Game of Thrones Season 8 Episode 3: Thoughts



[Contains Spoilers]


I really thought my entire episode reaction was going to go something like, *battle*battle*someone dies oh no*battle*battle*someone dies oh no*battle*battle*and on and on. How wrong I was. 

The title of the episode is called The Long Night. It is a long ass episode. This will be a long ass blog. 

We start the episode with Sam representing all of us: nervous as fuck. Everyone is sort of preparing for the Great War. Everyone is going to their designated spots: the crypt, the Godswood, outside the gate, over the hill overlooking Winterfell. Dragon glass daggers are shoved into Sam’s trembling hands and he has to be ready, whether he is ready or not. Little Lyanna is in command while Tyrion grabs a bag of something looking at Bran being wheeled off to the Godswood. When I was watching it on TV, I really didn’t see the Weirwood, but I assumed that’s where he was being taken to. Everyone is nervously waiting at the wall, including Ser Davos and the Stark girls. The dragons fly off and the Unsullied make a move outside of the gate. We see the line of Unsullied, some trebuchets and before them - the Dothraki. We also see a line of soldiers which include Podrick, Brienne, Jaime, Grey Worm, Tormund, Dondarrion, the Hound, Gendry, Edd and even Samwell Tarly. At the very front, we have Jorah fucking Mormont with Ghost. And it’s so fucking dark and terrifying, my heart is threatening to jump right out of my chest. The calm before the storm.

And out of nowhere comes a lone figure riding a horse and the way Davos’ eyes perk up, I know it’s Melisandre and it is. She asks Jorah to tell the Dothraki to lift their swords and I think, it’s not swords it’s arakhs, but I forgive her linguistic error because the next thing I know she starts speaking her magic words and the arakh she’s holding lights up. Then all the bloody Dothraki arakhs light up and my heart swells my pride. Melisandre was never someone I liked but in this moment I loved her. I see all the Dothraki and I think there are so many of these fine fighters - there may yet be hope. We cut to Tormund and his face of astonishment mirrored everyone’s emotions. Melisandre’s horse then walks over to Grey Worm where the Valar Morghulis/Valar Dohaeris exchange happens. All men must die. This feels like an ominous foreshadowing. Surely, ALL men mustn’t die?

Davos directs the men to open the gate and the shot where Melisandre enters Winterfell is spectacular (I’m going to use this term very often this episode). She goes to meet Davos, tells him she’ll be dead before dawn (I do not like the sound of it), and goes further to ogle Arya. Before I get to gather my thoughts and wonder what that could mean, we hear Dothraki scream their scream and gallop towards the darkness. The music is just too awesome and the way these Dothraki screamers just rush headlong towards certain death made the hair on my arms stand up. I had never been a fan of these people but the way they are at the lead of an army to fight the unfathomable number of dead only for their Khaleesi made me wish I had appreciated them more in the past. Ser Jorah is among them and so is Ghost. Over the hill, it looks far more amazing. The Unsullied load, fire the fireballs and make it rain fire over the Dothraki army into the abyss. 

We don’t see much of the battle. We only see it from the vantage point of Dany and Jon, Brienne and Jaime. The army is stopped dead and all we hear is scream, gallop, explosion, more scream - some human and some very unhuman. One by one, the lights go out and then silence.

Silence. Rush of the wind. Heavy breathing. Fire crackling. 

A single horse comes back running. Then another. Then a few Dothraki. And Ser Jorah looking utterly defeated. Over the hill, Dany turns to go and Jon stops her reminding her of their plan of waiting for the Night King so that they can kill him two to one but Dany has just witnessed her army (possibly Jorah among them) being destroyed. No way, she’s just going to sit and twiddle her thumbs.

Silence. Wild heartbeats. Rush of the wind. Screams. Mad rush of an incoming army of the dead. Shout-out to the Unsullied who hold their ground. And thus, battle begins. I am so scared at this moment I feel like my Blood Pressure has spiked up. Brienne is thrown to the ground - Jaime to the rescue. And then Dany and Jon to the rescue. They torch some dead people. (To the people who said, Jon and Dany did fuck all, try imagining this battle without the dragons and the riders to direct them, smh.) Side note: what does Jon say to Rhaegal to make him breathe fire? I can’t imagine him go - Dracarys, that’s so Dany. I reckon he just grunts and Rhaegal understands.

So back to the battle, the dragons wreak havoc to the dead and fly off to find the White Walkers line up at the edge of the forest with no sign of the Night King. But the Night King has better ideas than to show up in a mundane manner. The enemy brings the storm. He literally does. This is when my TV went berserk and I couldn’t see shit (I had to watch it later online to understand what was happening). Jon and Dany get caught in the storm and it starts to look hopeless. 

Arya commands Sansa to go down to the crypt. Sansa objects as if she can be of any use up there. Arya gives her a dragon glass dagger and Sansa goes, I don’t know how to use it. I mean really? She spent so much time in King’s Landing with Joffrey watching so much jousting and fighting, and she doesn’t know she has to stick ‘em with the pointy end? Hopeless!

It starts to get very ominous, especially in the Godswood where they have to protect Bran knowing the Night King was definitely going to pay them a visit.

Out in the battlefield, every one of the main characters are showing the strength of their battle prowess but I’m holding my breath knowing anyone can die any damn moment. And Edd fucking does. Because of bloody Sam (this Manc, insert angry emoji). And he runs off.

Down in the crypt, Sansa joins the women, children and the important men (an imp and a eunuch). Up in the air, Drogon and Rhaegal collide into each other because they can’t bloody see well in the storm. The battle rages on for a bit until they have to pull back. 

Outside, the Unsullied really are holding their ground. I realised I also hadn’t really appreciated the Unsullied before this day but their fearlessness saved thousands of lives and my heart went out to those unfeeling nipples. Most of the army makes it inside the gate while a big chunk of the Unsullied remain outside still futilely fighting off the never ending and never tiring onslaught of the dead. Grey Worm has to make the tough decision of letting go of that chunk and shuts the barrier while Davos signals Dany or Jon to light the trench. Unfortunately they don’t see the signal (because, big ass storm) and Davos and team try to light them up themselves but in vain. It’s snowing and the spikes are damp. Some men try to run and light them up manually but the dead run them down. It starts to get hopeless. Again. We get Grey Worm heaving and feeling beaten. 

Then we have Melisandre coming out with a line of Unsullied guarding her. She goes over and with shaking voice says some more magic words and the trench flames go up just in time for a wight that came jumping to be torched to (final) death. Heart beat over a 100 by now. The dead are stopped temporarily. The dragons go over and torch some more of them. (Why didn’t they torch all the bloody lot?) While the dead wait, the Hound gives up and walks away (it's Blackwater Bay all over again).

Down in the crypt, Tyrion is restless, hoping he was up there "making a difference" and Sansa telling him he would die up there. Oh and Varys gets to speak a couple of inconsequential dialogues. Sansa speak wise words though - the most heroic thing we can do is look the truth in the eye. But then she gets right back into playing the Game of Thrones where she raises the question of Tyrion’s loyalty should they survive and go back to being married. Missandei quips back defending the Dragon Queen. 

In the Godswood, Theon apologises to Bran but Bran, just like he did to Jaime, says, nah man, we cool. After making Theon emotional (and me emotional), Bran peaces out. A bunch of ravens take flight and locate the Night King who, in a very sinister way, does a hand motion and we see the dead who were stopped in front of the trench start throwing themselves into the fire one by one. Ultimately, they manage to make a bridge for the rest to cross over and start making a beeline towards the wall. The men at the wall realise what’s happening and start getting ready for more battle. The clock starts ticking and oh my God, there’s so many of them. Jon spots the Night King and starts the pursuit. 

The dead are climbing the walls - World War Z style and we see our main characters waiting at the battlements. Nobody else has died yet. The dead make it up and they win some, they lose more. Jaime is overrun - Brienne to the rescue. They got each other’s backs. Sam is also overwhelmed but Jorah comes to the rescue (for the second time this night - I guess he wants to pay back the debt of being saved from Greyscale as well as make up for the guilt he feels for his Queen’s actions). Battle rages on and we get a montage of the Hound being scared to death of all the killing that is going on around him and suddenly, holy fuck, we get blessed with Arya kicking ass ninja style and I swear to God, I was filled with pride for the development this girl has seen throughout the seasons. While the Hound is shitting bricks, Davos spends a good ten seconds being awestruck by the realisation about what an amazing fighter the living have on their side. 

More battle. More Arya awesomeness. But then she starts seeing the futility of all this and the look on her face says a lot about her doubtfulness of whether they can win at all because no matter how many she kills, there’s more of them still. So we see her running off into an opening with a band of wights on her heels. Dondarrion and the Hound see it and follow her. Lyanna, on the other hand, screams at a giant wight who lifts her off breaking her bones all the while and everything seems full of despair when the brave girl shoves a dragon glass dagger into the giant’s eye and it falls apart taking her down with him. Rest in Peace, Lyanna Mormont. You defended the North until your last breath. 

Up in the air, the two dragons rise up above the clouds but the Night King comes flying out of nowhere, tries to burn Drogon and disappears in the clouds again. And the scene is spectacular - no other words. They both have no option but to go after him into the storm. Inside Winterfell, Arya is hiding from the wights in the library as quiet as you like it. She is a true water dancer. She manages to escape the library room only to find the other door burst open with more wights and she runs for her life with terror haunting her face, and the terrible screams of the wights rings right down to the crypts. They hear the battle where men are screaming to open the door and silence. Somewhere above, the Hound and Dondarrion are treading carefully in the narrow passageways. They encounter Arya almost being run over by the wights and they rescue her. Dondarrion is killed in the process. They make it into a room where they bar the doors to find Melisandre waiting to tell Arya that she (Arya) is destined to shut brown eyes, green eyes and blue eyes. I’ll admit that I didn’t understand the meaning behind it until much later (I was that tensed). Also we find out why the Lord of Light kept on bringing Beric back from death over and over again. His purpose was to save Arya! And while it feels like the death would breach the door, Melisandre leans towards Arya and says, “What do we say to the God of Death?” (this woman did it again!) Arya turns and says, “Not today” and to Clegane’s bafflement, walks purposefully away. 

Wights in the Godswood. Havoc in Winterfell. Rhaegal Vs Viserion in the air. Both of the dragons possibly mortally wounded. The Night King almost kills Rhaegal but Drogon comes to the rescue and knocks the Night King off his mount. Rhaegal falls to the ground and Jon slumps off him. On other side of the battle, Jorah hears dragon call and his signals go up. Dany sees the Night King on the ground and Dracaryses him. The whole world waits a tense minute for the fire to go out to see whether dragon fire kills the enemy or not. And just like I dreaded, nope, it fucking does not. The Night King smiles that sinister smile and throws the ice spear lazily at Drogon so she has to take off from the spot. So now that Dany has failed, Jon it is. He unsheathes Longclaw and runs after the Night King over the carnage. The Night King hears him approach from behind and seemingly as an afterthought turns around. He then starts to open his arms out and my brain can’t take it. FUCK HE’S GOING TO RAISE ALL THE FUCKING DEAD ON THE GROUND AND THERE AIN’T NOTHING NO AEGON TARGARYEN CAN DO. HOLY FUCK WE’RE ALL SCREWED BIG FUCKING TIME. Jon realises this too and makes a run for it anyways, this idiot king of  ours. But of course, he can’t. He’s surrounded by the dead. In other parts of the battlefield, every dead wake up - Lyanna, the Dothraki commander, Edd and yup, everyone is screwed. Everyone in the entire world is screwed. And the asshole-face White Walkers make their entry after half the battle has been fought. Also, the crypts come alive killing many of the women and the children. 

In the Godswood, Theon is kicking ass shooting up in the ranks of the best fighters in all of Westeros. Jon is killing as many dead as he possibly can and right on time, Dany incinerates half of them allowing Jon to run after the Night King again. While Dany is making sure he gets out safely, trouble begins for her and Drogon since the dead now have a target which is big and unmissable. They start climbing on him and stab him all over. Dany falls off while Drogon takes flight to shake them off and my God, again we get a sense of how many they really are. Dany is a damsel in distress who is saved by her knight in shining armour - Ser Jorah Fucking Mormont. The image of the dead literally raining down on them is abysmal. Jon is fighting his way into Winterfell. We see Tormund and Gendry - fighting on their feet, Sam - fighting on the ground (he seems overwhelmed but Jon doesn’t stop for him, good on him), Grey Worm - fighting, Brienne - fighting (didn’t see Jaime or Podrick - but I doubt there will be any offscreen deaths of such important characters). More Jon fighting. More Theon fighting. More Jorah fighting (with Dany killing some behind him). Trouble down in the crypt.

Sansa and Tyrion are hiding behind a tomb and Sansa takes out the dagger. Just on cue, soft music starts playing and I think - fuck she’s going to kill herself. Then she gives it to him and I think - fuck he’s going to kill both of them. I didn’t realise they were holding hands until he kisses her hand (it was so damn dark) and he goes out of hiding. Jon’s attempt at getting to the Godswood is quelled by Viserion who (while leaking blue fire from his neck) belches fire at anything around him. Oh and we see Jaime and Podrick, still fighting alongside Brienne. The sad music is still on. Tormund, Gendry, Grey Worm, Jorah, Dany - still alive. Jorah - badly hurt. Dany - fierce still. Sam - crying hopelessly. Theon - still fighting. Bran - AWOL.


The Night King arrives with his retinue and right on time, Bran comes back from watching The Endgame. He is terribly sad and rubs off his sadness to Theon which makes him charge at the Night King. No, I’m kidding. So Bran assures Theon that he’s a good man and thanks him, and with a heart breaking finality, Theon charges at the Night King, and I scream - NOO, you brave stupid stupid man. You don’t have to die! But he does. He dies. Saddest fucking death ever. No contention.


Jorah is still fighting to protect his queen. Jon is still failing to move past Viserion. Longclaw doesn’t manage to reach Bran, Long Nails (of the Night King) do.  While Jon is shouting at the undead dragon (hoping to accomplish God knows what), Long Nails reaches for his ice spear and we see a White Walker’s hair get blown a little with wind and the next thing we know, ARYA FUCKING STARK comes flying with her dagger towards the Night King. But just in time, he turns around to stop her raised (left) hand with his right hand while his left hand chokes her neck. If only the Night King had seen Arya fight with Brienne, he would’ve known what sort of combat skills this girl has up her sleeves. In a fluid moment of badassery, Arya drops her dagger from her left hand which she grabs with her right hand and stabs the motherfucker right into his chest. Game Over.  There's your blue eyes - shut forever. And with the Night King dead, every dead motherfucker goes back to being dead and decimated, including Viserion. The ones that are still pouring towards the walls drop “dead” into heaps and heaps. 

While Arya single-handedly saved the world, Bran doesn’t say a single word of thanks to her, that unfeeling little bitch. Jorah Mormont takes his last breath in the arms of the queen he loved. Drogon comes and lays around the inconsolable Dany. The Hound makes it out into the open with Melisandre who walks out to the rising sun, takes off her amulet and we see life literally fly out of her in a wisp of air. She falls into a heap on the snow as Davos watches on.

So much emotion.

Next episode: Winterfell in ruins. Smug Cersei makes a comeback in the series at King’s Landing. People regrouping at Winterfell, preparing for the last war, now that they have won the Great War. And Ghost is still alive, so is Rhaegal. The game begins now. It’s the women that have come out stronger than the men after all.  Question: now that the dead are defeated, who does Jaime fight for now?

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