Some really good discussion and ideas here. I agree as well that you have to be realistic with what can be changed within the realms and limitations of a fanedit.

Game Of Thrones was such an incredible show and deserves to go out on the best note possible, I think a really well done and consistent edit could do a lot of work there. Especially since it is mainly the pacing and some of the writing throwing everything off (acting, visuals, audio all incredible quality)

In terms of S8, i’ve been chipping away at some edits of eps 3 - 6, incorporating a lot of common changes suggested online (Moving when Rhaegal is shot to ep5 for example) as well as a lot of other stuff and small QOL adjustments.

We can’t get 10 episodes or a season of NK and then a season of Kings Landing obviously, but there’s a lot to work with. A really good post I saw made a point that there somewhere between 10 and 13 notable things are happening in each episode in S8, compared to 4 or 5 things in seasons 1-4 and this is a big part of why everything feels so rushed.

I’m experimenting with going for 7 episodes instead of 6, by splitting The Long Night over two episodes. This is a bit of psychological misdirection with the pacing, making it seem like it stretches over two eps instead of being all tied up in one.

To do this i’m currently running with the NK surviving Drogons blast as the dividing point. Alongside roughly 4-5 mins of cuts along the way, this clocks in at a fairly standard 55mins. Next ep picks up from there and also steals the funeral scene from ep 4 as a closer. I really loved that scene and I think it gives a nice bookend to the fight being over, Jons speech closing it out nicely.

I’ll need to flesh that second part out though as it’s only about 31 mins with the funeral scene. It’s also a shame not having Mel walking into the wastes as an ending anymore too as it worked really well, especially with the score. May need to look at this. Going just by the numbers theres ~60mins a piece for 7 episodes if you can cut it right and I have little to no editing experience.

Broadly though, here are things i’ve done with episode 3 so far:

Did a default brightness/color correction off the bat, then adjusted shots individually (so shots with fire aren’t blown out for example)
Slightly changed intro to episode to show characters preparing in a slightly different order, also worked in audio of Bran describing his dream of Winterfell being flooded to Osha from way back.
Removed 4 or 5 times a main character is seemingly covered in the dead/swarmed but then it cuts away.
Restructured the intro, whilst keeping the eerie silence theme going. Removed about half of the main cast standing on the frontlines. I find it much more believable that they are fighting through and surviving if they show up in the fray later instead of eating the first charge. Tormund, Beric, Jorah and The Hound are still in there though to still have some guys to follow.
Used audio from old seasons and subtitling to make it seem that when the Dothraki break, they are breaking early and off plan because they got too ginned up from getting a fire bonus on their Arakhs and this causes everyone to join in and sweep up Jorah in the midst.
Removed almost all shots that show you where the trebuchets are located. Now you still see them fired and their impact, but its not 100% obvious where they are.
Trimmed some dialogue here (and in 4 + 5) that felt a bit to on-the-nose.
Have sectioned off the scene where Bran wargs into the crows so that it works without it or can be repurposed later on. I will probably use it later because i’d like it if Bran could be helping other people or doing something other than observing.
Slightly trimmed Aryas entrance, she still shows up and kills a bunch of wights, but doesn’t pose hollywood style right into shot, also re-scored here to different music.
Re-cut scene where NK raises his new dead so that Dany saving Jon here happens continuously instead of cutting away when Jon looks swamped. This makes it looks like she is quick with the save, more believable to me anyway.

I’ve done a lot of 4 and 5 too, but I don’t want to make this post even longer, i’ll see if I can try to post a clip later.

Anyone else got any burning issues with e3 from an editing standpoint they think I should work in?