Warning: Full spoilers ahead for Game of Thrones Season 8, Episode 3 “The Long Night.”
The Night King has finally met his end thanks to none other than Arya Stark — and it’s a moment that the Game of Thrones showrunners have been building towards for a long time.
“For, god, I think it’s three years now we’ve known that it was gonna be Arya who delivers that fatal blow
,” executive producer and writer David Benioff said during the post-show “Inside the Episode” breakdown.
The Valryian steel Catspaw dagger can be traced all the way back to Season 1 where it was used by an assassin in an attempt to kill Bran Stark. It turned out the ornate blade belonged to Littlefinger, who tried to pin the assassination attempt on Tyrion. The dagger wound up back in Littlefinger’s possession, and he held it up to Ned Stark’s throat when he betrayed him to the Lannisters. The dagger was off-screen for a few years until it popped back up in Season 7 when Littlefinger gave it to Bran, and then finally Bran gave it to Arya.
Through all the twists and turns over the last eight seasons, Game of Thrones has never been straightforward–until now. Season 8 Episode 3, “The Long Night,” brought one of Game of Thrones’ main storylines to its conclusion. The battle with the dead is over, the Night King is defeated, and the forces of the living are victorious. And it happened in the least inventive, most predictable way imaginable.
It’s possible that I’ve been immersed in the world of Game of Thrones theories, speculating, and prophecies for too long. But that’s a huge part of the fun of being a Game of Thrones fan: The books, and sometimes the show, are crafted so densely, with layers on layers of meaning and allusion, that combing through line-by-line to suss out every last secret feels endlessly rewarding. Fan communities across the internet have been cranking out theories for literally decades, even as the pace of book releases slowed to a crawl (and apparently stopped altogether at some point).
All these years of deep-digging have sometimes made it hard to enjoy the show, which is (understandably) simplified compared with the source material. But it also gives the series’ biggest fans a huge amount of perspective: We can see all the possibilities for which the groundwork has been expertly laid over the years. And in “The Long Night,” those possibilities all amounted to basically nothing.
Where do I even start? I guess with the fact that it seems like Game of Thrones, the show, has just missed the point of the entire series: that the squabbles between the great houses of Westeros are nothing compared with the unstoppable force of nature slowly bearing down on them from the wintery north. Game of Thrones was never supposed to actually be about the battle for the throne–it’s supposed to be about the characters coming together to realize what was really important. The quintessential human fallacy, according to the brain of George R.R. Martin, is believing with absolute certainty that your personal battles are the most important fights that exist. It’s a failure of perspective.
Now, with three episodes left, the series’ ultimate threat died with a whimper, and the series’ most short-sighted characters turned out to be right, their selfishness justified. As we saw in the preview for next week’s episode, the survivors are going right back to their squabbles. They won the great war, but lost the thematic throughline. Why did any of this matter? To give Arya a cool hero moment? So Bran could keep doing absolutely nothing? So Theon could die pointlessly?
The litany of “whys,” “whats,” and “wheres” won’t stop marching through my mind: What has Melisandre been doing in Volantis since last season? Where was undead Rickon Stark (or any other recognizable character) when the Stark corpses came alive in the crypts? Why was there so much foreshadowing about the crypts if nobody important was going to die down there? Why does the show refuse to acknowledge Ghost or include the direwolf in any meaningful way? Why did Jon’s revelation to Dany–one of the most important plotlines in the entire series–occur right before this battle if it wasn’t going to have any bearing on the events of this episode?
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Game Of Thrones – Season 8 Episode 3 Official Preview
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There’s no catharsis or payoff in anything that happened in “The Long Night.” Yes, it was cool to see Jon and Dany tearing through the sky on their dragons laying waste to the army of the dead with massive gouts of flame. But this episode felt weirdly self-contained, like everything that’s happened leading up to it didn’t matter. Every fan theory I’ve seen about the battle with the dead–whether it’s a theory from the books 20 years ago or from Reddit last week–is immeasurably more interesting than what actually happened.
One of my favorites until now was that the Night King wouldn’t actually show up at this battle–that the attack on Winterfell was a feint, and he was flying to King’s Landing to roast Cersei on her throne. There was a ton of evidence for it, but it still would have been a shock. And even better, it would have fit that ultimate series theme–that the fight for the throne was a petty squabble, and the people who failed to see the big picture (ie Cersei) would pay a price for it. Instead, the Night King took the bait at Winterfell and died like an idiot. He took his entire race with him, and we never learned anything about them besides “White Walkers=bad.”
There are so, so many things that will just never be paid off now. Dany unified the Dothraki tribes and brought them to Westeros so they could die, one and all, in a single ill-conceived charge (seriously, what was the strategy there?). What was the point of Melisandre’s entire storyline–the Lord of Light, the resurrections, the Prince that was Promised? Was it really all so she could light some swords on fire and tell Arya to go stab a dude?
Even within the confines of this episode’s story–Night King is just a dumb Big Bad Guy after all, he comes to Winterfell, he gets killed–there are endless more rewarding ways it could have gone down. Remember when Dany magically survived Khal Drogo’s funeral pyre in Season 1? Now imagine Jon hadn’t told Dany about his true identity last season, and instead she had realized there was more to him than she thought when he stepped into her dragonfire, unharmed, and stabbed the Night King in the back. Or it’s Arya–but instead of nonsensically jumping onto the Night King’s back, she employs her Faceless Men magic to pose as Bran. Bran stabs the Night King, removes his face, bam, it’s Arya.
That’s payoff. This was boring.
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Game Of Thrones Season 8: 8 Most Convincing Fan Theories
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The battle wasn’t even that cool, for all they hyped it up. Long, yes, but much of it was so dark that it was hard to read the action and tell what was happening. And all their strategies were terrible: They wasted the Dothraki in a single pointless charge, Jon and Dany flew around in the clouds doing nothing for minutes on end, and they sent their most vulnerable people underground to the place with dozens of pre-packaged zombies just waiting for the Night King to pop them into the microwave. Dany sat on the ground for no reason and didn’t notice the horde of undead crawling onto Drogon’s back, and the Night King and all his generals didn’t hear the young woman sneaking up on them through the snow. Every single character, living or dead, acted in the stupidest ways possible. It’s incredible to me that this episode was written by showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss, because it feels like it was written by somebody who’s never seen the show before, much less has any understanding of the source material.
With three episodes left, Game of Thrones has pulled one of its final twists: It subverted all our expectations in the worst ways possible. We expected some real, impactful main character deaths in this episode, and it turned out the stakes weren’t nearly as high as we thought. We expected some payoff for things Game of Thrones has spent seven seasons setting up, and the reality is none of it mattered. And worst of all, we expected the culmination of Game of Thrones’ most important storyline–the literal battle between life and death–to matter.
We expected Game of Thrones to be better. And unfortunately, the show did what it’s done so many times before: It turned our expectations upside-down. But being surprised by Game of Thrones has never felt worse.
The Biggest Battle Of The Show Had Quite A Few Casualties
We’ve been waiting for the Night King to bring the battle to Winterfell for the entirety of Game of Thrones Season 8 (and the huge amount of time that passed between now and the end of Season 7). When the dead finally arrived to challenge Jon Snow, Daenerys Targaryen, and their united forces, we knew some major characters were going to see their ends. (And probably even more are going to buy it in Episode 4.)
The massive, 82-minute battle saw the army of the dead crashing through the forces of the living, with the Night King mustering all his forces to take down the castle. As expected, not everyone made it out alive. With three more episodes left before the show wraps up for good, there are sure to be quite a few more deaths before the end, as well.
Here’s the complete running tally of all the deaths in Season 8, including everybody who bought it trying to stop the Night King from overrunning the world.
HBO has decided to not move forward with one of the Game of Thrones prequel shows it was considering. The network decided to not pursue the idea that Game of Thrones writer and producer Bryan Cogman was working on with author George R.R. Martin.
“My prequel show is not happening and will not happen. HBO decided to go a different way,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. Cogman is now working at Amazon on their own shows.
“I am done with Westeros. It’s wonderfully bittersweet. I’ll certainly miss it, but I’m excited to go out on my own and try to be in the captain’s chair of my own projects, armed with everything I’ve learned,” Cogman said. “I’ve learned more than I could possibly imagine from eight seasons of this thing. I’m eager to start the next chapter, but a part of my heart will always live with Game of Thrones.”
Cogman wrote many episodes of Game of Thrones over the years, including Season 8 Episode 2, “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms,” which was much-loved by fans. He’s also an executive producer of Game of Thrones overall.
Regarding the prequel show he was working on, George R.R. Martin said it was set in a “very exciting” period of Westerosi history. “Bryan’s series will be an adaptation, and one that will thrill most fans of the books, I think, set during a very exciting period of Westerosi history,” he said. “And I’ll be working with him every step of the way; we’re going to be co-creating the show.”
Things can change, and they did, it seems. It’s not immediately clear why HBO decided to pass on Cogman’s Game of Thrones prequel idea, but HBO programming boss Casey Bloys previously talked about why the network was commissioning so many–as many as five were reportedly considered.
“The idea was, if we’re going to try it, let’s take a couple of shots and see,” he said. “My hope is at least one lives up to the level of quality [showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss] have set.”
HBO is producing at least one Game of Thrones prequel, from Kingsman and Kick-Ass writer Jane Goldman. The spinoff will follow the progression from the Age of Heroes into the Long Night, which takes place roughly ten thousand years before the events in the original show. None of the characters or actors from the main Game of Thrones will appear in the new show.
HBO has ordered a pilot for the new show, but not a full series. Naomi Watts is reportedly going to play the lead actress role in the show. Following Watts, HBO has added another person to the Game of Thrones prequel cast.
The eighth and final season of HBO’s beloved fantasy drama Game of Thrones continued tonight in dramatic fashion. The third episode showcased the Battle of Winterfell, the dramatic showdown between the Night King and his army and forces at Winterfell.
It was indeed a dramatic episode with a lot to take in and consider. HBO has now released a nice “Inside the Episode” video in which showrunners D.B. Weiss and David Benioff break down the key scenes and moments. You can check out the video below. Of course you’ll probably want to actually watch the episode first.
At 82 minutes long, week’s episode was the longest in the show’s history. Next week’s episode is 78 minutes long, while the final two after that are 80 minutes each.
HBO has already released the first teaser for Episode 4, and it hints at yet another dramatic showdown coming soon–check it out here.
Game of Thrones Season 8 continued tonight with the dramatic Battle of Winterfell episode, the franchise’s longest episode ever, but what’s coming up next?
HBO has now released a teaser video for Episode 4, and it hints at yet another battle to come. We don’t want to give anything away … so check out the video below to see the teaser video.
The next Game of Thrones episode airs Sunday, May 5. It’s another long one, coming in at 78 minutes. The final two episodes, Episode 5 and Episode 6, are each 80 minutes in length.
While the mainline Game of Thrones show is ending, George R.R. Martin is working on new books, and at least one prequel TV show is on the way.
Netflix has canceled another one of its shows. The streaming network recently announced that Santa Clarita Diet, which stars Drew Barrymore and Timothy Olyphant, will not receive a fourth season.
In Santa Clarita Diet, Barrymore’s character is unhappy in her life as a real estate agent. She starts eating people and her life improves in many ways. She doesn’t want to go back to the way things were, so, along with her family, she finds people to kill and eat, all while concealing her true identity as some kind of zombie/cannibal person.
In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, Netflix said Santa Clarita Diet was the first “zom-com,” and that the network is thankful for creator Victor Fresco for bringing the show to Netflix.
Fresco and executive producer Tracy Katsky said in their own statement that they’ll miss the show but are proud of what they accomplished.
“Netflix took a chance on this odd show and for that we will always be grateful. They were supportive, ever positive, and appreciative of our work. Until about noon today,” Fresco and Katsky said in a joint statement. “Still, they were just one phone call away from being a perfect studio. Not bad. Everything ends. This was a thing. And so it ended. We’ll miss it but are proud of the work we did and will always appreciate the love and enthusiasm we felt from our audience.”
Olyphant added, “I loved working on this show. I’m going to continue coming in and doing scenes. If they don’t want to film it, that’s up to them.”
Santa Clarita Diet premiered in 2017; the third season debuted in late March this year, and all of the episodes remain available on Netflix.
Madden NFL 18 introduced the story-focused single-player mode Longshot, which focused on two aspiring football players, Devin Wade and Colt Cruise. It even featured a performance by Oscar winner Mahershala Ali. The story continued with Madden NFL 19, and it added Rob Schneider and Joey King from the Netflix movie The Kissing Booth.
It appears the story is over.
Madden NFL 20 was announced last week with no mention of Longshot. Instead, EA focused on a new career mode called Face of the Franchise: QB1. It appears this new mode is replacing Longshot.
Game Informer’s extensive interview feature with creative director Mike Young is worded as if QB1 is replacing Longshot. GameSpot has followed up with EA Sports in an attempt to get more details.
For the new QB1 mode, players will take on the role of a backup QB at a big-time college school who has to step up in the biggest spot: in the College Football Playoff. College football is featured in Madden NFL 20, and that’s a big deal because it’s been away for so long due to various lawsuits and other issues. There are 10 colleges featured in Madden NFL 20, including powerhouses like Clemson and Oklahoma.
Go to Game Informer to read their extensive and in-depth preview of Madden NFL 20’s exciting-sounding career mode.
In addition to the new QB1 mode, Madden NFL 20 introduces “Superstar X-Factor,” which is a progression-based system that lets players perform jaw-dropping abilities with skilled players. It also “modernizes” the offensive playbooks, adds a new Urban Symphony soundtrack featuring traditional sports music like marching bands, and new player celebrations, among other things. Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes is on the cover.
Capcom has officially unveiled the Capcom Home Arcade, a two-player arcade stick in the form of the Capcom logo that lets you play 16 preloaded arcade games over HDMI. It features a few Capcom games that have never been officially released outside of the arcade, and its sticks and buttons are sourced from Sanwa, a respected arcade manufacturer. All told, the package will cost €230 (roughly $260) and is slated to release on October 15 later this year.
Whether or not that price feels right to you will depend on many factors–we have no idea how well the games will look or play running on the embedded hardware–but chief among them is the selection of games. Capcom’s arcade output was huge in the ’90s and ’00s, and with only 16 games on board, the included library simply can’t please everyone.
To give you a taste of what’s in store, we’ve compiled a brief rundown of every game shipping with the Capcom Home Arcade. Let’s kick things off at the top by traveling back in time to 1944.
