A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE will end with A DREAM OF SPRING. HBO’s adaptation, called GAME OF THRONES, ended with “The Iron Throne.” The titles tell all.
“The Long Night” brought us ice, now “The Bells” arrives with fire to complete the song started by George R.R. Martin and finished by Game of Thrones
I liked ‘The Last of the Starks’ but I have a hard time determining if that’s because I was so cold (puns ftw) on ‘The Long Night’ or it was genuinely good. The show is multifaceted and some of those facets remain great, even diminished.
“The Long Night” is the biggest, baddest battle sequence ever put on TV and yet it might be one of the least satisfying of the many Thrones has delivered. It was a perfect storm of factors: a silent, implacable, and one-dimensional villain, the plot armor that kept so many major characters alive to the end, or the dark and occasionally incoherent cinematography.
The show and its characters took a respite this week in the calm before the White Walker storm. Your enjoyment will depend on how much you like the show’s handling of its character reunions in lieu of action or plot momentum.
Overall, a solid return to Westeros: satisfyingly speedy continuations to the remaining plots matched with the show’s less-than-subtle dialogue and messy character motivations.
