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It’s only fitting, then, that the apparent endgame villain of the piece dies in the mid-game, with three installments still on the board - plenty of time to bring everything back to the other petty squabbling that has defined so much of the series: the Starks, the Lannisters and the insatiable thirst for the Iron Throne.' A girl is Arya Stark of Winterfell, and I'm going home.' ―Arya Stark re-asserts her identity to Jaqen H'ghar Back then, no one expected to lose such a main character at such a jarring time.

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The first season climaxed with the death of then series protagonist Ned Stark (Sean Bean), beheaded with one episode still remaining in the inaugural year. The Night King’s death calls back to the first season of Game of Thrones in another way, and indeed, it echoes one of the HBO drama’s oldest traditions: completely shocking and unexpected deaths of main characters. As she said to Gendry (Joe Dempsie) one episode earlier, she knows death intimately, and knows its many faces - what’s one more face between friends? It’s only fitting that she gets to destroy Game of Thrones‘ avatar of death, then - and not only that, she destroys it using the same weapon that started so much of the conflict: the Valyrian dagger once intended to assassinate Bran Stark all the way back in the first season. But it’s Arya Stark who has spent the entirety of Game of Thrones training under the watchful eye of death. Jon Snow may be Aegon Targaryen reborn, heir to the Iron Throne. He shatters instantly - and in short order, so do the rest of the dead. Instead, Arya drops the Valyrian dagger in her hand and catches it with her other hand, plunging it forward into the Night King’s abdomen.

For a moment, all hope seems lost, and it appears the Night King is going to get two Starks for the price of one. The ice-eyed monster catches Arya by the throat in midair. How 'Game of Thrones' Finally Revealed the Night King's True PurposeĪrya, unseen in the episode since leaving Melisandre, emerges in the thick of the night right before the Night King gets a chance to kill Bran. What is dead may never die, indeed - but as it turns out, what is undead may very much die, thanks to the work of a certain young wolf. Only Theon Greyjoy (Alfie Allen) stands between the Three-Eyed Raven and the White Walkers, and while he puts up a valiant fight, it’s not enough, as the Iron Islander is easily and predictably killed by the Night King. Jon Snow is struggling to reach the Winterfell godswood in order to protect his brother Bran (Isaac Hempstead Wright), who is at the mercy of the Night King. In the context of “The Long Night,” however, it means something different: the Night King and the God of Death are essentially one and the same, bearing down with all its weight on the living at Winterfell - and it’s up to Arya to make sure that weight doesn’t crush everyone today.Ĭut to the climactic final moments of the episode, as underlined by series composer Ramin Djawadi. It has long served as one of Arya’s main mantras. Back when she was training at the knee of Syrio Forel, the Braavosi water dancer would always say those words to Arya. One of the oldest catchphrases in Thrones lore now has incredible new meaning. Melisandre: “What do we say to the God of Death?” There’s another familiar refrain that suddenly becomes sharper:

Destiny arrives on this very long night - and the prophecy Melisandre once uttered about Arya shutting “many eyes forever,” including “brown eyes, green eyes and blue eyes” suddenly makes a whole lot more sense. It’s the first encounter between Arya and Melisandre since the two women met in season three back then, the red woman stared into Arya’s eyes and said they were destined to meet again.