3 major reasons why fans are dissatisfied with the Battle of Winterfell

Iain Glen as Jorah Mormont and Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen. Photo: Helen Sloan/HBO

Part Two: Plot Armor

The second biggest complaint I had (and I am not alone based on fan reaction) was the lack of intrinsic characters’ deaths. Again, I do not want to complain too much about the tactical decisions that were made for the battle or write a traditional review of the episode, but they pulled so many punches I lost count. All of the main characters were in front of the infantry when the first wave of the dead hit, and I thought we lost them all immediately.

It was more of an inescapable ocean of zombies than an opposing army, and I was prepared to check Brienne, Jaime, Podrick, Samwell, and anyone else who was in the field off my list immediately. It is a sad sentiment that I would have actually preferred that. I do not think a threat can get any greater than the literal embodiment of death marching to your front gate, and you would think defeating sure and utter annihilation to all of humanity would cost a bit more, especially with how well they captured the pure scale of the army of the dead.

This is especially true because of the way character arcs closed in episode 2. Brienne finally received the recognition of knighthood, after fighting her whole life against the gender constructs that kept her from it. Her arc is closed and it seemed she had earned a very worthy death.

The same could be said of Grey Worm. He and Missandei make a plan to run away together after the war. If that is not a foreshadowing of his death than I do not know what is. Did I want them to die going in to the episode? No, of course not, but I was prepared for it to happen. I certainly never thought that after this most recent episode, I would have hoped they did.

After a certain point, seeing all of these beloved characters saved at the last possible second, over and over again, only leads one to stop believing they are in danger in the first place. The amount of times Jaime, Brienne, and Sam were knocked down or overcome by wights, then saved in a last ditch effort was enough to cause most of the suspense to grow stale.