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”.