Game of Thrones S08E03 "Battle of Winterfell"

At 82 minutes, this will be the longest episode of Game of Thrones so far.

I never got GOT. Tried many times to get into it and it just seemed silly and boring to me.

I tried to watch the Walking Dead and thought it was stupid. Life goes on, what's the big deal about not liking something.

I don't know if I have ever been this excited for a GoT episode. Really don't know what's going to happen.

The red witch has been MIA for awhile. Since she is front and almost center, I suspect she will have a big part in episode 3.

I just want to see Brienne's father saving the day on his glorious horse clad in sapphires from head to toe, flanked by Melisandre throwing fireballs left and right. I'm really not asking for much here.

Isn't it crazy to think how there's this great "battle for the dawn" going on in Westeros and all the while life goes on as normal in the Free Cities and beyond? Just like in the real world.

Half the episode will probably be so darkly lit that you won't know what went on until the recaps come up later.

It's time.

Okay, let's just stop this foolishness right here and now - we are NOT going to have two separate threads for this historic episode. So which thread is the official one?

The other one.

One word: [bold]A R Y A[/bold]

Holy shit! I think this must've been the same feel for half of the planet:

Looks like threads were deleted. That's okay I wasn't first but when you have so many threads started that gets ignored it feels good to have a popular one. Oh well.

Judging by the previews looks like Favorite Hero Arya will have sex again. She must be popular with the makers of the show. She liked that annoying Ed Whatshisname so they put him on the show. She wanted a sex scene so she got it. She ... I don't know if I should post spoilers on this thread. .

The Night King was focused on the popular vote while Arya smartly kept her eye on the Electoral College

It was so darkly lit I could barely make out what was happening most of the episode, but I was on the edge of my seat and felt anxious the entire time! Did not see that coming at the end with Arya at all! It was epic but kind of an abrupt end to the night

repost:

ARRRRGGGGH I CAN'T.

dany is a horrible queen. she takes her people (who, due to her stupidity, are without their khal now) to another damn continent and throws them to the lions without proper weapons or anything. even mel-pyromaniac cares more about the poor dothraki and actually bothers to arm them.

jon is the dumbest fuck that has ever walked the planet: oh hai i'm a totally inexperienced dragonrider but imma gonna take this aotd-exterminator into these cold mists where imma gonna get lost and my gf, instead of burning the dead fuckers, will have to search for me half of the episode!!!! derp

fuck jon. fuck dany. because of them winterfell was destroyed and everybody died.

- House Mormont is dead.

- The Dothraki: dead (and they were so damn hot. Shame.)

- Only one dragon left.

- After Arya's master stroke, Gendry's cock has never been so hard.

That episode has to have collected a goody bag of Emmys. The music alone.

Not nearly as much character carnage as I'd thought

Yes, you beat me to it, R21. I was just about to post that the score for this episode was absolutely spectacular.

Vladimir Furdik (Slovak) has rcketed onto my drop to knees wish list. What is it with (Euro) stunt coordinators? The horse guy and lead stunt (horse whisperer) coordinator on The Last Kingdom (Polish) is Euro lean hawt for his age too.

#nightkimg Vlad/stunt actor is b.1970 - not fucking bad.

Loved the Fay Wray moment with Mormont girl and the giant.

Blue flame dragon made me miss my gas burner cooktop hobs!

Pacing of what I'd thought might be nonstop battle sequence shouldered by character interaction top and bottom of episode was instead shifting viewpoint I found effectively dynamoc and a dynamite emotional rollercoaster too.

As Melisandre drops to the ground, is about how wrung out I felt by episode end too.

Well R21, it wont be winning any Emmys for cinematography.

All those dark an murky visuals made it almost unwatchable.

I'm what you call a movie know it all. I remember once I watched a Grace Jones movie when she becomes a skeleton. Somehow I rightly predicted she was going to give a finger. In other word I'm hardly ever surprised at movies or TV. I was totally caught off guard with Arya and I loved it. I thought maybe NK wouldn't kill Bran invite him to a nice dinner instead. Then he starts reaching for his sword

I was okay with the darkness when some cool person suggested watching it on HBONow. I didn't know they premiered episodes so early. .

I watched it on HBONow and I thought the cinematography was stunning.

Why did Mel not stick around and revive some dead ? She really would come in handy in the next battle.

Is it me or does Jon seem like a bit of a buffoon lately ? I think the only thing good he has done recently is give Sam advice...

Here is a part of the spectacular score: "The Night King" S08E03

What was that Tom Hanks movie that he played a mobster? Many scenes were in the dark and it won Best Cinematography Oscar.

I thought the music at the end when the Night King was approaching Bran was horrible and FELT wrong. It was 'miscast.'

[quote]Is it me or does Jon seem like a bit of a buffoon lately ? I think the only thing good he has done recently is give Sam advice...

He's never really dazzled us with his intelligence, and far as his military skills, let's just say they win in spite of him.

What’s Game of Thrones?

Why didn't the Dothraki immediately become White Walkers (or wights) immediately after they were killed? Same with the other Westerosi who were killed? In previous episodes, they've showed people returning almost instantly after death. In other cases, the Night King has to touch them first. Is this just sloppy writing?

Sloppy writing, R37. Same as the dragons being unable to condensate the air and fog around them to clear up the visibility, imo.

Both Rhaegal and Drogon survived last night’s ep, R20. They both appear flying in the preview for next week.

I also had thought that Rhaegal had died after it crashed and dropped Jon Snow off and assumed it had been zombie-fied by the Night King and was the dragon terrorizing Jon inside Winterfell at the end. On second viewing, that zombie dragon at the end was still Viserion (hadn’t initially noticed the blue fire coming from his throat where Drogon had bitten him). I guess they were just too cheap to pay for a shot of Rhaegal alive again (just like Ghost after he accompanied the first Dothraki attack, but evidently is also OK thanks to the Ep4 trailer!).

I could barely make out the battle scenes but some people have reported much clearer visuals. Someone linked to Leslie Jones from n SNL on Twitter, she was live tweeting with short videos of the screen and WOW, whatever tv/monitor/cable/streaming site she used, it was 100% better lit.

I'm going to try and watch it again on HBO GO and see if it looks any better. Watching it last night on regular HBO (via DIRECTV) was abysmal. It was nearly impossible to tell who was who and what was happening for much of the show.

I've seen the episode now twice - second time in the evening / the dark with all lights out and absolutely no reflection on the screen - and it really helps a lot. Try it @R41 .

I watched it on HBO NOW with a great connection speed and had no trouble seeing what was going on when it really counted. I think some of the "cloudiness" was intentional - because that's what it would have been like for the participants. It wouldn't surprise me in the least if Comcast, Charter and CenturyLink were fucking with HBO's connection speeds to throw a dragon glass dagger at AT&T/Direct TV.

It’s best in 4K streaming

I watched it with direct tv and it was perfectly clear. Maybe it was your TVs?

I'm with r32 - the music during the build-up to the Night King and his death was really off - so off, that it temporarily broke the 4th wall for me and stopped the tension because the always outstandingly great GOT music had suddenly become weirdly bad.

The music was good but reminded me too much of the orchestral REQUIEM FOR A DREAM score that was used for a trailer for THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS.

I don't watch this series but I'm aware of it's popularity. Why would HBO end such a successful show?

r48 Because there's nowhere left to go and it was structured this way from the start. Of course, that's exactly why there are spinoffs already in development.

I liked the music when the NK was walking to Bran. It's very similar to the music that played when Cersei blew up the cept. It felt very GOT to me.

Is it best watched while wearing sunglasses? I cannot make out jack shit.

R50 During the NK scene I was reminded of the Westworld soundtrack which I totally love - and yes, no wonder, I know it's because both scores are written by Ramin D.

This episode taught me that I need 4K TV stat!

[QUOTE]Why would HBO end such a successful show?

This is the 8th season. What’s it supposed to keep going forever? Eight seasons is an eternity for an hour-long drama.

Did anyone else wonder why the fucking dragons didn’t light them all up before the Dothraki got to them?

It would not have as dramatically cinematic.

I don’t know why Don and Jany didn’t stay back with the dragons until the ditch needed to be lit.

[quote] This is the 8th season. What’s it supposed to keep going forever? Eight seasons is an eternity for an hour-long drama.

Supernatural is going into their 15th season.

And LOL at most of the Dothraki and Unsullied being used as cannon fodder. Where’s your White Savior now, bitches?

[QUOTE]Supernatural is going into their 15th season.

And 13 of them are garbage. You can’t compare that crap to a high caliber show like Game of Thrones.

Of the Dothraki first strikers, one GOT commentator made reference to South Park's Operation Human Shield, where black soldiers were strategically placed at the front so that they would suffer the heavy losses.

R58 GoT is about story and the story ends. Most other shows are about quantity.

I am a big fan of DVRing things. When it got too dark to snake eye, I moved forward to a well lit scene.

MY version of GoT S8E3 was about 40 minutes long.

I missed NOTHING.

Epic battle? Could not tell it from a New Moon knife fight in Chicago.

r52 speaking of...Did anyone else hear a symphonic version of "you keep me hanging on" in last nights music during the end part of the battle sequence?

And as Celine Dion predicted in song, GOT will go on and on and on, in endless spinoffs. It's just that the original producers/writers will not be part of this television fun because they are leaving to make mega-mega-money in motion picture Star War spin-offs instead of TV GOT spinoffs.

There’s only going to be one spinoff actually.

I would love to see last nights episode in iMax or on a big screen.

r67, When I was a teenager, the video arcade I used to cruise had 50 booths and was lit by one 60 watt bulb.

IT WAS BETTER LIT THAN s8e3.

I watched on 4K streaming and could see everything. The episode did have a darker overall tone but that’s what made it so amazing.

Did anybody keep track of how many times Brienne of Tarth and Jaime Lannister cried out in agonized despair as they were suddenly rushed and overwhelmed by a hoarde of White Walkers, only to miraculously survive and re-enact the exact same scene in a brand new location?

"TFW you thought the Mueller Report would be Trump's "dracarys" moment...and nothing happened."

LOL

Well the Dorthraki and the Unsullied were pretty much the whole army.

A gentle reminder that everyone in Dorne is currently just drinking and fucking and enjoying the brief cold breeze coming their way. The whole of Westeros is going to look a whole lot more browner and gayer in the coming decades as they repopulate the continent. Which is a wonderful thing to imagine.

[bold]Why is Game of Thrones so dark? We asked the cinematographer[/bold]

[quote]But Fabian Wagner, the cinematographer behind the episode, claims the problem lies not with the production team but with viewers’ own television setups. “A lot of the problem is that a lot of people don’t know how to tune their TVs properly,” he says. “A lot of people also unfortunately watch it on small iPads, which in no way can do justice to a show like that anyway.”

On a scale of Bran Stark to Arya Stark, how supportive are you in group projects?

I wanted to smack the commenters on twitter saying arya should have been sitting in brans chair with his face. That ending would not work if people paid the fuck attention. The night king touched bran and knows where he is at all times...

What the hell was Bran doing for mike an hour when he was all white eyes and seeing through the ravens.

Did they ever have a plan??

I never gave a shit about GOT but watched this last episode and was blown away. It must be the most expensive, complicated thing ever filmed for TV.

Yeah, Bran's "I'll be going now" moment was quite hopeful, only to be followed by a whole lot of nothing on his part, which was extremely frustrating.

Since the NK wasn't burned by dragon fire, does that mean he shares a common ancestry with the Targaryens?

So now Arya is the second Stark to be touched by the NK and she'll probably have a mark on her neck. I hope the NK didn't transfer his curse to her...

The alternative ending to Episode 3 posted by the actor who plays Bran.

r79, Bran's mark probably has disappeared. Arya will have no mark.

Practice, practice, practice! I love these two! 😍😍

Next stop Maisey Williams: Annie Get Your Gun!

What was Bran doing? He was watching the action, keeping an eye on Arya, and when the Night King was approaching, he sent Theon to delay him for a minute to give Arya time to get to them.

Now the question is, what does he do next? With the NK gone, does he home in on what Cersei's doing? Or are every day non-magical beings not important.

I'd still like to know if he told this to Tyrion, the night before the battle.

Slate.com articulates the frustration with Bran in this episode

[quote] He (Bran) did the least he possibly could—I’m sure even Cersei had a more productive episode, and she wasn’t even on-screen. Where did he go when he warged out? Why didn’t he take over a dragon or something? He has such impressive powers, but have we ever seen them implemented for good? What’s so frustrating about Bran is his sort of resigned inevitability about everything. It’s not only that there’s no surprise in his face when his comrades kick the bucket like our poor sweet Theon; there’s also no remorse and no sorrow. The detachment is unnerving.

R37 R38

The Night King has to resurrect the dead. You saw him literally do this in the episode as John approached him to fight. The Dothraki outside of the castle walls probably came to life then and we didn't see it because they were on the other side of the field, trench and wall.

[quote]The detachment is unnerving.

Well Bran is supposed to be unnerving, and in the more interesting version of the show from a couple of seasons ago we got to see these shades of gray. Now we get Arya being a kick-ass hero which I admittedly totally cheered for, but I do miss the horror we were supposed to feel about this little girl being turned into a heartless assassin just as far back as last year.

I think we don't really know what Bran was up to yet. I think there's more Bran story to come. I also think we'll get more background on the Night King -- I agree with the above poster who mentioned NK's lineage possibly being intertwined with the Targaryen family; they made too big a deal of the reveal of the NK not getting burned up by fire to not address that, or at least I hope.

At least I'd have trusted the show a couple of years ago not to drop that thread but now that they've been running through things at top speed maybe not. Maybe they're just gonna plow on down to King's Landing and fight Cersei and that'll be it.

The Night King may be dead, but the Children of the Forest created him, so I assume that if they still exist, they have the power to create another sovereign. Maybe not a King this next time but a Queen instead?

Why are you people so invested in keeping this whitewalker shit alive? Their final episode was a friggin movie, a war/horror epic completely devoted to their havoc for an hour and a half. They went out with a bang. And you still can’t let it go? It’s OVER. The end will now come down to regular old human beings killing each other, just like in real life.

What would be the point of the CotF creating another Night King/Queen?

Having another Night Sovereign ascending the throne would be a hell of a lot more fulfilling and exciting than watching either of the two remaining Tardgaryens do it.

I hope Jon--erm, Aegon--and his Aunt Dany settle down, start a family, and found a new castle named Springrose.

I thought the Night King was a Stark, from a thousand years ago. Also thought the last of the Children of the Forest were wiped out at that fight at the cave when Hodor was killed.

God help us all if the “Children of the Forest” show up again. There’s three episodes left and we’ve had enough. The battle for the Iron Throne is finally upon us.

okay the NK was one of the "First Men" but no House is specified. Starks are descended from the First Men as are many northern houses, even Lannisters. Targaryans were not descended from the First Men.

What about the Child of the Forest that was helping Bran?

I saw everything perfectly in this ep, but watched in 4K. Used the soundbar too, and the music was outstanding. Not at all disappointed. Expected to lose Theon.

I like that enough eps remain to build to another climax in the final battle for the throne.

I rewatched the first season two days ago. The very first scene shows a white walker and sets the tone for the pending doom. For this terrible force, that's been mentioned for nearly a decade, to be vaporized with a single stab is rather underwhelming. Now we are left with another human against human battle? It just seems like an odd way to end it all. I hope there is more to the WW story than that.

I have faith in the writers and hope they have another GoT trick up their sleeves. Neither side has an army large enough to make this an epic battle so what's the point? There has to be something more. The music and episode were great!

Zombie plots are soooo fucking tedious and played out. I prefer the dirty grubby medieval royal soap opera and magic aspects of GoT. Also the ponies, wolves and dragons are good.

In a twist it will all end with the establishment of a constitutional social democracy featuring a powerless figurehead as monarch - Sansa. The iron bank will be nationalized and the last 3 episodes will be entirely composed of senate, union and trade deliberations in excruciating detail.

He had a hot ass but he couldn't live forever.

[quote]For this terrible force, that's been mentioned for nearly a decade, to be vaporized with a single stab is rather underwhelming.

Well, the Night King was created with a single stab, so...

What was that guys name r102. I don't think I ever knew it

No name. Totally mismatched hair and beard colour and he looked directly into the camera in r102's gif. I'm glad he's gone.

Qhono R104.

Played by Staz Nair. So both the beard and the wig were cheap fakes. Horrible casting. Just cast a brown guy with a beard and long hair next time; they're not that hard to find in either the UK or the US.