Game of Thrones

[Paul Andrew]

I think this episode needed a heavy edit.
We get it. Things are going bad.
Also, I didn't get any tension between when the Night King entered the grove and when he got got. Like, a whole lot of dramatic music and impending doom, except it was dragged out in slow motion, kind of signalling that it wasn't going to go down as obviously as it looked.
I'd have liked a few shots of Arya stalking the scene or coming out from a rampart above the grove, as it runs it just looks like a Arya ex machina. Like, I'm all for it, but there's nothing that shows how that came to pass. I dunno. It's fine, but not how I'd have done it.

 

[kibosh]

back in season 3

Damn. Thanks for that!

 

[BTTUK]

I think over the years the Night King has been inflated in fans minds as THE evil in the series, when in actuality the evil is still the Game of Thrones itself, and the people desperately playing it, and their desire for power.

That evil would then cause people to tear themselves apart, and forget the horror of death. Until it is too late.

For me the Night King never saying a word, heightens his gravitas, because instead of a reason to kill, and destroy human world. He just is.

I remember George R.R. Martin highlighting that the dragons are there to highlight that being able to destroy, isn't the same as being able to maintain or even build up a kingdom.

 

[firesprite]

Regarding the tactics: They weren't really making effective use of their most potent weapons: the dragons and dragonglass.

Dragonglass: The wallkers had no defense against dragonglass. if it even nicked them, it destroyed them. They should have been sowing the ground in front of the castle with it. They should have been using pitch to stick it to the walls. They should have been filling earthenware containers with it and using the trebuchets to throw them into their midst. They also could have used their archers more effectively by firing on the walkers when the trench stopped them instead of sitting there with their thumbs up their backsides. It would have whittled down their numbers.

The Dragons: They should have been putting them to work for preparation, using them to help dig out the trenches further out from the walls, and also had them laying down lines of dragonfire between the walkers and their forces to slow them down and further whittle down their numbers.

Siege tactics are all about patience and whittling down the enemy.

 

[Axlotl]

I think over the years the Night King has been inflated in fans minds as THE evil in the series...

Because the series has been telling us that, since literally the first scene in the first episode of the first season.

I expected this whole season to be about trying to defeat the Night King.
It was over in a single night. At very little cost. I'm a little disappointed.

I fully expected Cersei to come face-to-face with the Night King. Now that will never happen.

 

[Axlotl]

double post

 

[Paul Andrew]

Because the series has been telling us that, since literally the first scene in the first episode of the first season.

I expected this whole season to be about trying to defeat the Night King.
It was over in a single night. At very little cost. I'm a little disappointed.

I fully expected Cersei to come face-to-face with the Night King. Now that will never happen.

I don't think the Dothraki or Unsullied would agree on your assessment of the cost.
That being said, the cost could have been much smaller if they'd had the goal of smashing the dead army instead of drawing out the Night King. They spent a lot of lives needlessly.

 

[Axlotl]

If this season played out like the first 4 seasons, we'd be watching Wight Brienne and Wight Jaime and Wight Jon marching with an army of undead Dothraki screamers to the Red Keep, with Wight Danaerys and Wight Drogon flying top cover.

 

[DoubleD]

I don't know how they're going to take King's Landing now as the Dothraki are gone and there's hardly any Unsullied left. I think we're still in for a plot twist since the numbers don't add up for another battle. Maybe The Golden Company will switch sides? I seem to remember that they are loyal to house Targaryen or were founded by a member of the Targaryen family. Is that correct? If so, they may become allies of Jon and Daenarys instead of fight them.

 

[BTTUK]

Because the series has been telling us that, since literally the first scene in the first episode of the first season.

I expected this whole season to be about trying to defeat the Night King.
It was over in a single night. At very little cost. I'm a little disappointed.

I fully expected Cersei to come face-to-face with the Night King. Now that will never happen.

It hasn't though. The Others/White Walkers were a growing threat and were shown to be doing that, but the whole show has been about the fact that human characters, just don't want to lose their position and power. Case in point is the Night's watch had been allowed to wither away, as the great Lords etc, forgot that their original purpose was protecting the realms of all men.

Which caused the Night's watch to forget that that realm included wildlings (who gave people power based on merit).

The Game of Thrones caused no end of wars that kept destroying the ability of the human race to fight back earlier, and more effectively.

The whole show over the years, has been about the causes and effects of these people playing that game.

Over the years, characters dying has gone from being surprising and a really shocking thing, to being "'meh" at best. The fact they survived so far, does a better job of going against expectations these days.

 

[BTTUK]

Double post

 

[BTTUK]

I don't know how they're going to take King's Landing now as the Dothraki are gone and there's hardly any Unsullied left. I think we're still in for a plot twist since the numbers don't add up for another battle. Maybe The Golden Company will switch sides? I seem to remember that they are loyal to house Targaryen or were founded by a member of the Targaryen family. Is that correct? If so, they may become allies of Jon and Daenarys instead of fight them.

Founded by a legitimised ******* of a Targaryen king. Their House was called Blackfyre

 

[Monkey67]

The Golden company have a card up their sleeve. As I said in post earlier they have a good chance to flip sides.

Team North can call on House Tarly with Sam as their acting Lord. They bent the knee even tho the daddy & bro didn’t. Their are likely soldiers left over from House High Garden. I highly doubt they all got killed. Don’t forget river run and black fish ( even tho no one knows where he is) . Plus Yara and the Iron islands.

Cerise did not get as big of an army that she was hoping for.

What about the 2nd sons? That team have been sipping on pina Cola’s on the beach.

 

[Analyzer]

I think over the years the Night King has been inflated in fans minds as THE evil in the series, when in actuality the evil is still the Game of Thrones itself, and the people desperately playing it, and their desire for power.

That evil would then cause people to tear themselves apart, and forget the horror of death. Until it is too late.

For me the Night King never saying a word, heightens his gravitas, because instead of a reason to kill, and destroy human world. He just is.

I remember George R.R. Martin highlighting that the dragons are there to highlight that being able to destroy, isn't the same as being able to maintain or even build up a kingdom.

I'm glad there was no mustache twisting monologue from the Night King.

As far as his purpose, Bran already told us. He wants to erase man-kind and it's history. There's really nothing more we need to know. I think not saying a word spoke volumes to his malevolance

Also, the TV show has played up the Night King's role. In the books it really is still a side story for the most part. The last few seasons have been a build up to this for sure, but really there is still a whole other story to resolve

I was very surprised it ended when it did, but taking a step back, it never was the real main story anyway, we just got caught up in thinking it was

It will be interesting to see how much of an army Dany has left and what allies they can find. They also have to now deal with the elephant in the room, Jon's lineage and claim.

If anything, I think you have to give credit for not having an overly predictable outcome. The series has always taken left turns compared to where you thought it was going to go.

 

[Richard Baker]

Anybody who survived that battle last night would laugh at anything Cerise and the Golden Company would bring to bear.
"Mere humans waving swords?- really now"

 

[Monkey67]

 

[ghostryder]

The Battle of Winterfell: A Tactical Analysis

 

[Analyzer]

A pretty good summation of what most people are probably feeling

RIP, Night King. We Wish We Had Learned Your Secrets.

While I don't think we really needed much more explanation about the Night King, I do feel that the way it ended was unsatisfying considering the build up

Although it might be good news for those interested in the possibility of more of the White Walker's/Night's King origins

Just like this episode, the new prequel series is called "The Long Night"

"Taking place thousands of years before the events of ‘Game of Thrones,’ the series chronicles the world’s descent from the golden Age of Heroes into its darkest hour. And only one thing is for sure: from the horrifying secrets of Westeros’ history to the true origin of the white walkers, the mysteries of the East to the Starks of legend … it’s not the story we think we know."

What Is the Long Night - Game of Thrones Prequel Theme Revealed

 

[Sundowner]

I just read that HBO passed on a GoT prequel. I wonder if it’s this one.

 

[Richard Baker]

I like the fact we do not know that much about the Night King's motivations. We live in an era where everything has to be explained- a mass shooting happens and people have to know why it occurred. what was going on in the guy's mind, where in his life did things go wrong.
IMO what makes Alfred Hitchcock's 'The Birds' so powerful is we never do find out why the birds started attacking or why they stopped. It is not necessary- when you are caught up in event you are just dealing with it.
Voyager managed to make the Borg boring because we found out too much about them and why they did what they did- when we first encountered them they were like an unforgiving force of nature.
The Night King had his reasons and he did not get to monologing about them- he did not care if people knew or not. He was doing what he chose to do and would continue to do so until he was stopped. That is all we really needed to know.