I’ve said that I loved the episode and I stand by it, however, to me 8x03 also had one big fat flaw and that was everything that went down in the crypts:

1. It’s a place full of dead people, what did you expect?: 

The fact that no one in WF anticipated that the dead in there might rise if the NK give the sign is plain stupidity. I’d also strongly advise to avoid cemetaries during a zombie apocalypse, so...

2. Sansa being the only one who was armed apparently? 

Even IF no one expected the dead to get up for breakfast, what if the dead outside DID find a way in. Arming at least the adults so that they can at least defend the children would have been the more intelligent approach...

3. Don’t give her the knife if you won’t let us see her use it: 

Making a big fucking deal out of Arya giving Sansa the knife and telling her to “stick em with the pointy end”, then *showing* Sansa with knife in hand, resolute and clearly ready to use it...only to then CUT OUT the scene where she actually uses it - was a goddamn stupid decision to say the least. 

Do it properly or leave it! Don’t create such a build up to something and then pretend it didn’t matter. If they thought people are smart enough to realize that she did kill wights “off screen” they clearly do not know their audience at all. The bias AGAINST Sansa was, is and will always be strong. 

4. The entire “zombies in the crypts” idea:  

IF all the dead were rising in the crypts, then this would include some of the Stark family members that we knew and loved e.g. Rickon, Lyanna or Catelyn (Lady Stoneheart anyone?) in which case I could have understood that Sansa would rather run and hide from them than try to “kill” them.

Arguing that the bones are too long dead doesn’t fly either, seen as the first zombie we saw was a Stark family member who had been dead for quite some time given their bad shape..literally only bones and they still managed to smash the coffin and get out...Fact is that “zombies” we actually care about would also have been there and this is completely disregarded...

The crypts - always shown as a place of sanctity, the place of the family - was turned into a place of cheap thrill zombie shocker moments. The poignancy of Sansa possibly facing her dead family members down there is not even brought up or talked about. 

The focus is only on creating suspense, against all logic or lore. 

5. Don’t warm it up if you ain’t committed to it: 

While I did enjoy Sansa and Tyrion talking (and I think this convo will have consequences) and having a moment, but Tyrion trying to “warm up” the marriage that he himself claimed was only a “sham” felt a bit out of place. I could see it as banter between two old friends, but I’m sure other people will get their hopes up about it and might end up severely disappointed (like the Theon and Sansa crowd). 

I wonder if there is a pattern of them bringing Sansa close to certain people again every single episode (Theon, Tyrion, The Hound next?) in order to get them all on her “side” (like the “Queen’s Guard” I wrote in another meta), in which case it would make a lot of sense...

Dany: Omg I love you

Jon: I'm a targaryen now

Dany: You're trying to steal my throne

Jon:

So I just wanted to jot down some reasons why I thought this episode (8x03) was great!

First, I have to acknowledge one fact: yes, the shows lighting could have been better. 

That said, let’s break it down.

The Dothraki: The dothraki are horse lords, they go into battle rushing on their horses to get at their enemy. That’s their style of fighting. Having them within Winterfell’s walls wouldn’t make sense. Having them behind the Unsullied wouldn’t make sense. They ride towards their target. That’s always how they fought. I suppose it would have made more sense to take them from the fight entirely, but here we are. They are part of the battle. The best way to utilize them would be to use their strength. Unfortunately, that strength basically hit a wall and died. But I suppose they took out a few of those giants as they went down since we only see the one giant in the end. 

The Unsullied and the Northern/Vale army: Having them outside made sense at the time. The wanted to hold them off from the castle, but understood the eventuality of it not succeeding. The purpose of having them outside is to see if the Dothraki came back and to back them up as they made their retreat. Didn’t really work again... but what do you expect. When I watched the show, I was not expecting any success. I was however expecting more people to die, especially Brienne or Jaime since they were in the front lines (and Sam) but here we are. Plot armor is a thing. Get over it. It’s how Davos has survived this long. 

The Dragons: The dragons main use at this point was to fight the other dragon. They made a good difference with those couple of lines of fire, but the storm pretty much stuffed it out right away, and Melisandre provided all the other fire that was needed. The Dragons were useful to an extent, but they were also a risk. If the Night King managed to kill another, they were essentially fucked. 

The Ramparts: they really should have had the ramparts manned more, but they got there in the end, so I’m not bothered. 

The courtyard: Well there was a giant, so any defense in the courtyard was essentially useless unless you went at them like a freaking G and hit them in the eye 😉 Looking at you Lyanna ♡

The crypts: those were relatively the safest place in the end. I mean, yeah the dead came back to life, but where else would they go. And I mean, there were probably not that many dead. Some of those bones are dust, so the only dead they had to worry about were the ones for the past few hundred years (and remember, before Lyanna, only Lords and Kings were buried there). So yeah, one or two dragonglass daggers weren’t very helpful. But Tyrion and Sansa hiding and then figuring out how the fuck they were going to fight the wights is logical. If they didn’t hide first they would have probably been mowed down like the others. They hid, attacked, hid, etc. It’s logical. It’s smart. (it was also offscreen so those of you saying that Sansa doesn’t know how to use a dagger can shut it, since you didn’t even have to see it)

So here’s where I’m getting to the end. I saw some theories about what the hell Bran was doing during this entire thing, and I agree with the one that said Bran was looking into the future to see if everything turned out okay. I mean, reading Bran is basically impossible, but I’m pretty sure he wasn’t bothered at all. Totally relaxed. Also love the fact that he stayed consistent and just stared at the Night King til he died.

Arya: ARYA IS A FUCKING G AND IS AMAZING AND WE LOVE HER! Of course she killed the Night King. She’s freaking amazing. She’s trained for this. She’s a Stark. We were all expecting Jon because why else would Bran spend so long looking at Jon’s backstory, but here’s the thing. The Starks ended the Long Night 8,000 years ago. They didn’t need Targaryens to help, they did it on their own. The Last Hero was a Stark. Brandon Stark built the wall. This is their story. Yes, Jon had the most time to think and see the Night King, and he is part Stark, but they were using the fact that he’s also a Targaryen as the reason why he could defeat the Night King and that’s just not true. I love the fact that it was Arya. She’s the only Stark at this point who could. Sansa and Bran were both unqualified/ no fighting skill. But besides that, Arya is basically the most dangerous person in the world, of course it should be her. Her entire story line has been about death, and here is the embodiment of death.  

The White Walkers: So here’s the thing. The White Walkers aren’t actually good fighters. I mean, the reason they are so successful is because the tool to destroy them is so freaking rare and they are constantly covered by the hoards of dead people that surround them. But get one alone, and it’s pretty easy to kill it. Jon needed two swings with a Valyrian steel sword to kill his first Walker. Sam stabbed one. (SAM! LITERALLY SAM!) Meera hit one with a spear. (it wasn’t even dodging because it didn’t think it would do anything to him) I mean, they’re smart, but come on, they aren’t that great of fighters when you have them on their own. Even the Night King, I mean that guy threw 3 javelins and only landed one shot. And he did everything to avoid a one on one with Jon. I mean that could be arrogance, like him thinking that Jon wasn’t worth his time, but also, I mean it’s smart. Why fight Jon when they are surrounded by a bunch of dead people he could just resurrect.