I'll devils advocate myself.
I've argued about unfulfilled character arcs and wasted plot lines, but if there's one thing the almost perfect early seasons showed it's that characters don't always find the ending they 'deserve'. Surely this applies to good and bad? Robb and Ned were stopped in their tracks with the goal in sight, why not the Night King?
Are they comparable?
Ned's death: double crossed and executed by Joffrey after admitting guilt.
Dumb move to trust the Lannisters, but the build up is there. Ned has motivation to put himself into the trap, saving his family and his life. Joffrey has form, already shown to be cruel and unstable.
And the payoff from a narrative point of view, it sets the tone, it triggers bigger and better things for the story. From this the Starks go to war, Sansa is imprisoned, and Arya is abandoned and traumatised.
It doesn't feel like anything is unresolved as a result of Ned's death though, the big mysteries of Jon Arryn and the Lannister betrayals come to their conclusion.
Motives, form, payoff.
Robb's death: another double cross, at the hands of the Frey lord he reneged on.
The trap is obvious but the motive again makes it necessary, he needs the Freys or his war ends. He is paying for his own mistakes and perceived betrayals. On the other side there's form, the Freys are known dirtbags, Tywin and Rose scheming behind the scenes.
The payoff is harder to understand. It wipes the Starks almost off the board, removes numerous main characters. It pushes the last 'good guys' into total desperation and opens the game up for Stannis, Roose, Dany and others.
So the Night Kings fall.
Why is it different? The same rules should apply to all characters, evil should be able to fall as hard as good.
Form: Arya has trained, has all the skills necessary. Bran has the pieces in place where they need to be, gives them the information and the tools. From this side of things it's a decent enough set up.
Motive: THIS is what I can't get behind. Why does NK step into the trap?Where's the urgent need? The previous episodes spiel about Bran holding all knowledge isn't enough. Too late, too flimsy, too many obvious ways around it. Nor is arrogance an adequate explanation, total cop-out to have the 8000 year old basically demigod to have the same weakness as f**king Littlefinger.
Why not have him slaughtered by walkers or thralls? Why the almost monologue? Why not win the battle then finish him up?
This is what makes it feel cheap, and this is what needs to be answered to give the payoff any kind of weight. Previous huge twists didn't require guesswork or wait-and-see, the motives and pieces were all in the open.
There's only 3 episodes to wrap up. Will they devote any minutes to looking backwards to the NK and his armies? Don't think so.
