I like GoT S8E3

There.
I said it.
Many people these days are very vocal about episode 3 of the last season of Game of Thrones and act as if it's something between treason and fraud.
The battle against the White Walker has been foreshadowed for a long time now. As a matter of fact, we knew that this must be coming since the first scenes of the first episode of the first season. And many feel that this episode did not give all that buildup justice.
I disagree.
I liked the episode.
And I will tell you why, but first let me defend the episode against criticism I heard.

1. The military "strategy" and the tactics were bullshit

Yes.

That's correct.

The warfare conducted by the living against the army of the Night King was the most ill-planned, ill-advised and ill-executed military campaign in the whole history of Game of Thrones.

"Er... Jens? You lost me... I thought you were trying to defend the episode against criticism - why are you agreeing with us on this?"

Simple.

The warfare may be bad, but that doesn't mean the episode was.

And: I expected the warfare to be horrible.

"You expected that?!?"

Yes.

Let me explain.

Name a character in the whole series of Game of Thrones who was an accomplished military commander.

Tywin Lannister was one. He understood warfare, he understood tactics and, most importantly, he understood power. You may not have liked him as a person and I wouldn't blame you, although him sending King Joffrey to his room was one of my favourite scenes. But you have to admit that he was a good commander.

Only one problem: he's dead.

Stannis Baratheon was another one. He really delivered a nice display of his qualities as a military commander.

But... he's dead as well.

Now think of all the people who were in Winterfell in this past episode. And you will notice that not a single one is a skilled military commander.

Not. A. Single. One.

Let's start with Daenerys. For a long time, she was shown as the underdog in the Game of Thrones, the one who will teach all of them what power the oppressed can bring to the table once they lay off their chains. You may be mistaken for thinking that she would make a good military commander, but if you ponder a little longer, you will see that she never actually had to engage in real warfare in Westeros before. All she did across the ocean was mostly intrigue, diplomacy and parlour tricks like commanding a dragon or letting them set fire to ships.

But that is not military strategy. That is having powerful pets. Even the times we see her on her dragons, she shows very little understanding of real military strategy and tactics, failing to use them more effectively. This is illustrated quite brilliantly when the people she tried to support, the Unsullied, had to set fire to the trenches to guide her back to safety. She didn't know what she's doing and by proxy, Jon doesn't.

Her advisers: Thyrion is intelligent, he's very good with words, and he knows his way around intrigue and diplomacy. But he's not a military strategist. That's simply not his field of expertise.

Same holds true for Varys.

Jorah? He's a fighter, a warrior. Not a commander. Not even close.

Sansa? Life has been tough to her and forged her heart. But that doesn't make you a good strategist. Again, she was never prepared for this. Remember? She used to learn stitching instead of how to fight.

Arya? The other way round. The only thing she can IS fight - covertly. But we'll get to that later. For now: Arya is an assassin, not a soldier. And the whole episode makes the difference between the two very clear.

Long story short: why does everyone expect a good military strategy when all the great strategist are already dead? Just because the Lady of Mormont is still impressive for her age?

2. It was so gritty and dark

Yeah. They call it "war". That's what war is. Gritty and dark.

3. All Bran was doing was just sitting there, brooding

No. He wasn't brooding. He was warging. He was warging ravens. Remember that ravens are for Westeros what owls are for Harry Potter - they bring messages. And I think with that he saved everyone's arse. See below.

4. The assassination of the Night Walker was so quick and lackluster

It was anything but. It was actually quite cleverly done.

Remember when I said that Arya is an assassin and not a warrior? It took Melisandre to remind her of that. Arya is not good on the battlefield and she had bullshitted herself for two and a half episodes to think that she was - just because she knows how to kill a man.

Melisandre reminded her of the important difference - assassins kill from the shadows, when you least expect it. And that's what she did, probably using the "blue eyes" of a white walker to become invisible.

Which is one of the things I like, because (now we're getting to the things I really like):

#1 One of the central themes of Game of Thrones is finally seen as vital for everyone's survival

And that theme is: "What is power?"

All the important main characters in Winterfell has some kind of power. And survival or doom depend on whether they really understand what that power is and how it works.

Daenerys, for example, has not yet understood that she only has power because there are people who believe in her. Jorah adores her, Thyrion respects her, for the Unsullied she's the Khaleesi and the breaker of chains. But even her closest allies there are shivering in the cold, yearning to be back in their lands where it's considerably warmer.

And what does Daenerys do? Fly around with Jon without a care in the world, without instilling hopes and dreams. The Daenerys of three seasons ago would have heard the doubts and would have had some inspiring words - some of them maybe written by Thyrion, but nobody would care.

This Daenerys now is only interested in people who bend the knee - introducing a new kind of chain. And with that, her days are already numbered. Dragons be damned.

The battle is won when Arya finally remembers what her powers are. She's not destined to be on the same level as Sansa - or to stand by her side. She was always meant to be an assassin. And with that she saves the day.

The list goes on. But if you see it from this angle, you will find many interesting scenes and dialogues, hinting at that.

#2 As much as we hate to admit it, Cersei's move was rather clever

Did Cersei want the White Walkers to overrun King's Landing? No, of course not. But Cersei knew what a pathetic mess would occur in Winterfell. And afterwards, it would be easy to finally bring the North under her crown and to get rid of the Dragonlady. 

And: Cersei comes after her father a lot more than we give her credit for.

She's a clever strategist and what she lacks in knowledge about military warfare - well, that's what advisers are for.

#3 Now the playing field is open

You may have been mistaken to think that your hero, lacking even the most basic military knowledge, is exempt from dying - simply because you like him so much. Now it's apparent that everything is open again. We simply do not know how it will end - and that's good.