Quote:
Originally Posted by Fish
That's not necessary though, and the plot could make just as much sense approaching it differently and using the castle as the defensive bulwark it's intended to be. Put the soldiers all on the castle walls. Sit a dragon at each corner. Their plan was to lure the NK into the weirwood area. Sending riders away from the castle doesn't help that. It's just a waste that lowers your numbers and provides more dead bodies for the zombie necromancer.
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In Episode 2, it was established that the NK would never get close to WF if the Dragons are stationed there. The NK, if he wanted to, could outlast everyone in Winterfell with that plan. He could sit back, light up a few smokes, and come in when everything was turned to Ash - which made the priority exposing the NK as soon as possible.
They actually did expose him, Jon and Dany unseated him from his Dragon and knocked him to the ground. Dany even spitroasted him and Jon tried to 1v1 him, it didn't work, the NK was immune to dragonfire (no one knew that coming in), and he didn't allow Jon to fight him, he was never going to risk himself to that - he only acted when he felt invulnerable.
I think where I struggle with all the criticism is that even with a team of Miltiades, George Washington, and Robb Stark (a great battle commander), there would have never been any way to "win" this fight. The NK could have starved out Winterfell for days/weeks/years if he wanted, he was only going to show up when he thought all was won and when he was in control. To purposefully expose themselves to the NK was always going to be their best chance to win.