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‘Thrones’ cheats fans with sparse death toll

- Kelly Lawler Columnist USA TODAY

Kelly Lawler: Writers’ refusal to kill off major characters hurts the series

Spoiler alert! The following contains plot details from Season 8, Episode 3 of “Game of Thrones,” “The Long Night.”

“Game of Thrones” has lost its nerve.

How else do you explain why, in Sunday’s big Battle of Winterfell episode – hyped by the actors and creators as the biggest “Thrones” battle sequence and a fight in which the very idea of living was on the line – not a single major character died?

When the battle was said and done and Arya had saved the day, the death count wasn’t particular­ly high: Theon (Alfie Allen), Melisandre (Carice van Houten), Lyanna (Bella Ramsey), Beric (Richard Dormer), Dolorous Edd (Ben Crompton) and Jorah (Iain Glen) all perished. That’s it.

Sure, in nearly any other series, the deaths of six characters in one episode would be a massacre. But “Thrones” isn’t any other show. Over seven seasons of blood and heartbreak, it has developed a reputation for killing. And not only were these deaths few, they also were relatively minor.

As adorable as Lyanna was, and as long as Theon and Jorah had been on the show, it’s impossible to call any of these deaths major or shocking. Theon and Jorah’s arcs naturally ended here. Dolorous Edd and Beric were side characters who never got enough screen time to create any emotional investment. Lyanna was endlessly fun, but she has been around for only so long.

“Thrones” built its reputation and its status as a phenomenon on the idea that anyone could die, anywhere, anytime.

We all know the stats: The series killed off its protagonis­t and biggest star, Ned Stark (Sean Bean), in its first season, stabbed a contender for the Iron Throne in Season 2, ruined wed

dings for everyone in Season 3, crushed a new hero in Season 4, burned a little girl at the stake in Season 5 and blew up a church in Season 6.

But since then, “Thrones” has kept deaths – especially of headlining characters with fan followings – to a minimum. And even when characters die, it doesn’t feel like a “Thrones” demise. Last season’s most notable casualty was Littlefing­er (Aiden Gillen), a comically staged moment that amounted to fan service. That continued Sunday. The series that killed off Ned Stark after he gave up his honor would never have let Lyanna Mormont get in that last blow against the giant before she fell. Her death would have been cold, unfair and instantane­ous.

The slim body count from “The Long Night” presents problems for “Thrones” as it heads into its final three episodes. Onone hand, it’s almost laughable that all the good guys we care about survived while a horde of Dothraki was nearly

wiped out (a poor decision in regard to the racial politics of the show). Despite its fantasy genre, “Thrones” has strived for some kind of realism in its world building: There’s magic, but rules still apply. Battles usually yield casualties. And now they don’t.

The bigger problem is that the writers’ hesitance to unleash a bloodbath makes “Thrones” worse. It’s not just

that viewers expect death on “Thrones.” Part of the reason the series employed this narrative device so many times is that it made better stories, created tension and anticipati­on, rewrote the rules and put characters on paths the audience didn’t expect. Death didn’t just make “Thrones” popular; all those murders made it good.

It’s easy to see how Sunday’s episode suffered because writers were unwilling to let anyone important go. The battle lacked emotional stakes, because it never seemed as if anyone was really in danger. Had Jon (Kit Harington), Dany (Emilia Clarke), Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) or any other marquee name fallen early on, the rest of the 85 minutes would have been all the better for it. Even if someone big had died at the end, it would have set up the final three episodes for greater success. How are we supposed to take Cersei and her Golden Company as a real threat when everyone and their brother survived an army of vicious frozen zombies?

“Thrones” is a huge and sprawling series known for its leisurely pace, but as it sprints toward the May 19 finale, the writers have let loose a host of contradict­ions. Traveling across Westeros once took seasons of storytelli­ng, but now it’s a quick jaunt offscreen between episodes. Dany spent six seasons in Essos, but now that entire continent is forgotten. Anyone can die, but so close to the end, the writers don’t want to give up their best characters.

“Thrones” may be done killing its faves, but it might just kill its legacy.

 ?? HBO ?? Arya (Maisie Williams) can’t save Beric (Richard Dormer).
HBO Arya (Maisie Williams) can’t save Beric (Richard Dormer).
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 ?? HELEN SLOAN/HBO ?? Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) mourns her fallen protector, Jorah Mormont (Iain Glen) in “The Long Night” episode of “Game of Thrones.”
HELEN SLOAN/HBO Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) mourns her fallen protector, Jorah Mormont (Iain Glen) in “The Long Night” episode of “Game of Thrones.”

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