Reviews

This episode had some decent moments. Good opening scene, funny banter between Tyrion/Jaime/Brienne, and we finally got some more Tyrion POV that has been lacking in the past couple of seasons. I also really liked that we got to see Dany being vulnerable from her point of view. The Jon/Dany scene was a standout this episode. We saw her conflicted and emotional, telling Jon how much he means to her, but also her being selfish and wanting him to keep quiet about his identity. Good setup, hopefully they don't butcher this in the final episodes.

Really where this episode starts to fall apart is in the logistics of the big moments. The same thing that has been plaguing the show the past couple of years, and D&D don't disappoint us here.

How does a naval fleet ambush a dragon? How? Seriously. How does Dany not see them? I guess they were hiding behind that rock the entire time. But still were able to easily put three bolts into Rhaegal without him being able to fly away. Hmm, okay. So Euron has a vicious fleet with pinpoint accuracy and is about to wipe them out. Their ships are getting obliterated, Tyrion jumps ship, and then .... they make it to the shore. Wait, what?? What happened to the attack? I guess Euron got his prize possession Missandei and was like "yep, we're good here, just let them run away."

So they get away, after losing a dragon to one of those giant crossbows super easily. They set up a meeting with Cersei, who is waiting with like 10 crossbow bolt things. And Drogon is just sitting there casually with them and 50 soldiers. WTF!? Are they braindead? You just saw your dragon die to these things, and you bring your other dragon here and just sit there?

And the best part is Cersei doesn't even attack them! Why TF would Cersei not just win the war here? She is not above using wildfire to blow up thousands of people but doesn't want to kill her biggest threat sitting in front of her like a sitting duck. jesus

I really want to enjoy this show, I really do. And if it was just one episode I might be able to suspend my belief. But this nonsensical stuff is just thrown at us again and again, and it really takes me out of the moment.

Help, I just want to enjoy my favorite show :(

Too many logical inconsistencies in a show that became popular due to its intense realism.

Their battle strategy is awful. There is no reason to make the plans this brain dead. Especially given how the army of the dead was going to roll over them anyways. They could have had smart plans and still shown how them getting rolled over by wights.

Why do they send in the dothraki for no reason at all just so they would die? Why did they only dig one tiny trench and not have it lit the entire time? Why did they not fortify the castle better and why were they not more prepared to hold off people climbing up the walls like in previous seasons?

There was also just too many inconsistencies in terms of how vicious the army of the dead were, and how our main characters got out of situations. The standards that GoT were based on depicted the show in such a way that we could empathize with realistic characters. The battle sequences were intense because we could imagine how insane it would be to actually be there. However, there were just too many ridiculous scenes that took me out of the episode. I didn't feel the pressure of an army of the dead overwhelming me.

How do the wights roll over tens of thousands of vicious dothraki and trained unsullied, but they also can't kill Sam when he stands still for 5 seconds? Jorah can meander over there and save him just in time. At the beginning of the battle, or when dealing with random extras, the wights will rush you at the speed of Usain Bolt and rip you to shreds. But when Jon is surrounded by them and they are inches away from him. They stand there and do nothing, or inch towards him at 0.01 mph. When Brienne/Jamie/etc are backed against a wall, the wights just don't do anything and allow themselves to be cut down.

At a certain point I just realized I was watching cool action sequences. Once the tide of the episode turned and everyone was in such dire situations without ways of escape, I knew we were about to witness the Night King defeated in a trivial, marvel-like manner. And hey, I love the marvel movies, but the tone, realism, and narrative structure are completely different here.

Honestly, everything about the ending of this episode has probably already been said by everyone here. The biggest disappointment for me was that it just felt cheap. People argue that it "subverts expectations" but stuff like the red wedding was backed by good writing, and this was backed by unrealistic nonsense. Anyone who knows the lore of GoT knows how vicious the Night King was supposed to be, and he was defeated in 3 seconds by Arya killing him with no setup. Really?

So many times have we seen GRRM set up amazing payoffs from setups throughout the whole show. Hodor's hold the door, R+L=J, etc. We also knew that GRRM told D&D his main points for the end of the show. Was it really too much to expect that for the MOST IMPORTANT (arguably) portion of the show, the army of the dead, we should have gotten a big payoff? I guess not.

Good action sequences though.