Why is the episode being too dark “nonsense” it significantly impacted my ability to enjoy the episode.

And The Night King went out like a total bitch.

I bet if Jon Snow would've killed the Night King the same way, zwack would say it was "epic".

Why would who killed him make a difference?

Killing him was just too easy after he was built up for so many seasons. There was no real twist. We knew white walkers could die by dragon glass or Valyrian steel. And that’s how he died. And he died with half the season still to go.

To sum it up the hype for Night king didn't pay off. The war he raged with his army was worthwhile but we saw a similar (albeit smaller scale) invasion in the past as well.

In a way, the Night King’s sudden departure makes sense. He is basically the reverse of Robb Stark.

I think we all just wanted him to meet Cersei before it was over.

Also “going out like a bitch” is trademarked by people whining about how women ruined Star Wars. He went out like a fool more than anything.

I wonder how the general public would have felt if the ending would have been the exact opposite. What if the Night King killed Bran, zombie dragon kills Jon, and the army of the dead kill all the remaining main characters at Winterfell. The final screen shot would be zombie Daenerys and Jon marching towards Kings Landing. I think some would like that but most would not.

So Cersei ended up being the main antagonist of the show?

Long may we reign. How can they beat her if they have no army left.

For all we know Cersei might be dead by the end of next episode and Dany is the real final villain. We’re in the endgame now.

It'll take them at least one episode to just get to King's landing.

And I was expecting the night king to be part of the show till episode 5 at least, but like how the show has fared so far, it keeps surprising. Generally it was an epic battle, and I think that's what matters finally when looking back at it.

I think the problem is that the story (book and show) was hurtling towards a "the battle for the throne isnt really what it is all about" type conclusion. Meaning the final battle was always meant to be the one against the white walkers.

This past episode tossed all that out but I guess stayed true to the TV show title "Game of Thrones". Hence it is indeed all about the Iron Throne.

Anti-climactic yes, but let's see how the rest of the season pans out.

P.S - I can also understand what D&D did. The show/story would have worked without the white walker threat. The politics and intrigue around who get's to sit the Iron Throne is more than enough.

The white walkers represent a major threat but battling nameless zombies isn't all that engaging to the audience. Hence why D&D introduced the Night King. He's a character that is menacing and puts a face to the threat. It also resulted in perhaps the best non book scene(s) in the entire series - the battle of Hardholme.

But like the Witch King of Agmar (ROTK) or Captain Phasma (SW) - ultimately the characters buildup did not pay off (other than a great scene and perhaps relief with Arya).

It does pay off the Arya story arc/journey in spades however.

Most of the complains are basically "that's not how I wanted the Night King to die!".

Honestly, Jon had THREE encounters with the Night King over the course of the story, and each time he wasn't even able to get near him. It's very clear that the Night King had superhuman strength, beyond just his supernatural powers, so could Jon or anyone else have seriously killed him in a one-on-one fight? Very doubtful. And, the Night King and his army completely annihilated the largest allied force ever... so any "not threatening enough" complaints a rather silly.

Arya was literally the only character in the entire show with the ability to kill the Night King (after it was shown that dragon fire was ineffective), so she was the only/most logical choice. And she wasn't completely silent/unnoticed either. One of the White Walkers felt her presence, and the Night King was able to react to her.

Did the Night King die, and thus the threat of winter coming with him, too soon? Maybe, but there's also just 3 episodes left. Even if they're long episodes, that's not a realistic amount of time to have resolved the White Walker threat AND conclude the game of thrones.

Episode 4 will be the cool down episode, getting everything setup for the confrontation in King's Landing with Cersei. Episode 5 will probably be the battle. And Episode 6 will be spent showing us the aftermath and wrapping up any remaining storylines. At least I think.

Nice reviews.

Hmm, I don’t think it would have gone over well with the general audience. But having Cersei, the worst person on the planet, be in charge of saving humanity from the undead would be thematically appropriate.

Haters be damned!

This episode was amazing.

Considering the more limited imaginations of the showrunners vs George RR Martin, I'm somewhat satisfied with this as an ending to the White Walkers. Still lots of questions unanswered and the only unpredictable part came from who did it. A little anti-climactic as well.

But I do think this will hurt the ratings and cultural prominence of the rest of the season. It feels like they blew their load too early and now the remaining three episodes have a lot less hype. And for what? They didn't even get series-high ratings with the episode. I thought the GoT series finale was going to be a huge cultural phenomenon but with the main threat gone Cersei is so basic in comparison and it doesn't feel as special.

They did with streaming included:


https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/30/arts ... tings.html

Just shy of the Season 7 finale in linear viewers (12.02m vs. 12.07m) and beat the Season 8 premiere with streaming (17.8m vs. 17.4m) for a series high.

This bit is also incredible:


I imagine numbers will drop next week and then rise again for the last two episodes.

Going through IMDB reviews briefly is a bit of a laugh now. The episode is now rated lower than episode 2 of this season. I understand having criticisms and not everyone will be pleased, but the amount of "1/10!!! WORST EPISODE EVER!" reviews is bordering on parody of internet trolls. Comic Book Guy at his Comic Book Guy-iest.

Outside of the glorified meme response of the darkness in every scene, most of the criticism seems to be in the resolution of the Night King story. Eight seasons of buildup and that's it?! Well yeah, what else did you want? He was impervious to pretty much anything, and a sword fight would have been ridiculous given what he's done so far. It had to be something fast and something smart. It would seem most are forgetting the buildup and evolution of Arya Stark and what she has learned that led her to that moment, rather than what led to his demise.

And of course they were going to wrap it up within an episode. That was never going to be a season-long fight. It would have been death for everyone, and if not, it would be highly unbelievable if all key characters survive a lengthy fight with the dead. And I guess I've been experiencing the show different from some others, but the Night King and the white walkers have pretty much been the B-storyline the entire series. Yes it was built up to the high heavens, but it always felt like a secondary tale within the main story. A side quest. When they brought all the main characters together last season to plan a fight with the Night King, it was always a "We deal with him first, then we deal with the issues between us" thing.

One criticism I do agree with is the comical way the key characters lived. Brienne and Jamie were straight out of The Walking Dead with those skills. Someone else should have went there. At least Samwell, whose storyline I feel played itself out once he dropped the revelation on Jon. Brienne could have went too. But it says more about expectations of characters dying on GOT that they offed seven characters and people say "Nope, should have been more!"

I could say more, but I'll stop here. I loved the episode, the execution, the handling of key characters (Arya is the MVP of the series at this point), the music, everything. It was a milestone moment in television that I'm glad I saw live.

Hence the problem with zombies and the undead. I'ts a boring fight against a sea of unknowns (bar the NK). So I think the show runners did the right thing in ending the battle the way they did and focusing on the battle for the throne which is what the tv show is about (even if it contradicted some of the overriding themes and arcs).

The episode is indeed a masterclass in epic TV (and even film making). Amazing really. It gets better on re-watch as you can view it with minimal duress!

Trolls giving the episode 1/10 are ridiculous even if i understand their complaints. Though, I'm not against the view of Episode 2 possibly being better. It was a perfect episode and testament to the fact that the buildup can often be better than the real event itself.

The whole season has sucked so far

Of course Disney princess loving bitches wouldn't like this.

Tbh if they pulled one last twist and made Cersei kill Arya.

It would be my favorite moment in entertainment history

Complaints and criticisms I get, nothing will please everyone. But "worst episode I've ever seen" and "they ruined the show"? That's just silly.

I'm not as deeply invested or refreshed on every single detail of the series, but people seem to be really hung up on how Night King went. Some sort of prophecy wasn't fulfilled? I don't know everything about it but I haven't seen anything that makes me think "Oh well that's a copout to it then".

I can't wait until D&D are tasked with finishing George R.R. Martin's last two novels when he either is unable to finish them or worse. I'm sure internet trolls are pinning all their hopes and desires on "THE BOOKS GOT IT RIGHT!!" even though they'll be glorified novelizations if they ever do come out.

Episode 4 got leaked and oh man shit goes down.

Best episode since season 6.

Rhaegal

Definitely the best episode of the season, and best since Spoils of War overall. Still not much happened considering how many episodes are left, but it was refreshing after the last three disappointing episodes.