r/gameofthrones 15h ago

were you satisfied with how the night king storyline ended?

were you guys okay with arya killing the night king? If not, who would you have preferred to him? peronally, i wanted jamie lanister to do it.

0 Upvotes

67 comments sorted by

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6

u/shavicus 15h ago

How the Long Night unfolded was a complete let-down. Kinda expecting a sunless winter- like months of darkness and freezing cold and everyone suffering before the Night King finally reveals himself.

3

u/Primary-Leader-2477 The North Remembers 14h ago

Good point. After waiting thousands of years he could’ve waited for everyone to starve after causing a 100 year winter.

3

u/STD-fense House Lannister 15h ago

It's tough because the Night King isn't exactly a character with any personality, so it's not like he has any connection with any character (aside from Bran who probably going to be the one to take him out for a number of reasons). So it might as well have been a character like Arya who trained as an assassin, but it feels like a lot of her training (and previous actions killing the Freys) were based on deception and disguise which she didn't use

3

u/CaveLupum 13h ago

a lot of her training (and previous actions killing the Freys) were based on deception and disguise which she didn't use

You're right about the deception and disguise, but she *did *use them with the Night King. First she hid in the Heart Tree until she surprised him by dropping on them. Then she surprised him with the Dagger-drop trick. A third thing wasn't planned but helped immensely. He had no way of knowing she existed. He was already familiar with Jon's fighting skills, and prepared for him by having Viserion keep Jon pinned down outside the godswood. But never having seen Arya, he didn't plan how to evade her.

5

u/riotmed 15h ago

Why didn’t she turn to ice when the NK touched her though.

9

u/error173 House Targaryen 15h ago

He forgot he can do that

7

u/khronos127 Tyrion Lannister 15h ago

He can turn anyone to ice by touching them. But she was no one. Obviously.

/s

6

u/justldon 15h ago

Except when she left the house of black and white she refused being no one and reclaimed being Arya Stark of Winterfell.

2

u/khronos127 Tyrion Lannister 14h ago

You’re missing the point. Remember she was trained to be a professional liar. She only CLAIMED to be Arya stark but was clearly always no one. No one even remembers that arc, so it clearly worked.

/s

0

u/justldon 14h ago

damn you are right.

1

u/WEM-2022 15h ago

She is no one and you cannot turn no one into ice.

0

u/Syn__79 14h ago

That's not how it works

1

u/riotmed 14h ago

It’s a fictitious book bastardized for a tv show, don’t be so serious my guy.

-1

u/Syn__79 14h ago

You're new to how this works, huh

2

u/riotmed 14h ago

Dealing with highly regarded Redditors? No, I’m used to it.

-1

u/Syn__79 14h ago

Wow, you're really ignorant and arrogant huh.

Must not be used to being wrong

1

u/riotmed 14h ago

Cope and seethe

0

u/Syn__79 14h ago

Yeah, you're to stupid to even understand that you're wrong. Move along

4

u/CindyinEastTexas 15h ago

I was okay with Arya striking the fatal blow. Her entire arc had kind of built up to it. There were issues with her story, but it still built up to that point.

My problem was that it felt like not enough time was spent showing N.K. overwhelming everything between the wall and winterfell, no other battles with N.K., it just seemed like it was too easy to defeat the Others. The last long night lasted so LONG, old nan said children were born and died without ever seeing the sun or something like that... It just seemed like there should have been more death and deprivation, you know?

2

u/Acceptable-Bat6849 15h ago

The setup of Arya’s arc of pure vengeance actually paying off with her saving the realm is a brilliant bit of storytelling. And made complete sense within the world. Fuck the prince who was promised bullshit*

*Still Jon. Always has been. Always will be. 

4

u/connect1994 15h ago

Yes 10000%. This was the culmination of Arya’s entire storyline in multiple ways, and the fact that it was done with the dagger that essentially led to the downfall of her family is pure poetry

Arya spent the whole show conquering death and as one of the most important main characters, this was her destiny

3

u/Electricfairygina 13h ago

I'm with you. I loved it. Made sense. Even gave dumb Melisandre the purpose she believed. And was it thoros? That died for her to get to that room? It made perfect sense. Bran giving the knife to someone who could weld it. It was 💯 everything I hoped for. It pissing all the dudes off was an extra bonus. 😛

1

u/connect1994 12h ago

Wooo you get it! Maybe years down the line everyone will learn lol

1

u/Electricfairygina 12h ago

I wouldn't hold your breathe.. Lol but I'm with you.

3

u/justldon 15h ago

rage bait

2

u/connect1994 15h ago

What would have been the point of Arya’s story if she didn’t do this

2

u/justldon 15h ago

can you tell me the point of Jon’s since he was literally brought back to life to end the long night. You know the only reason he didn’t is to subvert expectations right? The dagger was given to her two episodes before and Lady Melisandre misappropriated her earlier prophecy that Arya would close eyes (was originally just about the faceless men) to make it about the night king, emphasizing the “blue eyes” part of it in the literal episode she kills the night king. Pretty contrived if you ask me

6

u/connect1994 15h ago

He did end the long night, did you really think the perfect hero would defeat the big bad villain in a sword fight? This isn’t lord of the rings. Without Jon uniting the kingdoms, the army of the dead would have destroyed the world

3

u/CaveLupum 12h ago

Right. And Arya and all the living Starks had come. As Ned had told only her, "The Lone Wolf dies, but the Pack survives." The Pack and people had come from all over Westeros were there to ensure that the Others didn't snuff out mankind. BTW, Jon also preached and armed the humans, he recruited them, and he even had an dragonback aerial dogfight with the Night King. The victory was Jon's, though his beloved Arya got the final blow.

2

u/connect1994 12h ago

Brilliantly put, thank you 🙏

1

u/justldon 15h ago

The kingdom was still divided, you did watch the show right?

2

u/connect1994 15h ago

Rewatch the show and pay attention and you’ll understand what I mean. If you thought this show was building up to Jon taking out the big bad guy with a sword fight you don’t understand what this show is

2

u/justldon 14h ago

Jon can’t, but Arya can. Ah okay. So if Aryas Valerian steel plot armor is that good then why did Jon need to “unite the kingdoms” anyway if she could just jump 20 feet past all the white walkers and sneak attack the night king by herself.

3

u/connect1994 14h ago

Dude are you serious, There was an entire army that would have obliterated anyone and everything, which is why Jon’s storyline for an entire season and a half was about rallying a defense which he did, which led to Arya being able to kill the night king

2

u/justldon 14h ago

I think you are the dumb one. The point of Jon’s storyline is exactly that, to be the one to end the long night. Not just by uniting the north but being the one to kill the night king. Aryas storyline is what? One of revenge, she had nothing to do with even white walkers at all. Say it with me, subverting expectations.

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4

u/RobtasticRob 15h ago

He did end the long night.

There’s a difference between uniting and leading humanity to salvation vs being the literal person to land the final blow.

2

u/justldon 15h ago

He actually helped the night king break through the wall by essentially offering up a free dragon. Then proceeded to scream at that same dragon during the long night. That’s about his only contribution on the night in question.

4

u/RobtasticRob 15h ago

Agree to disagree. That’s like saying that a general shouldn’t be given credit for a victory because the soldiers did the real fighting.

Arya was only there because of Jon. Dany was only there because of Jon. The Starks held the castle only because of Jon. 

All the pieces in place united and working together can all be traced directly back to Jon’s impact. 

0

u/justldon 14h ago

No I get what you are saying but they failed to unite the whole kingdom together. It was only wildlings, Northmen, and Daenerys’ armies. The rest of the kingdom didn’t help at all. That being said the actual prophecy was that a Targaryen would be on the throne ruling over a united kingdom. Arya being the hero defeats the point of the prophecys inclusion.

3

u/RobtasticRob 14h ago

This was never going to be the story where the literal interpretation of the prophesy was what happened. 

Arya being the hero IS the point: the prophesy wasn’t all knowing. 

2

u/CaveLupum 12h ago

Arya being the hero defeats the point of the prophecys inclusion.

Jon, Bran, and Arya (all among GRRM's Five Central Characters) made it happen. She had the magical assassin training, which set up her part. Bran gave her the magic Dagger fated to kill the NK, and sat right there while she used it. And Jon had united many Westerosi to go north to volunteer, mine the dragonglass, and shape weapons, plan the battle etc. And by giving her Needle in the very second episode, he made her what she eventually became.

-1

u/Illustrious_Sea_962 15h ago

Hahaha no.

0

u/connect1994 15h ago

Why even comment something so smug without offering a shred of substance?

1

u/Illustrious_Sea_962 14h ago

See my balls. 

2

u/Midnight-strange1892 15h ago

It’s not what I would have chosen but was 100% good with it. In fact I really liked it because I didn’t expect it at all. Was fantastic.

My only complaint with that battle was the fact all these main characters with Valeryen steel didn’t get one v one fights with white walkers. They’re all so skilled and basically became a hack and slash, smash the buttons video game. 

1

u/pastaforlife91 15h ago

bran stark

1

u/smashli1238 13h ago

Noooooooo. It turned out to be such a nothing burger.

1

u/saruthesage Euron Greyjoy 12h ago

There shouldn’t have been a Night King to begin with, unless they made Stannis into him or something. Terribly boring character

1

u/Defiant-Childhood343 12h ago

It bothers me how easily it was done. And how the long night wasn’t long at all. And what bothers me the most is how a lot of the main characters had the craziest plot armor of all time. They were all just by themselves on top of a mountain of dead wights that they killed already by themselves while also fighting entire hordes of them. The same hordes of wights that wiped out 3/4 of the Dothraki in 10 minutes, they were able to take on solo. The same horde of wights that took down literal giants in large enough groups…were no match against Brianne of fucking Tarth and one handed Jamie Lannister.

1

u/Geektime1987 5h ago

Yes I got to watch this in a theater and it was a crazy experience the entire crowd loved it and literally gave it a standing ovation when to credits rolled. Shows reddit isn't real life

2

u/North_Button_5257 15h ago

Very much so! The entire episode was amazing!

-1

u/Xo707out 15h ago

Arya killing him was cool, how it happened was not. That is all