A Game of Thrones (contains spoilers)

[tazzmaniac]

Any fans disappointed in no Reeds or Dawn sword in the long night battle? Felt there was so much missing that should have been there. Even after rewatching I still think they missed a lot of opportunities. Like if they cut out the Arya library stuff they could have introduced those elements before the battle.

It's not like they were held to a time limit on the length of the episode as that went 80 minutes. If they wanted to introduce any other stuff to the story they could have easily done so without needing to cut that Arya scene.

They didn't add the stuff you would like to have seen because they didn't think it added anything to the story.

I'm pretty sure his point was more that they didn't need the Arya in the library scene as it added almost nothing to the story.  IMO, that has been a pretty consistent problem with the show once they advanced past the books.  There is a lot of useless stuff, but yet they don't have stuff that should be in there or that would help fill in tremendous gaps and holes.  The show really has gone down hill and they absolutely took a crap on the first 6 seasons in the last 10 minutes of the last episode.

The point of the library stuff was to change pace from the huge battle to focus tension around a single major character and to prep the viewer for her sneak attack on the Night King. Cramming in more mythology or references only a book-reader would know about only makes the overall story denser with no real added narrative value. They've made some dumb decisions on the show but trimming down the lore and storylines in favor of more character beats  hasn't been one of them.

There were  better ways to do change of pace though.  The Sansa and Tyrion scene for example was nice.  They could have added more in the Gods Wood.  They also could have cut out a few of the battle scenes.  For what they've actually shown in 190 minutes this season easily could have been 120 minutes and they could have then added stuff that filled in gaps, advanced the story better, etc.  It was a huge problem last season as well. 

And let's be clear this is a fantasy series.  The show has gone heavily away from what makes a great fantasy series since they've passed the books and the quality of the show has suffered significantly.

What's made the show great is the characters.  The fantasy element is relatively small.  The dragons being the most important.  The Night King and White Walkers weren't even known to most of the characters until season 7.

Yeah I've dumped on the last couple seasons plenty but the problems ain't about not enough tertiary characters and One True Magic Sword That Will Fix Everything talk. They're much more about plot armor protecting characters from increasingly bad decisions and rushing through too much story. The character beats are a step in the right direction.

The time crunch the past two seasons has definitely been a problem.  Only three episodes left and there is still a lot to deal with.  I expect they'll short shrift Jon being a Targaryen.  There could be a lot of interesting reactions and intrigue around that but doesn't seem like there is enough time to do it justice. 

Nice short article on the different focus of John and Dany.  Dany's concern is his claim on the throne but doesn't care at all about the incest aspect.  John is not interested in ruling but is concerned about the incest aspect. 
https://www.insider.com/game-of-thrones-emilia-clarke-defends-daenerys-reaction-to-jon-snow-parentage-incest-2019-4 

[Csfan1984]

Any fans disappointed in no Reeds or Dawn sword in the long night battle? Felt there was so much missing that should have been there. Even after rewatching I still think they missed a lot of opportunities. Like if they cut out the Arya library stuff they could have introduced those elements before the battle.

It's not like they were held to a time limit on the length of the episode as that went 80 minutes. If they wanted to introduce any other stuff to the story they could have easily done so without needing to cut that Arya scene.

They didn't add the stuff you would like to have seen because they didn't think it added anything to the story.

I'm pretty sure his point was more that they didn't need the Arya in the library scene as it added almost nothing to the story.  IMO, that has been a pretty consistent problem with the show once they advanced past the books.  There is a lot of useless stuff, but yet they don't have stuff that should be in there or that would help fill in tremendous gaps and holes.  The show really has gone down hill and they absolutely took a crap on the first 6 seasons in the last 10 minutes of the last episode.

The point of the library stuff was to change pace from the huge battle to focus tension around a single major character and to prep the viewer for her sneak attack on the Night King. Cramming in more mythology or references only a book-reader would know about only makes the overall story denser with no real added narrative value. They've made some dumb decisions on the show but trimming down the lore and storylines in favor of more character beats  hasn't been one of them.

There were  better ways to do change of pace though.  The Sansa and Tyrion scene for example was nice.  They could have added more in the Gods Wood.  They also could have cut out a few of the battle scenes.  For what they've actually shown in 190 minutes this season easily could have been 120 minutes and they could have then added stuff that filled in gaps, advanced the story better, etc.  It was a huge problem last season as well. 

And let's be clear this is a fantasy series.  The show has gone heavily away from what makes a great fantasy series since they've passed the books and the quality of the show has suffered significantly.

Moranis, if it's so bad, and has been for years, why do you continue to watch it?

I loved The Walking Dead and even got into reading some of the comics stuff because of it. But haven't watched the last few seasons because they went off the rail and it started to suck. If it's so bad, why don't you just do what I did with The Walking Dead and stop watching it?

I know for me it's cause I'm a fan. Much in the way if C's are bad I keep watching looking for improvement and hope things turn around.

[Moranis]

Any fans disappointed in no Reeds or Dawn sword in the long night battle? Felt there was so much missing that should have been there. Even after rewatching I still think they missed a lot of opportunities. Like if they cut out the Arya library stuff they could have introduced those elements before the battle.

It's not like they were held to a time limit on the length of the episode as that went 80 minutes. If they wanted to introduce any other stuff to the story they could have easily done so without needing to cut that Arya scene.

They didn't add the stuff you would like to have seen because they didn't think it added anything to the story.

I'm pretty sure his point was more that they didn't need the Arya in the library scene as it added almost nothing to the story.  IMO, that has been a pretty consistent problem with the show once they advanced past the books.  There is a lot of useless stuff, but yet they don't have stuff that should be in there or that would help fill in tremendous gaps and holes.  The show really has gone down hill and they absolutely took a crap on the first 6 seasons in the last 10 minutes of the last episode.

The point of the library stuff was to change pace from the huge battle to focus tension around a single major character and to prep the viewer for her sneak attack on the Night King. Cramming in more mythology or references only a book-reader would know about only makes the overall story denser with no real added narrative value. They've made some dumb decisions on the show but trimming down the lore and storylines in favor of more character beats  hasn't been one of them.

There were  better ways to do change of pace though.  The Sansa and Tyrion scene for example was nice.  They could have added more in the Gods Wood.  They also could have cut out a few of the battle scenes.  For what they've actually shown in 190 minutes this season easily could have been 120 minutes and they could have then added stuff that filled in gaps, advanced the story better, etc.  It was a huge problem last season as well. 

And let's be clear this is a fantasy series.  The show has gone heavily away from what makes a great fantasy series since they've passed the books and the quality of the show has suffered significantly.

Moranis, if it's so bad, and has been for years, why do you continue to watch it?

I loved The Walking Dead and even got into reading some of the comics stuff because of it. But haven't watched the last few seasons because they went off the rail and it started to suck. If it's so bad, why don't you just do what I did with The Walking Dead and stop watching it?

I still enjoy watching the show, I just find the direction and the choices to be highly suspect, which has taken some enjoyment from me.  And the reality is there are 3 episodes left.  I can't really walk away from a show with 3 episodes to go, but it doesn't mean we  as fans shouldn't complain about choices.  After all this what this thread is for.

[RodyTur10]

For everybody that worries about the story being illogical or incomplete I'll give a brief summary of how the last three episodes will go:


Obviously what's going to happen next is a fight with Cersei and her Golden Company. Daenerys will initially take the advantage in this battle by defeating the Golden Company with her dragons (although Viserion dies), but what she doesn't know is that Sansa has become increasingly worried that the North will suffer under Targaryen rule. So she makes a deal with Cersei, in which Sansa is allowed to keep the North if she agrees on the plan to betray Daenerys. To execute the plan Sansa sends her lifeguard Ser Brienne on a mission to take out Daenerys, which ultimately succeeds when Jaime Lannister stabs Daenerys to save Brienne's life. So now the Kingslayer has also become the Queenslayer.

Of course Jon Snow is devastated by this betrayal and the loss of Daenerys. As a result he wants to take revenge and becomes the new Mad King as he takes Rhaegar to fly to King's Landing and burns the whole city to the ground. Jaime has returned to King's Landing to try to rescue Cersei, but Bronn kills Jaime to take the promised gold by Qyburn. Cersei now has lost everything and commits suicide by wildfire. Jon Snow has fullly transformed into Aegon Targaryen and even Sam isn't able to talk sense in him as he travels towards Winterfell to meet Sansa and burns every village in his way. Arriving at Winterfell he encounters Arya in the courtyard, who takes him out in a superb fight.

By this death of the last Targaryen all magic in the world including the last dragon disappears. Bran comes back to normal and loses the gifts of the three-eyed-raven. Now Sansa leaves for King's Landing to become the new Queen of the Seven Kingdoms with Tyrion as her Hand of the Queen and Brienne as Commander of the Kingsguard. Arya will be the new Warden of the North, protector of Winterfell, and marries Gendry. Sam marries Gilly and returns home. Grey Worm and Missandei marry and head back to Meereen. The Hound gets his opportunity to finish his brother the Mountain, while Tormund, Varys and Davos all happily leave Winterfell now that the Game of Thrones has ended and peace has been restored. The end.

   

[ederson]

If this is the end of the story G Martin will kill himself.

[fairweatherfan]

For everybody that worries about the story being illogical or incomplete I'll give a brief summary of how the last three episodes will go:


Obviously what's going to happen next is a fight with Cersei and her Golden Company. Daenerys will initially take the advantage in this battle by defeating the Golden Company with her dragons (although Viserion dies), but what she doesn't know is that Sansa has become increasingly worried that the North will suffer under Targaryen rule. So she makes a deal with Cersei, in which Sansa is allowed to keep the North if she agrees on the plan to betray Daenerys. To execute the plan Sansa sends her lifeguard Ser Brienne on a mission to take out Daenerys, which ultimately succeeds when Jaime Lannister stabs Daenerys to save Brienne's life. So now the Kingslayer has also become the Queenslayer.

Of course Jon Snow is devastated by this betrayal and the loss of Daenerys. As a result he wants to take revenge and becomes the new Mad King as he takes Rhaegar to fly to King's Landing and burns the whole city to the ground. Jaime has returned to King's Landing to try to rescue Cersei, but Bronn kills Jaime to take the promised gold by Qyburn. Cersei now has lost everything and commits suicide by wildfire. Jon Snow has fullly transformed into Aegon Targaryen and even Sam isn't able to talk sense in him as he travels towards Winterfell to meet Sansa and burns every village in his way. Arriving at Winterfell he encounters Arya in the courtyard, who takes him out in a superb fight.

By this death of the last Targaryen all magic in the world including the last dragon disappears. Bran comes back to normal and loses the gifts of the three-eyed-raven. Now Sansa leaves for King's Landing to become the new Queen of the Seven Kingdoms with Tyrion as her Hand of the Queen and Brienne as Commander of the Kingsguard. Arya will be the new Warden of the North, protector of Winterfell, and marries Gendry. Sam marries Gilly and returns home. Grey Worm and Missandei marry and head back to Meereen. The Hound gets his opportunity to finish his brother the Mountain, while Tormund, Varys and Davos all happily leave Winterfell now that the Game of Thrones has ended and peace has been restored. The end.

 

My predictions have a terrible track record but I don't think this ends without a conflict between Jon and Dany, at least through proxy (imprisoning/killing people loyal to the other) but more directly as it progresses. I think a rift will develop due to combo of characters learning about Jon's claim to the throne, the tensions with the North overall, and Dany will go too far in dealing with Cersei and taking King's Landing. Her vision of the throne room was thought to be snow coming through the roof, but now I think it will be ash.

Basically I still think Dany will do at least a semi-villain turn; it'd be an excellent twist if it was Jon who went full Mad King but MUCH harder to make it seem plausible given his character.

[mobilija]

My predictions have a terrible track record but I don't think this ends without a conflict between Jon and Dany, at least through proxy (imprisoning/killing people loyal to the other) but more directly as it progresses. I think a rift will develop due to combo of characters learning about Jon's claim to the throne, the tensions with the North overall, and Dany will go too far in dealing with Cersei and taking King's Landing. Her vision of the throne room was thought to be snow coming through the roof, but now I think it will be ash.

Basically I still think Dany will do at least a semi-villain turn; it'd be an excellent twist if it was Jon who went full Mad King but MUCH harder to make it seem plausible given his character.

Not ash, not literal snow...  Jon Snow

[fairweatherfan]

My predictions have a terrible track record but I don't think this ends without a conflict between Jon and Dany, at least through proxy (imprisoning/killing people loyal to the other) but more directly as it progresses. I think a rift will develop due to combo of characters learning about Jon's claim to the throne, the tensions with the North overall, and Dany will go too far in dealing with Cersei and taking King's Landing. Her vision of the throne room was thought to be snow coming through the roof, but now I think it will be ash.

Basically I still think Dany will do at least a semi-villain turn; it'd be an excellent twist if it was Jon who went full Mad King but MUCH harder to make it seem plausible given his character.

Not ash, not literal snow...  Jon Snow

Ya that was the other interpretation but he's not really Jon Snow anymore if he takes the throne, he's Aegon Targaryen. Plus coming through a destroyed roof would suggest he was the one that destroyed it. Dunno. But I do like it much better when visions are symbolic and not "this is what will literally happen later".

[Moranis]

My predictions have a terrible track record but I don't think this ends without a conflict between Jon and Dany, at least through proxy (imprisoning/killing people loyal to the other) but more directly as it progresses. I think a rift will develop due to combo of characters learning about Jon's claim to the throne, the tensions with the North overall, and Dany will go too far in dealing with Cersei and taking King's Landing. Her vision of the throne room was thought to be snow coming through the roof, but now I think it will be ash.

Basically I still think Dany will do at least a semi-villain turn; it'd be an excellent twist if it was Jon who went full Mad King but MUCH harder to make it seem plausible given his character.

Not ash, not literal snow...  Jon Snow

Ya that was the other interpretation but he's not really Jon Snow anymore if he takes the throne, he's Aegon Targaryen. Plus coming through a destroyed roof would suggest he was the one that destroyed it. Dunno. But I do like it much better when visions are symbolic and not "this is what will literally happen later".

Or the most plausible explanation is the vision was written by Martin in the books and the show has completely altered the reason for the vision and nothing will happen resembling the vision at all in the show (but will still have meaning in the books). 

[mobilija]

My predictions have a terrible track record but I don't think this ends without a conflict between Jon and Dany, at least through proxy (imprisoning/killing people loyal to the other) but more directly as it progresses. I think a rift will develop due to combo of characters learning about Jon's claim to the throne, the tensions with the North overall, and Dany will go too far in dealing with Cersei and taking King's Landing. Her vision of the throne room was thought to be snow coming through the roof, but now I think it will be ash.

Basically I still think Dany will do at least a semi-villain turn; it'd be an excellent twist if it was Jon who went full Mad King but MUCH harder to make it seem plausible given his character.

Not ash, not literal snow...  Jon Snow

Ya that was the other interpretation but he's not really Jon Snow anymore if he takes the throne, he's Aegon Targaryen. Plus coming through a destroyed roof would suggest he was the one that destroyed it. Dunno. But I do like it much better when visions are symbolic and not "this is what will literally happen later".

Destroyed her chance at the throne, not the throne itself...Maybe.
If were going for symbolism and not literal.

[RodyTur10]

For everybody that worries about the story being illogical or incomplete I'll give a brief summary of how the last three episodes will go:


Obviously what's going to happen next is a fight with Cersei and her Golden Company. Daenerys will initially take the advantage in this battle by defeating the Golden Company with her dragons (although Viserion dies), but what she doesn't know is that Sansa has become increasingly worried that the North will suffer under Targaryen rule. So she makes a deal with Cersei, in which Sansa is allowed to keep the North if she agrees on the plan to betray Daenerys. To execute the plan Sansa sends her lifeguard Ser Brienne on a mission to take out Daenerys, which ultimately succeeds when Jaime Lannister stabs Daenerys to save Brienne's life. So now the Kingslayer has also become the Queenslayer.

Of course Jon Snow is devastated by this betrayal and the loss of Daenerys. As a result he wants to take revenge and becomes the new Mad King as he takes Rhaegar to fly to King's Landing and burns the whole city to the ground. Jaime has returned to King's Landing to try to rescue Cersei, but Bronn kills Jaime to take the promised gold by Qyburn. Cersei now has lost everything and commits suicide by wildfire. Jon Snow has fullly transformed into Aegon Targaryen and even Sam isn't able to talk sense in him as he travels towards Winterfell to meet Sansa and burns every village in his way. Arriving at Winterfell he encounters Arya in the courtyard, who takes him out in a superb fight.

By this death of the last Targaryen all magic in the world including the last dragon disappears. Bran comes back to normal and loses the gifts of the three-eyed-raven. Now Sansa leaves for King's Landing to become the new Queen of the Seven Kingdoms with Tyrion as her Hand of the Queen and Brienne as Commander of the Kingsguard. Arya will be the new Warden of the North, protector of Winterfell, and marries Gendry. Sam marries Gilly and returns home. Grey Worm and Missandei marry and head back to Meereen. The Hound gets his opportunity to finish his brother the Mountain, while Tormund, Varys and Davos all happily leave Winterfell now that the Game of Thrones has ended and peace has been restored. The end.

 

My predictions have a terrible track record but I don't think this ends without a conflict between Jon and Dany, at least through proxy (imprisoning/killing people loyal to the other) but more directly as it progresses. I think a rift will develop due to combo of characters learning about Jon's claim to the throne, the tensions with the North overall, and Dany will go too far in dealing with Cersei and taking King's Landing. Her vision of the throne room was thought to be snow coming through the roof, but now I think it will be ash.

Basically I still think Dany will do at least a semi-villain turn; it'd be an excellent twist if it was Jon who went full Mad King but MUCH harder to make it seem plausible given his character.

Of course it was a joke. Jon Snow is probably the most moral man in Westeros, therefore it wouldn't make any sense at all, but the writers haven't been stopped by logic or continuity of the story so far. If it looks cool, you have to do it, right?

[fairweatherfan]

For everybody that worries about the story being illogical or incomplete I'll give a brief summary of how the last three episodes will go:


Obviously what's going to happen next is a fight with Cersei and her Golden Company. Daenerys will initially take the advantage in this battle by defeating the Golden Company with her dragons (although Viserion dies), but what she doesn't know is that Sansa has become increasingly worried that the North will suffer under Targaryen rule. So she makes a deal with Cersei, in which Sansa is allowed to keep the North if she agrees on the plan to betray Daenerys. To execute the plan Sansa sends her lifeguard Ser Brienne on a mission to take out Daenerys, which ultimately succeeds when Jaime Lannister stabs Daenerys to save Brienne's life. So now the Kingslayer has also become the Queenslayer.

Of course Jon Snow is devastated by this betrayal and the loss of Daenerys. As a result he wants to take revenge and becomes the new Mad King as he takes Rhaegar to fly to King's Landing and burns the whole city to the ground. Jaime has returned to King's Landing to try to rescue Cersei, but Bronn kills Jaime to take the promised gold by Qyburn. Cersei now has lost everything and commits suicide by wildfire. Jon Snow has fullly transformed into Aegon Targaryen and even Sam isn't able to talk sense in him as he travels towards Winterfell to meet Sansa and burns every village in his way. Arriving at Winterfell he encounters Arya in the courtyard, who takes him out in a superb fight.

By this death of the last Targaryen all magic in the world including the last dragon disappears. Bran comes back to normal and loses the gifts of the three-eyed-raven. Now Sansa leaves for King's Landing to become the new Queen of the Seven Kingdoms with Tyrion as her Hand of the Queen and Brienne as Commander of the Kingsguard. Arya will be the new Warden of the North, protector of Winterfell, and marries Gendry. Sam marries Gilly and returns home. Grey Worm and Missandei marry and head back to Meereen. The Hound gets his opportunity to finish his brother the Mountain, while Tormund, Varys and Davos all happily leave Winterfell now that the Game of Thrones has ended and peace has been restored. The end.

 

My predictions have a terrible track record but I don't think this ends without a conflict between Jon and Dany, at least through proxy (imprisoning/killing people loyal to the other) but more directly as it progresses. I think a rift will develop due to combo of characters learning about Jon's claim to the throne, the tensions with the North overall, and Dany will go too far in dealing with Cersei and taking King's Landing. Her vision of the throne room was thought to be snow coming through the roof, but now I think it will be ash.

Basically I still think Dany will do at least a semi-villain turn; it'd be an excellent twist if it was Jon who went full Mad King but MUCH harder to make it seem plausible given his character.

Of course it was a joke. Jon Snow is probably the most moral man in Westeros, therefore it wouldn't make any sense at all, but the writers haven't been stopped by logic or continuity of the story so far. If it looks cool, you have to do it, right?

You gotta be less subtle I've heard way crazier theories made in total earnest lol. Well played though, a lot of effort into that.


I did a rewatch of the last episode and it was a lot better now that I know how the story will go. The dumb tactical stuff, eh happens in every show. Arya's killing the Night King is set up much better in hindsight though I still could've used some hint in between her last two scenes. And the insane horror of the whole thing (raining wights shaken off by a dragon!), particularly Jon's futile run through Winterfell, was really well-crafted and fun now that I could follow the action better.

The big sticking point continues to be the disconnect between the overwhelming odds and the extremely high survival rate of main characters. Especially Sam who should've been dead like 100 times over, and Davos who is kind of hanging around but never seen with a weapon. The wights are stabbing and leaping machines on randos but give them a name actor and they just wanna bear hug. It really cheapens the episode before it - the tension and sense of doom of the preparations feels forced when basically everyone we see anticipating death dodges it and apparently isn't really seriously hurt either.

[PhoSita]

For everybody that worries about the story being illogical or incomplete I'll give a brief summary of how the last three episodes will go:


Obviously what's going to happen next is a fight with Cersei and her Golden Company. Daenerys will initially take the advantage in this battle by defeating the Golden Company with her dragons (although Viserion dies), but what she doesn't know is that Sansa has become increasingly worried that the North will suffer under Targaryen rule. So she makes a deal with Cersei, in which Sansa is allowed to keep the North if she agrees on the plan to betray Daenerys. To execute the plan Sansa sends her lifeguard Ser Brienne on a mission to take out Daenerys, which ultimately succeeds when Jaime Lannister stabs Daenerys to save Brienne's life. So now the Kingslayer has also become the Queenslayer.

Of course Jon Snow is devastated by this betrayal and the loss of Daenerys. As a result he wants to take revenge and becomes the new Mad King as he takes Rhaegar to fly to King's Landing and burns the whole city to the ground. Jaime has returned to King's Landing to try to rescue Cersei, but Bronn kills Jaime to take the promised gold by Qyburn. Cersei now has lost everything and commits suicide by wildfire. Jon Snow has fullly transformed into Aegon Targaryen and even Sam isn't able to talk sense in him as he travels towards Winterfell to meet Sansa and burns every village in his way. Arriving at Winterfell he encounters Arya in the courtyard, who takes him out in a superb fight.

By this death of the last Targaryen all magic in the world including the last dragon disappears. Bran comes back to normal and loses the gifts of the three-eyed-raven. Now Sansa leaves for King's Landing to become the new Queen of the Seven Kingdoms with Tyrion as her Hand of the Queen and Brienne as Commander of the Kingsguard. Arya will be the new Warden of the North, protector of Winterfell, and marries Gendry. Sam marries Gilly and returns home. Grey Worm and Missandei marry and head back to Meereen. The Hound gets his opportunity to finish his brother the Mountain, while Tormund, Varys and Davos all happily leave Winterfell now that the Game of Thrones has ended and peace has been restored. The end.

 

My predictions have a terrible track record but I don't think this ends without a conflict between Jon and Dany, at least through proxy (imprisoning/killing people loyal to the other) but more directly as it progresses. I think a rift will develop due to combo of characters learning about Jon's claim to the throne, the tensions with the North overall, and Dany will go too far in dealing with Cersei and taking King's Landing. Her vision of the throne room was thought to be snow coming through the roof, but now I think it will be ash.

Basically I still think Dany will do at least a semi-villain turn; it'd be an excellent twist if it was Jon who went full Mad King but MUCH harder to make it seem plausible given his character.

Of course it was a joke. Jon Snow is probably the most moral man in Westeros, therefore it wouldn't make any sense at all, but the writers haven't been stopped by logic or continuity of the story so far. If it looks cool, you have to do it, right?

You gotta be less subtle I've heard way crazier theories made in total earnest lol. Well played though, a lot of effort into that.


I did a rewatch of the last episode and it was a lot better now that I know how the story will go. The dumb tactical stuff, eh happens in every show. Arya's killing the Night King is set up much better in hindsight though I still could've used some hint in between her last two scenes. And the insane horror of the whole thing (raining wights shaken off by a dragon!), particularly Jon's futile run through Winterfell, was really well-crafted and fun now that I could follow the action better.

The big sticking point continues to be the disconnect between the overwhelming odds and the extremely high survival rate of main characters. Especially Sam who should've been dead like 100 times over, and Davos who is kind of hanging around but never seen with a weapon. The wights are stabbing and leaping machines on randos but give them a name actor and they just wanna bear hug. It really cheapens the episode before it - the tension and sense of doom of the preparations feels forced when basically everyone we see anticipating death dodges it and apparently isn't really seriously hurt either.

It's almost like none of the stakes were ever real for anybody on-screen whose character was developed enough to seem like a real person, and the entire episode was crafted to set up a single "cool" moment where Arya assassinates the big bad.

And because that particular conflict was never the one that the showrunners found interesting, the motivations of the big bad, or even the motivations and methods of the big bad's alleged nemesis (TER) aren't fleshed out or really developed in any detail. 

So really the only moving thing about the episode in retrospect is how "cool" it is that Arya killed the Night King.  Sure, it's a satisfying culmination to her storyline, but very little of what got us to that moment in the episode really seems consequential.  Except insofar as the dead killing off most of Dany's armies will affect the coming conflict with Cersei.

[PhoSita]

I appreciate this:

This is the ending we deserve. Some call it bad, but really, why would it be any better?

Back in the first seasons, we used to explore every nook and cranny. Read every clue and shared theories. We did the fighting tutorial with Arya and the butcher boy. We got the kingdom management basics with Maester Luwin's advice. We even learned the vows of the Night's Watch so we wouldn't stutter with Jon at the Wall!

But somewhere along the way, we got lazy.

When was the last time we even completed a sidequest? Season 5, Dorne? Ever since that fiasco, all we did was rush the main storyline. Pick the first option on dialogues and fast travel everyone to Winterfell.

Remember the chase scene in season 6? We didn't even try to solve that one. Pop that resurrection soup to skip the Waif quicktime event, and use the darkness glitch to cheese the 2nd phase.

We failed all the scouting and stealth checks North of the Wall, so we had to summon the Dragon Queen early, and we didn't even manage to keep all three dragons alive!

After all this, you still expect the full ending. Maybe even the optional White Walker fights. Without putting in any work. But that's not how these Games work.

It's too late to reload. Your oldest save is in season 6, the last time you even bothered reloading to try and save someone in episode 5.

It's over now. It's either New Game+, or wait with us for the Winds of Winter DLC. There's no salvaging this playthrough.

source - https://www.reddit.com/r/asoiaf/comments/bjwjx0/spoilers_extended_its_our_own_fault_the_long/




I also want to highlight this very good point:

All those armies and all those brilliant fighters and all of Bran’s foresight weren’t enough. In the end Arya basically wins the whole war all on her own with a plan she came up with all on her own (after receiving a hint from Melisandre). We have no on-screen indication that the Night King was weakened from his battle against Jon and Dany, nor do we have any indication that the only reason Arya could pull off this move is because of the battle she was just taking part in.

If our heroes had watched Episode 3 ahead of time it seems as though their best plan would legitimately have been to send the Dothraki south, stuff as many people into the crypts as possible (well-armed) and leave the gates of Winterfell wide open with Bran in the Godswood. Then tell Arya to hide in the Godswood (like she presumably did in Episode 3 after her chat with Mel) and ambush the Night King when he arrived to kill Bran. It would have been the exact same outcome, but that thousands of people would still be alive.

And the result is that the show's big theme of humanity working together ‘we all have to put aside our distrust and fight together against the army of the dead’ is completely undermined.

How no-one made a difference
Jon let the wildlings through the wall in part because he recognised they needed to fight together against the dead. Yet the wildlings didn’t make a difference to the outcome.

Sam went to the Citadel and discovered where the dragonglass was. Yet the dragonglass didn’t make a difference to the outcome.

Jon went south to form an alliance with Dany because he thought he needed her help to defeat the Night King. Yet the dragons and dothraki and unsullied didn’t make a difference to the outcome.

Tyrion arranged the wight summit to convince Cersei that the threat was real. Yet Cersei wouldn’t have made a difference to the outcome anyway.

Jamie abandoned Cersei since he felt it was important for him to honour his word, go North and fight for the living. Yet Jamie didn’t make a difference to the outcome.

Theon returned to Winterfell to fight for the Starks and help save the world. Yet Theon didn’t make a difference to the outcome.

Arya was the only one they needed.

https://www.reddit.com/r/asoiaf/comments/bjxzcd/spoilers_extended_how_episode_3_undermined_a_big/

[Celtics4ever]

    All those armies and all those brilliant fighters and all of Bran’s foresight weren’t enough. In the end Arya basically wins the whole war all on her own with a plan she came up with all on her own (after receiving a hint from Melisandre). We have no on-screen indication that the Night King was weakened from his battle against Jon and Dany, nor do we have any indication that the only reason Arya could pull off this move is because of the battle she was just taking part in.

    If our heroes had watched Episode 3 ahead of time it seems as though their best plan would legitimately have been to send the Dothraki south, stuff as many people into the crypts as possible (well-armed) and leave the gates of Winterfell wide open with Bran in the Godswood. Then tell Arya to hide in the Godswood (like she presumably did in Episode 3 after her chat with Mel) and ambush the Night King when he arrived to kill Bran. It would have been the exact same outcome, but that thousands of people would still be alive.

    And the result is that the show's big theme of humanity working together ‘we all have to put aside our distrust and fight together against the army of the dead’ is completely undermined.

Bran did not take this dagger when given a chance earlier in the season, so maybe he foresaw it, and maybe it was his plan after all.

https://mashable.com/article/game-of-thrones-arya-valyrian-dagger-night-king-explained/

So there is that and sorry to bust your theory.