A Game of Thrones (contains spoilers)

[nickagneta]

Weirdly I think that was the worst episode of the series.  I can say that comfortably.

Interesting take. I thought it was awesome. There were a ton of little parts that I liked, including the Mormont girl and undead giant, the distortion caused by the weather, Melisandre's return/exit, the Night King bringing Tormund back to life, etc. I thought they kept my adrenaline going for a solid 80 minutes.

I mean it had moments and I get that most of it was a choice, but I actually thought the first 1/3rd was just a complete visual mess that was impossible to follow with any clarity.  You see those closeups/quick cuts in poorly choreographed action films.  I get they can only do so much with their budget, so turning everything into a grey blurry mess was maybe their only option, but I just thought it looked like trash. 

A couple fun fan moments, but actually pretty low stakes all things considered.  The biggest thing frustrating me is that they never really do a good job explaining why Bran is there... what his purpose is... why they are trying to lure the Night King... what the Night King wants... what the purpose of any of that is... why are we even bothering with this...  and then Arya out of nowhere is like "uh... ok?  so... that's it?"

It just felt like really awful direction to me.  Still fun, because Game of Thrones is always fun, but that was the worst episode of the show for me.

Do you mean in the entire series? Worst episode of the entire series? If so that's a massive hot take as there were episodes every year that were really kind of boring, especially the middle years.

I think a lot of GOT fans get way too much into the prophecies and trying to predict everything and trying to be right. In doing so, when things don't go the way they thought, they get upset and complain about the show. You can see this play out on websites all over the internet.

Not saying you or anyone else here is doing that, but GOT as a whole is historically good television drama. It's maybe the best ever at telling such a wide sweeping story. Sometimes, one just has to sit back and enjoy without the preconceptions of being a Game of Thrones mark. I think those people would enjoy the show more if they did that.

[Kuberski33]

Unpopular opinion - while I thoroughly enjoyed this episode/battle (even with the deaths - poor Jorah 😢) and liked it better than the Battle of the ****s, I still think the Battle at Hardhome was better. I found it more entertaining, and it was like the first time you got to see a major battle with the white walkers and wights, along with the Night King.

Hardhome was the bomb.  One of the best episodes of the whole series.

Hardhome was a great episode but it was also a blowout win for the Walkers.

[tazzmaniac]

Weirdly I think that was the worst episode of the series.  I can say that comfortably.

Interesting take. I thought it was awesome. There were a ton of little parts that I liked, including the Mormont girl and undead giant, the distortion caused by the weather, Melisandre's return/exit, the Night King bringing Tormund back to life, etc. I thought they kept my adrenaline going for a solid 80 minutes.

I mean it had moments and I get that most of it was a choice, but I actually thought the first 1/3rd was just a complete visual mess that was impossible to follow with any clarity.  You see those closeups/quick cuts in poorly choreographed action films.  I get they can only do so much with their budget, so turning everything into a grey blurry mess was maybe their only option, but I just thought it looked like trash. 

A couple fun fan moments, but actually pretty low stakes all things considered.  The biggest thing frustrating me is that they never really do a good job explaining why Bran is there... what his purpose is... why they are trying to lure the Night King... what the Night King wants... what the purpose of any of that is... why are we even bothering with this...  and then Arya out of nowhere is like "uh... ok?  so... that's it?"

It just felt like really awful direction to me.  Still fun, because Game of Thrones is always fun, but that was the worst episode of the show for me.

Did you expect Bran to stop being cryptic and explain himself or maybe the Night King to do a soliloquy?  Seriously, they're doing a prequel so I expect they'll answer a lot of your Night King questions in it. 

I thought they did quite well to maintain interest in a battle that lasted so long.  I expected someone to take out the Night King and save the day ... err night but I was glad they didn't go with the obvious death by dragonfire or Jon being the hero and slaying him in a duel.  Arya really was the best equipped to do so. 

[LarBrd33]

Weirdly I think that was the worst episode of the series.  I can say that comfortably.

Interesting take. I thought it was awesome. There were a ton of little parts that I liked, including the Mormont girl and undead giant, the distortion caused by the weather, Melisandre's return/exit, the Night King bringing Tormund back to life, etc. I thought they kept my adrenaline going for a solid 80 minutes.

I mean it had moments and I get that most of it was a choice, but I actually thought the first 1/3rd was just a complete visual mess that was impossible to follow with any clarity.  You see those closeups/quick cuts in poorly choreographed action films.  I get they can only do so much with their budget, so turning everything into a grey blurry mess was maybe their only option, but I just thought it looked like trash. 

A couple fun fan moments, but actually pretty low stakes all things considered.  The biggest thing frustrating me is that they never really do a good job explaining why Bran is there... what his purpose is... why they are trying to lure the Night King... what the Night King wants... what the purpose of any of that is... why are we even bothering with this...  and then Arya out of nowhere is like "uh... ok?  so... that's it?"

It just felt like really awful direction to me.  Still fun, because Game of Thrones is always fun, but that was the worst episode of the show for me.

Do you mean in the entire series? Worst episode of the entire series?

Yup.  I genuinely think it was the worst episode of the series.  There's fan service moments which people will gaga about, but overall that was poorly directed and poorly written.

To me, it felt like the writers just punted on the entire white walker thing.  "The heck with it, let's just have Arya stab the King out of nowhere... fans will goo-goo about that" and then set up the show to have Cersei be the main baddie...

Which is fine, but it made this episode feel like a total anti-climactic waste of time.  You had like 3 notable people die.  Nothing is ever explained.  The entire plan Bran had never makes any sense.  I sincerely doubt GRR Martin intended it to go down like that.  It undermines the entire arc of the White Walkers. 

Sincerely.  Very weak.

That combined with the first 1/3rd just being a visual mess... I thought it was the lowpoint of the entire series.

[fairweatherfan]

I enjoyed the episode but also don't think it was very good quality-wise. Some thoughts:

- The episode peaked early and was much more mixed after the wights actually got there. No cool fights with White Walkers, they did literally nothing.

- Wasn't too surprised they went with the "low number, low stakes death" route but it felt hollow. Felt Walking Dead-like. The rules of the show are wildly different from the first few seasons. EDIT: Lol just realized every single person in the "we're all gonna die" fireplace scene survived.

- I'm happy for Arya but was disappointed we didn't get to see where Jon was going with his "put my head straight into a dragon's mouth" plan.

- The shot where every single major character is fighting off dozens and dozens of wights with no one else in sight was hilarious. Like a satire of plot armor.

- Surprised they completely set aside the Dany/Jon tension instead of working it into the plot. Seems like a missed opportunity.

- No idea what Bran was up to the whole time. I guess he was drunk on the raw power of being like six birds.

-The crypts were kinda anti-climactic because it was so brief, but at least Sansa and Tyrion got to reconnect while her ancestors murdered people she grew up with.

- Arya's videogame stealth segment was legit fun and a good change of pace.

- The stakes feel so much lower now. The existential threat's gone so now it's just politics and war. At this point I'm mainly just worried that Cersei's death is satisfying enough.

[Phantom255x]

1. LOL Bran was like the guy in the group project who does nothing while everyone else bails him out (Arya, Theon, etc). What was he doing the whole episode, just scouting with ravens? And poor Theon, goes through all that and then Bran at the end is just like, “you’ve been good Theon. Thanks!” 

But I loved how Theon went. As a fighter to the end who essentially redeemed himself. Although he probably should have tried something else besides literally run right at the night king (maybe a few jukes, throw something at him...)

2. Dany and Jon spent most of the episode just circling around Winterfell with the dragons like it was an airport. Only a few scenes where it looked like they were actually helping in the battle.

3. Yeah, those crypts were not safe. Who would have thought! 

4. That episode was hard to see at times with the poor lighting. Yeah I know it’s happening in the night but still...

5. That scene in the beginning with the Dothraki’s disappearing quickly gave me chills. Wow that was crazy. Really did feel like they were outmatched too.

6. Arya is a bad***!!! But I’ll admit the Night King looks like one too. Loved his close ups.

7. I’m actually surprised so many of the main characters made it out safe. Only Beric, Jorah, Red Woman, Lyanna, Theon and that Night Watch guy perished. Could have been a lot worse!

8. Arya truly saved the day. Everyone was screwed at that moment and she made her move. I’m still a bit curious as to how she pulled it off? Did she impersonate one of the Night King’s generals? (With the face used as a mask)

[Phantom255x]

1. LOL Bran was like the guy in the group project who does nothing while everyone else bails him out (Arya, Theon, etc). What was he doing the whole episode, just scouting with ravens? And poor Theon, goes through all that and then Bran at the end is just like, “you’ve been good Theon. Thanks!” 

But I loved how Theon went. As a fighter to the end who essentially redeemed himself. Although he probably should have tried something else besides literally run right at the night king (maybe a few jukes, throw something at him...)

2. Dany and Jon spent most of the episode just circling around Winterfell with the dragons like it was an airport. Only a few scenes where it looked like they were actually helping in the battle.

3. Yeah, those crypts were not safe. Who would have thought! 

4. That episode was hard to see at times with the poor lighting. Yeah I know it’s happening in the night but still...

5. That scene in the beginning with the Dothraki’s disappearing quickly gave me chills. Wow that was crazy. Really did feel like they were outmatched too.

6. Arya is a bad***!!! But I’ll admit the Night King looks like one too. Loved his close ups.

7. I’m actually surprised so many of the main characters made it out safe. Only Beric, Jorah, Red Woman, Lyanna, Theon and that Night Watch guy perished. Could have been a lot worse!

8. Arya truly saved the day. Everyone was screwed at that moment and she made her move. I’m still a bit curious as to how she pulled it off? Did she impersonate one of the Night King’s generals? (With the face used as a mask)

Oh and also, THANKS MELISANDRE!! Thanks for lighting up the episode by like 100 with the fire in the trenches 

[LarBrd33]

Solid job summing up some of the many reasons this episode felt like a punt to me:  https://www.theringer.com/game-of-thrones/2019/4/29/18522174/r-i-p-night-king-we-wish-we-learned-your-secrets

[tazzmaniac]

I'm expecting someone else to be found dead.  Maybe Gilly. Maybe Podrick. 

[PhoSita]

Chaotic episode, difficult to see what was going on for much of it.  Fun ending but it felt like something from a Marvel movie.  Feels like we're missing about 90% of the information we'd need for the Night King and his minions to feel meaningful.

Benioff and Weiss really love plot armor.

[Celtics4ever]

I love the show and the books, but the writing has got weaker since they are forging their own way without Martin's material.  So many plot holes and stretches and I think that they chickened out and kept too many alive this episode.

[Moranis]

Weirdly I think that was the worst episode of the series.  I can say that comfortably.

Interesting take. I thought it was awesome. There were a ton of little parts that I liked, including the Mormont girl and undead giant, the distortion caused by the weather, Melisandre's return/exit, the Night King bringing Tormund back to life, etc. I thought they kept my adrenaline going for a solid 80 minutes.

I mean it had moments and I get that most of it was a choice, but I actually thought the first 1/3rd was just a complete visual mess that was impossible to follow with any clarity.  You see those closeups/quick cuts in poorly choreographed action films.  I get they can only do so much with their budget, so turning everything into a grey blurry mess was maybe their only option, but I just thought it looked like trash. 

A couple fun fan moments, but actually pretty low stakes all things considered.  The biggest thing frustrating me is that they never really do a good job explaining why Bran is there... what his purpose is... why they are trying to lure the Night King... what the Night King wants... what the purpose of any of that is... why are we even bothering with this...  and then Arya out of nowhere is like "uh... ok?  so... that's it?"

It just felt like really awful direction to me.  Still fun, because Game of Thrones is always fun, but that was the worst episode of the show for me.

Did you expect Bran to stop being cryptic and explain himself or maybe the Night King to do a soliloquy?  Seriously, they're doing a prequel so I expect they'll answer a lot of your Night King questions in it. 

I thought they did quite well to maintain interest in a battle that lasted so long.  I expected someone to take out the Night King and save the day ... err night but I was glad they didn't go with the obvious death by dragonfire or Jon being the hero and slaying him in a duel.  Arya really was the best equipped to do so.

prequel was cancelled I believe.

[CelticsPoetry]

I'm expecting someone else to be found dead.  Maybe Gilly. Maybe Podrick.

If I saw correctly, Gilly was crawling through the crypts all bloody and Podrick was standing next to Jaime and Bryenne at the end.

[Androslav]

Spoiler alert:
Celtics will sit at the throne by the end of this season.

[Roy H.]

Weirdly I think that was the worst episode of the series.  I can say that comfortably.

Interesting take. I thought it was awesome. There were a ton of little parts that I liked, including the Mormont girl and undead giant, the distortion caused by the weather, Melisandre's return/exit, the Night King bringing Tormund back to life, etc. I thought they kept my adrenaline going for a solid 80 minutes.

I mean it had moments and I get that most of it was a choice, but I actually thought the first 1/3rd was just a complete visual mess that was impossible to follow with any clarity.  You see those closeups/quick cuts in poorly choreographed action films.  I get they can only do so much with their budget, so turning everything into a grey blurry mess was maybe their only option, but I just thought it looked like trash. 

A couple fun fan moments, but actually pretty low stakes all things considered.  The biggest thing frustrating me is that they never really do a good job explaining why Bran is there... what his purpose is... why they are trying to lure the Night King... what the Night King wants... what the purpose of any of that is... why are we even bothering with this...  and then Arya out of nowhere is like "uh... ok?  so... that's it?"

It just felt like really awful direction to me.  Still fun, because Game of Thrones is always fun, but that was the worst episode of the show for me.

Did you expect Bran to stop being cryptic and explain himself or maybe the Night King to do a soliloquy?  Seriously, they're doing a prequel so I expect they'll answer a lot of your Night King questions in it. 

I thought they did quite well to maintain interest in a battle that lasted so long.  I expected someone to take out the Night King and save the day ... err night but I was glad they didn't go with the obvious death by dragonfire or Jon being the hero and slaying him in a duel.  Arya really was the best equipped to do so.

prequel was cancelled I believe.

I think there were multiple shows in development. At least one prequel, set 5000 years ago, is going forward I think.