Vladimir Furdik, the Night King actor since season six, hasn’t exactly been at the front of the media frenzy these last few years. Prior to his current role, he’d covered the stunts for a myriad of characters, the most notable among which is likely the first White Walker Jon Snow ever fought (rather famously) in season five’s Hardhome. Now, in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Furdik goes into a bit more detail…
Going into season 6, Furdik was asked to step into the role of the Night King, formerly portrayed by Richard Brake. “I don’t really know why they cast me…I never asked why. Maybe they were happy with what I did in season 5.” The roles to which he refers in season 5 include numerous stunts across the season, but as mentioned above, the incredible duel with Jon Snow is the surefire standout. “[T]he first time Jon Snow killed a White Walker, that was me. After that, [showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss] asked if I’d play the Night King for seasons 6 through 8[.]”
But while he’s been playing the Night King for several seasons now, it doesn’t mean the portrayal stays the same the whole time. “Every director has a different vision of how to play him. Dan and David want him to be like a cold man, some of the directors want to show that there’s some human in him.” But, like all actors, even though the character is silent (thus far), Furdik wants to bring some of his own ‘humanity’ to the role. “He never wanted to be the Night King. I think he wants revenge. Everybody in this story has two sides — a bad side and a good side. The Night King only has one side, a bad side.”
Of course, it’s not all sunshine and daisies (or is it moonshine and [un]dead flowers?) “[M]any times they ask me don’t try to blink your eyes. This is very difficult.” I’ll say. Try getting into a staring contest with a camera during 15 hour shoots for 11 weeks of filming. I couldn’t even make it without blinking to the end of writing this sentence, so I guess they won’t cast me as the Night King in season 9. Ah, well.
“People will see he has a target he wants to kill, and you will find out who that is,” Furdik teases. Having killed the original three-eyed raven, will he want to finish the job and kill the new one, Bran? Or is The Prince (or Princess) That Was Promised his new target?
Meanwhile, Furdik knows the fans are out there, even though he says they don’t often recognize him. He thinks back to Hardhome “when Jon Snow was on the boat and the Night King [then Richard Brake] looked at him and raised his arms — there’s a similar and even stronger moment between Jon and the Night King this time.” By ‘this time’ I’m assuming he’s referring to season 8. And whatever could that mean?! Will the Night King kill everyone Jon Snow loves and cares about?? Will he…dare I say it, resurrect Jon’s loved one(s) from the dead right in front of him? Very possibly, it would seem, because when asked what his all-time favorite Night King scene is, Furdik simply says:
“That’s still coming.” Mic drop?
If someone needs me I’ll be on the floor. While I recuperate, do please share your theories on what he means in the comments below, and visit Entertainment Weekly to read the whole thing and witness a wonderful new portrait of Furdik as the Night King!
ASNAWP!!
I cannot wait to see this Jon/NK moment! I hope we finally get a duel between the two.
He looks different this season and in a good way. I’m here for it.
Also, I couldn’t help but LOL at this. Bless him for reading the comments:
“Sometimes I watch YouTube reactions after the season airs. Fifty percent of people love the Night King and 50 percent of people hate him. And since I replaced Richard Blake, some people like how I play him and some don’t.And since I replaced Richard Blake, some people like how I play him and some don’t.”
Already commented on this a few times in the other thread, but…
I didn’t remember that he played the badass WW Jon fought and killed at Hardhome. Furdik was scarier as that one than he has been as the NK, imo.
I think I’ve decided to believe Bran is the primary target.
That pic in the EW interview is badass, but his EW cover looks a bit wonky.
It was Richard Brake, not Blake.
I hope NK does not manage to kill Jon. That would be worse than death by Olly.
NK wants Bran…they should just leave Bran outdoors so this guy can just pick up and leave. Bran would perhaps not even notice anything amiss. NK and Bran might even become friends.
Clob,
Clob, don’t you DARE say the Night King kills Arya and makes her come back as a wight right in front of Jon Snow. That would KILL me!
I’m maybe starting to buy into the Bran = Night King theories just a little bit – what if he’s trying to kill Bran to stop himself from ever going back in time and being created? I know, I know, we saw how the NK went from regular guy (who still had the use of his legs) to NK with that shard of obsidian to the heart – I can’t work that into my theory yet.
This comment is revealing that the NK’a purpose is more personal than I had thought – perhaps he’s after one person for revenge and will kill all of humanity as penance?
My money is on Bran too. I don’t reckon it’s Jon or Dany (or any wight hunters) as he had the chance to kill them there and then – if he could throw a spear at a moving target hundreds of meters away, he could have thrown a spear at any one of them at any time.
Who else, that wasn’t present at that location, has any link to the NK? Bran…. and I guess Baby Sam as he was the baby that got away – but I wouldn’t think the NK was after him to kill him.
Hmmm wonder what’s on the door behind him in that new photo? Looks like a lion’s mane maybe? I don’t think it’s a direwolf sigil.
Roberta Baratheon,
Oh hell no, Arya isn’t dying!!
If anything….
https://i.redd.it/xuaeu281mr911.jpg
Tron79,
I’m literally stumped with trying to find something that no one has speculated could happen at the end that would make any sense. So I am hoping that it’s just hype when they say that.
Ha, NK’s target is Melisandre, sure as ice and fire.
*tchakka*
Thanks. Fixed. Sorry about that, guys.
I still think his main target is Bran, as we probably were all thinking. But that it’s more complicated than ‘just Bran’, in that he’s the key to both creating and destroying the NK. So taking him out destroys the last magic of the children against the NK.
I think this confirms Bran is the target. Bran is the biggest threat to him being able to see everything. Did anyone feel like Furdik was a little to forthcoming. How does this not violate his NDA!!! Huge Spoilers….
I’m guessing either Bran (now that he’s the 3ER), Jon (who is the main reason people are banding together against him and the rest of the AotD) or Daenerys (if he kills her, would Drogon and Rhaegal still want to fight? Without her, he’s uncontested on dragonback).
Che,
I think there are multiple choices but my main choice is Bran. I think Bran will use his 3ER powers to go back in time and like with hodor he takes on a character, I name that character “Man minding his own business” or short MMHOB. Bran thinks he is using his powers to stop this man from ever becoming the NK. But in fact that action results in him being captured by the children of the forest and thats how MMHOB become the NK. The NK wants to correct this. the death of Bran is needed.
Or bran is in fact the lord of light. Wouldn’t it be awesome if Varys is sitting in a corner in winterfell, while Bran reveal a truth (for instance about Jon) and we zoom in on Varys face, we see a reaction. We the audience think “His side is shifting from Dany to Jon”. A scene later there is a reveal, Varys talks to for instance Tyrion and reveals Bran is the voice from the flames.
A second guess is in fact Daenerys. What if the season goes like this.
1. Defeat of the NK
2. Dany goes beserk like some think, and is burning KL to the ground maybe even destroying most living things in Westeros. Or maybe even the dragons could form the new treat for the last 3 episodes who know.
3. In the final Bran decided to go back in time to stop the NK from being created, but in fact he is being trapped in his mind. All this time Bran is the real mind of the NK.
4. His goal is to stop Dany from going beserk. Or he is trying to stop the dragons.
you can even change Dany to multiple characters.
another theory is the God’s Eye theory. And the ones living there are his target. The one who know that theory know who people believe are living there.
Personally I don’t think his target is in fact the prince that was promised, because I hope there is more layer with the NK.
Che,
I like this theory. Bran is the only one he’s ever even given any sort of legit attention to. Think about it: he never goes after anyone or emotes any real fucks to anyone but Bran—first when he touches him (after Bran thought he could just roll up on him and his crew, untouched—the disrespect!) and then when he wargs into the flock of ravens beyond the wall, only to be spotted by the NK and gets evil-eyed backed to Winterfell. The NK wants to make Bran his little b!tch. It is known.
This is a pretty dramatic and theory changing statement by him quite frankly.
Personally, I think the target is Dany. They’ve had plenty of chances to kill Jon and even Bran if they really wanted to. She’s fireproof, he’s fireproof, they’re both touched by magic, opposite ends of the spectrum, ice, fire, north, south, cold, warm, you name it. They’re yin and yang. I think she’s going to be it.
It is in fact Sansa he is ever. He is trying to stop her from turning into Dark Phoenix.
Test audiences for that movie have been trying to prevent the same thing. 😉
Here. I fixed it.
https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_scale,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_1600/zhifcsxnupag4fxwqszp.jpg
hahaha
Only one problem. One destroyed a useful wall. The other wants to destroy an useless wall. But it’s a good one hahaha
I too think he’s targeting Bran. Afterall, the NK specifically stood in front of the previous 3ER and killed him. I don’t think Bran is the NK, but I’m wondering if they are linked in some other way even prior to the NK marking Bran. ASOIAF is riddled with opposing forces and dualities: light/dark, ice/fire, dragonglass/milkglass, weirwood/ebony, life/death – I wonder if both Bran and the NK fulfill some kind of balance. “One cannot live while the other survives…” Sorry, wrong fandom.
Lol I can’t help but think of Voldemort and Harry when discussing the NK and Bran
ramses,
Allisor Thorne was actually protecting Jon the whole time becuase of his love for Lyanna. Jon has Lyanna eyes. Alwaysssss
Maybe the NK is after Varys because he wants to give him back his genitals?
I think they mean the average viewer, not super fans like WotW , reddit etc.
GRRM said in an interview several years ago that some people had already guessed the ending. http://https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/game-of-thrones/11027457/George-RR-Martin-women-beg-me-to-write-more-sex-scenes-for-Game-of-Thrones.html
With as much group think that been going around this puzzle for years. I’d be more shocked if no one had guessed the ending. The trick is knowing which theory is right – then raking in the big bucks on your GoT Dead Pool!
Shane snow,
😆😆
Brilliant!
ramses,
There are definitely some parallels 😂
Famke forever.
If I were him, I’d be tempted to show up to the interview in full costume and just stare at the reporter. 😆
Wait wait, lemme put my tinfoil hat first…
I’m trying to remember the absolute first time we were shown the NK – the guy with the spikes on his head.
I can’t remember exactly when, but I want to say that it was after one of the walkers followed Sam and Gilly and the baby into the woods. Gilly yelled out that he’s “come for the baby!” Sam and Gilly denied them the last of Craster’s sons. After that there was the rape of Craster’s daughters and then Jon burned down the Keep…so, no more babies.
But I think the first time we saw him was at that ice altar in the far north. He was riding a horse with a baby in his arms and turned him into a wight. Is that why he’s mad? Jon burned down his baby factory?
Oh, and I saw a video of someone talking about the NK’s pupils. They are star shaped and they say that there’s a character from the book with those eyes. Anyway, that would be virtually meaningless to show watchers.
I saw that about the NK’s eyes too. Not sure if it’ll mean anything in the show.
Anon,
I found the theories interesting.
-Night king being the Stranger from the Seven.
– Some connection to Bran. (he also has 7 smaller eyes in his eyes, or dots if its just that)
I hope that they really come with an idea that will blow our minds. Yes probably somebody already though about it. (Or read it in a book)
Just 39 nights sleep for me, can’t wait.
Yes, the first time we saw him was at the altar in “Oathkeeper” (S4E4). One of the other WW delivered the baby on the horse though and the NK walked in from the background where a dozen more WW stood in a line.
I’m on board with it being Baby Sam. The first time we ever see the NK in the show is during one of these Craster’s sons’ rituals. If he wanted Jon, he’s known where he is generally for most of the show. I can even see the reveal scene going something like this:
All main “good” guys left after the BoW are gathered somewhere, talking strategy.
Someone says “What does this a-hole want anyway? We’ve given him thousands of lives…”
All of a sudden Bran comes to life and says “Sam. He wants Sam.”
Everyone turns to look at Sam as he says “Me? What would he want with me?”
And Bran just says “Not you” as everyone turns to stare at snot faced little poop goblin Sam.
Then ensuing talk about 1 life vs all of humanity, etc. blah blah
Roberta Baratheon,
Nissa Nissa?
Yawn. Why don’t you take it to the forums? Start a thread and hate on Sophie Turner or Sansa in your own little bubble all you want, without bothering the rest of the people who have already gone through puberty. There’s nothing more annoying than Arya stans like you who hate on other women. Sad.
On topic, I really loved Brake’s Night King and still can’t fathom why they would recast him after that iconic scene in Hardhome. A real shame.
Jenns,
The pic they used in this article is so . . . determined. Ain’t nothing gonna stop him from achieving his evil goals. Makes me almost want to root for him.
I’d be interested to see how the NK will communicate so that the audience understands his side of the story or why he’s on this mission to kill someone specifically. Will he actually speak? Will it be through more Bran visions?
I assume the ladder, but it’ll be interesting to find out.
IF it turns out to be Bran that the NK is after, does that mean he never would’ve tried to breach the Wall if Bran stayed beyond the Wall? If the NK still would’ve breached the Wall then it has to be someone else that he’s after.
Vally,
Cram it!! It was a joke about the movie being delayed over and over again. Gawd people are so fuckin’ sensitive these days.
There’s nothing more annoying than Arya stans like you who hate on other women.
I challenge you to go back through my thousands of posts over the past year and half and tell me all the times I’ve written hate shit about Sophie.
Let’s just hold the boat here. His comment about having one target is a HUGE, HUGE spoiler (if taken at face value). In the words of a great man, “He’s giving us something by giving us nothing” I’m guessing HBO has a pretty solid deal with EW, in exchange for letting them have by far the more access to GOT publicity, than any other publication, they (HBO) must approve these sorts of articles. There is no way it’s this easy. Just saying
One thing, that I think about: if Bran is his target – he could have get him before. He touched him, grabbed him. Bran could have been wightified-blue-eyed, but he wasn’t. Crasterbabies and Viserion were wightified-blue-eyed after his touch.
Ok, Viserion was already dead, became an undead tool for NK, babies became WW, not really undead, but blue-eyed, they didn’t die.
Or is it, that NK couldn’t reach far enough out til Bran, because it was in Bran’s vision?
The Hodor-time-lap-incident was very strange and metaphysical and not really apprehensive; it could be possible, they try something like that with NK/Bran –
but would that be satisfying in the end of the show for watchers?
I try to imagine, how this meta-knot could be untangled…
Clob,
Don’t care, Clob.
Don’t poke the troll, they eventually work themselves up over their assumptions until their heads explode like our dear departed Oberyn’s. 🙂🤯 Your posts are always good.
I’m a bit upset how he says the Nights King is just bad when comparing to all the other characters being more grey characters. Feel like it’s just setting it up that the white walkers are just killing machines when I thought all these years that they weren’t just pure evil. I don’t see why he would make the reference if his character was going to have some type of moment where we see maybe the white walkers were after something more or an actual community.
Shane snow,
Yes.
Mr Derp,
Sign language or Subtitles? Sorry couldn’t resist :p
Maybe it’s clear once he killed that person. My guess is he will get his goal. I can only see one option that he don’t get his goal. Or in fact 2. 1 killing all human kind or 2. He is bran and bran is stuck in a loop. He wants to restore something (something like Dr who restoring the time line) and he will going on in circles. Trying to defeat the nk. Becoming the night king. Night king moving south…
Thinking about all the possibilities is giving me a headache XD I hope in the end we understand why everything happened.
I understand the reasoning why bran feels strange because he could have killed him in the north.
But getting little Sam feels strange too. Because why did he killed before in the north. Little Sam wasn’t even born.
And Jon and Dany he could have killed last season. Instead of killing a dragon he could have killed the person right then.
I think it’s somebody we won’t think about now. What if it’s cersei. Or maybe all incest babies.
But the more I think about it. The more I think he is after one target “the lord of light” we don’t know who it is or where he is. Maybe winterfell. Wasnt it build on a hot spring. Maybe a clue.
Another idea is in fact he is after the many faced god. Aka no one.
Or Jon and danys child.
cos alpha,
You are right – he did grab Bran. He could/should have done the deed then. Maybe Bran moved too quickly. But at least we know he tried to get a hold of him.
I think the actor has permission to speak about having a single target. He refused on other things – saying he cannot disclose. He must have clearance to say this to EW. Very nice to see him get his own interview.
And he did a good job in that fight with Jon at Hardhome – remember the surprise he showed when Jon’s sword blocked him. The entire sequence was beautifully done by the stunt person – this guy.
Jon and Daenerys are possible targets, however.
If all the Night King wants to do is kill Bran then this would all be over if Bran sacrifices himself. I don’t think it’s as simple as that. But who knows, maybe it is that simple.
If the NK was only after Bran, then would the NK still have felt the need to breach the Wall if he was able to kill Bran in the cave with the Three Eyed Raven? I don’t know. If the answer is yes, then the NK is after something/someone else.
That’s, what I think.
But I think, he needs Bran to get there.
Jon and Dany are only hindrances.
This is not related to this thread…..
The banner for this site is lovely. BUT it does not include Tyrion. (Yes I know that some of the other less major characters did not make the “cut” either.) For Tyrion – the reason is clearly a structural one given his physique. I cannot think of a good workaround. But I do notice it every time I come in here. It bothers me a lot.
…???? Maybe crop his photo and put it by itself in the dark area before the text starts, before “The Final Season…… He can be alone over there – he is the triple emmy winner and lead name on every episode.
Mr Derp,
Along with all of that, if he has one single target he’s going after then he sure is making a lot of noise to do it. I mean, turning babies into WW, rampaging around killing people to raise as wights, blowing down the Wall… Like dude, throw on a hooded cloak, find a way past the Wall and go assassinate your target in the middle of the night all by yourself.
Obviously there’s a lot more to his agenda than a single target. 😛
It’s Jon and Danys baby
Could be one of several people. Bran is obvious, but the NK could have killed him. Ditto for Jon…and Dany. Arya’s a possibility due to the magic Dagger, though it’s probably of Targ origin and not an ancient like the NK. Maybe it’s Gilly’s reneged baby, who after all was promised by Craster.
I think it’s Dany and Jon. They are Ice and Fire, and if they combine it will lead to something so magical it will kill the NK and his minions forever: the Baby that was Promised. IF the NK knows, he’ll be going for Dany, who is probably already preggers.
Clob,
Lol!!!!!
Solid advice. Send him a raven!
Please no Jon/NK duel. That would just be too cartoonish of a climax to everything that I can’t even fathom this particular story going for something so trite, but fortunately I really doubt that’s the direction this is heading, especially since Jon has probably never been the main target at all–but rather a target by extension since he poses a threat to the White Walkers, and keeps getting in their way.
While Bran is definitely a prime suspect for obvious reasons, the Little Sam possibility is intriguing since there’s always been this bizarre, mysterious connection between the White Walkers, child sacrifice, and specifically children of incest. This would of course also necessarily translate to the significance of both Cersei’s unborn child and the Targaryen incest child we all know is coming. In some way or another, that concept could prove to be instrumental to the resolution of all this.
As for Bran, I personally think it’s more likely that as time passes he eventually ends up being known as the Lord of Light (Rh’llor) rather than the Night King, especially considering that the Night King is a show-only invention anyhow, and it’s clear that the major character storylines are going to be in line with the ending as George described to D&D after Season 2. I won’t go into the exact details of the theory or why I think this because that would be a huge post unto itself, and it involves similar time-altering shenanigans that the show seemed to be setting up back in Season 6 with young Ned hearing Bran’s voice, but I do think it would explain a great deal.
Good logic. We haven’t any reason to believe he’d have breached the wall if the 3ER stayed north. And it sure didn’t take him long to go south after Bran went south.
Think we will ever find out why dragonglass turns people? Or what the actual effect is? I feel like it’s glossed over a bit I hope they say something about it. Seems a bit strange it is shoved into nights king and Benjen but then if they get hit with it it kills them? So many questions I want answered I feel like I need books for most of them though haha
So… how did the Night King make/get white walkers before Craster was alive? Craster was probably 60 or so in the show, which is a drop in the bucket of the NK’s life. Are the “13” (I think there are supposedly 13 of those Craster sons’ on the NK’s council/inner circle) a fairly new concept or were there men before Craster, for generations, who carried on this tradition of sacrificing their sons?
If this is the case, it would make perfect sense why Sam Jr would be the key to all of this. He’s literally the last son of Craster (that we’re aware of) who could continue this tradition. It’s an interesting nugget to chew on, at the very least!
Shane snow,
Yes, I think somethings will need to wait on the book.
And the book is late, I suspect because the writers needed to sort somethings out in his head.
For example, providing a NK is a good idea for the visual medium of TV. It may also have worked in the book as well.
If they are clever they can use this unclear WW storyline to help set up the prequel…
The Night King is no doubt after Bran, even if that’s not specifically who Vladimir is talking about here. He went after him and killed the previous Three-Eyed Raven in Season 6, so he obviously considers eliminating the Three-Eyed Raven a priority.
He’s got some beef with Jon after Hardhome and Beyond the Wall (honestly, I disliked that episode so much that while writing this I almost forgot about it entirely), but it’s impossible to tell if he saw Jon as someone special whom he specifically needs to eliminate or if he just looked on him as a potentially dangerous adversary.
It’s hard for me to believe, however, that the Night King has nothing to do with Daenerys given the amount of parallels between them. They seem almost designed to offset one another. Fire / ice. Fire made flesh / ice zombies. Immune to fire. Mother (of dragons) / father (to Craster’s baby boys turned White Walkers). Both exiles on a mission to conquer Westeros. Both leading an army of devoted converts. Etc. Seems like a lot of similarities. Strange of they have no relevance.
No, he’s not after Gilly’s baby. He was perfectly intent on obliterating humanity long before Samwell Tarly snuck a potential convert from under his nose. How would he even know that Gilly’s baby exists? Was he placing orders with Craster? Does he have a receipt? If after slaughtering everybody at Winterfell it’s revealed that the Night King was specifically after Little Sam it’d be absurd.
And does Arya’s name really have to be thrown into the hat for every single potential plot point or role these days? There’s no reason for the Night King to be after her. None. That’d make less sense than him pursuing Gilly’s baby to the ends of the earth.
I figured it out!! It’s the Mountain!! Sandor told him, “You know who’s coming for you.” He meant the Night King! 😜
I wonder if any potential problems from being inbred incest babies carries over to the white walkers, or if they’re reset to a clean genetic slate once turned into the blue man group? Because that’s all we’d need – Deliverance: Polar Edition. 🤔
Jack Bauer 24,
Kind of late to introduce an obscure character.
I’m excited too. It’ll be exhilaration and reunions then death and despair, then a giant question mark about the aftermath.
Ah yes, thanks. I remember now.
I always wonder what happened to Craster’s daughters who are really the wight walkers’ moms. Jon left them behind the wall when they declined to go to castle black. Where did they go. Did any of them become pregnant from those horrific rapes?
Never commented here but I will now.
I think it has something to do with the blue fire Varys saw… like the thing the voice said in the flames has something to do with the Night King.
Next actor talking (a little bit) about S8: Did any one of you read the Men’s Health interview with Joe Dempsie from last week? There is a lot of things that he already stated in earlier interviews (probably half of the interview) and there is also the use of the word “bittersweet”. But he throws in a comment about a long swept aside question: Who is Gendry’s mother? I’m really not sure if he wants to troll us. He is saying this, knowing full well how it ends. This guy. LOL
My favorite part of the interview is the following statement, though:
😂😂😂
What Joe Dempsie says about the final season.
1. Bran didn’t die in the cave. He was warged by the 3ER & they both live in his head. That’s why it’s complicated to explain how he is the 3ER now and also somewhat remembers being Bran.
2. NK wanted to kill the 3ER and did after the 3ER warged into Bran. So, the 3ER still lives…in Bran. Benjen called it.
3. NK is a greenseer. He has seen who is responsible for his potential demise. It could be Arya with a dragon glass dagger. She’s got moves like Jagger. It could be anyone at this point, but what we now know is it won’t be no one.
4. *bows*
I think it must be either bran or jon or dany ..
Now we know why he may be after jon or bran ..
For dany I think we must remember the amount of parallels the show has given us in the early seasons when they were following books more closely..
Iam talking about the spiral design that WW used to make and How dany’s most important scenes will also have some sort of spiral structure in them..
My first instinct upon reading the article was Bran, and I think that’s still a pretty good possibility. The Night King went after him before in the tree in episode 6×05 for some reason, so..
My other thought is baby Sam, although wouldn’t the Night King want him to birth another White Walker? I don’t know that there is a reason for NK to kill him.
But then..
I can see that. I have no idea why, but for some reason it makes sense, and I can see there being some twist that the Baby of Ice and Fire is some kind of threat to the NK, or.. I don’t know.
Ha! That’s the shocking surprise everyone’s been talking about in interviews!
This also made me laugh! Yes, Ramsay’s 20th Good Man, she does!
But no, seriously, there’s no way it’s Arya. Just because she has the Valyrian dagger?
“Hey, Arya, the Night King is after you because you wield this dagger that could kill him.”
*Arya looks around and walks to the person closest to her*
“Here, want a dagger?”
@Cliohna Thanks for that link. I really like these bits…
About the ending…
“But I really think that it’s one that will stand the test of time. And I think even those who don’t necessarily appreciate it when they watch it, I think television history will judge it really favorably.”
Most memorable moment on set…
“A lot of the stuff that we’ve done in season 8—the scale of it has been unbelievable. It’s the kind of thing that makes you wonder, “I don’t know if I’ll ever work on something of this level again.” And also, just the fact that you can turn to one of your colleagues in between takes, look at each other and say, without hyperbole or being ironic: “TV history, man; we’re in it, we’re making it.”
Hahah!!! 🤣
Lol!
*blorp* into the ocean it goes!
Did you give any thought to this comment before you posted it? First the incredibly nasty tone, and then you did the exact same thing Pigeon did!
No one seems to think you’re a Vladimir Furdik hater just because you love Richard Brake’s Night King. Why do you think Pigeon hates Sophie because she loves Famke, or Clob hates her because he posted a fun fan-made image? (Hey, Sansa always wanted to be queen… and wouldn’t it be flattering to have the NK want you for his queen instead of one of a million zombies?)
You’re the one who’s behaving in a reactionary, prepubescent way, and this is the wrong site for it. /end rant
Pigeon,
LMAOOO!!!
Cliohna,
Thanks for the link! Except the writer misspelled Arya’s name. “Aria”?! “Aria”?! Lol, hopefully that gets fixed soon.
Enharmony1625,
This is quite an interesting philosophical question!
If you had the one thing that could kill a monster, and it was coming after you because of it, would you give it up and risk being defenseless if it decided to continue coming for you anyway, or would you hold onto the weapon knowing the monster would definitely come for you but you had a way to kill it?
I don’t think it’s Arya the Night King is after, but I sure do know that she would hold onto the dagger under these circumstances.
Rygritte,
“It could be Arya with a dragon glass dagger. She’s got moves like Jagger.”
______
Oooh! Very good! I might have to steal that.
That would actually be poetic justice. Abuse Fire to hurt an innocent … payback via Ice.
I’d prefer your scenario to my tinfoil speculation, i.e., that NK could easily hack into ZombieMountain and reprogram him into an AotD soldier.
Ramsay’s 20th Good Man,
“And does Arya’s name really have to be thrown into the hat for every single potential plot point or role these days?”
_______
🙊
Jack Bauer 24,
Hey Jack. If your greensight is working today…
Do you know where I put my car keys?
Stormborn59,
I think either that or Arya but leaning more towards the baby, question is why? Must be the baby is really the ptwp. And I guess it’s confirmed he can see the future.
Ramsay’s 20th Good Man,
She’s an agent of the many face god who gives the “gift” of death and a Stark of Winterfell with access to the crypts where dead Stark kings are located. I think we will see more in depth supernatural aspects of the story come into play this last season.
#PigeonStrong
ygritte,
Indeed, Arya is an interesting idea, especially considering her chase scenes from the trailer. However, if that’s the case, we need much more development in terms of establishing connection between the Night King and the Many-Faced Good and/or the Faceless Men, etc.
So, I lean towards Bran/Three-Eyed-Raven as an already established target. I just don’t think that killing him is all that the Night King wants. Bran has a greensight, he can reveal Night King’s plans, that’s why he’s dangerous and that’s why the Night King should be interested to take him out.
😀😀
“when Jon Snow was on the boat and the Night King [then Richard Brake] looked at him and raised his arms — there’s a similar and even stronger moment between Jon and the Night King this time.”
Did he really say this big spoiler? OMG, i cannot wait to see this. Who do you guys think is gonna die and be revived by the NK? Probably all the people who died in the battle of winterfell, including some faces we’ve known very well. I bet Brienne or Jaime, Podrick, Jorah, and even Daenerys might be one of those.
It almost has to happen to at least one of the long running characters wouldn’t you think? The closest there’s been with someone who had an actual (living) role was Karsi, and that was just for a few minutes earlier in the scene. Even that resonated quite a bit considering she was just introduced. I think the drama of turning a more major character and someone who was emotionally close needing to face it might be too hard to pass up for D&D. (Of course there’s always the chance of Hodor already in that condition.)
I really don’t know if I can see one of the main-main characters being wighted. Maybe it’s more likely to be someone such as Edd that Jon would sadly have to destroy… or Pod by Brienne, Gendry by Arya. Tormund seems like a candidate, but he’s just too dang fun to get rid of. I don’t know…
Clob,
Could be Dany.
I’m not a huge fan of the Nissa Nissa theory and all that, but I do wonder if that will come into play at some point before the end.
If so, I could easily see Jon having to kill Dany by stabbing her in the heart. “Taking a knife for her people”, if you will, like she said in season 7. It fits the prophecy, if you’re into prophecies.
No idea, really. Just thinking while typing.
Either way, I agree that one of our beloved characters will turn into a wight and will have to be killed by another character. Could be anyone.
Yeah, that stuff is all a bit concerning when it comes to what George has in mind. Unless they just pull it out of nowhere on the show it’s difficult to believe they’re going to go with a ‘Nissa Nissa’ thing. I think the only time Lightbringer has been mentioned was by Melisandre at her beach bonfire party. In that scene all she says is that, “In the ancient books it’s written that a warrior will draw a burning sword from the fire, and that sword shall be Lightbringer.” There’s no mention of a sacrifice or anything else required.
Enharmony1625,
Lol. Indeed.
“Here, want a dagger?”
“What’s the catch?”
“Oh, errr, nothing. I just don’t need it anymore. Bored with it. You know how it goes with daggers.”
Ten Bears,
For once you weren’t the guilty party. 🙂
Clob,
Not yet, anyway. There’s still time.
But we have seen no link between the many faced god and the NK. Just being mystical isn’t a link in a world full of magic in many forms. The NK is the mystical opposite/enemy of the Lord of Light.
Also, I’m not sure being a Stark makes her a candidate for the NK to single out as his sole target for revenge. There are other Starks who are much more likely candidates.
I agree with Ramsay’s 20th Good Man, it feels like in this fandom Arya is shoehorned into every conceivable theory there is going. As great as the character is, I believe I echo Talvikorppi’s sentiments from many months ago (apologies if I mixed you up, it make have been someone else), that the Arya super fans on here have given me a bit of Arya fatigue!
Arya has been my favorite character since I cracked the first book through the last scene of S7, but even I wasn’t about to suggest she is in any way THE target of the NK.
I’ve thought for a while the reasons they left out mentioning the valonqar and Nissa nissa and some other prophecy stuff is because show only watching would start to google what these terms mean and would ruin certain endings and people won’t be caught off guard by dany being killed or Jaime killing Cersei. Hopefully this comes across for what I’m trying to say.
Cliohna,
I’m doing a S1 rewatch and this time around the comment about his mother having yellow hair stood out to me. I’ve long wondered why they would bring Gendry back after his hiatus, that he must play some role in the endgame. And while I don’t think he’s relevant to the NK plot, it wouldn’t shock me if we learned that he is actually the child of Cersei and Bobby B and has a legitimate claim to the throne.
Jack Bauer 24,
These were also my favorite titbits. And the fact that they have a “big old What’s App group”.
Yes. Porno blacksmith will go down in GoT history for me now. 😁
Dark Sister,
Yeah, that Josh St. Clair guy also wrote “mover” instead of “mother”. 😉
Clob,
Mr Derp,
I don’t think the “big moment” between Jon and the Night King will be related to raising anyone in particular. We already had this moment with Karsi, and I don’t think that seing a more established character wightified would be any more heartbreaking. I mean it could, but it should be done differently: for instance, we see a beloved character and think he/she has survived the fight and then he/she turns to look at us with those dead blue eyes… But that wouldn’t be the moment between Jon and the Night King. What I envision is that at some moment the Night King will raise the fallen just like he did in Hardhome, but Jon’s reachtion will be very different – instead of getting devastated, he’ll strike back.
As for Dany, I agree that “taking a knife into a heart” will play out somehow, but it’s quite possible that her “knife” will be Jon’s parentage revelation. Putting her life at risk has never been a big deal to her: she did that many times.
They’re both capable of resurrecting the dead for their own purposes. That seems like a pretty clear-cut link.
Wolfish,
The many faced god is not capable of resurrecting the dead (at least, we haven’t seen anything like that). His gift is the gift of death and the Night King needs that but still that would hardly make Arya his target.
The many faced god doesn’t resurrect the dead. It’s an illusion. The Lord of Light actually revives the dead. That seems a more natural clear-cut link than the art of pretending to be the dead by wearing their faces.
Is it settled that the Valyrian steel dagger that Arya carries belonged to Littlefinger?
It’s not settled in my mind. Littlefinger said he owned the dagger and then lost it in a bet to Tyrion. How did LF get a hold of such a dagger in the first place? And why is there an illustration of that exact dagger in Sam’s old book? I think it was on a page talking about how the Valyrians used dragonglass to cure illness? …or something like that, don’t quote me on it.
That dagger must be extraordinarily expensive and prized to whichever family owned it. That’s an heirloom that would be passed down through many generations. How did LF get it?
And who would trust an assassin with that valuable item? I presume the plan was to leave the dagger at the scene after killing Bran? That guy could have killed Bran and kept the dagger. And who set the diversionary fire that was supposed to have lured Cat from Bran’s bedside? How does the assassin make it all the way to the bedchamber in a busy castle without being seen? How did he get through the castle gates?
There might be a few more things to learn about that dagger.
So many unanswered questions in this show. I thought they would have paced each revelation out so we get answers in a gradual fashion. It seems impossible that they’ll be able to answer everything in 6 episodes. I hope they don’t pull an “if you want to know, go read the books” stunt.
Anon,
It’s not Littlefinger’s dagger, Littlefinger lied, it’s Joffrey’s. And Joffrey doesn’t know the value of it. The castle is not that busy as it was before since a lot of people went south with Ned. Everyone was busy with the fire. And if you just walk into a castle as if you belong there, no-one will suspect you.
Anon,
What question is unanswered? You won’t get a scientific explanation how you exactly peel off a face and put it on someone else like the many faced god does. It’s magic.
It was never said to be Joffrey’s on TV. In fact during Littlefinnger’s trial scene, Sansa explicitly says how the dagger was LF’s all along in a very climax-like manner. I think as far as TV continuity is concerned, it’s Littlefinger’s and implies he was behind assassination attempt.
Lord Parramandas,
Not Sansa, it was Arya, who said that.
Oh yes, you’re right. I haven’t watched the episode since it originally aired and details slipped my mind.
I think the night king is after little Sam . the reasoning is that he was supposed to be given to the white walkers and turned into one himself. Who knows maybe he was supposed to replace the night king himself but for sure the night king is after him. Why else would the white walker come out of no where to try and get him back when big Sam killed him with dragon glass.
Inga,
Che,
Mixup on my part. Reading comments too fast and confounding the Many-Faced God and the Lord of Light. Too much Dornish red.
My tinfoil theory, if the show has a flashback or Bran talks about the NK and NQ and how a Stark killed her, then the revenge by the NK could be to make a Stark girl his new NQ, therefore his target is either Arya or Sansa.
Che,
What if the NK’s target is Cersei all along and that’s why its Bittersweet… Jon and Danny also wanted to break the wheel but continue to resist the NK. The NK is Bran and wants retribution. He will also try to kill Bran before the latter travels back in time to possess NK man’s body in the time of the children. Bran is trying to stop the NK from being created but by breing there he carries out what we see come to pass. The NK will kill Cersei and then surrender himself to be put out of his misery with Dragonglass. Just an idea, probably totally wrong!
Che,
I would think resurrection would dilute the Faceless Men’s brand. When the FM contract with a client to give someone “the gift”, that target is supposed to be dead and stay dead.
For example, if the widow who turned to the FM when she was ripped off by “the thin man” (the maritime insurance broker who wouldn’t pay up when her husband’s ship sank) had remitted the agreed-upon fee and had been assured the thin man had been whacked, she’d be furious if an acquaintance reported to her “I saw the thin man drinking a pina colada at Trader Vic’s. And his hair was perfect!”*
Stock in the House of Black & White, Inc. would take a nosedive if the recipients of “the gift” came back to life, whether by resurrection or reanimation by wightening.🧟♂️
On the other hand… S2 Jaqen was bloviating to Arya about how the Red God was owed three deaths because Arya saved Jaqen and the two others he was with in the burning paddywagon, and that only death can pay for life. Yet, the Red God was the same magical deity/prankster who empowered drunk priest Thoros to bring Beric back to life six times and enabled Mel to resurrect Jon Snow.
So who knows. I’m a non-book reader. Is there a difference between contracted hits by the FM, and other murder victims or combat casualties? I’m not sure what the rules and regulations are.
* Adapted from “Werewolves of London” by Warren Zevon. R.I.P.
Ten Bears,
“There is only one god, and his name is death.”
This is the only rule.
Che,
About Bran being the potential target…
Here’s a corollary tinfoil theory:
Somehow, for some reason, Bran deems it imperative to travel into the past to try to learn something. But he stays too long and gets stuck there.
After all, the 3ER warned him twice, when Bran started whining after 3ER yanked Bran out of the past while they were visiting the ToJ, and again when they were visiting WF:
3ER: “It is beautiful beneath the sea, but if you stay too long, you’ll drown.” (S6e2)
3ER: “I’ve told you many times, stay too long where you don’t belong and you will never return.” (S6e3)
Disembodied Avatar Bran trapped in the past while his present-day body lies in a permanent vegetative state with his eyes rolled back would be a bizarre – but foreshadowed ending for him.
Come on, the NK is too strategic of a thinker to pull a 2nd or 3rd Death Star, weak writing pushes the same trope; he’s wanting to kill another 3 eyed raven, boring. People forget how he manipulated the capture the wight, er capture a dragon sequence. That should show the viewer he’s 4 steps ahead, playing a game with them. I still can’t believe viewers still gripe about what they think was bad writing, where did that chain come from, when if they use their cognitive ability they’d realize the NK set them up. Small party of wights, one happened to not belong to that WW, chased to a frozen lake, the NK waits a couple days for Dany to arrive, even though water would have refrozen, NK has 3 ice javelins, that chain (ships chain) obviously from Hardhome. NK has the dragon he needs. The big question, did he want them to take the wight to Cersei, or was that a minor victory for Jon.
Therefore if he is a strategic planner, he considers options, not everything goes according to plan. What game is he playing now, what does he want Jon and company, even Cersei to do or not do. The NK is a seer, he knows about the Golden Company, the numbers and positions of those at WF, he obviously through ravens or other creatures can watch the preparations at WF, what’s his endgame, or next move. I mean coming south to kill another is 2 dimensional, not 3; Bran’s thinking he’s coming for him, my belief is the NK is positioning for something more important for him, more personal.
Surely the target is Bran as the 3ER, if he wanted to kill Jon he could have done it easily in S7 or even at Hardholme. Baby Sam is the only other target I could realistically think of.
Hello all. Honestly, I don’t see baby Sam as a target at all. The walkers started heading south long before he was even conceived. An obvious target is the 3IR, which was established in season 6. However, we are being c lued in on an additional target which I think is Dany, and here is why. During the trip beyond the wall, the walkers were stratically taking down 1 target at a time. 1st, they needed a dragon to bring down the wall. Then they planned on taking down drogon. They never had a chance to do that, and we never were able to see their plan in its entirety, as dany escaped. Just because they didn’t go afterher when she rescued Jon, it’s possible the show didn’t reveal that part of the plot yet, as they only show her escaping with the others. I don’t really have any specific ending in mind for season 8, only that d and d honor George’s work. So this isn’t wishful thinking on my part. I only see Dany as the polar opposite of the night king and the walkers. Her whole story is partly about freeing slaves and the walkers are the opposite. She is fire, THEY are the ice, not Jon, even though for show purposes Mel said he was ice. Anyway, those are my thoughts .
I kind of hope he doesn’t talk because he’s more menacing that way. I do expect some Bran visions/flashbacks giving more of his origin and intentions though.
I still find it hard to see past Bran as his primary target and I bet it ties in with his creation. Bran will likely work out how to stop him and Jon will be the one to execute it, perhaps with help from Arya.
Just remember when the Night king first appeared GRRM was still very engaged in the scripts so I wouldn’t say he’s a show only invention because it’s entirely possible we’ve just not seen him yet in the books due to no POV in that part of Westeros. Bran being the Night King could equally happen or the Night King in the books may not be anywhere near as prominent.
It has to be someone Jon cares about so we can rule out Pod, Jamie or Brienne, even though I think both Pod and Jamie will die at Winterfell. My guess would be Bran or Dany dying as I feel Arya will survive and make it south (no real spoiler there).
That’s a really good shout, either Edd or Tormund would raise the stakes and would be a big shock for Jon.
Yep I think you have this spot on.
Tron79,
lol…no.
Jon Snowed,
You act like the show is still worried about things making sense.
Anon,
A lot of these things will never be outright answered. In the show or in the books. It’s called reading between the lines and coming to your own conclusion. It’s the way GRRM writes. Also, the books are fantastic, you should pick them up.
The biggest spoiler here is NK being still around in the very last episode. The only one episode to be directed by D&D. That’s actually a huge spoiler.