The battle at Winterfell had been teased since the very first episode in season 1 of Game of Thrones when Ned Stark said, “Winter is Coming”, and that everyone should prepare for it.
It was no doubt the longest night in the history of nights and the war between the White Walkers and the Army of Winterfell is probably the first war scene I’ve watched that had me actually feel every single emotion feelable at one point in time.
SPOILERS BELOW IF YOU HAVEN’T WATCHED EPISODE 3 YET. DON’T GO FURTHER THAN THIS.
The first 10 minutes of the episode had me feeling tensed in was I had never felt before even though the war hadn’t started yet. It was more like anything can happen at any moment and the directing was so amazing, it left me on the edge of my seat and feeling a serious sense of dread.
From then on, it was pure chaos and it seemed like every time the Winterfell Army started feeling hopeful, their fire was quickly snared out by the icy cold winter of the White Walkers.
Everyone was left in a pile of mess, blood and filth, it almost felt like swinging the sword was more an act of surviving the next second than actually winning the war.
Jon’s true Targaryen heritage came into question when the wight dragon attacked him and he kept on ducking. Unlike the Night King, who is also a Targaryen, that took the full force of Drogon’s fire breath and was standing like as if nothing happened, Jon Snow was more or less helpless against the fire of the wight. The only thing I can think of is that maybe the fire is laced with ice or white walker’s powers, which can hurt Jon, or he just doesn’t know that he is immune to fire? I guess he still knows nothing, huh?
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Although the battle took the whole Dothraki, many Unsullied, many armies, Theon Greyjoy and Jorah Mormont, who were all instrumental in keeping other people safe, the people who truly helped win the war were the smallest ones in the battlefield; Lyanna and Arya.
Lyanna took down the wight giant who would have no doubt rampaged through the whole Winterfell if left unchecked, even though it cost her her life, and Arya used the same blade that was supposed to kill Bran Stark in Season 1 to save him, Winterfell, and the Seven Kingdoms in this episode.
Everything about Game of Thrones Season 8 Episode 3 felt so real. The orchestra tune that played during the battle scenes told the stories for us and was all the conversation we needed to truly feel the impact of what was happening. And there is no doubt in my mind that The Battle at Winterfell will go down as one of the most epic battles in TV history.