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scifi_rewatchWe’ve arrived to the midseason—and the biggest episode of all?! I guess I’m still having a little trouble coming to the fact that the White Walkers were dealt with before the end of the season. Though, to be fair, I never thought GRRM to be a nihilist, or that the survivors would board a boat to the west like Frodo Baggins and the elves. :P I always assumed that life would go on, after!
Before I spoil this episode even more, at least in terms of the outcome, let’s just say that it was a long night indeed; the entire affair took an hour and a half of storytelling! It was the longest episode of the entire show. It gets a bad rap for dark filming conditions (among other things) though part of that was surely an intentional aesthetic.
There’s also an air of unreality around these epic battles. It probably has the greatest use of dragons in the show’s history (especially with one dragon pitted against the other two!) I feel like there’s also a fairytale element at play. Whittled down, this is the story of an immortal monster attempting to kill a memory-keeper in the guise of a boy, and thus dash all of human history. The cost—that is, most of the deaths incurred—felt more psychological than sociological. I might be leaning too heavily on these phrases (plus, I recently watched the first season of the Foundation adaptation, which is ostensibly about the sociology of human behavior! :P) This is a general criticism levied against GoT—that the first few seasons were sociological, with plot points and character arcs hueing to a focus on the trials and tribulations of Westerosi leadership and Daenerys’s conquests in Essos. But that the last few seasons psychological, centering too much on payoff for specific characters, sometimes at the cost of overall believable storytelling.
But the Walkers, of course, are different. This storyline has never been about socio-politics, even in season one. With that, I’ll get into more of my thoughts on this episode under the cut!
Summary
WINTERFELL
Final preparations afoot: we follow Sam outside and see Bran, Theon and Ironborn headed to the godswood. Lady Mormont commands her people, Tyrion watches warily from the ground while Davos, Sansa and Arya are on the ramparts. And dragons fly overhead! Game of Thrones does well with its sweeping cavalry shots, including the likes of Pod, Brienne, Jamie, Beric, the Hound, Gendry, Ed, Tormund and Grey Worm. Jorah is on a horse—with Ghost beside him! Tension mounts in the dark…Jon and Dany observe from above Winterfell.
And who appears in the darkness, but Melissandre! She asks Jorah to command the Dothraki to lift their swords, which she then sets aflame! It’s an impressive sweep of red from the ramparts. Mel and Grey Worm share a Valar Morghulis/Dohairis, and Davos, of all people, orders the gates opened for the red woman. She promises to be dead before the dawn, so there’s that! She and Arya share a look, fulfilling Mel’s promise from season three that they’ll see each other again.
The lighted Dothraki charge forward…the trebuchets are fired…and in a terrifying development, all of the red snuffs out into darkness. Dany thinks it’s time to fly upon Drogon, as the dead growl their way over to the living. The shots are sudden and dark—what we see is the living completely overwhelmed. Until Drogon and Rhaegal (bearing Jon) breathe some dragon fire on this mess! Not so easy to snuff that out! But when they reach the ranks of the Walkers, they are repelled by heavy, cold weather.
At this time, Arya orders Sansa down to the crypts. Though Sansa doesn’t want to abandon her people, Arya shoves Littlefinger’s dagger in her hands and tells her to stick them with the pointy end, of course. Theon, Bran et al watch the foggy weather from the godswood. Our main characters on the ground hack their way through the dead. Ed is the first main character to die, after he saves Sam, no less.
Sansa joins Tyrion, Gilly, Missandei, Varys et al in the crypts. Gloom prevails. Jon, Dany and the dragons struggle to stay in the sky…the living on the ground must fall back, into the gates of Winterfell. Grey Worm and the Unsullied cover this action. Arya shoots wights with her crossbow, including one about to kill the Hound. When everyone but the Unsullied are inside, it takes some time to light the trench on fire, because Dany (astride Drogon) can’t see them and arrows can only do so much. Mel, any help? (As, of course, wights kill Unsullied around her?) Thank you! Another amazing aerial shot. Sandor freaks out and leaves the fiery trenches, of course.
Babies cry in the crypts while Tyrion debates going up to the battlefield to help. Sansa’s feeling pretty futile about their collective abilities. She also takes the time to lightly mock “the Dragon Queen,” and Missandei, tired of Northern iciness, points out that they’d be dead without her. The Raven Formerly Known as Bran Stark has the same conversation with Theon that he did with Jamie last episode; don’t regret the past, because it’s good you’re here now! At least he tells Theon that he’s home, before warging into the birds himself.
On the ground, the wights try a new plan—snuffing out the flames with their bodies. There’s so many of them, of course, that they can create a bridge for the rest! Time to man the walls! In the skies, Jon sees the Night King riding Viserion! The wights start to climb the walls…the living are able to hack a few. Not all, of course. Wights inside the gates of Winterfell! Some fall to dragonglass shards, at least. The Hound suffers PTSD as the living die around him; of course here comes Arya to fight her way through with the weapon Gendry made her. Beric uses Arya as an excuse to get the Hound back in the fight. Lyanna kills a dead giant with dragonglass, but it costs her her life.
And in the sky, the dragons fly near the moon, beautifully. Viserion comes to kill them with blue fire! Arya has a suspense-filled, creepy fight with some wights inside the castle library. The non-combatants hear some spooky noises down in the crypt. Beric loses his life for the last time in defending Arya and the Hound. Melisandre is around to say Beric’s purpose has been served! Her old prophecy about Arya shutting blue eyes apparently takes on new meaning. In case you don’t see where this is going, they repeat the “god of death/not today” thing. Arya’s off running!
The godswood is ringed in fire, but the Ironborn prepare for incoming. The Night King attempts to kill Jon in the sky, and Rhaegal drops to the ground! The Night King also drops to the ground, but Drogon’s dracarys does nothing to him. As Jon peruses him through fiery ruins, the Night King wakes up some new wights to protect himself. Then the dead everywhere start waking up, including poor Lyanna and Ed. The Walkers walk on up to Winterfell!
Speaking of dead people waking up…remember all those people hanging out in a crypt? Yikes. Kinda looks like a legit-terrifying rendition of the Mummy movies. Some people die, others find cover. Theon and the Ironborn kill wights as Bran is still checked out. Dany clears Jon’s path of wights (at least fire still works on them!), and he runs off to Bran. Drogon is beset by a load of wights as he lands. Dany falls to the ground! Drogon flies off to save himself, so it’s Jorah’s turn to protect the Khaleesi. Brienne, Jamie and Sam are totally overwhelmed by wights; just sayin. But they survive. Jon is having a shit time getting to the godswood.
Theon is the last Ironborn standing, and Dany and Jorah are in dire straits, too. Sansa and Tyron hide together under behind a tomb. Sansa takes out the dagger as the big thematic music starts. It seems to be a moment of Tyrion and Sansa choosing not to face death alone. Tyrion darts out? But we immediately cut to Jon, who can’t get out of the castle’s gates due to Viserion’s fire. Tyrion and Sansa make it to the rest of the main cast in the crypt, who are hiding under an archway—including the little girl from the last episode. Camaraderie?
The Night King and his generals slo mo into the godswood. Theon is holding his own against the wights. He looks up to see the Night King. Bran comes back to tell Theon he’s a good man, and thanks him. Theon makes his last stand against the Night King. Jorah is felled by wights, but he takes a long time to go down, devoted as he is to protecting Dany. The Night King slow mo’s to Bran. The music is really a character by this point. Jon stands up to Viserion!
Not to be outdone, Arya leaps onto the Night King out of nowhere and kills him! He and his generals break into shards of ice, and all the wights fall down dead. Jorah and Dany get to have a special goodbye. The surviving characters in the crypts (all the main cast) survey the damage. Arya looks to Bran, who generally looks unaffected by everything that’s happened. Drogon lands to wrap his wings around Dany and Jorah’s body. The Hound and Melissandre walk outside…Mel goes past all the mounds of dead, taking off her necklace as she does so. Davos watches her keep her promise. She ages and falls down to die. Her purpose has been fulfilled.
Thoughts:
That was my longest summary ever! Figure it gives a good overview of the living’s triumph over the dead. :D This part should be shorter, since there’s not too much to parse, at least in terms of characterization. Even Dany is able to put last episode’s big reveal aside, because there are bigger fish (or, er, undead) to fry.
I spent a bit of time framing the Night King vs the Raven Formerly Known as Bran Stark story, which I think makes me appreciate it more. I am still rather confident it won’t go down this way in the books, but we’re dealing with the show here. It’s also possible that the showrunners scrapped a leaked alternative where Bran dies, yikes. Not sure how to square that with the fact that I believe this story to be ultimately hopeful; human memory can’t die, right? Well, it’s a moot point now!
Admittedly, I’m still disappointed that it’s Arya who saves the day, rather then Jon. Speaking of the metaphorical overtones that arch over this episode like a cloud cover—why else was Jon brought back from the dead? The Arya thing—her ridiculous conversation with Melissandre—felt like a desperate justification. Meh. I mean, other deaths were hugely metaphorical. I’d argue that the people who “should” have died—Sam, Jamie, Brienne—seeing as they were overwhelmed by wights—survived for Plot Reasons. Ed died because we needed a Night’s Watch sacrifice. Lyanna died because we needed another young badass, I guess, (also maybe child labor laws? What else to do with her this season?) Beric and Melissandre died in service of the Lord of Light’s final battle against the Walkers, I’d say, though Mel’s end was far more affecting. (Her sudden appearance—right in front of the Walker line—to Winterfell was a bit convenient, but eh, I guess she’s the fairy godmother come to turn the tide. :P) Theon and Jorah died more or less as the end of their Redemptive Arcs towards House Stark and Dany, respectively. (Jorah’s death may have some unforeseen consequences down the road, but I’ll wait on that!)
…upon rewatch, I do kind of like what this whole thing says about Melissandre’s character—yanno, still largely from a fairytale angle. Here’s this woman who has been alive for lifetimes, in the pursuit of one, single purpose—snuff out the undead. Plus, here’s this woman who has alienated everyone, especially Davos, because of her political ruthlessness in past seasons to try and game the chess board. Her death at the end almost feels like a form of relief. Now her watch has ended.
Otherwise, the most character work happened in the crypts, because those folks didn’t have to wave swords around for all of their screen time. I’ll put my cards on the table here—I’m Team Sansa through and through. I spent most of my first watch of this episode trying to prepare myself for her possible demise. But even I’m glad that Missandei got to say something with regard to Sansa (and the north’s) cold treatment of Dany and her retinue. She could have gone further and still had a case! It kind of dovetails into how the crypt cast end the episode—despite Sansa’s talk with Tyrion of competing interests with regard to “the Dragon queen,” at the end of the day, the living are all on the same side.
Speaking of Tyrion, I gotta say I kinda enjoyed this flirtation and camaraderie. A reminder of healthy relationships in Sansa’s life. I like it, of course, in the face of death, but even after watching this episode a few times, I’m always confused by Tyrion and Sansa’s actions during the zombie fight. First, it looks like Tyrion is about to play the hero, but then, after a jump cut, it’s about him and Sansa joining up with the others? Also, I guess the point of Sansa having the dagger is to say that she’s willing to fight? Though she never gets the chance to. And on the other hand, I’m kind of glad she doesn’t have to be a Badass to be a compelling character.
On the battlefield I’m always drawn to emotion—Sam crying over the futility of it all, the Hound and even Arya going through moments of PTSD and fear. Even Jon trying—and failing—to get to Bran. And finally, the heartbreaking scene at the end where Dany grieves Jorah and Drogon comforts her. Who knew a CGI nuclear weapon could be so sympathetic! :P
In that vein, Theon’s last stand against the Night King—and Bran’s to the point send off—was also quite moving. Out of all the characters who died, I feel like Theon’s was most predicated on a redemption arc than anything more grounded in realism. To be fair, he was killed by a supernatural creature, so. :P And at the end of the day, at the end of the series of Game of Thrones—maybe it’s worth it to go for something with that emotional resonance.
So, to end on another high note—I actually liked the production value this episode. Yes, a couple of scenes were needlessly dark. But most of them were used to great effect, to build up tension or depict the epic scope of events. Does part of me wish that David and Dan had scaled back on the special effects budget and focused more on more episodes for character growth? Yes. But do I also think it’s a shame that an epic, fantastical spectacle is now basically poo pooed by fans for “wah, too dark?” Yes, too. Alas. It goes to show how an overall impression can have more lasting impact than all of the moving parts. I hope that anyone who rewatches this episode might be able to entertain a more varied opinion.
Before I spoil this episode even more, at least in terms of the outcome, let’s just say that it was a long night indeed; the entire affair took an hour and a half of storytelling! It was the longest episode of the entire show. It gets a bad rap for dark filming conditions (among other things) though part of that was surely an intentional aesthetic.
There’s also an air of unreality around these epic battles. It probably has the greatest use of dragons in the show’s history (especially with one dragon pitted against the other two!) I feel like there’s also a fairytale element at play. Whittled down, this is the story of an immortal monster attempting to kill a memory-keeper in the guise of a boy, and thus dash all of human history. The cost—that is, most of the deaths incurred—felt more psychological than sociological. I might be leaning too heavily on these phrases (plus, I recently watched the first season of the Foundation adaptation, which is ostensibly about the sociology of human behavior! :P) This is a general criticism levied against GoT—that the first few seasons were sociological, with plot points and character arcs hueing to a focus on the trials and tribulations of Westerosi leadership and Daenerys’s conquests in Essos. But that the last few seasons psychological, centering too much on payoff for specific characters, sometimes at the cost of overall believable storytelling.
But the Walkers, of course, are different. This storyline has never been about socio-politics, even in season one. With that, I’ll get into more of my thoughts on this episode under the cut!
Summary
WINTERFELL
Final preparations afoot: we follow Sam outside and see Bran, Theon and Ironborn headed to the godswood. Lady Mormont commands her people, Tyrion watches warily from the ground while Davos, Sansa and Arya are on the ramparts. And dragons fly overhead! Game of Thrones does well with its sweeping cavalry shots, including the likes of Pod, Brienne, Jamie, Beric, the Hound, Gendry, Ed, Tormund and Grey Worm. Jorah is on a horse—with Ghost beside him! Tension mounts in the dark…Jon and Dany observe from above Winterfell.
And who appears in the darkness, but Melissandre! She asks Jorah to command the Dothraki to lift their swords, which she then sets aflame! It’s an impressive sweep of red from the ramparts. Mel and Grey Worm share a Valar Morghulis/Dohairis, and Davos, of all people, orders the gates opened for the red woman. She promises to be dead before the dawn, so there’s that! She and Arya share a look, fulfilling Mel’s promise from season three that they’ll see each other again.
The lighted Dothraki charge forward…the trebuchets are fired…and in a terrifying development, all of the red snuffs out into darkness. Dany thinks it’s time to fly upon Drogon, as the dead growl their way over to the living. The shots are sudden and dark—what we see is the living completely overwhelmed. Until Drogon and Rhaegal (bearing Jon) breathe some dragon fire on this mess! Not so easy to snuff that out! But when they reach the ranks of the Walkers, they are repelled by heavy, cold weather.
At this time, Arya orders Sansa down to the crypts. Though Sansa doesn’t want to abandon her people, Arya shoves Littlefinger’s dagger in her hands and tells her to stick them with the pointy end, of course. Theon, Bran et al watch the foggy weather from the godswood. Our main characters on the ground hack their way through the dead. Ed is the first main character to die, after he saves Sam, no less.
Sansa joins Tyrion, Gilly, Missandei, Varys et al in the crypts. Gloom prevails. Jon, Dany and the dragons struggle to stay in the sky…the living on the ground must fall back, into the gates of Winterfell. Grey Worm and the Unsullied cover this action. Arya shoots wights with her crossbow, including one about to kill the Hound. When everyone but the Unsullied are inside, it takes some time to light the trench on fire, because Dany (astride Drogon) can’t see them and arrows can only do so much. Mel, any help? (As, of course, wights kill Unsullied around her?) Thank you! Another amazing aerial shot. Sandor freaks out and leaves the fiery trenches, of course.
Babies cry in the crypts while Tyrion debates going up to the battlefield to help. Sansa’s feeling pretty futile about their collective abilities. She also takes the time to lightly mock “the Dragon Queen,” and Missandei, tired of Northern iciness, points out that they’d be dead without her. The Raven Formerly Known as Bran Stark has the same conversation with Theon that he did with Jamie last episode; don’t regret the past, because it’s good you’re here now! At least he tells Theon that he’s home, before warging into the birds himself.
On the ground, the wights try a new plan—snuffing out the flames with their bodies. There’s so many of them, of course, that they can create a bridge for the rest! Time to man the walls! In the skies, Jon sees the Night King riding Viserion! The wights start to climb the walls…the living are able to hack a few. Not all, of course. Wights inside the gates of Winterfell! Some fall to dragonglass shards, at least. The Hound suffers PTSD as the living die around him; of course here comes Arya to fight her way through with the weapon Gendry made her. Beric uses Arya as an excuse to get the Hound back in the fight. Lyanna kills a dead giant with dragonglass, but it costs her her life.
And in the sky, the dragons fly near the moon, beautifully. Viserion comes to kill them with blue fire! Arya has a suspense-filled, creepy fight with some wights inside the castle library. The non-combatants hear some spooky noises down in the crypt. Beric loses his life for the last time in defending Arya and the Hound. Melisandre is around to say Beric’s purpose has been served! Her old prophecy about Arya shutting blue eyes apparently takes on new meaning. In case you don’t see where this is going, they repeat the “god of death/not today” thing. Arya’s off running!
The godswood is ringed in fire, but the Ironborn prepare for incoming. The Night King attempts to kill Jon in the sky, and Rhaegal drops to the ground! The Night King also drops to the ground, but Drogon’s dracarys does nothing to him. As Jon peruses him through fiery ruins, the Night King wakes up some new wights to protect himself. Then the dead everywhere start waking up, including poor Lyanna and Ed. The Walkers walk on up to Winterfell!
Speaking of dead people waking up…remember all those people hanging out in a crypt? Yikes. Kinda looks like a legit-terrifying rendition of the Mummy movies. Some people die, others find cover. Theon and the Ironborn kill wights as Bran is still checked out. Dany clears Jon’s path of wights (at least fire still works on them!), and he runs off to Bran. Drogon is beset by a load of wights as he lands. Dany falls to the ground! Drogon flies off to save himself, so it’s Jorah’s turn to protect the Khaleesi. Brienne, Jamie and Sam are totally overwhelmed by wights; just sayin. But they survive. Jon is having a shit time getting to the godswood.
Theon is the last Ironborn standing, and Dany and Jorah are in dire straits, too. Sansa and Tyron hide together under behind a tomb. Sansa takes out the dagger as the big thematic music starts. It seems to be a moment of Tyrion and Sansa choosing not to face death alone. Tyrion darts out? But we immediately cut to Jon, who can’t get out of the castle’s gates due to Viserion’s fire. Tyrion and Sansa make it to the rest of the main cast in the crypt, who are hiding under an archway—including the little girl from the last episode. Camaraderie?
The Night King and his generals slo mo into the godswood. Theon is holding his own against the wights. He looks up to see the Night King. Bran comes back to tell Theon he’s a good man, and thanks him. Theon makes his last stand against the Night King. Jorah is felled by wights, but he takes a long time to go down, devoted as he is to protecting Dany. The Night King slow mo’s to Bran. The music is really a character by this point. Jon stands up to Viserion!
Not to be outdone, Arya leaps onto the Night King out of nowhere and kills him! He and his generals break into shards of ice, and all the wights fall down dead. Jorah and Dany get to have a special goodbye. The surviving characters in the crypts (all the main cast) survey the damage. Arya looks to Bran, who generally looks unaffected by everything that’s happened. Drogon lands to wrap his wings around Dany and Jorah’s body. The Hound and Melissandre walk outside…Mel goes past all the mounds of dead, taking off her necklace as she does so. Davos watches her keep her promise. She ages and falls down to die. Her purpose has been fulfilled.
Thoughts:
That was my longest summary ever! Figure it gives a good overview of the living’s triumph over the dead. :D This part should be shorter, since there’s not too much to parse, at least in terms of characterization. Even Dany is able to put last episode’s big reveal aside, because there are bigger fish (or, er, undead) to fry.
I spent a bit of time framing the Night King vs the Raven Formerly Known as Bran Stark story, which I think makes me appreciate it more. I am still rather confident it won’t go down this way in the books, but we’re dealing with the show here. It’s also possible that the showrunners scrapped a leaked alternative where Bran dies, yikes. Not sure how to square that with the fact that I believe this story to be ultimately hopeful; human memory can’t die, right? Well, it’s a moot point now!
Admittedly, I’m still disappointed that it’s Arya who saves the day, rather then Jon. Speaking of the metaphorical overtones that arch over this episode like a cloud cover—why else was Jon brought back from the dead? The Arya thing—her ridiculous conversation with Melissandre—felt like a desperate justification. Meh. I mean, other deaths were hugely metaphorical. I’d argue that the people who “should” have died—Sam, Jamie, Brienne—seeing as they were overwhelmed by wights—survived for Plot Reasons. Ed died because we needed a Night’s Watch sacrifice. Lyanna died because we needed another young badass, I guess, (also maybe child labor laws? What else to do with her this season?) Beric and Melissandre died in service of the Lord of Light’s final battle against the Walkers, I’d say, though Mel’s end was far more affecting. (Her sudden appearance—right in front of the Walker line—to Winterfell was a bit convenient, but eh, I guess she’s the fairy godmother come to turn the tide. :P) Theon and Jorah died more or less as the end of their Redemptive Arcs towards House Stark and Dany, respectively. (Jorah’s death may have some unforeseen consequences down the road, but I’ll wait on that!)
…upon rewatch, I do kind of like what this whole thing says about Melissandre’s character—yanno, still largely from a fairytale angle. Here’s this woman who has been alive for lifetimes, in the pursuit of one, single purpose—snuff out the undead. Plus, here’s this woman who has alienated everyone, especially Davos, because of her political ruthlessness in past seasons to try and game the chess board. Her death at the end almost feels like a form of relief. Now her watch has ended.
Otherwise, the most character work happened in the crypts, because those folks didn’t have to wave swords around for all of their screen time. I’ll put my cards on the table here—I’m Team Sansa through and through. I spent most of my first watch of this episode trying to prepare myself for her possible demise. But even I’m glad that Missandei got to say something with regard to Sansa (and the north’s) cold treatment of Dany and her retinue. She could have gone further and still had a case! It kind of dovetails into how the crypt cast end the episode—despite Sansa’s talk with Tyrion of competing interests with regard to “the Dragon queen,” at the end of the day, the living are all on the same side.
Speaking of Tyrion, I gotta say I kinda enjoyed this flirtation and camaraderie. A reminder of healthy relationships in Sansa’s life. I like it, of course, in the face of death, but even after watching this episode a few times, I’m always confused by Tyrion and Sansa’s actions during the zombie fight. First, it looks like Tyrion is about to play the hero, but then, after a jump cut, it’s about him and Sansa joining up with the others? Also, I guess the point of Sansa having the dagger is to say that she’s willing to fight? Though she never gets the chance to. And on the other hand, I’m kind of glad she doesn’t have to be a Badass to be a compelling character.
On the battlefield I’m always drawn to emotion—Sam crying over the futility of it all, the Hound and even Arya going through moments of PTSD and fear. Even Jon trying—and failing—to get to Bran. And finally, the heartbreaking scene at the end where Dany grieves Jorah and Drogon comforts her. Who knew a CGI nuclear weapon could be so sympathetic! :P
In that vein, Theon’s last stand against the Night King—and Bran’s to the point send off—was also quite moving. Out of all the characters who died, I feel like Theon’s was most predicated on a redemption arc than anything more grounded in realism. To be fair, he was killed by a supernatural creature, so. :P And at the end of the day, at the end of the series of Game of Thrones—maybe it’s worth it to go for something with that emotional resonance.
So, to end on another high note—I actually liked the production value this episode. Yes, a couple of scenes were needlessly dark. But most of them were used to great effect, to build up tension or depict the epic scope of events. Does part of me wish that David and Dan had scaled back on the special effects budget and focused more on more episodes for character growth? Yes. But do I also think it’s a shame that an epic, fantastical spectacle is now basically poo pooed by fans for “wah, too dark?” Yes, too. Alas. It goes to show how an overall impression can have more lasting impact than all of the moving parts. I hope that anyone who rewatches this episode might be able to entertain a more varied opinion.
