The next, still-untitled episode of Game of Thrones will feature the longest battle sequence in the history of the show…and probably of TV, possibly film. The forces of the Night King throw down with Jon, Daenerys and pretty much everyone still alive save Cersei. We caught a glimpse of the army of the dead approaching Winterfell at the close of “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms,” but we didn’t see the Night King, the big Popsicle himself.
Was that simply a choice of no particular import on the part of writer Bryan Cogman and director David Nutter, or is there more to it? For instance, is the show trying to tell us that the Night King won’t be at the Battle of Winterfell at all? Could he be headed somewhere else, for example King’s Landing?
First, let’s examine the size of the opposing forces. As we saw when our heroes were preparing for battle, the army of the dead is massive. It has giants. It has undead wights that feel no pain. And by the looks of it, it has more White Walkers than we’ve ever seen.
Based on the number of tiles on the map everyone was gathered around during the planning session, our heroes are utterly outnumbered, perhaps as much as three to one. On the plus side, they have tons of dragonglass mined from beneath Dragonstone, a scattering of Valyrian steel swords, and of course, Dany’s two dragons. Even with Rhaegal and Drogon though, our heroes are facing some pretty staggering odds. All of which is to say, does the army of the dead even need the Night King?
If not, there’s really no reason for the Night King to make an appearance, especially since — as Jon points out — if he dies, a huge chunk of the army of the dead falls, him being the one who raised a lot of them. That gives the Night King an incentive to stay far away from a battle with a prepared and determined enemy.
So why not take 20,000 or so dead soldiers and mosey on down to King’s Landing, where they are very much not prepared to face this kind of threat? Sure, the Golden Company is there, but they don’t have dragonglass weapons or Valyrian steel, to say nothing of dragons. They don’t have a way of killing the Night King, and even if they did, they may not know that the trick to stopping the army of the dead is to kill its general. Atop Viserion, the Night King could quickly fly down to King’s Landing and wreak havoc among the unprepared populace, and then turn them into fresh meat for his army.
Or why even wait for them to die? We’re already wondering if the White Walkers might not raise the dead in the Winterfell crypts, and there are surely more than a few people buried in King’s Landing, too. (Cersei blew up the Sept of Baelor so there’s no chance of Zombie Joffrey, thank god, but it’s a big city.) The Night King would could have an instant army just waiting for him to raise, one that would cause chaos in a city completely unprepared for this sort of attack.
And that would really be the point. If the Night King could add the million-plus inhabitants of King’s Landing to his army, it would essentially be check mate. Regardless of the result of the Battle of Winterfell, the Night King would suddenly have numbers that would be truly insurmountable. If his second army marched north, turning everyone in their path, the Night King could assure the endless night Bran said he wants.
Still, while this would might make a lot of sense militarily, removing the Night King from the Battle of Winterfell would rob the episode of some weight. The Night King is the face of the undead, the one who killed Viserion, murdered the Three-Eyed Raven, etc etc. The way people have talked about it, the Battle of Winterfell could be the show’s signature battle sequence, so our villain has to be around for it, right?
Still, you’d also think we would have seen the Night King with his lieutenants at the end of the last episode, so anything’s possible. Whatever happens, Sunday can’t get here soon enough!
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