers, me included, unable to make out large parts of the battle. Seriously, for me most of the episode didn't look much better than what you see in this Youtube video! And to think that they spent 55 nights filming this, only for tons of people to end up seeing sh*t!
I didn't have many issues with the story elements of the episode. I know some did and that's coo. I haven't read the books so I had minimal expectations and the ones I did had (that were completely obliterated) I got enough value from the surprise element to outweigh any "I would have done it differently" thinking.
That stated, the video quality - especially for people streaming or for people like me watching with a large group and on a bad angle to the TV - was an issue. I read somewhere that second viewings were better so not sure if Crave (the streamer in Canada) made adjustments or if it was just that "live" it couldn't keep up with demand or something.
But yeah, very dark and hard to follow in some spots.
Jemma Simmons: I will say that is one thing that Agatha All Along got right. They did a phenomenal job of planting hints throughout but it not really being obvious until the end. Reminded me of WandaVision that way.
Nov 10, 2024 23:03:26 GMT
Jemma Simmons: And yes, I think AoS did such a fantastic job at character/world building. I know that was one of the complaints about Season 1.
Nov 10, 2024 23:04:32 GMT
Jemma Simmons: That they took too long to introduce stuff... but honestly the slow build was the payoff.
Nov 10, 2024 23:04:51 GMT
ayanami: Yeah, I wish they'd managed to throw in some Avengers cameos along the way. You know, to keep audience numbers high until the story really took off.
Nov 10, 2024 23:07:44 GMT
ayanami: Idk, Ironman flying alongside the Bus. Stuff like that.
Nov 10, 2024 23:08:50 GMT
Jemma Simmons: LOL that would have been awesome! I got the idea they might like to do that, but I suspect the main actors were too expensive. Although we did get Fury a few times. And the occasional Maria Hill.
Nov 10, 2024 23:09:58 GMT
ayanami: Also, should have scrapped and re-done episode 2 from scratch. Not a horrible episode all together, but what a slow, low-budget let-down from the pilot and the general MCU world in general. I bet the ratings drop between eps 2 and 3 was massive!
Nov 10, 2024 23:11:30 GMT
ayanami: Yeah, Fury was great! Plus, he was really necessary to tie the story together in S1.
Nov 10, 2024 23:12:16 GMT
Jemma Simmons: I think the other issue with the first couple seasons as far as pacing had to do with them tying in the show to the movies and not being able to address the movie on the show until the movie was released.
Nov 10, 2024 23:13:19 GMT
Jemma Simmons: And yeah, Fury was great! His appearances never felt forced either. Like you said, he was necessary to the plot and it fit that he was there.
Nov 10, 2024 23:14:22 GMT
ayanami: True. But low-budget eps right at the start of the show, special effects stolen right out of Firefly and cringy humour certainly didn't help their case, either.
Nov 10, 2024 23:14:49 GMT
Jemma Simmons: Ha, no. But every show has to find its footing that first season.
Nov 10, 2024 23:15:47 GMT
Jemma Simmons: I just keep wondering if we might ever see any AoS characters on What If?
Nov 10, 2024 23:16:11 GMT
Jemma Simmons: I mean that would be really easy to bring them in on. I can't see doing the voice work taking long.
Nov 10, 2024 23:16:27 GMT
ayanami: That would be very cool. I'd love to see that!
Nov 10, 2024 23:18:49 GMT
Jemma Simmons: Me too! Have to wonder how many of the cast at this point would be willing to do it. It would be neat to see them though!
Nov 10, 2024 23:20:22 GMT
ayanami: Alrighty then, since it's getting late over here, I think I'm gonna peace off now. I hope you have a great week ahead of you, until next Sunday! See you around, bosslady!
Nov 10, 2024 23:20:27 GMT
Jemma Simmons: You have a good week too! See you next week!
Nov 10, 2024 23:21:21 GMT
ayanami: I would hope everyone. I mean, it's a paycheck and voice work should not be that hard to fit into their usual schedules.
Nov 10, 2024 23:22:08 GMT
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Nov 10, 2024 23:07:44 GMT
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Nov 10, 2024 23:20:27 GMT