Nova-ardamire-laiqualasse - 𝕹𝖔𝖛𝖆 𝕬𝖗𝖉𝖆𝖒í𝖗ë

The GoT filmmakers made no secret that the Battle of Helm’s Deep was a major inspiration for them when shooting the Battle of Winterfell as it contains many narrative and visual parallels.

The Dothraki and the Unsullied are basically the Elves coming to reinforce and give hope to the deplated Rohan people who have been looking at Elves with distrust for centuries. Well, with one huge difference - multiply the distrust by 1,000, take away Rohan’s gratitude, add unconcealed racism and xenophobia and you get exactly what the Unsullied with the Dothraki do from the Northerners.

In all the other respects, the parallel with the Elves at Helm’s Deep stands. They didn’t have to fight in this war, they could have stayed warm and safe in a faraway land where they would be virtually undefeatable, but they came to defend the North anyway - out of loyalty and love for Dany. There, in the darkness and cold in front of the walls of Winterfell, they are both the first and last defence against the Dead. They are first to fall. They stand their ground and sacrifice their lives protecting the Northerners who are fleeing to Winterfell (while the “loyal” Lord Glover, of a “great” northern house, hides in his keep). Most of them perishes, dying in this hostile land, far away from home.

I read comments stating that basically their only contribution was that they ensured that there were less casualities in the end, but that isn’t true, is it? How can it be when tens of thousands of them were wiped out while they were protecting few thousands? It almost sounds as if the people writing those comments considered the lives of the Dothraki and Unsullied to have less worth than those of the Northerners. If it weren’t for them the Army of the Dead would roll over Winterfell and everyone, including Arya, before the Night King would even get into the Godswood. They are great heroes of the Battle of Winterfell and they contributed greatly to the Night King’s demise and the victory for the living.

The Silmarillion is the history of the War of the Exiled Elves against the Enemy, which all takes place in the North-west of the world (Middle-earth). Several tales of victory and tragedy are caught up in it; but it ends with catastrophe, and the passing of the Ancient World. (J.R.R. Tolkien in Letter 131 to Milton Waldman)