Well, we know that dragons are not invincible. And Qyburn is probably the best scientist/technologist in the 7 kingdoms.
In a way, last night felt like a “Good-bye to Magic” episode. No more Night King and the army of the dead. No more Melisandre. There are still dragons and prophecies (and Bran, annoying as he may be), but it feels like for now, the final/true story of GoT will be a tale of human struggles and not one of magical conflict.
^ I like that idea, @scout59. The best part of GOT has always been, IMHO, the political intrigue. Now that the immediate threat off the Night King has been removed will we see conflict between those who united to fight at Winterfell? How will Dany deal with the fact that Jon is the rightful heir to the throne?
It will be interesting to see how they wrap up the series. Will all be happy and peaceful or will the finale be more open-ended?
So many theories, including my own, shot down last night!
My initial thought after this episode was, “What in the world will they do for another three episodes?”
However: Dany lost all of her Dothraki and Unsullied forces. And she is still processing the idea that Jon has a better claim to the throne than she does. She has shown some alarming Targarian “burn them all” Mad Queen tendencies, and i’m not sure about her path forward at all.
Cercie is still sitting on a pile of wildfire, with her purchased army and Euron’s navy.
There is a lot of plot left.
^^from Gallentjill. I agree! I kept thinking that. Why didn’t they scout and know the size!
My other question was why didn’t the knight king succumb to fire? was he Tygareon? And I really really thought Arya was a goner. AND i honestly expected more dead amongst the main characters.
And Sue22 - I agree with how you liked how Arya and the Hound protected each other.
I can’t wait to listen to all those podcasts this week that will explain everything . LOVE it!
@eascoascrazy - I agree about Dany and her armies. And how willing will the armies of the north be (decimated as they are) to follow a Targaryon into battle? Especially one who doesn’t appear to have such a great military mind.
If I were a Northerner, I’d be more likely to follow Jon or Sansa than I would Dany.
I agree with you guys. It was frustrating that Dany really appeared to do nothing for the nearly entire battle. Was she lost in a storm the ENTIRE TIME? And Ghost, would have been nice to see what he was up to. Send him to Bran! Who really thought that Theon and like 10 people was enough, even though Theon was incredible. Loved that part and Bran’s giving him redemption. Yes what was Bran doing when he was warging? Just watching it play out like he expected it to? I guess the nearly fatal flaw was overestimating the dragons’ impact, for the Theon/Bran plan and otherwise.
I also was surprised at the low final tally death count of the main characters. For a while it looked like most of them were dying, which would have made sense.
I’m also glad we’re done with the Night King, I much prefer the political/personal drama and when they all are fighting and betraying each other! Plus the Night King all along bugged me…he didn’t look evil or scary, he always had a weird frown, even his sword looked cheap. He didn’t look nearly as scary or creepy as his posse. That story line was better before when the image and threat of him was all in our heads.
Three points about this:
- Dany did bring her dragons and vast armies (now largely decimated) to protect the North. Winterfell had no chance without them.
- It's not as though they have a choice of whether to battle or not. If they don't go south, Cersei's armies will come North. They are probably better off staying North, as they know the land and can better defend it. But I doubt that is what the story is.
- And the North won't forget that Cersei pledged her armies and betrayed them, so they are pissed! As Jamie said, "If they win at Winterfell, they will come to kill us all!"
I agree that the battle strategy was sorely lacking, except for the fiery ditch (which was too close and not wide enough).
Where was the artillery and the archers? They should have been blasting the wights from a far distance, and dragons count as artillery. Why was there no artillery on the castle, blasting wights who were stuck on the far side of the ditch?
Why in heck did the Dothraki charge at the enemy? They couldn’t even see them! That was a total waste, but it was dramatic to watch the flames go out. Still, HBO chose that dramatic effect over us being able to use our brains and think, “how idiotic…”.
I miss the Lord of the Rings battle scenes, they were more strategically thought out. And Rob Stark was a great tactician in the books, but then again, so was Tyrion. Oh well.
Overall, I think it was a great episode. The fighting scenes showed the nightmare of close combat in murky light and the horror of being overrun, or of being surprised by something you couldn’t see.
I sort of need to rewatch to catch what I missed but I don’t really want to see all of it again. Did Grey Worm make it? Who predicted that no man could kill the Night King? I can’t recall the Night King ever speaking. The dagger that Arya stabbed him with was given to her by Bran - was that the dagger that had originally been Little Finger’s way back in season 1? When she made her big move it looked like she dropped the dagger… did she drop it with one hand and then catch with the other? I’ve seen a replay of that actual scene several times and still can’t figure it out.
Online list of people who died:
The Night King
Melisandre
Theon Greyjoy
Lyanna Mormont
Ser Jorah Mormont
Lord Beric Dondarrion
Edd Tollett, aka Dolorous Edd
Viserion
Virtually every single Dothraki, and countless Unsullied.
https://www.vox.com/2019/4/29/18522076/game-of-thrones-long-night-who-died-battle-of-winterfell
Some questions were answered by the “after the episode” thing with the two show creators. Like why they didn’t follow the battle plan (effect on Dani of seeing all the Dothraki killed, they said).
I knew this battle had to happen, but that didn’t make it any less dull to me. I don’t like the battle heavy episodes at all. Hopefully whatever happens with Cersei won’t be one long battle also.
That said, really great ending. I love that Arya was the one to kill him. And yes, she dropped the knife and caught it with her other hand. I wondered if she could take a wight’s face when she killed one, kept hoping she would.
@washugrad, my son says yes, the dagger that killed the Night King was the original dagger that started the whole war.
Did Grey Worm make it?
– yes he did
Who predicted that no man could kill the Night King?
– I may be wrong (Marilyn can correct me if I am), but this didn’t really come from “Game of Thrones.” It’s a call-out to “Return of the King,” where Eowyn kills the Witch King, who supposedly could not be killed by a man…but Eowyn was a woman.
Right scout - it was a call out to LOTR. It was the Night King’s attitude, not his words, that made me think of it. He didn’t think a small woman was any threat; he never would have grabbed Jon Snow that way.
I strongly suspected that Arya would be the one to take out the Knight King when Milisandre gave her that knowing stare early in the episode. I was sure of it when they got to the “what do we say to the god of death” part. Killing the Knight King was the only way that Arya and all the rest were going to avoid death.
I’m sad Jorah died. And Theon.
One of the aspects of this series that I love is that you do feel sad at Theon’s death. He did horrible things, yet he does die “a good man”. The characters are so multidimensional which is what makes us so invested.
Anyone else wondering where Bronn is and whether or not he is coming for Jaime and Tyrion?
I’m wondering what it’s going to be like to read the rest of the books, if they are ever completed, given that we know how things are going to end.
I had to laugh when Arya handed Sansa a weapon and told her to use the pointy end.