The Battle of the Bastards was everything I hoped it would be and more. It was an incredible display. The expectations were high when HBO submitted it for 5 Emmy's (in writing, directing, editing, visual effects, sound mixing and hairstyling/makeup). The buildup was there. And it blew the doors off the hinges. It was epic, there is no other way to put it. I mean, as despicable as Ramsay Bolton is, his battlefield genius was showing at the beginning. Using the flaming flayed men as both intimidation and as distance markers, with the the fire showing which way the wind was blowing, for his archers was amazing. The cinematography was astounding. Better than most movies, definitely rivals Saving Private Ryan. It was shot so beautifully (a little more on that later). And yet, I've seen so many complaints about it. So I must offer counterpoints for the perpetually underwhelmed haters on the Internet.
"Why Didn't Rickon just Zig-Zag?"
Look, I was just like the rest of the Internet. "Rickon, avoid the arrows! Don't run in a straight line!" Here's the thing, when you just take a second to think about it, it makes sense. He's a young boy, 6 years old at the start of the show. He's been forced out of his ancestral home, on the run and away from his family for years. He's captured and brought to his enemy, a man who is in power as a result of the attempted extinction of the Stark name. He was locked in a cell, in the dark and cold, likely not fed well and likely tortured, whether physically or mentally or both, by the most sadistic man in the universe. He's brought out onto a battlefield and set "free", told the faster he can run to his brother and sister on the other side of the field, the faster he can see them and be "safe". Given all the circumstances (age, mental state, situation) I think its understandable that Rickon was not thinking clearly or rationally, and as a result he ran in a straight line. Besides, his fate was always to die. Sansa mentioned it in the episode. Rickon posed a threat to Ramsay's claim of Winterfell since he was believed to be the last surviving Stark male. Rickon was always going to die because of that reason. Outside of that, there's speculation that when Jon and Sansa go to bury him in the Winterfell crypts, there will be a clue as to Jon's parents, possibly in conjunction with a Bran Weirwood.net flashback to the end of the Tower of Joy (the Young Ned actor is going to appear in the finale). Rickon was destined to die for multiple reasons, and the circumstances were fitting.
"Jon Got Played"
To continue on Rickon, Jon's youngest brother was just killed in a pretty cruel way right in front of his eyes. No one said Jon was emotionless. If he can save Rickon, that's great. If not, what's the worst that will happen? Jon dies? He's fine with that, as evidenced by his conversation with Melisandre. He may have promised to protect Sansa but knows if he fell she would kill herself as to not be taken by Ramsay again. When he charged towards the Bolton army after Rickon was killed, Ramsay was trying to make it so he was killed in the arrow volley. By running forward, Jon showed he was practically suicidal. Did he play into Ramsay's hand? Yeah. Was it all for nothing? No. He was overcome by his brother's death and does not fear death anymore.
It did allow for this:
The Masters Thought They Had The Upper Hand"
Very simple. Last time they were in Meereen, there was Dany. No Dany also means no Drogon, and the other dragons are supposedly chained up (they are unaware Tyrion unchained them). No Dany/dragons=easy target for their fleets. Next.
"Sansa Didn't Say Anything About Littlefinger"
A lot of talk about this. If she had just told Jon about the Knights of the Vale coming, he could have just waited for them to arrive. Well, if Ramsay knew about a massive army joining Jon, he would have stayed in Winterfell, one of the best defended castles in the land. Sansa also didn't know if Littlefinger would be coming. They didn't have text messages back then. She had no way of knowing if he would come after she told him off. Getting the troops hopes up with the idea of reinforcements and having them no-show would have killed any morale there was in camp. There's also the factor that Jon may not want to trust Littlefinger, or be in debt to him. He's a dangerous man, that Petyr Baelish.
"The Crush Scene Was Pointless"
We knew Jon wasn't dying. He wouldn't be revived in episode two just to die in episode nine. But it added an emotional element. Being trampled by his own men as they panic and try to escape death added a realism to it. The Wildlings and Stark allies, for as tough as they may appear, are still human and get scared. The mad rush was like an instance of a fire and everyone trie stop get out the door at the same time, just a disorderly scramble to save your own life. At first I thought it was cool. Then, the longer it went on and the less sunlight you could see from Jon's POV, the more my chest started to tighten up thinking about that situation. Again, that realism and emotion brought a whole new feeling to the battle.
Maybe the most impressive thing about the scene was it was entirely ad-libbed by the director, Miguel Sapochnik. From EW.com:
One evening I got home and I kind of knew we couldn’t finish in the time we had left so I wrote a long email to David and Dan and the other producers to suggest an alternative that I thought we could achieve in the remaining time, but that would mean going “off book” for three days. That is to say, we’d be shooting without a script. I finished the email and made a cup of tea (no whisky in the house) then waited for the response, which I fully expected to be a public chastisement and general reaming for even suggesting that (Dan and David like their scripts executed the way they wrote them, and with good reason).
It was late already and if were going to do this we needed to employ this idea first thing the next day. But I couldn’t move forward without their consent and they were in L.A. at the time. I hadn’t even worked exactly out how I’d do it, I just knew we need a Plan B.
Anyway, not 15 minutes later, I get a ping on the email and David and Dan have replied. They said it sucked not to be able to finish as scripted but they also understood the crunch we were in and that they trusted me and to have at it.
I think that this section of the fight — in which Jon is almost buried alive by a stampede of panicking wildings — turned out as one of my favorite little moments in the sequence. No VFX, no fighting, just Kit giving a stellar performance and a crazy top shot as he pushes his way back out (we affectionately called it the “rebirthing” shot). The other reason I liked it is because of what it meant to be allowed to follow my gut and go for it. That kind of trust you can’t buy and it felt like a privilege to have been given that kind of support to go into unchartered territory by the producers in such a high stakes game.
Amazing work all around. The re-birthing scene in question, in comparison with Dany's from when she freed Meereen.
"There's A Lack Of Unpredictability Now"
That's bound to happen as any show nears it's end. With only 13 episodes in the seventh and eighth seasons combined, it's down to the wire. GRRM's outline of the original plot points also tells us there are five characters who are basically untouchable (SPOILERS BELOW)
Jon, Arya, Bran, Dany and Tyrion. Not sure if Sansa would be added later. Jon, Dany and Bran all definitely have important plotlines. Arya's story isn't done yet either, as she still has to finish her list with her new skills and meet Melisandre again. Tyron has to aid Dany in ruling a foreign place that he know very well. He didn't quite understand Meereen and the people. He understands the people of Westeros very well. I still think we can get some shocking moments and deaths (maybe Brienne, or Bronn, or Jaime). But the doing is known and the show is working towards it.
I would be remiss if I didn't post some great GIFs and images this episode produced, aside for the ones I already have in here.
Massive Dragon
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Behind the scenes look at the making of the Battle of the Bastards
The Wolves Have Come Again
PS-Pour one out for Wun WUn, the last of the Giants. Dude went out with a body full of arrows and lances. They don't win that fight without him. RIP in Peace big guy.
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