The Battle of Winterfell Was an Epic Masterpiece

The Battle of Winterfell arrived on our television screens last night after weeks of anticipated waiting. Millions of people watched as the denizens of Winterfell, as well as Daenerys Targaryen’s armies, prepared to wage war with the Night King and his vast, undead army. Almost every main character to grace our televisions was in attendance for this glorious battle.

One thing worth mentioning is that we saw the return of Melisandre, the Red Woman. She is a priestess of the Lord of Light who most remember stood at the side of Stannis Baratheon in previous seasons. Right away, she makes her presence known by igniting the swords of the Dothraki army before they charge into battle; although not a fighter, the Priestess of Light shines in this battle, surprising us when we think all hope is lost, and our protagonists are going to meet their end, Melisandre gives us a sigh of relief, coming to the rescue.

There were many times during the episode last night that I could hardly see who was fighting who, and I’m not alone. Millions of people also noticed that the lighting for the Battle of Winterfell was terrible, making it very hard to keep track of who was still alive, and who was killed; even some of the scenes with the dragons made it hard to see what was going on during the battle. It was a little frustrating, to say the least. I found myself at times gasping at my TV thinking one of my favorite characters had finally met their end, only to be relieved when they were still shown alive. It was an emotional rollercoaster from start to finish, not only for the episode itself, but for the bad lighting they used to film it.

The Battle of Winterfell did not disappoint. Not since Battle of the Bastards have we seen such an epic and glorious battle between two groups in Westeros. The planning gone into this took 25 days to film, 500 extras, 600 crew members, and 11 horses. To date, this episode could very well be a motion picture with a runtime of 80 minutes. That’s a lot of time to scream at your TV; the episode was that intense. The creators of Game of Thrones are known for toying with our emotions, pulling at our heartstrings, and leaving us on the edges of our seats with their fantastic writing, glorious sets, and superb acting by the actors who portray our favorite characters in the show.

I personally enjoyed the death of the Night King. For eight whole seasons, we’ve wondered how much of a threat he really is to Westeros. It seemed as the seasons of the show progressed, his story was put on the back burner, or at least it felt like that. Don’t get me wrong, The Night King was still a threat, still relevant to the story that is Game of Thrones, it just seemed at times he wasn’t portrayed as being an imminent threat to the Seven Kingdoms, although he was in the back of everyone’s mind, as the main antagonist in the series. To see the battle between him and Jon Snow last almost eight seasons was definitely worth the wait. Although Jon wasn’t the one to kill him, it was our heroine Arya Stark that delivered the final blow with a dagger made of dragon glass that put an end to the Night King’s reign of terror. It was satisfying to watch, as I yelled at my TV in triumph as it happened.

My heart broke at the ones who died. Lieutenant Qhono died along with half the Dothraki army to the White Walkers, Theon Greyjoy died trying to protect Bran, Lady Lyanna Mormont died by being squeezed to death by a giant white walker, Jorah Mormont died by protecting Daenerys, Beric Dondarrion died protecting Arya, Edd Tollett died protecting Sam Tarly, and the most heartbreaking of all Melisandre finally got the death she wanted by taking her necklace off, and walking to her death. We’ve been through so much with these characters only to see them die at the hands of the Night King, and his army; it truly was sad.

With the threat of the Night King vanquished, eyes are now turned upon King’s Landing. With one war over, another is beginning... Now, the real war for the Iron Throne can begin.