Warning: Major spoilers for Game of Thrones‘ “The Long Night” follow.
If you squinted hard enough, you may have been able to make out an epic battle at the gates of Winterfell in the third episode of Game of Thrones‘ final season. Dubbed “The Long Night,” the 90-minute-long episode showcased the long-awaited bout of warfare between the living and the dead, albeit beneath practically sub-visible lighting.
Fans who’ve been preparing emotionally for the battle may have been surprised to see so many major characters survive; and while this may sound like happy news, some viewers seem to be digesting the choice as a betrayal of Game of Thrones‘ celebrated proclivity for unpredictable character kills. (This is the show that shocked and wowed us all by axing its own beloved character in the first season finale, after all.)
Thoughts on these and other matters can be found all over Twitter, as usual, and we’ve rounded up some of the best reactions to Game of Thrones‘ “The Long Night” for your reading pleasure.
Some fans took issue with the living’s de facto general Daenerys’ lacking leadership skills. Not to mention her righthand man Jon Snow’s questionable decision-making.
People who did a better job than Daenerys tonight:
-Sansa
-Melisandre
-The Night King
-Sleepytime nap boy “I’m ‘warging’“ Bran
-The wind
-The White Walker who ran after the book that Arya threw in the library— Emily Yoshida (@emilyyoshida) April 29, 2019
mirri maz duur was right to be bitter daenerys dead ass got every single dothraki person killed fully to death. like 100% exterminated. fuck her and the dragoon she rode in on
— shadie hawkins (@kaylaahawkins) April 29, 2019
Jon is still an idiot. My man was gonna square up with a whole dragon
— Dad (@fivefifths) April 29, 2019
Others were displeased by the low lighting that made the entire episode fairly difficult to watch.
— Darren Franich (@DarrenFranich) April 29, 2019
please turn on the lights, Jon
— Matt Patches (@misterpatches) April 29, 2019
It’s hard to pick between my favorite moments in #got pic.twitter.com/SVfrqF5oom
— Jessica Ellis (@baddestmamajama) April 29, 2019
And some fans were just overall underwhelmed.
#GameofThrones really spent eight years telling us winter was coming and then was like surprise! winter’s not that big a deal turns out.
— Preeti Chhibber (@runwithskizzers) April 29, 2019
the next episode better be a time heist wherein all the characters go back and do it again but way better this time
— Angie J. Han (@ajhan) April 29, 2019
I have to hand it to Dany, she came up with a foolproof plan: Put everyone in the opening credits so they’ll survive
— Kyle Buchanan (@kylebuchanan) April 29, 2019
But not all! Plenty of viewers were effectively thrilled (and freaked out), even if they had some reservations.
It cannot be healthy to spend Sunday night this stressed
— kateyrich (@kateyrich) April 29, 2019
As far as large scale battles go, Winterfell honestly dragged quite a bit, and it suffers from some baffling strategic choices. But those key moments… pic.twitter.com/meWK7Agntn
— Devindra Hardawar (@Devindra) April 29, 2019
was it good? jesus christ, it was incredible, when I was young we had to watch shit like The Practice
— Owen Ellickson (@onlxn) April 29, 2019
A few others just got silly.
Why do people want the iron throne anyway
— Sophia Benoit (@1followernodad) April 29, 2019
It was satisfying that they finally revealed that the Night King’s name is John
— Richard Lawson (@rilaws) April 29, 2019
This is the OOPS! All Berries! of television episodes.
— Jordan Hoffman (@jhoffman) April 29, 2019
Of course, there’s always room for gags about Bran.
JORAH: I’ll lead the first charge.
BRIENNE: I’ll command the left flank.
GREY WORM: The Unsullied shall protect the gate.
BRAN: How cool would it be to fly around and just do like, general bird stuff
— Dan Amira (@DanAmira) April 29, 2019
[everyone fighting and dying to protect bran]
Bran: pic.twitter.com/aUI8jUZvAV
— House Fowler of Skyreach (@TheMattFowler) April 29, 2019
Outrageous that people are tweeting about Bran Stark when Elizabeth Warren clearly has the most thorough policy proposals and
— Mark Harris (@MarkHarrisNYC) April 29, 2019
Perhaps the Battle of Winterfell wasn’t exactly what a lot of us expected to be. But between Arya’s moment of heroism and the survival of Ghost (check the next episode preview!) we can’t be too upset.
Images: HBO