Game of Thrones’ – Season 8 – ‘The Long Night’ – Review
It’s here. The battle between the living and the dead has arrived in Game of Thrones Season 8 Episode 3 The Long Night and it was EPIC!
10 years in the making this final battle between ice and fire arrived on screen and every minute of its phenomenal 82 minute run time was a testament in narrative storytelling, production craft and just pure nerve-wrangling adrenaline.
Director Miguel Sapochnik really shook things up here and his choices lead us to what I can best describe as an action survival horror fantasy spectacle that went beyond expectation. Things got gnarly this episode and with the very prospect of death arriving on their doorstep, it was certain that some of our favourite character’s were not going to survive the night.
From the onslaught of a Dothraki cavalry charge to a zombie stampede to the sloppiness of undead close quarter battle, to a full-on dragon fight, The Long Night had everything you wanted in it. Even more so was that writers David Benioff and D.B Weiss did not go full bore with the action, but again played on our emotions and of course, there were some shocking moments that we could not see coming, especially the Night King’s run-in with Dragon Fire, I mean WOW. Didn’t see that one coming.
My pulse was definitely pounding with all of this action unfolding in front of me, and I must admit that the library and crypt scenes certainly sent a shiver down my spine and definitely unnerved me. This was some of the most horrific moments ever seen on TV and coupled with the episode’s messy, blood in the snow thrash down, well it was definitely something to savour.
The episode’s shocking conclusion definitely took me by surprise, and to be honest, I did not see that moment coming. And when the Night King was obliterated to ice you can certainly say that there’s never been a bigger badass than that certain Stark in all of television history!
The Long Night was an utter television marvel and every single moment of it was perfectly released. The war for Westeros is now won, and the battle for the Iron Throne awaits.
Game of Thrones airs Monday 1pm on SoHo and later in the evening on NEON.
Images: Courtesy of HBO.
