After eight long season of build up,
Game of Thrones fans were finally treated to the long-awaited showdown between the White Walkers and those who banded together to save the North (and pretty much all of mankind). While the much-anticipated Battle of Winterfell featured plenty of exciting and intense moments, not everyone was able to enjoy it.
Following the airing of Sunday's episode, "The Long Night," many fans took to social media to voice their complaints that the battle was too dark. Whether or not the darkness was intentional to set a certain mood or perhaps to mask some of the CGI, the result was that many fans struggled to see the action unfolding on screen.
Responding the the incredible frustration, cinematographer Fabian Wagner claimed that any issues fans had with darkness was likely a result of their television setup or HBO's compression.
“A lot of the problem is that a lot of people don’t know how to tune their TVs properly,” Wagner told Wired U.K.
“A lot of people also unfortunately watch it on small iPads, which in no way can do justice to a show like that anyway.”
While some complained that they couldn't make out the details of the battle, Wagner assured,
"Everything we wanted people to see is there." This suggests that while certain parts of the battle may have been cloaked in darkness, the parts viewers were supposed to see and focus on were plenty visible.
“Personally I don’t have to always see what’s going on because it’s more about the emotional impact,” he said, adding that the environment in which you watched the episode may have had an impact.
“Game of Thrones is a cinematic show and therefore you have to watch it like you’re at a cinema: in a darkened room. If you watch a night scene in a brightly-lit room then that won’t help you see the image properly.”
Speaking to
TMZ, the cinematographer also noted that it could have been HBO's compression of the episode that resulted in any possible pixelation and muddy dark colors. Poor visual quality could've also been made worse if viewing the episode on a streaming service with weak connection.
The point is, Wagner is positive that the Battle of Winterfell was shot exactly as intended and desired by the showrunners, and not too dark.
"I know it wasn't too dark because I shot it," he concluded.
Despite the controversy surrounding the lighting
, Game of Thrones Season 8, Episode 3
set a series record with 17.8 million viewers tuning in. The Battle of Winterfell
had some major casualties, and it'll be interesting to see whoever is left from the North recover in time to take on
their next imminent threat: Cersei Lannister. Hopefully that battle will take place during the daytime.