The Long Night (Game of Thrones)

"The Long Night"
Game of Thrones episode
Episode no.	Season 8 Episode 3
Directed by	Miguel Sapochnik
Written by	David Benioff D. B. Weiss
Featured music	Ramin Djawadi
Cinematography by	Fabian Wagner
Editing by	Tim Porter
Original air date	April 28, 2019 (2019-04-28)
Running time	82 minutes
Guest appearances
Richard Dormer as Beric Dondarrion Vladimir Furdik as the Night King Ben Crompton as Eddison Tollett Daniel Portman as Podrick Payne Bella Ramsey as Lyanna Mormont Ian Whyte as giant wight Megan Parkinson as Alys Karstark Staz Nair as Qhono Javier Botet as wight Seamus O'Hara Bea Glancy as Teela Lucy McConnell Bronte Carmichael as Martha Eileen McCloskey as a village woman Robbie Beggs Roma Tomelty Claire Connor Logan Watson as Sam Finn Watson as Sam

"The Long Night" is the third episode of the eighth season of HBO's fantasy television series Game of Thrones, and the 70th overall. It was written by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, and directed by Miguel Sapochnik. It aired on April 28, 2019. It is the longest episode of the series overall, with a run time of 82 minutes.

"The Long Night" takes place entirely at Winterfell and depicts the battle between the Army of the Dead and the combined armies of the living. The episode's title is a reference to the historic winter that occurred thousands of years ago, in which the White Walkers first descended upon Westeros.

”The Long Night” received mixed to positive reviews from both critics and audiences, who praised the overall visual grandeur and scale of the battle, Melisandre’s return, and Theon’s redemptive arc as highlights of the episode. However, criticism was directed towards the dull lighting of the episode and the lack of main character deaths, while some found the sudden demise of the Night King by Arya's hand to be anticlimactic.

This episode also marks the presumed, to date, final performances of Alfie Allen (Theon Greyjoy), Carice van Houten (Melisandre), Richard Dormer (Beric Dondarrion), Vladimir Furdik (the Night King), Ben Crompton (Eddison Tollett), Bella Ramsey (Lyanna Mormont) and Iain Glen (Jorah Mormont).

Plot

As nightfall draws in Winterfell, the combined forces of the living—comprising the Dothraki (commanded by Jorah Mormont), the Unsullied (commanded by Grey Worm), the Knights of the Vale (flanked by Brienne of Tarth and Jaime Lannister), and the host of the North (flanked by the Brotherhood without Banners and the Night's Watch) prepare to battle the advancing Army of the Dead. Brandon Stark, defended by a retinue of Ironborn, led by Theon Greyjoy, is sent to the Godswood to lure the Night King. Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen ride the dragons Rhaegal and Drogon to the outskirts of the battlefield to await an opportunity to ambush the Night King. As the battle is about to begin, Melisandre arrives and ignites the arakhs of the Dothraki horde with fire.

In the ensuing battle, the Dothraki draw the first charge and are quickly annihilated in the shadows. Jorah retreats to the Unsullied, and as they begin formation, a gust of snowstorm aids the host of the undead wights and quickly overwhelms the forces of the living. Eddison Tollett, the remaining commander of the Night's Watch, is killed saving Samwell Tarly. Deviating from their plan, the dragonriders burn the advancing wights as the living begin retreating to the castle, protected by the remaining Unsullied. At the Godswood, Bran wargs on a nearby flock of crows to follow the Night King, who stops the intervention of the dragonriders with his own undead dragon, Viserion. Daenerys, pursued by the Night King, is unable to light the defensive trench to delay the undead siege, forcing the Unsullied to protect Melisandre as she casts an incantation to set it ablaze. While the flaming trench proves to be temporarily effective, the undead army ultimately breaches the walls and terrorizes the defenders, swiftly scattering throughout the fortress.

While defending the northern wall and taking out several of the beasts, Arya Stark is injured and chased off by a pack of wights. She is followed by Sandor Clegane and Beric Dondarrion; Beric sacrifices himself to let Arya and Clegane narrowly escape to Melisandre, who encourages Arya to fulfill a previous prophecy. The Night King uses his dragonfire to breach the north gate as a wight giant enters and attacks the Mormont banner. Lyanna Mormont kills the giant, but perishes from wounds inflicted by it. Jon charges at the Night King, and as the latter fights back he is intercepted by Daenerys, who quickly dismounts him from his dragon and tries to burn him. Immune to dragonfire, the Night King retaliates by throwing a spear at a retreating Daenerys. Jon runs to face him in combat, but the Night King resurrects all the dead who have fallen in the battle, as well as those buried beneath the crypts, who begin attacking the sheltering civilians, including Sansa Stark, Tyrion Lannister, Varys, Missandei, and Gilly. Daenerys returns to the ground to burn the wights surrounding Jon, who quickly runs after the Night King to the Godswood. He is cornered by the undead Viserion while a group of wights attack Drogon, who flies away, dislodging Daenerys. Surrounded by the dead, she is rescued by Jorah Mormont, who dies defending her.

The Night King arrives at the Godswood and kills Theon. As he approaches Bran, Arya ambushes him from the dark. He catches her by her throat and smirks, declaring her fists to be as weak as a mosquito's. A seemingly unconcerned Arya mutters "Omae wa mou shindeiru," and the Night King's body explodes. The Night King's death also kills his host of wights and White Walkers, obliterating the Army of the Dead. As the sun begins to rise on the horizon, Clegane and Davos Seaworth watch as Melisandre, having fulfilled her purpose, leaves the castle and wanders off into the snow. Removing her magical glamour necklace, she dies after rapidly returning to her natural age.

Production

The episode was written by series co-creators David Benioff and D. B. Weiss.

Writing

The episode was written by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss. It is their first script of the season.

Filming

The episode was directed by Miguel Sapochnik. As some reports state, the episode was filmed in 11 weeks during some harsh weather conditions in Ireland.

Reception

Critical response

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the episode has an approval rating of 80%, based on 61 reviews, with an average rating of 9.05/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Winter has come and gone and Arya Stark may officially be the baddest woman in the land, but despite delivering some epic and emotional moments "The Long Night" leaves a few things to be desired (lighting, anyone?) heading into the final stretch."

External Links

• "The Long Night (Game of Thrones)" at IMDb