Game of Thrones season 8 episode 3 recap: It is the living vs the dead at Winterfell

Dolorous Edd speaks to Samwell Tarly, who has finally accumulated the courage to arrive at the battle, “Oh for f***’s sake — you took your time.” Ghost is there too!

Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen are with the dragons and standing on an outcrop overlooking the battlefield and Winterfell.

A lone horserider arrives. It is not the Night King, just Melisandre. She asks Jorah Mormont to tell them to lift their swords. She makes the swords burst with flames. The fire is going to come in handy while fighting the wights.

Davos Seaworth is after Melisandre to obviously kill her for making Shireen Baratheon burn at the stake. “There is no need to execute me, Ser Davos. I will be dead before the dawn,” she tells him when he catches up with her.

The battle begins. An army of the living — the Dothraki led by Jorah Mormont — strikes the army of the dead… and comes back with one horse and a few soldiers including Jorah. This is huge.

The wights arrive like the mad horde of zombies they are and face the Unsullied. The other armies also engage with the wights, who are just too many. Brienne of Tarth asks the soldiers under her army too stand their ground.

Then Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen are there in the air with the dragons, raining fire onto the wights. As Jon approaches the White Walkers, a wave of storm strikes him, like the one we saw in the Hardhome episode. He vanishes?

Arya Stark asks Sansa Stark to go into the crypts. In the Godswood, Theon Greyjoy and his Ironmen wait for the Night King with Bran Stark. It is getting colder.

Dolorous Edd saves Samwell Tarly from dying, but dies himself. Now his watch has ended.

So Jon Snow is alive, still on Rhaegal and accidentally collides with Daenerys Targaryen on Drogon. Back on the battlefield, there are shouts of “Fall back!”

Arya Stark saves the Hound by shooting a wight with flaming arrow. When everybody is inside, the plan is to light up the trenches so the undead won’t get in. When the arrows do not do the trick, Melisandre does it.

In the crypts, Tyrion Lannister wants to go up to see what is happening until Sansa Stark tells him. “Witty remarks won’t make a difference.”

Bran Stark wargs into a raven and flies out into the battlefield to find the Night King. The leader of the White Walkers does his hand trick, so the wights just jump into the fire until it is extinguished.

Jon Snow sees the Night King and approaches to engage. The wights are overwhelming the living. Even dragonglass and Valyrian steel can do only so much against such numbers.

Lyanna Mormont dies while fighting valiantly.

Arya Stark shows incredible skill and fights multiple wights at once with ease. And then after a while, with not as much ease. She is saved by Beric Dondarrion who sacrifices himself.

Melisandre is there too. “What do we say to the god of death?” she asks Arya, echoing her old dancing master, Syrio Forel. “Not today,” Arya replies.

As the wights arrive at the Godswood, Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen fight the Night King. Jon falls off his dragon. Daenerys manages to make Drogon launch a wave of fire at the Night King, who dodges and before he could spear Drogon, Daenerys flees.

The Night King reanimates everybody who has thus far been killed in the battle. Oh, and yes, in the crypts the long-dead Starks, as many theorised, also rise up as soldiers of the Night King’s army.

The Night King enters the Godswood like he owns it. Theon Greyjoy who has fought off every single wight that dared to attack Bran Stark dies. Bran must be sad but shows no emotion.

The Night King is about to kill Bran, when Arya Stark stabs him with her Valyrian steel dagger, and he dies. The Night King is dead. Really, really dead. We did not see this coming.

Melisandre is seemingly escaping, and Davos Seaworth follows her. She removes her magic necklace, and transforms into her real age. And dies.