Game of Thrones Season 8 Episode 3 Questions Answered

Major spoilers ahead for “The Long Night.” Avoid like Greyscale until you’ve seen Game of Thrones season 8 episode 3.

If your memory of previous seasons is at all foggy, we’ve assembled the below to help answer any questions you may have following Game Of Thrones season 8 episode 3, “The Long Night.” Spoilers galore!

Who died in the Battle of Winterfell?

Loads of people. Basically all the Dothraki. All the White Walkers and wights, including wight-dragon Viserion. But of specific relevance: Dolorous Edd (died saving Samwell Tarly’s life), Lady Lyanna Mormont (died like a tiny legend killing a wight giant), Beric Dondarrion (died saving Arya Stark’s life), Theon (literally ran at death screaming after Bran called him a good man), the Night King (stabbed by Arya Stark’s Valyrian steel dagger) and Melisandre (took off her enchanted ruby, aged centuries in seconds and died before dawn).

We wrote more about their sacrifices here.

And everybody else survived?

Everybody but the masses of dead. As far as we know, yes. There are still three episodes to go though, remember. Oh, and don’t worry, Dany still has two dragons.

So that’s the end of House Mormont?

With Lyanna and Ser Jorah gone, that’s it, yes. Add House Mormont to House Umber as the most recent Westerosi family to die out.

What was the Winterfell battle plan?

Position Bran in the Godswood as bait for the Night King (who wanted to destroy the Three-Eyed Raven as he was a record of all living memory) and then wait for the Night King to reveal himself, before using two dragons against one to defeat him.

Dany went off-piste though, when she saw her Dothraki people being extinguished by the wight army, so flew into battle before the Night King showed himself. Jon followed her, and the pair of them were caught in a blizzard above the battle.

read more – Game of Thrones: The Three-Eyed Raven Explained

Ser Davos was supposed to signal the dragonriders when the troops had retreated and it was time to set the fiery trenches around Winterfell alight, but the blizzard blinded them, so Melisandre had to come to the rescue with a spell from the Lord of Light.

Did Ghost survive the battle?

Yes he did. Ghost isn’t the last Dire Wolf alive though. His sister Nymeria was seen alive in season six, which (incest notwithstanding, which has never been a problem for this show in the past anyway), leaves a breeding pair. We wrote more about what a good boy Ghost is right here.

Why did the Hound have that mid-battle panic attack?

Wouldn’t you? But also because he’s been pyrophobic, or afraid of fire, since his older brother Sandor (aka The Mountain) held his face against burning coals at the age of six for playing with one of his toys.

What was the history between Ser Davos and Melisandre?

Both were advisors to Stannis Baratheon, but Davos disagreed with Melisandre’s use of blood magic and human sacrifice in her attempts to increase Stannis’ power. Davos witnessed Melisandre ‘give birth’ to a shadow monster that slit Renly Baratheon’s throat. When Melisandre planned to burn Stannis’ bastard nephew Gendry alive in a magical rite, Stannis set Gendry free and hid him from her in King’s Landing. Melisandre later convinced Stannis to burn his young daughter Shireen alive as a sacrifice to the Lord of Light to help him win a battle.

read more: Who is the Night King?

After Melisandre resurrected Jon Snow following his murder at Castle Black, Jon exiled her upon pain of death for the murder of Shireen Baratheon and Davos promised to execute her himself if she ever returned to the North, hence her line this episode “There’s no need to execute me, Ser Davos, I’ll be dead before the dawn.” And she was.

What was Melisandre’s role?

The Red Priestess returned from wherever she’d been since she left Dragonstone in season seven just in time to cast a spell over the Dothraki weapons to make them flame like Ser Beric Dondarrion’s sword, and – when the battle plan went screwy – to light the moat around Winterfell aflame using the same Lord of Light magic.

It was Melisandre who gave Arya the message that she was destined to kill the Night King, too, possibly indicating that Arya Stark was “the prince/princess who was promised.” But then, prophecies are tricky things…

We wrote more about Melisandre’s dramatic return and exit right here.

When did Arya and Melisandre first meet?

When Melisandre bought royal bastard Gendry from the Brotherhood Without Banners to use in blood magic. She told Arya that there was darkness in her, that they were fated to meet again one day, and that Arya was destined to close many eyes – brown, blue and green. Arya duly added Melisandre to her death-list, but in this episode, received Melisandre’s message about her destiny being to kill “blue eyes” as an instruction to kill the Night King in the Godswood.

How many people currently know the secret of Jon’s parentage?

At the moment, just Bran/The Three-Eyed Raven, Samwell Tarly, Jon and Dany. Ned Stark took it to his grave, of course.

Which weapon does Arya use to kill the Night King?

The Catspaw assassin dagger, the Valyrian steel blade originally used in Prince Joffrey/Littlefinger’s attempt on Bran Stark’s life, which was wrongly blamed on Tyrion Lannister in season one. When Littlefinger gave the blade to Bran in season seven, Bran gave it to Arya, and she used it well, first to kill Littlefinger, and here to kill the Night King.

We wrote more about Arya’s ultimate moment right here.

What was the ultimate purpose of Ser Beric Dondarrion’s resurrections?

Melisandre indicated that the Lord of Light, through Thoros of Myr, was keeping Beric alive for the purpose of saving Arya Stark’s life in the Battle of Winterfell. (So that Arya could go on to kill the Night King.)

Why was the Night King immune to dragon-fire?

Because he was created when the Children of the Forest inserted a dragonglass blade into his heart, and could only be killed when Valyrian steel destroyed that blade. Nothing else would kill him. Jon and Dany, as Targaryens, are also immune to fire, incidentally, as we saw in the battle.

Who were Sansa’s ex-husbands?

Tyrion Lannister (the marriage was annulled as it was never consummated) and Ramsay Bolton (she was married off to the monstrous abuser by Littlefinger). If Littlefinger had his way, he would have been her third husband too. Hence Sansa saying to Tyrion “You were the best of them.” No contest among that lot.

We wrote more about the moments between Sansa and Tyrion here.

What were Sansa and Tyrion’s roles in the Battle of Blackwater (as mentioned in the Crypt)?

Sansa, as Cersei’s “Little Dove”, spent the Battle of Blackwater hiding in King’s Landing tower Maegor’s Holdfast, along with the rest of the aristocratic Lannister women. Cersei planned for Ser Ilyn Payne to execute them all before Stannis’ troops could arrive and rape them.

read more: Game of Thrones Season 8 – Who Lives and Who Dies

To raise morale among the Lannister soldiers after King Joffrey retreated to his mother’s side, Tyrion led a counter-attack against Stannis’ army through King’s Landing’s Mud Gate (where a Cersei-sponsored attempt on his life was made by Ser Mandon, who was duly killed by Podrick. Good old Podrick.).

As acting Hand of the King, Tyrion was also behind the plan to save King’s Landing from Stannis’ fleet using wildfire, the powerful explosive used by Mad King Aerys, and later, by Cersei Lannister to destroy the Sept of Baelor.

What was Bran’s mid-battle disappearing act all about?

Bran warged into a flock of crows that flew over the battle to check on the Night King’s position and the progress of the battle. He arrived back in his body just in time for the Night King’s arrival. Did he know all along that Arya would save him from the Night King? Well, he did give her the Valyrian steel blade…

Was Arya always supposed to be the one who killed the Night King?

According to showrunner David Benioff in this featurette: “For three years now, we’ve known that it was going to be Arya that delivered that final blow … We hope to avoid the expected. Jon Snow has always been the hero and the saviour but it just didn’t seem right to us for this moment. We knew it had to be Valyrian Steel to the exact spot where the Child of the Forest put the dragonglass blade to create the Night King, and he is uncreated by the Valyrian Steel. At the end, it’s a victory for the living but at great cost because some of our favourite characters fall along the way.”

Game Of Thrones season eight continues Sunday nights on HBO. Read our episode guide and complete coverage of Game of Thrones Season 8 right here.