Game of Thrones - Great War at Winterfell

Despite a critically disappointing decision to set a great deal of the battle in murky dark (special thanks to Melisandre for the use of her Lord of the Light's fire), there were heroic acts by Theon, Lady Mormont, Baric Dondarrion, and Jorah that do herald this episode above what could have been a rather unflattering rating considering so much build up to the Great War at Winterfell in the North. If Dany and Jon do take King's Landing, I hope all of these heroes do get their place on the parchment in the Book of Legends. Theon's incredible defense of Bran before finally falling to the Night King, Jorah's defense to the end for his khaleesi, Lady Mormont's defeat of an undead giant, Baric's defense of Arya as a barrage of wights eventually overtake him, Jon and Dany's dragons putting up a fight against the Night King and his possessed undead dragon, Jaime and Sam slashing and hacking away until nearly being overwhelmed, Tyrion and Sansa speaking about their marriage and waiting in the crypts while the war takes place above them, Melisandre inspiring Arya to pursue her great quest against the Night King, the gut-wrenching closing score as it appears the Night King and his forces are about to succeed as he approaches Bran, and Arya's use of the dagger to defeat the Night King are certainly bright spots in a very dark episode that left us barely being able to see anything. When you have the Great War and don't allow us to see it, how could we not feel cheated? The Dothraki forces, with the flaming swords, quickly overtaken by the wights is especially flat, but once the "wall of fire" is undermined and the White Walkers commence an attempt to overthrow Winterfell does provide edge-of-your-seat entertainment. But this episode won't be compared favorably to "Hardhorne" or "Beyond the Wall" in terms of a battle with the White Walkers. Arya leaves the episode the ultimate hero among some amazingly honorable deaths. Theon, Jorah, and Baric all made sure the defeat of the Night King was possible. Cersei, Euron, and her Golden Company do appear to have quite an advantage...but they didn't face a wight army and survive. The journeys we experienced with the likes of Theon, Jorah, and Arya up to this point explain just while "Game of Thrones" has been a phenomenon. Although a good number of our favorite characters remain, the war ahead sure won't be easy now that Dany's forces are depleted. Jon not being able to save the day is a welcome surprise.

If only my screen had presented these so clear and striking. Incredible.