by Ben Miller
This weekend culminated with two of the most anticipated entertainment events in recent history. While Avengers:Endgame was watched by everyone on the planet, Game of Thrones finally reached the Battle of Winterfell against the army of the dead...
The battle was so anticipated and the final payoff so worthwhile and fulfilling, that you forget how nonsensical the entire endeavor was. The beginning scenes were almost a carryover from last week, but instead of everyone feeling that it might be the last night of their lives, the mostly wordless opening 10 minutes were the preparation and anxiety before a mighty battle. Sam is super nervous, Tyrion wants to get involved, and such.
All the sudden, Melisandre (a consistently underutilized Carice van Houten) shows up, brings some magic with her and gives the audience a little hope in a victory. With Dothraki swords ablaze, the charge is on. In the distance, all the flames go out and very few people on horses come back. This sets the tone for how things are going to go.
Medieval battles abound in a near-unending Braveheart-style battle. Everything was messy, overly dark and discombobulated. I can only assume the directors were hoping the insanity that we were watching was just as insane as what would actually be happening. One of the best parts of the episode occurred during the initial dragon fight, Danerys and Jon taking their dragons above the clouds to understand what's happening below them. A brief moment of clarity (visual and aural), before diving back down into the chaos.
It doesn’t really matter how the battle was going, because all of our favorite characters kept slicing away at the never-ending pile of dead bodies coming at them. If someone took a tumble and was about to be overwhelmed, another character would swoop in and save the day. Even the ones who died saved important characters or acted heroically before being killed.
Arya might have been the MVP of this episode even before the last five minutes as she recreated the velociraptor kitchen scene from Jurassic Park in the library of Winterfell. It seems so long ago that we had Arya act as the silent assassin that you forget how good she is at it. It was also a welcome reprieve from the relentless grunting, hissing and screaming of the warfare.
Following Theon’s “heroic” charge and just when we think the Night King is ready to kill Bran and win the day, Arya flies in and performs a Rey-in-The-Last-Jedi move to obliterate the Night King and end the army of the dead. Despite the messiness and a lack of clarity throughout the episode, Arya’s heroics nearly make up for all of it.
Big shout out to Maisie Williams for not only saving the day, but having the raw physicality to seem right in line with everyone else swinging axes and swords. At no point do you feel she doesn't belong there in the midst of the fight.
Game of Thrones has given us memorable battles before with the Blackwater, Hardhome and The Battle of the Bastards but the Battle of Winterfell is not quite among them. In the end we lost Edd, Lyanna, Beric, Theon, Ser Jorah, the Night King, Viserion, the army of the dead, and Melisandre. Considering everyone who was teed up for impending doom from last week, it was underwhelming. Maybe the hype was too great, or maybe it’s an example of the show thinking they can do this on cruise control. Either way, I’m glad the undead madness is over so we can focus on the dynamics back in King’s Landing.
Where does everyone stand now? Is Sansa sticking with her declaration of Northern independence? Can Jaime really join the fight against his sister? Will Jon try to claim the throne as his own? Is Tormund ever going to be able to get with Brienne? How big will Arya’s statue be when they realize she single-handedly saved the day? All questions will hopefully be answered in the upcoming episodes.
Three episodes to go and next week we finally return to the actual “game” of thrones. Eric will be here to guide you along the way.