Notes & Nuggets: "Game of Thrones" Season 8 Episode 3

When you were growing up, did you ever guess that as an adult you’d be glued to a TV show about dragons and ice zombies? Because I sure did! Here are my thoughts on the last season of Game of Thrones. Um, spoilers!

· This is the episode I was most curious about (although I figured there would be a follow-up – more later). Hey mainstream America – did you like it? I did, although this is the episode that felt the most like “The Walking Dead”, “Lord of the Rings”, and Dungeons & Dragons. I have to give it nine out of ten hot dogs, especially for the last 20 or so minutes, but am curious how people not invested in fantasy thought of this.

· Was that an MVP performance for Melisandre or what? Walk in on the eve of battle unannounced, light stuff on fire, let everyone know you’ll be dead before dawn, inspire the eventual victor, then after the battle is won fall dead for no discernable reason. Total mic drop.

· If the Lord of Light can cause you to come back from the dead repeatedly, set things on fire, and give birth to smoke monsters, then why are there other religions?

· Setting fire to the Dothraki weapons was a great opening surprise. Love the storytelling involved in following the points of light across the snow…and then seeing them consistently wiped out. Great visuals.

· BTW, those poor Dothraki! They were presented as boss characters in season 1, stick with Daenerys across a decade all the way to Winterfell, and then get jobbed out in the first attack wave! Funny watching Jon and Daenerys watching the attack RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEIR DRAGONS!!! Why not start with the dragon attack next time?

· When did the Night King become the god of weather? I don’t remember seeing that power before – was that new?

· I understand the battle was happening at night. And, although I don’t think we’ve seen it before, makes sense that the Night King can make it snow. But battle in night plus snowstorm equals some very tough viewing. I spent most of the next hour squinting at the TV trying to figure out what was going on. The quick cuts in battlefield scenes didn’t help either. Don’t know if any MiSTies are reading this, but I kept thinking to myself “DEEP HURTING!”

· Never served and have all the respect in the world for the people who protect our country, but I have to wonder if this represented what battlefield plans truly feel like – you spend weeks making things ready, then five minutes into the battle you go “Holy cr@p what the hell were we thinking?!?!”

· The night plus snowstorm DEEP HURTING didn’t do much for the dragon battle. I know one of the ideas behind it (besides hiding the special effect seams) was that the Night King’s dragon could fly out of nowhere. But even when the dragons came together I had no idea who was who or what was going on. Almost had to put down my Sanka and fish sandwich.

· The funny thing about watching a show like this today is that we spend just as much or even more time reading speculation and analysis on shows than watching the shows themselves. I spent months reading about why they sent the women and children (and Tyrion) to the crypts – that there might be something there that was a secret weapon against the wights. I waited most of the episode to see what it would be…and then the dead Starks turn into wights. Come on, internet!

· We should put Lyanna Mormont on the $20 bill. She was a bad@ss and died protecting us from zombie giants.

· Isn’t it funny that the computer dude who resurrected Technology is the same dude who’s the main character in “Warrior”? Oh, that’s “American Gods” – sorry!

· Bran tells Theon “I have to go now”. He wargs into a flock of ravens. Most of the episode goes by, we never see the ravens again, and they have no consequence on the outcome of the battle. Did he just not want to talk to Theon?

· The “Arya in the library” scene, while tense, was very much like every zombie movie ever. Why did the wights suddenly go so slow? Do they have limited battery life? It looked like they were looking for something – I was hoping this was going to be some clue into further discovering what their ultimate goal was (more later). But no – then they heard a noise and went berserker again. BER-SER-KER!!! (Clerks rules!)

· Beric was my favorite character that didn’t make it. Still don’t believe he’s not in most people’s top five – didn’t everyone else notice he has a flaming sword? Kind of a big deal, no? Anyway, he’s dead.

· Was wondering if the Night King was going to do the “Hardhome” resurrection, and figured it would be pretty silly if it never came up, so I’m glad they worked it in

· Considering there are three episodes left, I loved the exchange in the crypt between Sansa, Tyrion, and Missandei – what are the odds all three are on the same side after three more episodes?

· The moment shared between Sansa and Tyrion before jumping in to fight off the Stark wights was perfect – the mutual respect was very well-displayed

· Oh, did Jon actually approve the “put the women and children in the crypt” idea? You know, since at the end of the battle of Hardhome he got stared down by the Night King while he resurrected the dead? Think he ever put two and two together?

· One last crypt note: Not enough Gilly. Side note: At the very last scene in the very last episode, who are we going to learn is the one writing/telling this story? Sam? Or Gilly? (Or BABY SAM?!?!)

· From the moment the wights jumped on Daenerys’ dragon through the end of the episode, I thought, “Oh my goodness they’re going to kill Danny!” I really thought she was a goner. Total props to her for swinging a sword, and especially for Jorah for the fight of his life (literally).

· For all that came between them, Bran telling Theon “You’re a good man” was a perfect moment

· Are we sure Theon is dead? Again, dark and snowy, but it looked like he got hit in the stomach and it seemed like he was still twitching. I thought he was going to get off his back and be the one to end the Night King (reminiscent of when he got off his back last season in the fight for leadership of his crew).

· You can’t give enough props to Arya – not only did she shiv the Night King, but she came with a BACKUP PLAN – when swing A didn’t work, she went right to stab B. For any of you young readers out there, that’s the way to do it! Only question is how she got that close to the Night King when he brought like seven bodyguards. It wasn’t shown, but I would have loved to have seen that she disguised herself as one of them, only to have one suddenly run at the King. After all, we know she’s got the spy/undercover training from being a Faceless One.

· So the Night King can raise the dead, can summon snowstorms, is excellent with a javelin, and can take a blast of dragon fire straight to the mush without blinking. But he’s susceptible to stabbing. Also, from scene 1 episode 1 the Army of the Night have left symbols behind, and in last week’s episode they surmised that he was trying to wipe out human history. Why? We don’t know because he just died. So basically, he’s Snoke.

· So the “final battle” will be between Winterfell and King’s Landing. We know how the show is based on the unfinished book series, and how the last season or two the show writers had to go out on their own to figure out how the show will end. Here’s what I know: When/if the book series is concluded, the “final battle” will be between the remaining humans vs. the army of the dead. Because it is a fantasy series. It seemed as though the TV show was gearing up for that too – again, the wights were a threat from scene 1 episode 1, and the tension was only ratcheted up from there, until reaching a crescendo with this episode. And yet…they’re gone, and three episodes remain. I feel like the reason for this is because the show has been so well-received by mainstream America. And whatever the original intentions were, mainstream America isn’t in this for the dragons vs. ice zombies – that can happen in the background, but the story that keeps America talking is faction vs. faction, house vs. house. I’m not saying this is bad, but it does betray the storytelling – the Starks/Targaryens vs. Lannisters could have happened at any point in time, while the battle against the Army of the Night could only have happened now. By saving the human battle for last, the show is almost apologizing for being a fantasy.

· How could the show have still had a fantasy ending? Read this somewhere – probably The Ringer – but what if, instead of killing the Night King here, we discovered something unexpected that would hurt him or his army (maybe…something in the crypts)? Or if the Night King was killed, and that forced the Army to retreat in shock (but still exist). That way, the battle could have been a draw, the Army of the Night could have marched on King’s Landing, and the last battle could have been fought there – with massive casualties of course (enough to leave no doubt who would assume the Iron Throne). Instead, the threat they’ve been building up to for a decade is now over. Yay?

- Also, one more thing that's been rattling around in my head for the past few seasons: Where in the universe are they? Or, more specifically, where do they live that they can have such long seasons? My first guess is that they're on a large moon orbiting a gas giant. But of course we would have seen the gas giant in the sky by now. The other possibility I came up with is that their planet is in a far elliptical orbit around a very hot star. That way, they could have long summers and winters with short springs/falls, and the long distance from the star and the star's hot temperature would cancel out into Earth-like conditions. But there's a lot of variables there - would the sky still look like that? Would their sun appear that big - or, can a large star burn hot too? Get Neil Degrasse Tyson on the horn!

· Again, intense episode with a lot of surprises (good and bad) – looking forward to the last three episodes, but also thinking about what might have been.