GoT (don't come in if your worried about spoilers obv)

[Orc]

Wow

GOAT episode for sure

Agree the library scene was tense

I think the red milf telling arya she was destined to kill blue eyes made it clear she would kill the NK

Maybe would have been better if she died it was a little too easy imo and she’s my fav character. Fuck it

[Sharp]

Uh-oh, I feel like you've researched medieval warfare

What do you think about the tactics used by thr good guys? Specifically, the formation of calvary running off to doom-> infantry-> caltrops - > seige weapons used once and never again really broke the immersion for me

Feeling like we got Helm's Deep reloaded but replaced the logic with eye candy... And that's a battle where 'throw the dwarf' was a viable tactic
@bleak Danny's two dragons are in the episode 4 preview and I'm pretty sure everything the nk turned went with him (dragon included)

[Orc]

sharp I feel like that’s being really finicky bro

Any tactical irregularities can be offset by the fact they were fighting death imo

But YO the Dothraki riding to their doom in literally 20 seconds was terrifying

[Destroyer]

YES
Dothraki went out so fast
Unsullied kept it real tho

[Sharp]

I'm supposed to be invested in this battle as mankind's last stand against death when the strategies are just aimed a cinematic experience?

Well directed, not sold on the writing. Now that I'm over watching it, I'm not a huge fan. Battle of the bastards had an unlikely scenario that had a logical opening (the thing with Rickon) that didn't kill immersion with 'why is that happening'

[Destroyer]

Winter fell at Winterfell
Pretty apropos, no?

[Diode]

Originally Posted by Destroyer

YES
Dothraki went out so fast
Unsullied kept it real tho

horses cost an ungodly amount of budget money

[Orc]

Originally Posted by Sharp.

I'm supposed to be invested in this battle as mankind's last stand against death when the strategies are just aimed a cinematic experience?

Well directed, not sold on the writing. Now that I'm over watching it, I'm not a huge fan. Battle of the bastards had an unlikely scenario that had a logical opening (the thing with Rickon) that didn't kill immersion with 'why is that happening'

Jesus Christ get this man a whiskey

[Sharp]

Originally Posted by ORC

Jesus Christ get this man a whiskey

See, I drank while watching and got more nitpicky

You don't think this a slight departure from the norm in show that's been so heady with politics/betrayal/lore? Feels more to me like fanservice for the TV audience now that they've split from the books

[BodySnatcher]

Did Cersei use all the wildfire when she blew Sept of Baelor? If she still sitting on that, I'm scared.

[~RustyGunZ~]

Originally Posted by Sharp.

See, I drank while watching and got more nitpicky

You don't think this a slight departure from the norm in show that's been so heady with politics/betrayal/lore? Feels more to me like fanservice for the TV audience now that they've split from the books

It is a 100% that

Gotta keep the huge fan base invested and only kill fodder characters. God forbid they killed dany or Jon or Arya

[Orc]

Nah fellas I agree with you both 100% on that. Boils down to what uh-oh was saying about the writing being levels below since the show surpassed the books

No way would everyone survive otherwise ie if the books were ahead

It did feel watered down like even Grey Worm survived. Come on now. They killed the OG ranger for no reason too saving Sam smh cliche

But word

[Sharp]

Edd dying was a forgone conclusion. I'm guessing they're keeping the rest around to milk later. since it's more about the visuals than the plot, I'm interested in experiential aspects but it kind of sucks to have all of that build up for a big ol 'YAAAASS GRL' when the first 5 seasons were anything but that

[~RustyGunZ~]

I’m guessing at least one of the brothers gets got

And either Jon or dany by the end

[~RustyGunZ~]

But it’s pretty disappointing that Avengers was less forgiving with its characters than the battle against death lol

[Destroyer]

Your mom is pretty disappointing

[uh-oh]

Originally Posted by Sharp.

Uh-oh, I feel like you've researched medieval warfare

What do you think about the tactics used by thr good guys? Specifically, the formation of calvary running off to doom-> infantry-> caltrops - > seige weapons used once and never again really broke the immersion for me

Feeling like we got Helm's Deep reloaded but replaced the logic with eye candy... And that's a battle where 'throw the dwarf' was a viable tactic
@bleak Danny's two dragons are in the episode 4 preview and I'm pretty sure everything the nk turned went with him (dragon included)

Ehhh it wouldnt have been my plan. My main gripes were the undefended siege engines that werent firing until the charge was already under way. They would be first. Trebuchets raining death. I wouldve had the dothraki on the flanks and had the unsullied actually in phalanx mode in front of the trebuchets. Locked formation shield to shield, when it zoomed out and showed them like 3 feet from eachhother i was like wtf.

But yea in their defense the dothraki are legendary in the open field. But not the show dothraki. Theyre modeled after steppe tribes, scythian/huns/later mongols, but show dothraki dont fight with bows as well. They fight like heavy cavalry, yet have no armor.

So yea, i would have the unsullied and the majority of the infantry holding the center, even have the dothraki around the back so the dead funnel more to the center, trebuchets and arrows raining until contact. And just hammer and anvil both flanks with the dothraki after the main host is engaged. Then have dragons firing into the center of the encirclement

If its over run the trench works good and get everyone ON THE WALLS. There should be no space along that wall. Anyone else manning gates for giant breaches. Also i would employ actual wall defenses. Something as simple as stones to drop on them.

But thats pretty much all that can be done. Once the walls are breached the battle itself is lost. You just gotta hope you kill enough initially to make the defense of the walls feasible

[~RustyGunZ~]

Originally Posted by Destroyer

Your mom is pretty disappointing

Cringe

[uh-oh]

But yea an unsupported night time cavalry charge of unarmoured horsemen into the enemy ranks that you cant even see makes no sense at all.

Also i dunno man cuz theyre dead already so you habe no option of breaking their will to fight which flanking tactics produce.

In actual war, even modern war its wiser to leave a route for the enemy to flee. If you give them no route to flee you harden there resolve. If your surrounded on 3 sides youre fucked, but that 4th side is in the back of your mind. You can turn tail and run.

But they are mindless death. So you would need full on battle of cannae or for my GoT people battle of the bastards encirclement. The problem there is how vastly outnumbered they are. And they aint worried about trampling there own. So its different

In the end im fine with how it went. My main issues were the lack of wall defense, and the unsullied which are basiclly hoplites fighting in loose formation. But literally the only battles ive ever seen done right was the first scene in th hbo show rome. Battle of the bastards was still cinema'd up with the chaos and carnage of unorganized 1 on 1 fights everywhere. It got more realistic when the pikemen arrived tho

[Answer]

There were things I liked and disliked about ep 3.

Pros:

- Arya coming in to kill the NK was dope
- The way lyanna went out was dope (just wish they showed the giant doing more damage first, possibly killing a B-list character like Gendry or Podrick first)
- Beric being brought back to life all those times for the sole purpose of protecting Arya
- Theon getting some balls and going after NK shows character development

Cons:
- Bran is still a worthless piece of trash character. Literally feels useless in every sense and I had figured maybe he would have some significant purpose vs the night king.... he didn't
- Sending all the dothraki out by themselves to get slaughtered was retarded
- The first like 20 mins was all blurry as shit and hard to see much of anything going on. I get that it's supposed to be snowy/blizzarding, but fuck, it was bad quality television
- They really underutilized the conflicts coming from the dead rising in the crypt (everyone knew it was going to happen but they didn't really focus on it much)

Overall, I was kinda disappointed in the episode but the more I think about it the more content I can be with what it was. My biggest disappointment is how unfulfilling it seems that the NK is dead. Pretty much everything Sharp said. Like, I understand that they're trying to build to a bigger crux of fighting against Cersei and possible fighting against each other for the throne - but this was literally the single biggest build-up for most of the original seasons and now it just seems sort of like a side-quest.

But my assumption is that it's gonna be Dany vs Jon at the end of it, and each will have their own dragon. But Dany clearly doesn't have dothraki anymore. Idk, will be interesting to see what happens.

On the topic of military tactics, and assuming that everyone was oblivious to the fact that the NK would raise dead in the crypts - it would've made the most sense for them to have more fighters stationed in the crypt. When you're drastically outnumbered the way they were, the best thing you can do is retreat into a cave or something with only one point of entry, which will limit the number of nightwalkers that can get into the cave at any one given moment. Fighting them in an open field where they can surround you is fucking stupid.