Game of Thrones season 8 cinematographer Fabian Wagner defends 'dark' episode, blames viewers' TV settings

This article contains spoilers from Game of Thrones season 8 episode 3.

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Ever since the highly-anticipated Game of Thrones season 8 episode 3 premiered on 29 April (in India), viewers have flooded the internet with complaints about  how dark the entire 82-minute episode was , which made it hard to decipher what was transpiring on screen. The HBO show’s cinematographer Fabian Wagner addressed fans’ discontent with the episode in a recent interview.

Defending the literal darkness of The Long Night, Wagner told  Wired UK , “A lot of the problem is that a lot of people don’t know how to tune their TVs properly. A lot of people also unfortunately watch it on small iPads, which in no way can do justice to a show like that anyway.”

He further said that Game of Thrones is a “cinematic show” that needs to be watched 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.”

He added that the decision to abstain from overusing lighting in the night-time episode was deliberate, to replicate the combatant’s murky state of mind.

Twitterati have criticised Fabian Wagner for his argument. Renowned journalist Wall Mossberg wrote on Twitter that filming a pivotal episode meant for TV viewing like a cinema, and then blaming viewers for not being able to see anything is “artistic arrogance”.

Agree with you Walt. Isn’t this show made primarily for TV and computer audience anyway? I am confused or should I say it ... I am in the dark ;-)

— Padmasree (@Padmasree) May 1, 2019

Then why does the episode still look dark on my phone, switch, four different televisions?

— Tenmar (@Tenmar) May 1, 2019

dude is saying we need to buy 4k LED tv to enjoy the show
hmm if only someone could brighten it up so people without 4K tv's could also see

— Navaneeth krishna (@navaneeth95) May 1, 2019