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: Yeah, that was adorable... and exactly what I'd expect.
Apr 28, 2024 21:46:37 GMT
ayanami: Gotta say, given AoS's track record, and the amount of BS they put Fitzsimmons through over the seasons, I'm really really glad the two got a happy ending in the finale after all!
Apr 28, 2024 21:48:20 GMT
Jemma Simmons: I seem to recall a running gag in the writers' room where they had all of the characters' faces on a dart board and joked that this was how they decided who stayed and who went...
Apr 28, 2024 21:49:03 GMT
Jemma Simmons: Oh absolutely! And usually when shows go in that direction it's because they have run out of storyline. Fortunately that wasn't the case here.
Apr 28, 2024 21:49:47 GMT
Jemma Simmons: Like... that's usually the death knell of a show when they try to throw characters together. But that was something that was pretty obviously going to happen from S1, so....
Apr 28, 2024 21:50:16 GMT
ayanami: Honestly though, I think they overdid it with ripping Fitzsimmons apart over and over again. The show really had enough going plot-wise to survive two characters being happy with each other on occasion!
Apr 28, 2024 21:52:50 GMT
ayanami: Knowing it's all gonna work out is definitely helpful moving forward in that regard. Helps one to move past any astronaut chenannigans, for example.
Apr 28, 2024 21:54:23 GMT
Jemma Simmons: Definitely. I mean, especially when we got into the "future" storyline in like S5.
Apr 28, 2024 21:54:38 GMT
ayanami: Or, you know, the Fitz dying part.
Apr 28, 2024 21:55:20 GMT
ayanami: Or the Fitz being an evil nazi part.
Apr 28, 2024 21:55:46 GMT
ayanami: Or the Fitz being a total asshat to his grandson for no reason part!!!
Apr 28, 2024 21:56:09 GMT
Jemma Simmons: Hahahah! Yeah, all of that!
Apr 28, 2024 21:56:53 GMT
Jemma Simmons: I keep holding out hope that we might see some of the cast make a cameo in one of the upcoming movies. The farther out from the series we get though, the less likely that is.
Apr 28, 2024 21:57:45 GMT
Jemma Simmons: And there is also the fact that the Marvel Universe proper would like to erase this series from existence.
Apr 28, 2024 21:58:13 GMT
ayanami: Well, we're approaching midnight here and I gotta get up pretty early tomorrow, so I'm gonna have to call it a night now.
Apr 28, 2024 21:58:30 GMT
ayanami: Yeah, that would have been really cool to see. Though, truth be told, the Marvel universe proper has produced so many stinkers by now, that we might as well reboot the whole bunch and move everything back onto one timeline.
Apr 28, 2024 21:59:37 GMT
Jemma Simmons: Alrighty! You have a great week!
Apr 28, 2024 21:59:38 GMT
ayanami: Yeah, you too! See you around, bosslady! (And I'm glad you're back from your vacation. I hear Maveth is just TERRIBLE this time of year! )
Apr 28, 2024 22:00:42 GMT