As with all of this season, although we are trying to keep this from a detailed discussion, there are some spoilers in the review below; you continue at your own risk.

 

Night and the army of the dead descend on Winterfell, as its defenders wonder if they will ever see another dawn.

More than the other two episodes so far, it is incredibly difficult to talk about this episode in anything but the most general of terms without giving away spoilers, and this is one that you definitely want to see with your own eyes. At times it recalls the breathlessness and claustrophobia of the Battle of the Bastards, at others the running action and surprises of the Blackwater, but what it never is, for one solitary moment, is dull.

Having wound us to breaking point with expectation in its opening instalments, the show finally lavishes one of those hour and a half extravaganzas upon us, and yes, it was absolutely worth the wait. More old faces return in unexpected ways, the undead hordes descend on the living in an unending wave, there’s action, adventure, moments of intense tension and terror and an inescapable feeling that our heroes may well have bitten off far more than they can easily chew here.

In fact, if I have a complaint (and I do) it’s one that has dogged this season to date but is particularly frustrating here – I know that the night is dark and full of terrors, but must the show be so dark and full of things I just can’t see? Fair enough, things are taking place at night, but there are so many action scenes and battles taking place in almost indecipherable gloom here that it really has become an issue I can no longer ignore. Even with everything on my television pushed to maximum brightness, this issue kept repeating. It’s not every minute, and it doesn’t make the episode unwatchable, but it does often frustrate.

If you can overlook this irritation (or simply have a better setup than mine for watching), this episode has literally everything you could possibly have asked for. I refuse to go into any sort of detail until everyone has had a chance to see it, but this easily shoots straight into the top five episodes of all time for all the action, shocks and thrills it provides.

Verdict: It’ll need more than one watch to take it all in, if you can bear it. Powerful, surprising and tense. 10/10

Greg D. Smith