Game of Thrones often kept its huge battle sequences for key turning points in the story, and if main characters died, it was always made out to be a big deal. However, one such conflict was so epic and all-consuming that the show saw three beloved characters meet their end in ways that felt drowned out by the general chaos of it all. As such, when the battle is remembered, their deaths tend to come as an afterthought.
Now, a major character death during a battle in Game of Thrones is not a given. "Battle of the Bastards" proves that. Furthermore, some of the most memorable Game of Thrones deaths didn't even happen in battle at all – RIP Ned Stark. That said, if a main character does die in combat, then the balance of action and emotion can result in an especially potent twist. In theory, one of the most famous episodes should have been the perfect example of how this can be done, but it somehow failed.
'The Long Night' was so epic that it eclipsed three main character deaths
Although Game of Thrones season 8 quickly went downhill, its earliest stages were just as great as the rest of the show. Episode 3, "The Long Night," was especially brilliant and is probably still the closest thing we currently have to a Game of Thrones movie. Sure, many TVs need to have their brightness settings adjusted so much of the action can be seen, but that's one of the episode's only objective faults. Everything else, from the cinematography to the narrative weight of the episode, is near-flawless.
In fact, the battle at Winterfell that took up most of the episode's runtime was essentially a victim of its own success. It was so fantastic overall that the visual spectacle that was "The Long Night" failed to imbue the true impact of three major Game of Thrones characters meeting their respective ends. There was certainly an attempt to convey the gravity of these moments, but focusing on them for too long would have broken the momentum of the high-octane action or else hurt "The Long Night" for other reasons.
Starting with perhaps the best attempt to kill off a main character with the appropriate amount of attention was when Alfie Allen's Theon Greyjoy completed his incredible redemption arc by sacrificing himself to delay the Night King getting to Bran (Isaac Hempstead Wright). Theon knew he wouldn't survive his actions, but he committed anyway, and "The Long Night" gave as much attention as it could spare to what should have been a far more substantial moment. Still, it didn't feel enough to conclude an arc consisting of almost 50 appearances.
Similarly, the death of Iain Glen's Jorah Mormont in the defense of his queen also felt like somewhere approaching the right way to end his run on the show. His exit after 53 episodes happened for the right reasons but happened in the midst of so much chaos and bloodshed that it scarcely felt like much more than just a regular foot soldier dying at the edges of a shot.
Finally, Carice van Houten's Lady Melisandre may only have appeared in 29 episodes, but she was incredibly important to the plot at large. Wandering out to die alone in the wake of the battle was, again, fairly logical. The biggest problem is that the fighting itself had been so memorable that Melisandre's end comes across as an afterthought, despite the episode's token attempt to give her a suitable sendoff.
Three more big(ish) Game of Thrones deaths were pushed even further to the background in 'The Long Night'
In such a massive and important battle, just three main character deaths wouldn't have felt sufficient. So, "The Long Battle" did also kill off other named figures in the heat of the action. If they had each died in different contexts, in episodes with far less on which to concentrate, maybe they'd have been more impactful. When trying to keep up with the episode at large as well as processing the deaths of Theon, Jorah, and Melisandre, the other notable deaths feel incredibly minor.
Ben Crompton's Edd Tollett racked up a total of 34 Game of Thrones appearances but only ever felt like he was on the fringes of the story. Still, he had been involved since the season 2 premiere, and so his loss should have been more sorely felt. If anything, it was more impactful seeing his corpse reanimated by the Night King than it was seeing him die in battle.
Richard Dormer's Beric Dondarrion only appeared in 13 episodes, and his final appearance was actually as Beric's remains in the episode after "The Long Night." Still, he was a recurring, named character and had been since season 3. His sacrifice is moved on from with unfair speed. Lastly, Bella Ramsey's Lyanna Mormont (9 episodes) had a brutal death in "The Long Night," which would have been the centerpiece of lesser Game of Thrones installments. Like her fellow fallen comrades, her exit is handled like a throwaway moment.
The unintended message behind how the deaths are handled in 'The Long Night'
While I'm not 100% sure that this relatively breezy approach to killing off six named characters was intentional, I am still fairly certain that the episode probably thought it did a more-than-serviceable job in acknowledging these exits. However, intentional or not, it actually suits "The Long Night" and its central theme surprisingly well. The purpose of the battle is to take down the Night King. If that doesn't happen, then his Army of the Dead will sweep through Westeros and take down everything in its path.
In short, it's a matter of the living vs. the dead. No singular character matters, at least on the side of the living. It's more about the mass survival of those who haven't yet been converted by the Night King. Even if every member of the heroes' forces had died in the conflict, it wouldn't have mattered if the Night King had been stopped in the process. This ends up being baked into the deaths of Theon and the others, as giving them too much attention would have conveyed the false message of their specific importance in that moment. The battle couldn't take a breath, or it could take a dark turn, and so Game of Thrones reflected that in its almost heartless approach to bidding its long-running characters farewell in "The Long Night."
Game of Thrones is streaming now on HBO Max.
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