Thread by @KDDrummondNFL

I left #BattleOfWinterfell disappointed. There were iconic, tense moments... but overall execution of the event... meh. Maybe on rewatch it'll get better.

1 of 2 things happened. imho.
Whoever edited the ep did a really bad job OR writers felt too committed to main characters.

There's no way Samwell, Dany, Podrick, Jon, Jamie all survived the scenarios they were in.

And if they did, they really needed to SHOW how they did so, instead of just returning to them still being alive.

The wights took turns. Stop it. How did Beric get into that room w/ Hound and the hero when he clearly was caught up?

I mean, we were all prepped to have favorites die. All survived??

There's some other stuff I need to sort out this evening, but...

I still stan for Arya.

And I know CGI'ing 3 dragons is not an easy task... I get why the battles had to be in a blinding foggy snow storm to give it any sense of realism...

but dammit I got a pretty expensive TV and that thing was hard to follow.

Oh and last thing... we starting watching on HBO.. that resolution was absolute TRASH. Switched to HBO Go on the 4k Fire TV box and it was much better.

Fios TV HBO is NOT 4k. Lesson learned.

OK, going in for the rewatch...

Red Woman's return appearance into was excellent... that sword lighting got me hype AF

told Davos- look kinfolk, I'm not making it out alive. Chill...

The look she exchanged with Arya...

Dothraki lambs to the slaughter by Jora+Ghost. dammit when that Giant stomps a hole in em

Dothraki deserved better than this fate.. but politics.

Ay, that look in Greyworms eyes.. son was not for it. Tormund was like, how they got Jora scared.

Then Dany going off the rails bc her Dothraki got wiped out...

Greyworm puts on his helmet and it's go time!

Dracarys to the rescue... then Jon sees all the white walker generals and the long night hits.

"Stick'em with the pointy end. Get out of her "little" sis.. I got work to do"

Slow motion Sam sequence got Ed killed, then Sam has a staredown with a wight, who waits for Sam to turn and run before chasing him (and apparently not catching him).

You're not realistically killing George Martin's literary avatar here, no sir!

shuffle-footing Sam ran away successfully from a wight. No.

That Tyrion look at Sansa and subsequent bottle turn up was 100% on brand though lol

Everyone retreats into Winterfell from Brienne and Jamie's left flank (maybe elsewhere?) without a single wight mixed in...

Honestly, we need the All-22 cam of the entire battle for me to make sense of how they are explaining the survivals in the opening stanza. These waves of wights don't seem like that clean retreat would be possible.

I need those Draft Breakdown arrow lightup of key characters.

Appreciated the trench lighting not going according to plan...

"You were the best of them"
"What a terrifying thought"
"It wouldn't have worked between us"

And then Messyandrei catches an attitude with them for no reason... so she's someone to watch out for in last 3 eps

"Everything you did brought you to where you are now, home"

Bran with them words of wisdom for Theon and off to the Ravens we go

Why wasn't Dany and her dragon burning the wights that were standing still at the front of the trenches? Wouldn't that have made more sense than indiscriminate shots into the crowd?

So wights break through trenches by sacrificing themselves of course.

Now it's Jon v Night King.

Brienne returns the favor to Jamie for saving her buy saving him- Sam yet again survives a wight attack...

Beric is a damn savage out there-- slaying cats with fire swords and still trying to motivate The Hound...

ARYA TIME

Hold on... gotta rewind that Arya scene...

Longshot odds to sit on the Iron Throne- Arya and Gendry's kid...

back to the action... Arya is Bruce Wayne.

They finally let someone witness her bad ass, Davos was like..

Lil' Lyanna...

back to Jackette and the Giant... whole episode was about the folks not supposed to be fighters standing up and fighting.

Now it's dragon fight time...

The scene with Rhaegal and Drogo above the clouds was excellent... then..

Night King basically ignores Jon to get past him and attack Dany. Why? Or was it bad aim by Viserion?

Rhaegal was tumbling, but then when he recovered he didn't try to help?

Cat & Mouse game in the castle, great execution of Arya's stealth skills in the library

but then Arya closes the door... in a 4th century BC castle... knowing that any noise attracks the wights.

Why?

These are decisions made by showrunners (imho) when they are simply trying to get from one major plot point to another...

I can dig that Arya isn't thinking clearly bc zombies, concussion... but still

OK, upon rewatch, Beric getting into the room with Arya and Hound to die with friends is total BS.

He was holding up a doorway, being attacked from behind by three wights, with no weapons, then magically he's in the hallway following them into the room with the Red Woman.

This was the point in the original watch I was most frustrated with... why, just so the Red Woman could speak on the Lord of Light's powers?

Had to go back and watch when Red Woman and Beric first met, with Arya... She told Beric "you have someone he needs"

Red Woman was talking about Gendry, but the Lord of Light was telling her Arya..

she was bad at reading the signs lol. Stannis... Gendry...

back to rewatch...

"What do we say to the God of death?"

"Not today"

Batman mode.

Dragon fight- Jon and Night King tangle and two dragons I thought were equal- Rhaegal is chomping the shit out of Viserion but losing...

then Dany and Drogo come in and knock the NK off and Down Goes Frazier!

Dracarys

Ay, ol' boy stepped out them flames and grabbed that javelin. Launched that hoe at Dany with a smirk.

So here comes Jon in pursuit... through an entire battlefield of the recently deceased (no wights came back to life if they were killed "this time" - answering that question)

Another thing answered... apparently the recently undead don't have A+ killing powers yet. Bc Jon lives.

BUT they are full powered enough to jump and attack the dragon.. ok. When Dany falls off originally, they don't pay attention to her until they fall off Drogon.

My man Jora said he been in love since Day 1- bailed her out.

Jon leaves Sam in yet another pile of wights lol.

They did great work with Jon's gauntlet through... then the move to Theon running out of arrows...

I'm not going for Dany swinging swords though.

On first watch, thought Arya gave Sansa the Valerian steel dagger up until Sansa broke out the dragon glass

Jon tried to make it to Bran and Viserion shows up spitting blue flame and leaking fluid out his neck

Jora killing cats from his back... Jamie and Poderick fighting to the death, Sam crying on the ground, still surviving.

Theon out there protecting Bran like the last Samurai while Bran watching it all go down so he can record history.

And there it is...

Jon bucks up to go face to face with a damn blue flame dragon, sacrificing himself. Yelling Go!

Arya zooms past White Walker generals causing wind the flow through their receding hairlines and the super leap into the NK arms for the epic dagger drop two step.

Ep 4 has to explain this was part of their plan or give us some other explanation to how this went down