It’s called “Game of Thrones”…
…not “Winter is Coming”.
Episode 3 didn’t disappoint me. On the contrary, it did exactly what the show has always been great at — catching people by surprise… especially when this time, it shouldn’t have.
We should’ve known that this whole battle for survival was never anything more than just an epic side quest. As the official final season hashtag blatantly suggests, the ultimate war will always be #ForTheThrone. Cersei and Dany knew this. Sansa too. They were planning their future as if the Night King was just another obstacle. Which he was.
No, the savior being Arya did not feel abrupt to me. As Melisandre reminded us, this was foreshadowed many seasons ago. And it’s not like the weapon Arya used hadn’t been set up for us. Hell, even the way she killed the Night King is a parallel of her fight scene with Brienne last season.
Arya sneaking up on the other White Walkers is in no way a plothole either. Anyone who thinks it is hasn’t been paying attention. Way back in Season 1/Book 1, Syrio Forel taught her to be “Quiet as a shadow. Light as a feather. Quick as a snake. Calm as still water. Smooth as summer silk. Swift as a deer. Slippery as an eel.” Then throughout her training at the House of Black and White those skills were further honed, especially when her sight was taken away from her. There was a whole damn scene beforehand meant to remind us of all this.
As a servant of the Many-Faced God, Arya knew the Faceless Men philosophy — that death is a present to be bestowed. So there is absolutely nothing far-fetched in Arya giving the supposed “Death Incarnate” the very same gift. She even told Gendry this in her own way.
I understand that a lot of people were emotionally invested in theories like “Bran is the Night King” and “Jon/Dany is Azor Ahai”. But after R + L = J, I’d be really fucking disappointed if this part of the story turned out to be just as predictable.
I’m happy that Arya was assigned the honor of killing the Night King. Someone once called “No One” will forever go down in history as “The Chosen One”. If that is not Poetic Cinema™ then I don’t know what is.