**Spoilers for Sunday’s episode of “Game of Thrones”**
Sunday’s episode of “Game of Thrones” was supposed to be the biggest, baddest battle that has ever been committed to film. For weeks, fans read interviews with cast and crew that were hyping up “The Long Night” as the culmination of a massive storyline that has been building since the first scene of the first episode. We heard that the production of the episode took upwards of 8 months, with 11 weeks of nighttime shooting. But in the end, all fans could talk about was the very, very end, with Arya saving the day and the fact that the entire episode was dark. But not in tone. Literally so dark it was tough to see what was happening.
Nevertheless, in a new interview with TMZ, the episodes cinematographer Fabian Wagner stands by the choices made in the episode and explained that if you think this episode of ‘Thrones’ was too dark, then that’s on you.
Wagner said, “[‘Thrones’] has always been very dark and a very cinematic show.” He added that the ideal conditions to watch the series is in the darkest room possible, allowing for the best results.
That being said, the DP said that “The Long Night” came out exactly as he and the rest of the crew planned. The report says that Wagner planned on the episode being fairly dark, as that’s what the showrunners and director desired. He added that the battle scenes were intended to be intense, claustrophobic and disorienting, as they would be in a more realistic setting.
“We tried to give the viewers and fans a cool episode to watch,” said the cinematographer. “I know it wasn’t too dark because I shot it.”
Long story short, if you’re not watching “Game of Thrones” on the biggest screen possible, in the darkest room you can find, then you’re doing it wrong. So, all those complaints about not being able to see what was happening or having to adjust your TV’s settings is probably more about what the viewer needs than some sort of mistake in the filmmaking.
At least everyone got to see Arya stabbing the Night King and doing what Jon Snow and Dany couldn’t. All hail Arya, Queen of the North!
