Paul Levinson's Infinite Regress

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George Santayana had irrational faith in reason - I have irrational faith in TV.

Sunday, April 28, 2019

Game of Thrones 8.3: Fighting Death

The great battle came early in the final season of Game of Thrones - 8.3 - and it was stunningly worth the short wait. In real life, you can't beat death - at least, not ultimately - though sometimes your words and works can, like Shakespeare's and John Lennon's. But in high fantasy, complete victory over death, though hard fought and costly, can happen.

It didn't happen for everyone tonight. The saddest deaths were Jorah's and Theon's and Lyanna's. I hope there weren't others that I missed in the flames and the killing frost (I especially hope not Sam's or the direwolf's). The most satisfying was of course the Night King's, epitomizing Shelley's observation that "tis death that's dead". And seeing Arya do it was one of the high points of the series. The best I can understand of how she was able to do it was her own prowess combined with the Night King's fixation on Bran distracted him at a crucial moment. And/or maybe Bran actively helped distract him.

The Night King's death means all of his dead puppets are now dead dead - gone - as well. Most importantly, that includes the blue-spewing dragon. But one of the good dragons - I think - was killed by the Night King's minions, too. So that leaves Daenerys and Jon with just one dragon to share.

And they'll need it in the fight looming ahead with Cersei. The ranks of the legitimate heirs to the Seven Kingdoms have been depleted by the battle tonight. Fewer heroes abound. Even Melisandre and her fiery magic are gone. In a more conventional narrative, the battle with Cersei would have come before the battle with the Night King. Hats off to Game of Thrones for reversing this order, and leaving us wondering tonight how the battle with Cersei could possibly top what we saw on HBO this evening,

See also Game of Thrones 8.1: All Together Now ... Game of Thrones 8.2: Apologies and Memories

And see also Game of Thrones 7.1: Library Redux ... Game of Thrones 7.2: Vikings and Strategies ... Game of Thrones 7.3: Alliances ... Game of Thrones 7.4: Dragon vs. Byzantium ... Game of Thrones 7.5: Reason Breaking Out All Over ... Game of Thrones 7.6: Two to One ... Game of Thrones 7.7: End Wall