Game Of Thrones Season 8: 9 Ups And 2 Downs From 'The Long Night'

8. They Didn't Shy Away From Deaths (And Mostly Killed The Right People)

No 'major' heroes died in The Long Night, which to some might be another sign that Game of Thrones has 'lost its edge' or some variant on that criticism. But they were never likely to: Daenerys, Jon, Jaime, Tyrion, and the Starks all have a role to play yet, and it was those on the rungs below them we needed to worry about.

Had they not killed THEM, then you could accuse the show of bottling it. But this episode bore witness to the deaths of Edd Tollett, Lyanna & Jorah Mormont, Melisandre, Beric Dondarrion, and Theon Greyjoy. They are, for the most part, all long-standing characters. Theon and Jorah, certainly, have been there since the beginning. At the very least they're all hugely popular, and their deaths matter and serve a purpose.

On top of that, they *killed the Night King*, which is one of the biggest deaths in the whole show. However else you feel about it, this episode needed to kill off some characters we care about, and it follows through on that. You can argue they should've gone further - a Tormund here, a Podrick there - but each death felt weighty, which is what you want from these episodes.