Game of Thrones Episode 3 Review: “The Long Night”
Game of Thrones Episode 3 Review: “The Long Night”
“The Long Night,” Game of Thrones’ third episode of Season 8, delivered the longest battle scene ever filmed and forever changed the landscape of Westeros. For every fan of the action and drama, there was an equal fan asking important questions about convenience, strategy, and faithfulness to the world of George R.R. Martin created.
Put on your scuba suits, Deep Divers, we’re plunging to depths we’ve never attempted before as Dick Ebert uses his combat engineer experience to compare Jon Snow’s military tactics to U.S. Army Field Manual recommendations. Find out where the trebuchets should have been placed, why the trench was a disaster, and how paint could have protected Rhaegal and Drogon.
Read Full: THE BATTLE OF WINTERFELL: A TACTICAL ANALYSIS
https://www.wired.com/story/game-of-thrones-winterfell-battle-tactical-analysis/
Read Full: Game Of Thrones The Siege Of Winterfell: A Military Strategist Takes A Look
Meanwhile, Gene Lyons goes full fanboy as he defends “Game of Thrones” against the naysayers, reports from behind the scenes at HBO, and explains how his Macbook is the real Lord of Light.
This is the podcast for anyone who thought “The Long Night” was visually tough to follow, championed the wrong hero, was overly simple, suffered from military blunders, or provided too much plot armor for beloved characters. Join us for that conversation.
Storyline for Episode 3: “The Long Night”
Upon reaching Winterfell with their combined armies, Jon and Daenerys learn the Army of the Dead has breached the Wall and the Night King commands the undead Viserion. The Northern lords and their allies rally around Winterfell, but distrust Daenerys and doubt Cersei’s pledge. At King’s Landing, Euron returns from Essos with the Golden Company and entices Cersei to consummate their union. On Cersei’s orders, Qyburn hires Bronn to assassinate Tyrion and Jaime. Theon rescues Yara, who then sets out to retake the Iron Islands, while Theon returns to Winterfell. At Winterfell, Jon reunites with Bran and Arya, and later learns to ride Rhaegal. Sam meets Daenerys who reveals that she executed his father and brother. After Sam and Jon are reunited, Sam tells Jon his true identity is Aegon Targaryen, king and rightful heir to the Iron Throne. At House Umber’s seat of Last Hearth, Tormund and Beric encounter Edd and other Night’s Watch members. They find the castle’s occupants dead and Ned Umber’s body used as a gruesome message from the Night King. Jaime arrives at Winterfell where Bran is awaiting him.
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I am really surprised this has not been mentioned. Nobody realized that the Dothraki are (were) people of color?! And almost their entire race and culture have been lost. How about the Unsullied? Again, people of color massacred. I know, the others died but not in the awful way these people were. Just sent out to be slaughtered. I love this show but as a person of color, Native American, this stuff is hard to watch.
For example, Dany is the savior for the slaves in Mereen and Yunkai. That’s in the books but the writers could set this season up however they want. And they chose this?! Slaughter all the brown folks?
Love your show and listen religiously.
If they could write whatever they wan
For sure Tywin is no Ned Stark but in season 3 (not sure which episode) Tywin open hostility towardsTyrian —in one occasion telling him once he was born Tywin wanted to drown him. Also in the books Tyrian has features more similar to Targarians. I wouldn’t be surprised if this twist came to fruition. We know who his mom is (who died in child birth likeJonand Daeny’s mothers) but in the books the mad king had a thing for Tyrian’s mother. I know this is debatable but it’s just my 2 cents.
Ok. I’m love listening to you guys and I wanted to share my 2 cents. First, GOT seems to have big episodes prior to the last episode. If you want to see our heroes and heroines die it will be during episode 5 which will be the fight in King’s Landing. Personally as stressed as I was watching episode 3 I don’t think my heart could have handled losing one of my favorites. Secondly, I think we will finally find out that Tyrian is a Targerian. He will actually have a greater claim to the throne then either Jon or Dany. Look to him to rule what is remaining of the 7 kingdoms with Sansa by his side. When Tywin Lancaster was alive he constantly reminded Tyrian that Tyrian was most likely a bastard child.
Love to hear your thoughts on these theories. Keep doing what you are doing! Lynn
Thanks for listening, Lynn! Tyrion being a Targaryen makes little sense to me. Tyrion’s mother died in child birth, so her identity is confirmed. And there’s no way Tywin Lannister would raise the imp child that killed his wife unless that boy was definitely his son. He’s not Ned Stark.
People keep trying to figure out who the night king is and why he was not effected by the dragon fire. Could he be A Targaryen? First time commenting here and I want to say love the show!
Hey big D i watched on a 75″ top range 4k and picture was amazing, only slightly dark, but could see everything all good 🙂
Hey shat crew!! First time commenter, long time listener! You guys had me hooked on the Westworld podcast and since then I went back and listened to all GOT content but anyway my point of this first time thing is some people have asked what was the point for Bran warging into crows on the 3rd and epic episode of GOT. Well… Here’s my theory— right before Bran wargs into the crows, Theon tells him the “trench is lit” and immediately after that Bran replies I’m leaving or whatever. Then they jump to the crows catching up to the Night King and that’s when he motions for the whites to lay on the fire (which they shoulda exploded etc). My thought is that Bran warged to somehow alert or “set in motion” the plan to the Night King. So maybe Bran and Night King are still connected somehow. Would really love to har back, and thank you for your excellent and always entertaining podcast!
I just wanted to let you guys know what a relief it was to hear you describe how ALL of those thousands of troops and artillery and DRAGONS should have been used in that fight compared to the LAME way that they were used in this battle. I knew some things that didn’t look right – but I didn’t know how to explain them, and it was such a relief to hear it from you. And mostly to know that I wasn’t crazy thinking it!! Just wanted you to know that you made this listener very grateful for this episode. Keep up the great work!!!
Thanks, Joanna! It’s important to note that we understand this is a work of fantasy fiction, and sometimes a good story doesn’t need to be a lesson on military best practices. As a viewer, I can cheer and cry and sit on the edge of my seat while also screaming at the TV, “WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU PUT PEOPLE IN THE CRYPTS?!”
Uhh, hate to rain on everybody’s parade here but people need to remember and factor in the timelines and that present day military is built on the lessons learned from previous battles throughout history. In the world of Game of Thrones, it is NOT 2019 so the lessons that present day military learned over history is an advantage that Jon Snow aka Aegon Targaryan sixth of his name, Daenerys Stormborn Breaker of Chains – Mother of Dragons – etc, the Dothraki, the Unsullied, and all the rest didn’t have and couldn’t benefit from. Their battles will be dissected and analyzed by future generations, and the lessons learned from those battles will benefit future militaries in future battles. It wasn’t as if Jon and Daeny had the benefit of reviewing how to use air support as Dragons hadn’t been around for what did they say?… thousands of years?
Expecting Jon and Daeny and everybody else to put forth a 2019 battle plan in the year of their Lord 1218 or somewhere around then is unreasonable and unrealistic even for a fantasy show. Let’s remember to keep things in proper perspective people as anything less is uncivilized.
So is this the end of the nights watch? If all they Night King wanted was to kill the TER, then why was he hanging out north of the wall before Bran became him? On a similar note. Did the magic of the wall keep all magical creatures up there like the children of the forest and giants. It is made to seem that the wall was built for the white walkers but were all strange things kept out of the south?
I wonder if we’ll visit the wall to answer those questions. Now I’m intrigued!
7:25 >So Sam has no redeemable qualities. If anybody tells me differently, those are fighting words
I couldn’t agree more. Sam’s a wuss and I absolutely loved it when Jon saw Sam down with a bunch of wights attacking him and didn’t bother to help. Jon’s attitude was, “Sam, you’re on your own.”
Hey Big D.. I think we might have to revisit the Sam is a wuss theory. Oh, no doubt he wussed out in the biggest moment of his life and really should have died. Even Big bro Jon left him for dead walking past him even though he saw a bunch of wights all over Sam who was flat on his back… Sam got real lucky there despite all his bragging, “Everyone forgets I killed the first wight”… whatever dude. I’m thinking they had Sam choke up in that battle so that they could set the stage of him surprisingly coming up big in the impending battle for the Iron Throne. Maybe they have the big wuss unexpectedly find the courage to do something heroic to either save one of our heros or he does something that helps win the battle? I’m having a hard time believing the impression they want us to have of Sam is of him wimpering and lying in the fetal position the same way he did at Castle Black when we were first introduced to him. The story has been about everyone’s growth with the exception of Sam apparently. So yeah, I’m thinking D&D used the Battle of Winterfell to remind us of who Sam is so that we won’t see the something unexpected coming from him later.
I also get the weird feeling Sam’s cowardice or lack of action or bumbling was intentional. Do you think they can make him a believable Champion in the next three episodes?
He doesn’t have to “work his way up” into becoming a believable champion, he just needs to step up one-time in a big moment to change his narrative. For instance, let’s say the Mountain is bearing down on a fallen Jon Snow and things are looking pretty bad. If Sam steps up and perhaps sends Heartsbane right through the back and out the front of the Mountain’s head thereby saving Jon, EVERYTHING about Sam would change in that moment. Now, I’m not saying that exact scenario is going to play out but if Sam is able to do something less wussy than normal at just the right time, then yeah… he could become a champion or a hero and the stench of his wussiness would wash off him like B.O. in a hot shower and he would be thought of and spoken of much differently than he is now.
Everything is intentional…. except when it’s not