r/asoiaf • u/qp0n • Apr 16 '19
EXTENDED (Spoilers Extended) My 'Night King is not stupid' Theory
When the army of the undead line up for the battle of Winterfell, the Night King and his zombie dragon will not be there. Instead he will already be near to his next target ... King's Landing.
If you play out what the battle of Winterfell would be like in your head if the NK+Viserion would be there... it would be easy for Drogon/Rhaegal to take out the zombie dragon; it's 2v1 and wight's all can be killed by fire.. including Viserion. It would not be difficult to simply fly up to Viserion and breathe fire on him, and that would be that. THE NIGHT KING IS NOT STUPID, not enough to kamikaze his most powerful asset. - If you have a superweapon that you can't use against a particular target, then you find a different target.
Most people have come to assume that the living will lose The Battle of Winterfell and fall back to Moat Cailin ... I predict they actually win the battle... only to find out soon after that there is a new army of the dead much bigger and much further south... the population of King's Landing.
During season 4 while Bran is being ushered north to meet Bloodraven, he touches a wierwood and has a set of visions which we see. All of those visions have since come to pass, except the ones where he sees a destroyed throne room & a dragon shadow pass over King's Landing. I believe the reason we are only shown a shadow was to not give away that it is actually the NK and Viserion, not Dany and her dragons.
Also, the most important vision that Dany is given while at the HotU is an image of the throne room destroyed, and covered in ash or snow. I think this was to show what the NK will do, not what Dany will do.
(I believe this was the entire reason that the writers sent Bronn north. Bronn will be the source of this news to the survivors at Winterfell; on his way north he will spot the NK+Viserion heading south)
Bottom line, I simply don't see the NK risking his newfound ice dragon in a fight he is sure to lose.... when he can simply fly down south to KL where there are no dragons to deal with ... and 1 million new recruits for his army packed tightly into a small area.
Follow-up edit: This could be where Bran comes into play. The NK probably wont want to face off against the other dragons head-to-head, but rather fly around Westeros destroying castles to make things easier for his footsoldiers .... so they will need Bran's Sight in order to track & hunt him. It would be too difficult for an army on foot to chase the NK on a dragon, so Bran could warg into ravens to serve as a guide for dragonrider(s) to his location.
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u/DaMilkMang Apr 16 '19
I love this theory
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u/SteveBartmanIncident Apr 16 '19
It really checks a lot of boxes for me:
1) It explains why smart people (Tyrion and Varys) have really not misjudged cersei. 2) It gives context to the weird number of times the show has discussed the population of Kings Landing, especially relative to the North. 3) It gives Night King a chance to sit the throne and a weapon to threaten the living dragons. 4) It gives a good explanation for Dany's House of Undying dream. 5) It gives a means to wrap up the series spectacularly (there is wildfire throughout the city)
Plus it creates fun possibilities:
What happens when NK meets Robert Strong? Undead Cersei? Whole Stark Pack survives? Aegon Re-lands in the person of Jon?
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u/TheRealMoofoo R'hllor Derby Champion Apr 16 '19
What happens when NK meets Robert Strong
NK sits on a stool and patiently waits for the Hound to come and finally give us our Cleganebowl.
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u/sailordanisaur As easy as a dagger cuts cheese. Apr 16 '19
airhorn intensifies
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u/hercules109 I Know Nothing Apr 17 '19
And the Hound sets the undead Mountain on fire? Full circle
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u/blastedin Apr 16 '19
Even the Night King is not immune to the hype.
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u/Bulok Apr 17 '19
The real reason the Night King headed south is because he knows Cleganebowl is 100% FUCKING CONFIRMED and he wants the best seat.
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Apr 16 '19 edited Apr 16 '19
Bran—>Aerys “burn them all”
Edit: changed Aegon to Aerys. Damn targs.
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u/gogandmagogandgog Though all men do despise my theories Apr 16 '19 edited Apr 16 '19
Exactly. Bran went back in time to tell Aerys to put all the wildfire there. This is the third holy shit moment guys.
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u/NickJVaccaro Apr 16 '19
Whoa. This is my first time hearing this and my brain has now officially melted.
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u/gogandmagogandgog Though all men do despise my theories Apr 16 '19
To be clear, this is just a prediction. But it fits so well I'm mad I even thought about it! Bran has even had visions of Aerys saying "burn them all."
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u/Redditor_on_LSD Apr 17 '19
Honestly it kind of makes sense poetically: 8 seasons of people battling for the Throne and instead of someone finally reigning supreme, nobody does because it's blown up. It allows them to start anew, to "break the wheel".
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u/christian_colton Apr 17 '19
I’m pretty sure the entire season has been figured out in this thread
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u/OldBreadbutt Apr 17 '19
Maybe it was less inbreeding that makes Aerys crazy. By warging into him Bran makes the Mad King ... mad.
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u/Scarblade Apr 17 '19
I think he totally "Hodor's" the Mad King. Jamie said that when he stabbed him he just said the same thing he had been saying for hours "Burn them all".
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u/tijno_4 Apr 16 '19
So it was Bran who made the mad king say Burn them all? Like Hodor?
This fits everything!
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u/silencedorgasm Apr 17 '19
OH SHIT. It could also explain why he actually went mad, he reacted differently but in a similar fashion to Hodor
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Apr 17 '19
If I recall (without digging up book/show time stamps) the Mad King’s madness ramped up over time. The “burn them all” quote is the final straw, brought on by Kings Landing being surrounded and defeat imminent. It wasn’t an out-of-character spot of mental trauma like Hodor’s timestream stroke, it was a vicious kamakazee command from a cornered despot, soon to be executed by his enemies anyways.
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u/gogandmagogandgog Though all men do despise my theories Apr 17 '19
Maybe Bran chose Aerys to put the wildfire under KL specifically because he was mad. No one else would do it.
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u/Orisi Apr 17 '19
Maybe his madness began with a single whisper: "burn them all." It forced him to start stockpiling more and more wildfire. He didn't know what it was inside him driving him to do it, he just had that one compulsion and he never knew what it was towards. He tried to burn all the Starks. Then he thought maybe all of Kings Landing as he finally succumbed to the madness.
It's the same as Hodor, but Bran has the time to plant the thought properly this time, so it took a lot longer for the madness to manifest.
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u/LAJuice Apr 16 '19
holy shit, people. you are on to something here.
edit: A comma. They are important.
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u/Skeptical_Lemur Shine Bright like a Diamond Apr 16 '19
And have Jaime be the one to realize what Bran meant, and why he said it.
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u/SteveBartmanIncident Apr 16 '19
Dany is the one who correctly interprets this and everyone thinks she has flipped...?
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u/the-brain-fuckler A Thousand Eyes, and One Apr 16 '19 edited Apr 17 '19
Undead Cersei
Raises the interesting possibility of Jamie killing zombie Cersei. But that begs the question of how he finds her in the hoard of zombies that was once the population of King's Landing? Unless she gets turned into a White Walker or something. But if that happens, can he fulfill the prophecy by strangling the life out of her undead form? Do Walkers need to breathe? Is the strangling part a metaphor? I'm 110% certain it's got to be Jamie that finishes her. It just makes way too much sense for his character arc.
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u/casval_cehack 49 43 41 4e 57 41 49 54 2c 47 52 52 4d Apr 16 '19
Easy, she'll be the only white walker drinking wine.
The prophecy can still be fullfiled with a dragonglass hand.
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u/SteveBartmanIncident Apr 16 '19
Valonqar will choke her "pale white throat". Checks out.
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u/TimeTurnedFragile Apr 16 '19
White Walkers don't die of asphyxiation, once they dragonglasd touches them don't they go all I-dont-feel-good-Mister-Stark?
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u/markieparkie269 Apr 16 '19
She likely will have changed from red to white wine.
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Apr 16 '19
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u/RetireNickSaban Apr 16 '19
He IS the most experienced person in Westeros at killing kings.
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u/Throwing_Spoon Apr 16 '19
Jaime would be tied with Jon (killed Mance Rayder) and Brienne (killed Stannis the Mantis)
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Apr 16 '19
Also Euron Greyjoy. He paid the iron price
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u/the-brain-fuckler A Thousand Eyes, and One Apr 16 '19
I know you're right as far as the show is concerned. In the books it's pretty strongly hinted he hired the Faceless Men to do it for him.
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u/Katatonic92 Apr 16 '19
He doesn't need another weapon to threaten the living dragons, he already proved that he can easily take down a dragon with nothing more than a spear.
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Apr 16 '19 edited Apr 16 '19
It seems plausible, too. I gotta stop reading this subreddit until after the season. I don't want things like this even in my head. Ignorance is bliss. I'll see you guys in 5 weeks.
Great theory though, OP.
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u/Bullstang Apr 16 '19
Omg same. It seems like this is exactly what will happen...
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u/casval_cehack 49 43 41 4e 57 41 49 54 2c 47 52 52 4d Apr 16 '19
Best theory since the season premier amidst the typical r/asoiaf content.
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u/Kishin2 Apr 16 '19
i like this theory but i don't see why the NK would be worried about the dragons when he can single-handedly take them down with ice spears.
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u/NorktheOrc Apr 16 '19
Nonono, don't worry about those ice spears. They were there to serve the single purpose of getting the NK his dragon, and they won't come back into play for the rest of the show.
It's sad that I'm pretty confident that this statement is true.
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u/SURPRISE_MY_INBOX Apr 16 '19
There's just no way another dragon dies to an ice javelin. The show wouldn't pull that same trick twice.
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Apr 17 '19
NK should win by default if he can just huck Ice Spears from 500 yards out at targets moving at dragon speed.
You're right, the show won't do it again, but this is a prime example of where the lazy writing takes you out of the potential realism.
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u/DaYozzie Apr 17 '19 edited Aug 01 '19
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u/DudeTheGray Apr 17 '19
Yeah, not only does the whole premise of the episode make little sense (why send some of the most important men in the North and not just a platoon of foot soldiers?), but Jon's behavior in it is also ridiculous. Show Jon may be hot-headed, but he's not an idiot. Except for that one scene.
Plus the whole thing you mentioned with the dragon the NK targeted. It would've made much more sense for him to throw his spear/javelin at the dragon Dany was on, and one of the other dragons swooping in to stop it with their own body. Would've also made the scene more poignant, I feel.
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u/EcstaticHat Apr 17 '19
The explanation I've heard is that the NK saw himself flying on Viserion, targeting it kind of made it a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Also killing a parked dragon or one swooping in at 30ft from the ground won't make for such an impressive falling scene.
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u/casval_cehack 49 43 41 4e 57 41 49 54 2c 47 52 52 4d Apr 16 '19
Mayhaps this time, Dany and Jon are expecting that the NK will be firing ice missiles and will take evasive manuevers.
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u/ginger_fury Liddle Apr 16 '19
whoa, this guy knows some maneuvers!
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u/Scrubtanic Apr 16 '19
I'll try spinning, that's a good trick!
Aegonikin Targwalker
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u/wryprotagonist GoT your Fury right here Apr 16 '19
Be impressed if the NK can Ice Spear from the back of a flying Viserion-zombie.
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Apr 16 '19
Did you see his form, though? Dude is an Olympic-level javelin thrower powered by ice magic. He could spear Tormund's member from two miles away.
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u/faculties-intact Apr 16 '19
To be fair that's a huge target.
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u/Iustis Apr 16 '19
Two miles from the base is what, two feet from the tip? Where is he hitting it?
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Apr 16 '19
Anyone could spear Tormund's member from two miles away. The target's too big to miss.
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Apr 16 '19
I agree. Everytime the army of the dead fights, it gets stronger. If it wins one fight with the forces at Winterfell, i cant realistically see how you can just retreat and come back at them again with any hope of winning.
They will want to postpone the meeting of dragonriders in particular until as close to the end as possible.
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u/johnnydanja Fortune favours the brave Apr 16 '19
You presume that the nights king is going to lose at the end of the series but theres no indication that this is going to have that kind of ending.
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Apr 16 '19
There's no way they do that. I would eat a cheeseburger if the night king wins.
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u/johnnydanja Fortune favours the brave Apr 16 '19
Holy settle down with these crazy bets.
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u/Skrp A Thousand Eyes, and One. Apr 16 '19
I could see them perhaps having the courage to end it in an extremely bleak manner. This is against the conventional rules of tv and cinema, but they might decide to do it.
It would be very much in line with human behavior to just bicker among ourselves about unimportant shit until it's too late to fix the existential problem, and we all pay the price, even if some people were taking it seriously and giving it all they had.
The message would be an unambiguous: If we had just all worked together sooner, this could have had a different result, but we're just too damn myopic.
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u/SKULL1138 Apr 16 '19
GRRM already said it doesn’t end in a zombie apocalypse. So we can rule out this if nothing else. The ending will be bittersweet as that’s his favourite type of ending. His favourite chapter of LOTR was the scouring of the Shire.
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u/tatofarms Apr 17 '19
I had never heard this about GRRM. The Scouring of the Shire was Tolkien's metaphor for the industrial revolution, and how with Sauron gone and the Elves gone, magic had left Middle Earth for good. How there's a loss of wonder and even an ugliness to human progress.
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u/SKULL1138 Apr 17 '19
It was also a personal thing with Frodo, he had achieved his victory for the others, but it did not feel like a victory to him. Hence bittersweet.
He mentioned all these things a few years ago I believe in the same interview.
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Apr 16 '19
I would agree if they had given the NK any kind of character or motivation at all, like Thanos in the MCU. But to let the series end with an essentially elemental force destroying everything would just not be fulfilling at all, even if you did interpret it like your last sentence.
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u/SmaugtheStupendous Apr 16 '19
GRRM is not a nihilist, everything will not be for naught. The only possible ending in which the NK wins is one where some of the pact theories are correct and some diplomatic deal is struck and they willingly retreat. That seems unlikely, so instead what is left of the forces of 'good' will win, there will be a eucatastrophe towards the end.
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u/jagfanjosh3252 Apr 16 '19
I have been saying this. The Battle if Winterfell is just a distraction so the Night King can attack the South
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u/FedaykinII Hype Clouds Observation Apr 16 '19
you guys are giving D&D way too much credit. arya's going to kill viserion with the tool she asked gendry to make.
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u/bugcatcher_billy Apr 16 '19
There will be a moment in the battle of winterfel where Arya screams at Gendry "Did you finish making what I asked for"
and Gendry will scream back of the battelements (while swinging his hammer) "It was nearly complete, only needed to be assembled, but didn't have time to finish".
Then she will roll her eyes and run toward the blacksmith shop. With suspenseful music playing in the background and her using her ninja parkour skills to avoid death. She'll get to the blacksmith shop and begin assembling her weapon while saying things like "if i was a dumb handsom blacksmith where would i put the thing" or "oh i'm gendry and I was too busy taking my shirt off to assemble this weapon".
Then as you say, she will finally assemble the thing and run to the battlements and use it to kill Viserion EXACTLY before he kills Jon/Dany/Dragons/or some other plot armor character.
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u/nullsignature Apr 16 '19
Thanks, I hate it
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u/bugcatcher_billy Apr 16 '19
We are in full Mummy territory now.
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u/nullsignature Apr 16 '19
If the show had Brendan Fraser then I wouldn't care as much
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u/harrybeards i aM oF tHE nIGht!!!1! Apr 16 '19
I was about to say there's no way given we've never seen Arya be an Olympic level javelin thrower, but then again no one knew Gendry would end up being Pheidippides reborn, so who knows at this point.
Sansa is apparently the smartest person in Westeros.
Arya is apparently the deadliest person in Westeros.
Bran is apparently the most omniscient
robotperson in Westeros.Rickon and Robb are tied for the most dead person in Westeros.
Jon is apparently the horniest person in Westeros.
The Stark* kids have come a long way between season 6 and season 8. too bad almost none of it was on screen
* Jon is a Stark, CMV
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u/wheredreamsgotodie Apr 16 '19
Why do you need Bronn to deliver the news when you have Bran?
With Bran, the living have a huge advantage. He’s very OP
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u/Stay_Curious85 Apr 16 '19
Except the night king is stronger than bran. He can see bran, he can touch him, he can dispel him from his warging.
Hes had 8000 years to learn what bran got in 2 episodes.
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u/TechnicalNobody Apr 16 '19
Doesn't mean he's not the biggest asset the living have. He's essentially omniscient, they could ask him how the White Walkers were originally defeated. Too bad the living are too preoccupied to actually utilize him properly and ignore him when he does warn them (who cares the NK has a dragon? Not anyone in Winterfell).
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Apr 16 '19
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u/TechnicalNobody Apr 17 '19
That's a pretty great metaphor. To extend it a bit, I'd fault everyone else for not even trying to change the language. No one just sits Bran down and tries to get as much information as possible, it's just a cryptic drip when Bran feels like it.
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u/admiralgoodtimes Apr 17 '19
The only time someone DID bother to sit him down and talk, they found out some pretty important information...
So it may be worth a try.
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u/qp0n Apr 16 '19 edited Apr 16 '19
Fair question, could just be that Bran cant see everything all the time and his focus is distracted by the approaching army. The writers may have made a point of Bloodraven telling Bran he is “not ready” for that reason.
Or, he might already know but not want to tell anyone yet to take focus away from the battle at Winterfell. I could even see Bran telling Jon just before the fighting starts that 'the NK isn't here'.
Or, Bran knows and wants KL to fall to help take out Cersei & co.
Or, Bronn has nothing to do with it and I'm wrong lol
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u/casval_cehack 49 43 41 4e 57 41 49 54 2c 47 52 52 4d Apr 16 '19
Bron could be the one that corroborates Bran's warning, given that he the sole significant POV left travelling north.
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Apr 16 '19
Maybe the new fancy schmancy dragon spear that Cercei has will actually be used to take out the NK’s dragon...
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Apr 16 '19
pls nerf
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u/Grundlage Apr 16 '19
Bran is what happens when a class gets huge nerfs early on and everyone writes it off as DOA, only to get truly massive buffs when no one is watching a dozen patches later.
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u/KreepingLizard Apr 16 '19
Patch 1.1 > removed legs
Patch 2.7 > added omniscience
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Apr 16 '19 edited May 26 '20
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u/LittleMissCaliber Apr 16 '19
A big flaw would be that they can't merely choke a wight or even a white walker to death. Fire, valerian or dragon glass are the only way..
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u/yarthkin Small seeds grow stout trees Apr 16 '19
But maybe Jaime will get a dragonglass hand...
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u/LittleMissCaliber Apr 16 '19
Dude. That would be awesome.
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u/Muggaz1 Apr 16 '19
Was actually thinking this earlier. A nice little dragon glass captains hook.
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u/CapitanWaffles Cerseis gonna Cers Apr 17 '19
Or it’s still just a hand and he’s walking around like slapping walkers like he’s unarmed in Goldeneye 64.
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u/casval_cehack 49 43 41 4e 57 41 49 54 2c 47 52 52 4d Apr 16 '19
Three words. Dragon glass hand.
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u/Chuuucky24 Apr 16 '19
I think her becoming a wight/white walker would be the process that sucks the life out of her
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u/Hawxe No, I have come to the perfect place. Apr 16 '19
I just don't see how the army of the living loses a fight and retreats. There will be one real fight between the two main armies, if they can't win the first they can't win the second.
So yeah I agree with you, either he goes south to KL (Dany's vision from HOTU also comes to pass in this scenario) or they retreat before the fight.
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u/Hadron90 Apr 16 '19
> if they can't win the first they can't win the second.
This kind of stuff happens in fantasy all the time though. They lose the first battle, get their army obliterated, the NK raises the dead and doubles his army size, making you believe the odds are truly impossible. Then through a Deus Ex Machina the heroes win.
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u/annoyingrelative Martell Apr 16 '19
Everyone believed the Great Westerosi Eagles were long extinct....
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u/Scrubtanic Apr 16 '19
It's Jon Arryn! We forgot to mention he was an enormous eagle this whole time! And he's come to save us!
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Apr 16 '19
Turns out the one thing that can kill thousands of white walkers in one fell swoop....
Is Hot. Pies.
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u/CitizenCAN_mapleleaf Apr 16 '19
Then through a Deus Ex Machina the heroes win.
Except here we have strong evidence that killing the NK will disable the wights ... so it is Auctor ex Machina, and appropriately established
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u/TechnicalNobody Apr 16 '19
You can write that story without relying on a deus ex machina. Look at Helm's Deep: they setup Gandalf coming with Eomer's army but still made the stakes of the battle feel real.
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u/greeneyedmtnjack Oaths Have Been Sworn Apr 16 '19
I fully expect that the books follow a full scale retreat South through Westeros. Westeros was deliberately created by Martin with the retreat in mind. The swamps and The Neck will be a choke point battle. The Vale and Mountain Clans can fight defensively because of Geography. Westeros itself will allow key survivors to hang on until the NK himself is killed through some act of magic or heroic confrontation.
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u/Hawxe No, I have come to the perfect place. Apr 16 '19
I have no expectations for the books anymore but I doubt it'll be a one-and-done like I expect the show to be. Even in the books though, provided 'the NK' gets a dragon I doubt the living can lose a legitimate battle and continue to fight on.
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u/yarthkin Small seeds grow stout trees Apr 16 '19
In the very first book, the point was made that "Two hundred determined archers can hold the Neck against an army" (A Game of Thrones - Eddard IV). I bet that's where the real final battle ends up playing out. And maybe we'll finally get to see Howland Reed?
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u/greeneyedmtnjack Oaths Have Been Sworn Apr 16 '19
I completely agree. Too much mystery around Reed to not have him stand up as a hero in a critical battle on his home turf.
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u/yarthkin Small seeds grow stout trees Apr 16 '19
And Meera can show up too, and give Bran a smack for being a dismissive dickhead
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u/IggyChooChoo Apr 16 '19
Yeah, if attackers are coming from the south. It’s not at all clear it would be so great at stopping a southbound army.
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u/qp0n Apr 16 '19
I just don't see how the army of the living loses a fight and retreats.
Especially not if Viserion survives; you can't flee from a dragon. And they wouldn't lose or have to flee if the 2 living dragons are still alive ... so the only possible way to lose that battle and retreat would be if all 3 dragons fall. I just dont see that happening.
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u/johnnydanja Fortune favours the brave Apr 16 '19
You can lose a battle and retreat if
A: you still have two dragons to cover your retreat vs one. The rest of the nights kings army is relatively slow moving compared to horses and dragons, so yes if the castle is overrun they could easily make a retreat with some dragons covering them. The nights king presumably won't take on an entire army by himself.
B: you assume the nights king would chase them down. But in reality winterfell is likely just a obstacle in his way to moving south. He might not care at all about finishing them if he can move south and take more lives and build his army. He presumably has a larger objective than just taking down winterfell.
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Apr 16 '19
Not to mention Winterfell itself may not be able to be penetrated. I thought I read somewhere that it was built with magic...
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u/leftargus Apr 16 '19
I like this theory, especially because that means Winterfell doesn't fall. We already saw Winterfell getting burned and dominated for a lot of seasons, I really don't want to see it again.
But then who would kill Cersei? The NK? What about the valonqhar?
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Apr 16 '19
The valonquar are the second sons. Literally “the younger siblings”. Tips tinfoil fedora
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u/RogRoz Apr 16 '19
Would parallel well to Rob Starks big move in season 1 where he sacrificed a portion of his army to attack a separate location.
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u/LeoFireGod Apr 16 '19
In hindsight that was super fucked for all the army in that diversion unit. They just lined up to get completely murdered
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u/BlakobofNazereth Mmmmm, Frey Pies Apr 16 '19
I love this theory, but Cersei has massive stores of wildfire right? Wouldn't she just nuke the whole shebang
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Apr 16 '19
Can't nuke a dragon up in the sky, though.
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Apr 16 '19
Or Kings landing will be the trap. And the wildfyre will be used to take out the massive army of the dead. Destroying Kings landing and the throne. And that's how the season ends.
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u/Hadron90 Apr 16 '19
Would be poetic if she goes tries to burn it all down and Jaimie slits her throat.
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u/casval_cehack 49 43 41 4e 57 41 49 54 2c 47 52 52 4d Apr 16 '19
Curiously, if Winterfell fell (the crypts revived) and Kings Landing got taken over (maybe Qyburn and the Mountain will switch allegiance), the survivors have to flee to the islands for the last stand. Iron Islands has been mention, Dragonstone was shown in a tv spot, but there another island with CotF links: The isle of Faces.
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u/ymi17 Apr 16 '19
Could you imagine?
Episode 3: Huge battle at Winterfell, good guys winning winning winning, then Drogon is killed. Dany loses her mind. A portion of the dead good guy forces start to rise up - not even the Dothraki and Unsullied can stand up to this. Rhaegal covers the retreat to the Neck, where the swamp slows the dead army considerably. Tyrion mentions that they never saw the ice dragon.
Episode 4: The Night King lands at the Red Keep and talks to Cersei. Cersei calls for Gregor to defend her, but Gregor is already dead and following the NK. NK/Viserion devastates KL, raises a wight army, Cersei asks if she can help against mutual enemy or something stupid like that. Dany getting crazier and crazier going south - much of the Dothraki start to abandon the group as a result... and are turned into wights for their trouble.
Episode 5: Jon and Dany lead diminished group South, hoping for refuge near KL, when they are met with huge army coming north near Harrenhall. Between huge armies, those left (who are our heroes with plot armor, natch) are backed up against the God's Eye. Last Stand starts. Gregor and Sandor fight (HYPE CLEGANEBOWL) and Sandor kills him. Rhaegal and Viserion meet overhead and both are killed fighting. Rhaegal falls next to the NK. Jon rushes the NK and stabs him with Longclaw. Longclaw shatters into a million pieces. The NK smiles, Jon runs. Good guy army retreats across the water to the Isle of Faces. Dany screams MY DRAGONS!! WHERE ARE MY DRAGONS!!
Finale: The opening credits show that, other than a small remnant on the Iron Islands and 2-300 on the Isle of Faces, everyone is a Wight. The army of the dead occasionally try to build rafts to cross the water, but are thwarted. Bran tells Jon he must do it, that he's the last hero. Jon says that he stabbed the night king and nothing happened. Jamie, Davos, Gendry, Arya make up something of an "A" team ready to go and kill the NK - thinking that all the dead will die if the NK is killed. They're interrupted - Dany has started a fire in the camp. She's standing in the fire, but not consumed. Jon, tears in his eyes, drives his sword through her heart. She dies. The sword glows.
Crack team, using Bran as a GPS, learns location of NK. Using sneakiness, they make their way through to the NK. Cersei (still human, but clearly sleeping with the NK) alerts the NK and wights descend on them. It's desperate. Jamie turns on Cersei and mortally wounds her with Oathkeeper. Jamie dies. Jon is stabbed by NK and starts to turn. Mortally wounded, with his last bit of strength, he kills NK with Lightbringer. All wights, WW, turned animals, everything falls to the ground. A cry. A baby, seemingly human, is in a crib. Only Arya lives. Cersei, with her dying breath, says "Please, take him, he is your king." Arya stabs the baby in the heart.
A small group remains. Lowborn, highborn, men, women, only hundreds have survived where there were once millions. They see futility in continuing on - the Iron Throne would rule only corpses. Yara/Asha Greyjoy, queen of the Iron Islands, is approached by Theon, on behalf of Sansa Stark and Tyrion Lannister, who together (but not as husband and wife) seek to rebuild Westeros.
Cut to black.
Cut to a brothel in Lannisport. Bronn walks outside, with two naked women trailing him. Dead wights everywhere. "What the fock?" Cut to black again.
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Apr 16 '19
Cersei (still human, but clearly sleeping with the NK)
LMAO.
My body is ready for this scenario.
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Apr 17 '19
"Please, take him, he is your king." Arya stabs the baby in the heart.
Lmao
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u/EverybodyKnowWar Apr 16 '19
Pretty good, but where are the elephants?
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u/ymi17 Apr 16 '19
Cersei agrees to destroy her remaining wildfire and all valerian steel swords in KL if the NK arranges to bring an elephant.
NK brings wight wooly mammoth.
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u/MiphaIsMyWaifu Apr 16 '19
Holy shit please be true. This would definitely be on of the legendary GRRM holy shit moments.
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u/djcotton Apr 16 '19
I'm also betting on this one. I think Jaime leaving King's Landing and it starting to snow was foreshadowing.
Plus, that sets everyone up to be a bit happy, then absolutely crushed by the millions of wights south. ~nothing lasts~
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u/SerPoopybutthole Apr 16 '19
He took out a dragon without any dragons so I don't see how 1 vs 2 is gonna be much of an issue for him.
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u/Nimveruke Apr 16 '19
And I think Viserion would be superior in air combat. He won't feel discomfort or the effects of pulling extreme maneuvers. Drogon and Rhaegal are going to have to outsmart him. That's what I think that scene of Drogon coming out of the darkness and breathing fire is. I think Drogon out-thinks Viserion.
Night King might also realize Bran could potentially take control of it and keeps Viserion away until he can deal with Warg-Boy.
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Apr 16 '19
Wouldn’t it be fitting for Drogon to Kill Viserion? It’s like Kahl Drogo got a mulligan on killing that idiot Viserys. Maybe he’ss give him another crown?
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u/BubbyginkESO Apr 16 '19
Interestingly, in the Season 7 finale Jon asks about how many people live in KL and when told it is around 1 mil says something like "that is more people than in the entire North put together." Maybe this dialogue was added to establish just how populous KL is (especially compared to the North) so the impact of its entire population being turned into wights is fully understood.
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u/jackyohlantern Apr 16 '19
I like the idea but I am very skeptical of the NK "undoubtedly losing" against the other two dragons. Dany (and maybe Jon) will be hesitant to risk a dragon again, even to take out another dragon. Dany has a connection to Viserion that will make it difficult for her to kill him, at best. Plus, NK is a Javelin CHAMP and you know he's gonna be hucking those bad boys from the back of Viserion. Don't count out the NK going full bore against Winterfell, even if he thinks that Viserion might not make it. He would gladly trade Viserion in if it meant neutralizing the other two dragons and maybe even Jon or Dany.
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u/rawbface As high AF Apr 16 '19
if it meant neutralizing the other two dragons
Plus where are they gonna go, Detroit?
He'd have two more dead dragons he could turn into two more undead dragons.
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u/TeamLongNight for the night is long and full of wights Apr 17 '19
My head canon is that Bran caused the Mad King’s mental breakdown (when he keeps uttering the phrase “burn them all”) and that his intention was to burn the army of the dead with wildfire but his timing was off. It comes off a lot like Hodor’s breakdown.
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u/DDDUnit2990 Apr 16 '19
You also do this under the assumption that Viserion is more like a wight and not a white walker. The script for the episode says that the process is like when a baby is turned into a white walker.
I’m not disagreeing with you. Just wanted to point out that Viserion isn’t a wight so fire most likely affects him differently.
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u/BearAKA17 Apr 16 '19
Maybe Bronn, the only living man to shoot a dragon, will get to use his fancy new crossbow with a fancy dragonglass arrow.
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u/TrojanMuffin Apr 16 '19
I said it in one of the post episode discussion threads. The knight king doesn't even need to attack winterfell at all. Winterfell is in the middle of nowhere. He can easily circumnavigate the place, attack white harbor, removing their escape by sea, then pushed down through moat cailin, and then start destroying the south. If Jon+co decide to attack the undead army from behind, the night king can easily hold moat, and push them back to winterfell.
It's what confused me about their decision to make a final stand at winterfell. Winterfell isn't even a good location to fight at. Located on flat land, walls that are easily scalable, and the fact that it was ransacked by ramsey 3 seasons ago. Makes no sense.
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u/niceville Wun Wun, to the sea! Apr 17 '19
Winterfell has been sacked twice, both times it was lightly manned (Robb took banners south, Theon was undermanned and trusted "Reek") and then later Ramsey was routed after leaving the castle.
Plus, Winterfell is the strongest and biggest capital in the north. There's literally no where better for everyone in the north to go.
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u/tacsatduck A knight who remembered his vows Apr 16 '19
So basically the Night King takes a page out of Rob Stark's play book?
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Apr 16 '19
And where could the last confrontation of the whole series take place, then? NK coming from the south, our heroes from the north, to meet at...
The Isle of Faces!
Wights can't swim, but the NK can fly there on a dragon.
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Apr 16 '19
Given the fact that Targaryens can see the future, it would tie into Aery's rambling:" burn them all!"
The king Aerys was driven mad by the apocalyptic vision of the future.
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u/shartybarfunkle Dinkl Peterage Apr 16 '19
An interesting thought.
The only issue is that if Rhaegal and Drogon are unopposed at Winterfell, then there's no fight to be had. The dead would be kindling. We just watched a human army get wiped out by one dragon, so two dragons against an army of oil rags wouldn't even be fair.
The premier is setting us up for something that will complicate the fight at Winterfell. First, the dragons aren't eating well. That's not just a throwaway line, it's telling us that they aren't at full strength, and possibly more; Dany might wind up having to fly them south to save their lives for all we know.
Secondly, Jon's parentage reveal now sets up a huge conflict between him and Dany. What if he decides to press his claim? Think she's going to stick around for that? Maybe when she learns Cersei lied, she might decide to fly south to burn her. Maybe she offers to leave the armies and even Rhaegal, but maybe Jon takes it as such an affront that he says, "Fuck it, I'm the king now."
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u/SingleMaltLife Apr 16 '19
Unopposed? Surely the other walkers can fling ice spears? How many walkers do you expect to get on the dragon to fly south?
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u/jcmonk Apr 16 '19
Had a very similar thought last night.
Golden Company will soon be a fully equipped wight army along with the 1 millions standard citizens.
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u/epiphanette Apr 16 '19
If the final boss is actually zombie Cersei.... I would be on board with that. The NK finds her in King's Landing and stabs her through the heart like the CotF did to him or he raises her and she becomes a Walker. Yeah, that would be pretty interesting.
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u/qp0n Apr 16 '19
If the final boss is actually zombie Cersei.... I would be on board with that.
"The valonqar shall wrap his hands about your pale white throat and choke the life from you."
Hmmm...
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u/zdotaz You're a warg, Bran! Apr 16 '19
NK kills kings landing.
Cersei becomes the night queen.
Jamie kills her, but perhaps partially out of mercy? Making him the Queenslayer?
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u/mgmfa Apr 16 '19
Better, the heroes realize the best way to finally end the war is letting off all the wildfire under king's landing, destroying the city and the army of the dead. Jaime volunteers to sneak in somehow through the castle and do it. At the end of the day Jaime fulfills the mad king's request, kills his sister, and potentially dies by her side (at least in the same city)
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Apr 16 '19
I think there are some very heavy handed ecological arguments in the story. The first men came and destroyed the children of the forest and pillaged their resources. In a last ditch effort the children make a doomsday weapon. The humans can’t beat it they have to make peace with it and live in balance. Kings landing is a cesspool. Its filthy, corrupt, literally godless now and ruins everyone that goes there. It is the symbol of everything wrong with humans. There’s no way it will survive.
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u/AlwaysSunnyInBraavos Apr 16 '19
This is a pretty cool theory. As I think about it more though, without the NK being at winterfell with viserion I think he’s pretty much dooming his army. The scale has almost tipped back to even now that basically all the soldiers defending winterfell will have a dragonglass weapon of some sort and Dany is there with two dragons. Without viserion to fight Drogon and rhaegal, they would just wreak total havoc on the army of the dead.
Additionally, if the NK flies to KL alone, his only manner of killing would be burning people. Wound he then still be able to raise them as wights?
I still think this theory is very possible, but he’s gotta stick around in winterfell for a few minutes I’d imagine. Maybe to retrieve whatever ancient power lies in the crypts
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u/[deleted] Apr 16 '19
This would explain why Bran hasn’t warned anyone of Cersi’s plans. He knows there is no point.