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

3. The Survival Horror

Game of Thrones has worn almost as many hats as George R.R. Martin over the years: it's been a political saga, a family drama, a big old war epic, an intimate play-like experience, and so on. One of the genres it's only occasionally dipped into is horror, like with the massacre at Hardhome, and with the White Walkers and wights the focus here like then, it returns to that well.

For large chunks of this episode, this is straight-up survival horror, and it is completely terrifying. Whether it's the army of the wights, the sheer dread of the Night King, or Viserion's blue flame inching horribly close to Jon as he does his best to live, this truly captures the terror of attempting to simply survive.

It does this best, though, through Arya Stark. The episode's highlight isn't some big moment, but an incredibly quiet one. It is basically A Quiet Place 2 starring Arya Stark. It is Alien with Arya as Ripley. As she silently attempts to avoid the wights, you can only hold your breath, hands over your eyes and peeking through your fingers.