The Big Picture
- Arya killing the Night King in GoT was not only unexpected but a huge letdown in terms of storytelling and character development.
- The choice to have Arya be the one to take down the Night King ignores years of build-up and prophecy surrounding Jon Snow.
- The white walkers were built up as a massive threat in Game of Thrones, yet their ultimate purpose and motivations remain unexplained.
Arya Stark killing the Night King in Season 8, Episode 3 of Game of Thrones might’ve been a welcome surprise to fans at first. But as we look back on the show, we’ll see that it not only doesn’t make sense but also abruptly ends a drawn-out mystery with no satisfying conclusion. Why are the nightwalkers built up into such an existential threat only to be dispatched by one teenager? How does Arya as the savior jive with the Azor Ahai prophecy? Why do white walkers exist, and what is their objective? If the Night King ended up being so easy to kill, why did viewers spend years fearing him? As we revisit this shocking but ultimately confusing storytelling choice, we’ll see why it stands out among all Game of Thrones scenes for making exactly zero sense.
Game Of Thrones
Nine noble families fight for control over the lands of Westeros while an ancient enemy returns after being dormant for millennia.
- Release Date
- April 17, 2011
- Creator
- David Benioff, D.B. Weiss
- Main Genre
- Drama
- Seasons
- 8
- Studio
- HBO
Why Did Arya Kill the Night King?
Game of Thrones makes some effort to justify the choice to have Arya kill the Night King. It is, to some extent, foreshadowed in previous episodes. When Arya stabs the Night King, she uses a Valyrian dagger called the Catspaw dagger, the same blade that nearly killed Bran in Season 1. Now she uses it to save Bran’s life. The hilt of the dagger is also made from the same dragonglass that was used to create the Night King thousands of years ago. In previous episodes, we see Arya sneak up on Jon Snow, much like she sneaks up on the Night King. We also see her using the nifty little switching hands move in Season 7 that allows her to dispatch the Night King in Season 8. Not to mention, Arya’s entire journey takes her from a feisty child to a stealth assassin. So there are some earlier events that set up Arya as the Night King’s destroyer.
Arya Killing the Night King Make No Sense
That said, there are many more important reasons why Arya killing the Night King makes no sense within the larger context of Game of Thrones. To begin with, the entire trajectory of the show points to Jon Snow being the hero who will inevitably come face-to-face with the Night King. He’s been fighting and dealing with the white walkers since Season 1. He stares down the Night King several times, seemingly teasing a future showdown. The Azor Ahai prophecy implies that either he or Daenerys or a combination of the two will save humanity from the white walkers. So after years of readying fans for this epic fight, instead, the Night King is quickly and pretty easily killed by Arya. Huh?
Not only does Arya just sort of randomly pop in and save the world, but Jon and Daenerys are barely involved in the Night King’s destruction. In fact, Arya still could’ve killed the Night King even if Jon and Daenerys stayed home, kicked their feet up, and drank some tea. So why is this couple the “Song of Ice and Fire” personified? Shouldn’t the whole thing just be called “The Song of the Faceless Stealth Assassin Teenager”?
‘Game of Thrones’ Was Known for Surprising the Audience and Subverting Expectations
To be fair, Game of Thrones is well known for surprising its audience. Those who didn’t read the books beforehand were shocked by Ned Stark’s death and horrified by the Red Wedding. So perhaps one could argue that Arya killing the Night King is another unexpected twist that subverts the audience’s expectations. The problem, however, is that both Ned Stark’s death and the Red Wedding make sense within the context of the show. They may be surprising events but, in retrospect, we can see clearly why the characters made the choices they made. We can also, again in retrospect, see how these events fit into the overall story. With these surprises, it feels like there is a point, not like we are watching a surprise for its own sake. To some extent, it’s a bit like the difference between a jump scare in a horror film and a horror film that’s actually scary. Anyone can shock the audience, but it’s a different accomplishment entirely to do so in a way that makes sense and has meaning.
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What Purpose Did the White Walkers Serve?
Beyond the decision to have Arya kill the Night King is also the head-scratching choice to essentially make the white walkers irrelevant. For years, fans were conditioned to believe that the politicking and squabbling among the power-hungry characters in Game of Thrones meant nothing compared to the existential threat of the white walkers. Yet, that’s not what happens. Instead, the white walkers die off and the show resumes its storylines revolving around politicking and squabbling. So this begs the question, what was the point of including white walkers in the story at all?
And beyond just their relevance to the show’s plot, why were so many mysteries about the white walkers teased but never resolved? Who exactly are these undead creatures? Why do they exist? What do they want? What do their creepy-looking spiral shapes mean? Perhaps it’s okay for Game of Thrones not to tediously answer every single question. But to raise the questions at all and then never answer any of them just comes across as poor storytelling. It feels like the lack of answers regarding the white walkers is more of an oversight or mistake caused by poor planning, rather than a deliberate and meaningful choice.
Of course, countless fans were dissatisfied with the final season of Game of Thrones. Arya killing the Night King was one of many oft-heard complaints. But unlike some other storytelling choices that upset fans, the entire story of Game of Thrones seemed to revolve around the inevitable final confrontation with the white walkers. After all, the first scene in the entire series is a deadly encounter with a white walker. Typically, a cold open like this one is designed to hint at or tease important future events. Although Arya was a beloved character and one that the fans enjoyed watching, in the end, Arya’s quick death blow to the Night King undermined the entire series. For that reason, this scene stands out as the one that makes the least amount of sense.
Game of Thrones is streaming on Max in the US.
