Game of Thrones S08E03 Review: The Long Night

As the armies fighting for Winterfell prepare for the arrival of the dead on the battlefield Melisandre arrives on horseback and uses magic to light the Dothraki's swords on fire. Jorah leads them to the dead, but their flames are quickly extinguished, before he and a few others retreat to the battle line. The dead attack and despite Jon and Daenerys using Rhaegal and Drogon to set them on fire, the Night King shrouds the battle in clouds of darkness, making it difficult for them to see. Edd is killed saving Sam. What remains of the armies retreat behind the trenches, and Melisandre again uses magic to set them alight, in the dragons' absence.

Due to their insurmountable numbers the dead eventually push through the barricade and start breaching the walls of Winterfell. Lyanna Mormont is killed by a giant, but not before she takes it down with her by stabbing it in the eye. See Beric pleads with a distraught Hound to join them in the fight, but he is reluctant to until he sees Arya fighting. Arya tries to hide from a hoard of white walkers in the library of Winterfell, and Beric and the Hound come to her aid - Beric sacrificing himself so she and the Hound survive, barricading themselves in the great hall where Melisandre is hiding. I was hoping for more of a significant death from Ser Beric considering how many times the Lord of Light resurrected him. Furthermore, these chase scenes seemed highly illogical considering the magnitude of battle going happening at Winterfell - as if there would be any places in the castle isolated from the fight.

During a dragon back fight between Jon, riding Rhaegal, and the Night King, riding Viserion, the Night King falls to the ground, but Rhaegal is badly injured and also falls with Jon. Daenerys uses Drogon to burn the Night King, but he is immune to its flames, and she flies away when the Night King throws a spear at them. Jon chases after the Night King trying to prevent him from reaching Winterfell. The Night King catches him doing so and raises those who have already died in the battle from the dead, including the tombs of those who lie in the crypt beneath Winterfell. Daenerys returns with Drogon to save Jon from the dead, and and he picks up the chase of the Night King, but Drogon is set upon by white walkers and Daenerys is thrown to the ground in the fray. Having heard Rhaegal's wails, Jorah arrives to protect her. As Jon makes his way through Winterfell he encounters several other characters fighting against the dead, in a supercut of scenes beautifully scored by Ramin Djawadi's 'The Night King' which rivals his excellent 'Light of The Seven' from the season six finale, 'The Winds of Winter'. It's a cool and dramatic sequence, and the stakes are raised exponentially with the Night King raising more dead, but it's also tarnished with some silly character decisions (Daenerys allowing Drogon to be swarmed by white walkers; Jon confronting Viserion), and lessened by the fact that there were no significant character losses despite the insurmountable amount of foes they face (no one on the ground at Winterfell, or in the crypts, perished).

The Night King arrives in the Godswood and Theon is the only man left standing between him and Bran. He charges at the Night King, who grabs his spear, snaps it, and stabs Theon with it. Theon's death was expected, with his redemption arc completed this season by saving Yara from Euron in the premiere and returning to fight and die for the Starks, but it was emotional nonetheless, with Bran's parting words to him, 'Theon, you're a good man', giving him a cathartic finale.

As the Night King approaches Bran, Arya jumps out of nowhere and attempts to stab him with the valyrian steel dagger (which she did not give to Sansa). He grabs her by the neck and she drops the dagger - before catching it with her other hand and stabbing him in the stomach, killing him and all of the other white walkers in the process. Arya's defeat of the Night King was a cool and surprising moment, but I didn't find it particularly fitting. Up until this very battle Arya hasn't even had any experience with the white walkers, so for her to save the day doesn't seem particularly earned, whereas for characters like Jon and Bran, or seven hells, even Sam, it would have been a well deserved character moment. It also puts to question her potential role in Cerise's defeat, will the writers be willing to give Arya that sought after honour as well?

Jorah falls with the white walkers, succumbing to his stab wounds sustained trying to protect Daenerys. Jorah was never going to die any other way, one of the few loyal and honest characters on Game of Thrones until his end. It's unfortunate that he wasn't given more to do since returning to Daenerys' side late in season seven, particularly since one of the series' other most loyal and honest characters, Brienne, received so much screen time and fulfilling character moments in the last episode.

The episode ends with Melisandre fulfilling her prophetic death by basically killing herself, she walks out of Winterfell, takes off her necklace, ages dramatically and falls into the snow and dies. Again, a rather disappointing end for such a contentious character. She was surprisingly instrumental in this episode despite being absent for more than a season, but her character motivation was always so strongly linked to the prophecy of the prince who was promised - a battle she will not be apart of or witness - so to have her act so selfless throughout The Long Night seemed out of character, as was her decision to die.

Game of Thrones S08E02 Review: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms

With Jamie arriving in Winterfell alone - without the Lannister army Cersei promised to help fight in the looming battle with the White Walkers - Daenerys holds a small council meeting to determine whether Jamie is trustworthy and if he should be aloud to stay and help with fight. Daenerys chastises Tyrion for believing his sister, just as Sansa did in last week's episode, and rightly so - it seems a like a very odd mistake for him to make, even with Cersei using her pregnancy as a way to convince him of her commitment to helping defeat the dead. Nevertheless, Jamie really dies want to fight for the living and there are some nice callbacks to the 'beyond loyalty' conversation he had with Brienne in the season six finale that helped convince him he needed to finally question Cersei, as well as Bran repeating 'the things we do for love' line from the series' first episode in which Jamie fatefully pushed him out of the Winterfell watchtower. It's fitting then that Brienne convinces Sansa of Jamie's honesty, although a just as convincing argument for Sansa would have been remembering what happened to her the last time she refused to trust her. An obviously distracted Jon, agrees with Sansa, and an also obviously perturbed Daenerys allowed it. She may be their Queen now, but the Starks still outnumber her. Of course, Jamie always has the option of telling the true story about his nickname as 'The Kingslayer', which Tormund amusingly gets wrong as 'The Kingkiller' later in the episode, but I've always loved that it's a little known fact in Game of Thrones (only Brienne, and perhaps Tyrion, know the truth), and Jamie earns that much more respect as a character that he has never tried to earn people's trust on his road to redemption by telling this story. Speaking of that road, later in the godswood of Winterfell Jamie apologises for pushing Bran out of the Winterfell watchtower all all those ago and asks him why he didn't reveal what Jamie had done. Bran replies that he can't help them if he let them murder him, but when Jamie asks about afterward he ominously replies, 'How do you know that there is an afterwards.' It could be foreshadowing Jamie's end, but I really hope he survives the Battle of Winterfell if only because I want him and Cersei to have one last scene together. His departure from King's Landing at the end of season seven felt very un-earnt and rushed.

Arya questions Gendry on whether or not he's made the weapon she asked him to make last week, to which he replies he's too busy melting down Dragonglass to make other weapons for the army, revealing his reluctance to let Arya fight. Typically, Arya goes into faceless man mode and shows him her throwing skills all while lamenting her eagerness to meet the White Walkers, which Gentry describes as death. Although Arya's story arc has stumbled at times, mostly due to slow pacing in seasons five and six, she's always been one of the most strongly driven characters of Game of Thrones with her list of names, but unfortunately confining her to Winterfell has stifled her and she now seems somewhat purposeless. She later shares a drink with the Hound atop on the walls of Winterfell where he complains that she's too quite and she responds by saying that she's changed. They are interrupted by Beric Dondarrion who apologises for kidnapping her many years ago. As with last week's episodes, having these long separated characters reunite are ripe to garner some interesting character moments - but they continue to feel underwhelming pointless. They happen, but nothing seems to happen within these moments, either. Later, Gendry gifts Arya with her weapon and she asks him what Melisandre wanted with him when he was sold to her by Beric and and the Brotherhood Without Banners. He reveals that he is Robert Baratheon's bastard and that she wanted him for his powerful blood. The talk of her using leeches on his naked body prompts Arya to ask him about how many women he's been with, and she reveals she would like to try sex before dying. Although it was easy to see coming from last week's heavy flirting, this pairing feels wrong on several levels to me. Their age difference, while not exponential, becomes a little creepy when you remember there initial character relationship within seasons two and three in which he was basically a substitute older brother to her. More importantly, it feels out of character for Arya. As mentioned she has always been a very focus-minded individual, particularly now as a man of faces,  and having her suddenly become interested in Gentry and sex just feels like a poor attempt at giving her something to do.

Jorah tries to convince Daenerys of Tyrion's continued value to her despite his mistake in underestimating Cersei, and one has to wonder just how much she will continue to need Tyrion with his knowledge of the Houses of Westeros and politics becoming less important in the grand scheme of events, particularly when she she has someone as loyal and wise as Jorah by her side. He also asks her to make peace with Sansa, which is a hopeful idea if for nothing more than the fact that some critics have noticed that the powerful female characters of Game of Thrones all hate one another. But having everyone be friends does not make for compelling viewing, and neither does it fit with Daenerys or Sansa's characters. It's a brave move for Daenerys to make, even if it was at Joran's behest, to ask Sansa why they are at odds with one another and open a dialogue about what Jon means to both of them, and how she is now temporally setting aside her sites of the Iron Throne to help Jon and the North. It's a compelling argument about what Daenerys is sacrificing for him, even if their chemistry stills rings untrue, but just as Jamie questioned Bran, Sansa questions Daenerys about what happens after, and of course, she still wants to sit on the Iron Throne and rule over Westeros, including the North. They are interrupted by Theon's arrival and he informs them of Yara's return to the Iron Islands to take them back in Daenerys' name, and he expresses his wish to fight for Winterfell if Sansa wants him.

At another council meeting in which battle strategy is being discussed, Bran reveals that they can lure the Knight King to Winterfell, specifically the godswood, by using him as bait. Theon offers himself and the Ironborn to defend Bran as reparation for taking Winterfell from him. Theo's redemption is something I've want to happen this season, and after recusing Yara from Euron last week this seems to be happening, but much like Bran's omnious statement to Jamie, you can't help but think that Theon will make the ultimate sacrifice to protect Bran. It would be a great sense of symmetry after every thought he had killed him for so long, I just hope the pair of them get to have a deeper conversation about it while they're waiting for the Knight King. Similarly, I hope there's an opportunity to delve into his and Sansa's relationship more. Although the age difference if similar to that of Arya and Gendry, there were minimal scenes of the pair of them together in the first season and what they've both been through, particular at the hands of Ramsey, gives them a strong bond - not necessarily a romantic one, just one that could provide more worthy character moments as the series draws to a close.

Those as Winterfell unsuccessfully try to get some rest before the battle, Tyrion and Jamie sit drinking in front of a fire in the great hall and Tyrion laments, in another callback, that he always wanted to die in his bed with a belly full of wine and a women's mouth around his cock. The statement feels odd coming from him now, in a surprising revelation of character growth. Jamie tells him that whoremongering is still an option for him to which he replies its not - at least he still has his drinking habit. They are joined by Brienne and Podrick, and then by Sir Davos and Torment, as they all try to keep warm while contemplating their imminent deaths. When Tyrion tries to comfort them by reciting how many battles they've all been in and won, Torment asks why Brienne is not a knight. Jamie tells the group that any knight can make another knight and offers to knight Brienne. She
graciously accepts. It's a well-earned moment for the character, but in a series in which knights are mostly known for being rapers and pillagers, and are nicknamed 'Kingslayer', and not necessarily honourable and just, it seems like an odd moment to be emotionally invested in.

In the crypt Jon is brooding in front of Lyanna Stark's grave and he reveals to Daenerys that he is Lynna's and Rhaegor's Targaryen son, Aegon Targaryen, making him Danery's nephew. She is understandably bewildered and is suspicious that Bran and Sam are the only ones that knew this secret. If it's true, she tells him, he'd be the last male heir to House Targaryen, and he'd have a claim to the Iron Throne. Although he obviously loves her and would renounce his title for her (he pretty much did as much when he agreed to be the Warden of the North), it will be very interesting to see what action Daenerys will take with this new information. Would she be willing to kill Jon to ensure her legacy and seat on the Iron Throne?