The entire attempt to even fight the dead in open field was embarrassing considering THEY CAN BE BROUGHT BACK TO LIFE! Like literally they coulda been down to their last solider, and all Night King had to do was show up and raise them all back up. Or at least the newly dead.
The idea that could have worked: dig up massive trenches so the army of the dead had to cross them and would go down into them before getting to the wall. Then repeatedly flame them with dragons while they are in a pit.
The dead could not be brought back if they were killed with dragon glass, fire, or valerian steel. The issue is your own casualties coming back, every loss on your side is a gain for the dead.
That said both sides were awful tactically, the dead were better other than the night king being a moron and going in while fighting was still happening. I understand time is a thing but the living should have had multiple flaming trenches, to funnel the dead into a small space that they hammered with trebuchets and kept the Dothraki back as a sweeper unit running down the dead that get across the trench.
That is what I meant. Fighting them in open field was atrocious. Jon and Dany are pretty horrible strategists. Tyrion didnât help but he may not have known the dead could rise. This was the gaff and running home about the Crypts being so safe . The Living deserved the L and got saved out by gods: God of Light and Faceless Men. Maybe that was the point
And I fully appreciate the trope of the Super Villain being so cocky to show his face or take the bait thinking heâs untouchable. If only we had a backstory to appreciate such arrogance.
I agree with need to have more reason for the Night King to kill Bran. Why did he have to do it himself? Make it so that he gains the power of the three eyed raven if he turns him into a walker, or have Bran have the power to interfere with his control of the Wights within a certain range so the walkers need to be the ones to take him out
SoâŚI havent read the books, but I believe Iâve heard there isnt much, if any of the Night King at all up to this point. I dont know if this has been explained or not, but does anyone know if there could be a Night Queen? Its wishful thinking that this story will continue with only 3 episodes left and I doubt theyâd debut a new character like that in such little time, but I think it would be cool if we get to the last episode and one group thinks theyâve won, but they havent really defeated the dead yet.
There is no mention of a ânight kingâ thus far in the books if I recall (at least not the same type of nights king we know from the show). And I daresay youâre going to be disappointed. I think the dead are done for with only 3 episodes left.
Interesting that they sent all the blacks and browns off to die before they remembered they had dragonsâŚ
On to things people care about though, The Night King looked like a waste of time. Everyone was expecting an interesting backstory, an interesting motivation but we got nothing but him being killed easily. And Arya shouldâve died, to be honest she shouldâve died last season instead of them killing the most interesting character in the show, Littlefinger.
The show overall isnât as smart or as brave as it was before last season. Itâs more of a basic action series.
I thought about that and iâve seen it touched on elsewhere as well. Itâs especially interesting when you remember the context. The Dothraki, in the entire history of their culture, had never left their continent - it was literally a significant aspect of their culture to not do so. Yet they did, all for DanyâŚand she got them essentially wiped off the planet for her cause.
The Unsullied, former slaves who are barely humanised due to the discipline and loyalty programmed into them, were essentially just used as fodder and their main purpose was to protect the seemingly more important Northerners. Those same Northerners which the show has made a point showing us how racist they are.
While itâs still been great by general entertainment standards, I agree on the lack of smartness in recent seasons too. Itâs very clear where the book content ends.
In the shows defense, the book characters made stupid decisions too. And these were adapted in the show. The red wedding happened because of Robb Starks mistakes. Jamie was captured because of his mistakes. Cersi was imprisoned by the High Sparrow because of her mistakes. Oberon was killed because of his mistakes.
The fact that the characters arenât perfect, they make mistakes and there are consequences are what make it a rich story.
The Dothraki being wiped out seems to being talked about as a huge mistake. But I think in terms of medieval combat their actions were right. They are horse riders. They would be less effective staying on their horses outside of Winterfell. Against other normal armies (like the loot train attack last season), they are sent in on the front line.
The people of Westeros can live that way, it seems like that was the case during Robertâs rule for a while. The Dothraki are all about riding, raiding, raping etc. so I donât see them settling down to build homes and farms etc.
Itâs not just the irrational and out of character decision making either, itâs the lazy way theyâre done too. From this episode, a few other examples:
Sansa dramatically promising to keep a secret then spilling it a few minutes later like itâs nothing.
Everyone, including Tyrion of all people, still underestimating and not accepting that Cersei is an irredeemable monster despite her telling them so literally the entirety of the show.
Sansaâs thankfulness for being raped and held prisoner by multiple men to make her the woman she is today
I mean Sansa spilling the beans is totally in her character though. Her choice to Tyrion is questionable but she doesnât like Dany, so she would want to push Jon. I also didnât get her being thankful for being raped etc, just stating the fact that if she had been protected by the hound that she would still be a naive little girl. I also didnât see them forgetting the fleet but believing the dragons would account for it.
Maybe itâs not a case of a bad mistake and Starbucks is actually canon. Starbucks having a branch in Winterfell makes more sense than some of the logic on display.
I really liked this episode. I wasnât expecting Euron to be such a force in this episode, but taking down another dragon makes sense. Having 2 dragons going into the final battle, would have made it too unrealistic in my opinion. At least now, this makes the odds a little closer, if they can keep Drogon at bay. I was fully expecting Tyrion to be killed at the end. I wasnt a fan of Missandei, so glad she got it. Hopefully Grey Worm is one of the next to go.
This episode really made me feel for Dani. She begged Jon and he still told his family. I think this is going to push Dani to make the big heel turn either at the end of next weeks episode or in the finale. I see Cersei getting defeated next week and then Jon & Dani going into battle in the finale and maybe they both kill each other.
Iâm hoping there is a big reveal for Bran still. Heâs the most intriguing character to me right now.
. The Living deserved the L and got saved out by gods: God of Light and Faceless Men. Maybe that was the point 
