Finals Comparison – Avengers: Game of Thrones Winterfell Battle

By Tom Power

Warning: Spoilers will follow for Avengers: Endgame and Game of Thrones: "The Long Night".

Avengers: Endgame and the big episode of Winterfell's The Battle Night, "The Long Night," had a lot to live on. Expectations were high as to how these cultural phenomena could put an end to long scenarios in the making. The pressure on each of them to make appropriate conclusions to the Infinity saga and the threatening threat of Night King, respectively, meant that we risked being overwhelmed by their denouements.

And now, with Endgame and "The Long Night" in the wild, you have to ask yourself the following question: have these long-awaited stories yielded the expected results over the long-running plot? Or did not they justify the hype that surrounded them?

End (game) of the line

Anticipation levels for Endgame had already reached feverish highs several weeks before its release. Like everyone else, I had spent countless hours scrupulously scrutinizing each frame of his trailers and reading far too much in the comments of actors and directors.

The possibility that Endgame would not succeed on his eleven-year long trip was extremely high. The previous 21 films had been founded so much that the slightest frustration would have been frustrating. The fact that Endgame has followed the critically acclaimed Infinity War has also increased the weight of his shoulders.

In the end, Endgame was a critical and commercial success. Anyone who has been following the MCU since 2008 may have bought a ticket for the final chapter of the Infinity Saga, but the film has happily been superbly written, interpreted and made – a truly satisfying conclusion.

It's a good thing too. If Endgame had failed to deliver the perfect climax to Infinity War's cliffhanger, we might have been less prepared for future Marvel movies on the big screen. Like so many MCU movies before that, Endgame delivered the hype. The huge third-act battle and the fact that most of the story's topics have been so well treated in the film indicate that Marvel can start a new saga once the dust has settled and do it justice with a solid beginning, middle and end.

The film also brought down some of the most iconic MCU heroes. Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor needed proper endings for their story – stories that each included three solo films as well as appearances in Avengers movies – which would give them the end each character deserved. Endgame's emotional and appropriate end gave these heroes the shipments they deserved, whether through sacrifice, selfish parity for the first time in their lives, or the abdication of the throne to pursue other adventures. The bow of each character was the perfect way to close their stories for the moment.

In doing so, the film guarantees the new heroes of the franchise the ambition to become the most powerful heroes of the Earth. Spider-Man, Captain Marvel and Black Panther will all be part of the MCU projects. Dr. Strange and the Guardians of the Galaxy will also play a leading role. Endgame gave them all their time to shine in his third act, proving that the Earth will remain protected for a while.

The long difficult situation

The shadow of the king of the night hangs long on the heroes of Game of Thrones. The very first scene of the very first episode of Game of Thrones involved the terror of the White Walkers. The living incarnation of death itself, the march of the king and his army, as well as the inevitable attack of Winterfell, has been erected as the most ambitious moment in the history of the series.

The gigantic battle between these two factions was one of the best television productions ever seen. The scale of the fight itself, coupled with the tireless efforts of the cast and crew to make this chapter the defining moment of the series to date, has rightly drawn praise for its tension, its design, his score and his characters.

And yet, there was something anticlimatic in the way "The Long Night" unfolded. Showrunners David Benioff and D.B Weiss admitted, after the episode, that they knew that Arya would end the reign of terror of the King of Darkness three years ago. How did Arya make this super-heroic leap? Could the Night King lieutenants not notice that she was crawling on them? And why is the king's own weapon of nights not used in case someone tries to stop him from killing Bran?

But more specifically, the decision to overthrow the villain in the middle of last season has provoked negative reactions from those who hoped to have seen more White Walkers. For a threat supposed to bring death and destruction to all who were in their way, they were slaughtered far too easily.

It was supposed to be the most serious threat to which the living have ever been confronted. The presence of this army of warriors was to bring Westeros' warring houses to put aside their differences, to regroup and, in Jaime's own words, to "fight for life" to protect their world. Instead, we got a Hollywood style that, even though life was defeated, destroyed the threat of Thrones' ultimate threat. It deserved better, and so did we.

The desire to protect most key players in Thrones is another sore point. Certainly, the deaths of Ser Jorah and Theon Greyjoy have been significant. They offered redemption to the two characters after their respective betrayals of Daenerys and Starks. In the end, Thrones is proud to kill the main members of the cast as it sees fit. Imagine how horrible it would have been to see Tyrion, Daenerys or Arya die.

Without death, Thrones would have lost one of its most shocking sales pitches, which does not hold water. Maybe the finale will make up for that …

Deliver on the hype

From a cultural point of view, the release of Avengers: Endgame and "The Long Night" the same weekend is something we may never be able to witness again. The hype generated by these two titans was astounding, but only one really managed to give his global fans what he wanted.

Endgame has completed over ten years of work with the right mix of fan service, field rewards and emotional resonance that has earned him the accolades he deserves. It was an end worthy of the previous events that preceded the release of Iron Man in 2008.

"The Long Night" certainly provided a battle that the fans were looking forward to, but it did not have the same success. There was a lot about the episode, but it also left a bitter taste in the mouth for some. It is possible that, without the series being definitely stopped, the general role of "The Long Night" in Game of Thrones has not yet been revealed. For the moment, we hope that a more satisfactory conclusion of the franchise will be in sight when the series ends in three weeks.

To learn more about Avengers: Endgame, be sure to take our exam, how he can organize this classic Marvel villain for phase 4, all the end-game Easter eggs we've taken, our biggest question about Black Widow, what's next for distribution, a recap the dead and the survivors, and our breakup. Or try to understand Avengers: the journey back in time Endgame or think about our most important questions (and some answers).

To learn more about Game of Thrones, check out an opinion on why the last episode was a disappointment, why the threat of White Walkers may not be completely part, and how and where you can watch streaming the latest episodes of the global phenomenon of HBO.