While not everyone was happy with how it ended, we can all agree that Game of Thrones was responsible for some pretty epic moments over the years. The show continually pushed the envelope for what could be done on television. One of the biggest and most impressive accomplishments from the show’s run was the "Battle of the Bastards."
Coming at the end of the sixth season, this was the long-awaited showdown between Jon Snow and Ramsay Bolton with the fate of Winterfell and the North at stake. The battle made for one of the series' most iconic episodes and one of the most thrilling sequences in television history.
Epic Budget
As a fantasy show, Game of Thrones can be quite costly to produce. But as the show continued to grow in popularity and become one of the most-watched series on television, that budget continued to grow. Clearly, HBO had a lot of faith in the show by the time this episode rolled around.
Not only was "Battle of the Bastards" the most expensive of Game of Thrones episodes to that point, but it was also the most expensive episode in television history. While the entire season was budgeted at $100 million, $30 million was allocated for this episode to ensure it was appropriately massive.
Meereen Battle
By the time Season 6 came, fans had known to expect big things from the ninth episode of the season. Also, given that the title was "Battle of the Bastards", fans were pretty sure they knew what to expect. However, the show threw another surprise at fans when the episode opened with Daenerys in Meereen.
Before we even saw Winterfell, the episode delivered an amazing sequence in which Daenerys, her dragons and the Dothraki army arrive to teach the invaders a lesson. This sequence was kept out of the advertising and episode logline to ensure it would remain a surprise.
Rickon's End
Rickon Stark is sort of the Maggie Simpson of the Stark family. While the other Starks are the main focuses of the show, Rickon is largely forgotten and pushed to the background. Things didn't get much better for the character when he returned in Season 6.
As a captive of Ramsay Bolton, Rickon becomes an unfortunate pawn in Ramsay's mind games, as he is killed in front of Jon Snow. More shockingly, Rickon is dispatched without even getting a single line of dialogue in the season. In fact, we hadn't heard Rickon speak since Season 3.
Familiar Battle Tactics
The final season of the show was criticized for many things, but some fans took particular offense to the fact that Jon Snow was rendered pretty much useless by the end. However, as seen in this episode, he wasn't always a great military mind to begin with.
After foolishly charging into battle, Jon's army is quickly surrounded by Ramsay's army from all sides. This effective move was seen earlier as Ramsay used it to vanquish Stannis Baratheon's army. Since Sansa saw that particular battle, perhaps she saw it coming which is why she held back the Knights of the Vale.
Wall Of Bodies
Though none of the battles in Game of Thrones are particularly pleasant to watch, the Battle of the Bastards is especially brutal. The mayhem and hopelessness of the messy melee are almost overwhelming. There is also the grotesque sight of Jon's army being trapped behind a literal wall of bodies.
Though some criticized this aspect as unrealistic, iit is partially drawn from the real-life Battle of Agincourt between England and France in 1415. In that gruesome battle, the bodies began to pile up so high, they became an obstacle on the battlefield.
In A Crowd
One of the most harrowing moments of the episode comes near the end when Jon is trampled by his own men desperately trying to escape. Jon is suffocating as he fights his way out of the pile of human bodies. We then get that famous overhead shot of Jon gasping for breath surrounded by a sea of people.
Fans were quick to point out that the shot was quite similar to the one from Season 3 when Daenerys is embraced by the people she freed. She is lifted up while similarly being surrounded by a huge crowd. While the show often draws comparisons between Jon and Daenerys, this was a happy accident. The shot in "Battle of the Bastards" was unplanned and used when shooting ran long.
Melisandre's Premonition
Though she eventually proves to be a very big help, Melisandre was rather hit-or-miss with her premonitions for a long time. She of cours, envisioned Stannis as the man who would sit on the Iron Throne and convinced him to kill his own daughter because she has a vision of the Bolton banners falling and Melisandre walking within the walls of Winterfell.
Stannis' attempt to take Winterfell ends badly, but she wasn't totally wrong about the vision. After the battle ends and Jon takes Winterfell, Melisandre enters the castle and sees the Bolton banners being taken down.
Ned's Bones
Jon's victory is obviously bittersweet. Though they defeated Ramsay and won back their ancestral home, Jon's first order of business as Lord of Winterfell is to have Rickon buried. As Rickon's body is brought in, Jon orders it to be taken the crypts to be buried next to Ned.
For fans who have read the book, this comes as a bit of a surprise. Though Tyrion Lannister did indeed have Ned Stark's bones sent to Winterfell as a sign of good faith, the bones go missing en-route. As of the most recent book, his remains have yet to be discovered.
Jon's Last Stand
Apart from the thrilling action sequences, this episode of Game of Thrones is responsible for some of the most amazing shots in the series. The most iconic shot comes after Jon makes his charge into battle and finds himself facing down a charging cavalry...all alone.
The moment is breathtaking as Jon draws his sword and watches the cavalry come closer and closer. Amazingly, the shot was achieved without CGI. Those were real horses charging at Kit Harrington with camera trickery allowing them to seem closer. It was an impressive achievement that resulted in an unforgettable moment.
Reborn
Watching Jon struggle to breathe under all those bodies is one of those moments where you the viewer inadvertently hold your breath in suspense. Coming only a few episodes after he was resurrected, watching Jon fight for his life is a powerful moment.
Though the sequence was a late addition to the episode, it proves to be an essential moment for Jon Snow. Before the battle, he asks Melisandre not to bring him back if he were to die again. However, at this moment we see him almost give up but then decide he wants to live. His efforts to push through the crowd and take that breath indicate him being reborn.