I think the ultimate point of game of thrones was to have the battle of Winterfell, that's the song of Fire and Ice. I think GRRM wanted to do the typical fantasy ending where, against all odds, good triumphs over evil, but he wanted to get there in a way that made that battle feel organic and that the viewer couldn't just sit there, knowing that it's all just a ride and the good guys were going to win. He made sure we saw the good guys lose bad many times, subverted our expectations of who was or wasn't good, and sold us on a world that wasn't restricted by the standard tropes of fantasy.
It really pulled me into the battle not knowing how it would end, it all seems a bit more obvious in retrospective (especially with how GoT is becoming more like a typical show), but I knew this was still GRRMs story at heart and I don't think anything will recreate that feeling I had watching that army stare off into blackness, waiting for the army of the dead to show up and having no idea what would happen next. It was the most anxious I'll ever be watching a TV show in my adult life and I expect that to be a higher water mark that won't be repeated.
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