‘Game of Thrones’ had its lowest-ranked episode since season five

“Game of Thrones” has been building towards an epic battle between the Night King’s undead forces and the living for several episodes, and really, several seasons, now. But when that battle finally came during season eight, episode three “The Long Night,” which aired Sunday, some viewers were left disappointed.

This post contains spoilers.

The episode was the third lowest-ranking episode of the show ever

The episode earned a 78% on Rotten Tomatoes, which is very low for the show. Seasons one through seven averaged 94% per episode on RT.

The lowest scoring episode was way back in season five. “Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken” earned a 54%, likely because it was the episode that depicted Sansa’s rape — a controversial choice amongst critics.

The only other episode that scored lower than Sunday’s “The Long Night” is the season three episode “The Bear and the Maiden Fair” which scored 77% and was criticized for its slow plot advancement and extended torture scenes between Theon and Ramsay.

Reviews of “The Long Night” criticized the ‘unsatisfying’ end of the White Walker threat

While most viewers can agree that watching Arya take down the Night King made for excellent television, many critics argued that destroying the villain three episodes before the finale could make for a lackluster rest of the season. Zach Kram from The Ringer said the episode was “a strangely unsatisfying conclusion to a storyline that has sustained the show from the very beginning.”

Rolling Stone’s Alan Sepinwall concurred, writing in his review, “If the war with the army of the dead was just meant as misdirection for the real final fight, then the least it could have given us was better spectacle than most of what ‘The Long Night’ had to offer.”

And Daily Telegraph writer Ed Power wrote that he was underwhelmed by what the show delivered. “Is it right to walk away from 82 minutes of Game of Thrones with shrugged shoulders?” he asked.

HBO

Critics weren’t the only ones frustrated by the episode

Fans online complained about the storytelling and the visuals. One of the chief complaints amongst fans on Twitter were that it was hard to actually see the action because the battle took place at night and the scenes didn’t have much lighting.

Many fans were also disappointed that the show didn’t kill many major characters. It seemed almost unbelievable that they nearly all survived.

The show did receive some positive reviews

A 78% rating may seem low for a show like “Game of Thrones,” where it nearly always exceeds expectations. It’s hard to beat a show where 22 of its episodes have a perfect 100% RT score. But it’s worth noting that, for many shows, a 78% is still something to celebrate. It’s well ahead of the 60% marker that denotes when something is critically “fresh” on RT (versus “rotten). “The Long Night” received far more positive reviews than negative ones, with 59 of them being “fresh” and only 17 being “rotten.”

Helen Sloan/HBO

Some of the reviewers that praised the episode included Jeremy Egner from the New York Times who wrote, “Sunday’s final clash was a masterpiece of tension and release, goose bumps and heartbreak, grandiosity and intimacy.” IGN’s Laura Prudom also lauded the episode for “expertly balancing the many character plot threads while building a tangible sense of dread.” Erik Kain from Forbes called it “something truly special.”