“Sunday night’s episode of Game of Thrones was…intense and epic,” fantasy writer Ricardo Alexanders told reporter. “It could easily be the best episode of any TV shows that I've ever seen, till the last few moments.”
“I don’t think the ending is quite anticlimax,” he commented. “I just wanted a little more from Mr. Miguel Sapochnik (the director of the episode) after one hour twenty-two minute.”
To Ricardo, the most disappointing part of the episode started from the moment right before the Night King was turned into a thousand pieces of ice by Arya’s Valyrian steel dagger. Although he was anticipating a duel between Jon and the Night King from the get-go, Ricardo was perfectly happy to see Arya leaping through the darkness and saved humanity. However, he has a problem with the ending: “It is too uncharacteristic of the GOT’s ultimate villain!”
Ricardo reminded the reporter that the Night King can raise the dead, spear a dragon, and even sees glimpses of the future. Not to mention that he shrugged off 20 seconds of dragon fire moments ago! However, when he grabbed Arya by the throat, the almighty villain just held Arya’s dagger at bay for no apparent reason. Moreover, in the whole un-creation of Night King, Bran did nothing but sat there watching.
“After 69 episodes of building-up,” commented Ricardo, “the Night King has become such an important character of the story that one of the Starks needs to scarify in order to un-create him.” Then, he laid out his tweak for the ending of “The Long Night”:
After Theon’s suicide run in the Godswood, the Night King reaches for his sword to kill Bran. Suddenly, he senses something flying at him. He turns around and grabs Arya by her throat with one hand. Arya cannot make any move with her dagger as the Night King is holding her left hand with his right. Seeing his sister in trouble, Bran immediately wargs back to his first meeting with the Night King (Season 6 Episode 6), in which the Night King somehow senses Bran’s presence and grabs his arm. This time, however, Bran does not scream, does not try to get away. Instead, he fights back and disturbs the past like what he has done to young Hodor. In the present, the Night King’s right hand suddenly loses his grip on his assassin. Arya drops her Valyrian steel dagger, catches it with her lower hand, and plunges it forward. After the Night King shatters into pieces, blood comes out of Bran’s eyes and the last Three-Eyed Raven never wakes up again.
This Bostonian writer insisted that this alternate ending could have made “The Long Night” the best episode in the history of small screen.
Ricardo Alexanders is the author of Bollywood Invasion and The Last Resistance: Dragon Tomb. He lives in Massachusetts, enjoys music, and loves to write time-travel stories that blend fantasy, science, and real history. His full interview regarding Game of Thrones Season 8 Episode 3 is available on his website.
Media Enquiries: visit www.ricardoalexanders.com for contact details, review copies, photos, and an author bio.
