The following contains MAJOR SPOILERS for Game of Thrones season eight, episode three, “The Long Night.” Please use caution going forward. There are many, many spoilers.
The battle we’ve been waiting for has come and gone. Game of Thrones gave us “The Long Night” and with it the epic Battle of Winterfell. With so many characters in play in one location, and a seemingly unending army of the dead coming at them, the odds of favorite characters not making it were quite high. Maybe it was more than you expected, maybe it was way fewer. Either way, folks didn’t live to see the dawn.
We’re here to break down who lived, who died, and who we’re really not sure about. That episode was super dark and it was hard to see anything.
This is your last chance to avoid episode spoilers. Below lie the dead.
Who Died
So, surprisingly, not that many of our heroes kicked the bucket. There was a chance for a Thanos-level balancing to take place at Winterfell, but it was fairly unbloody. Here is the list of the dead as far as we know:
1. Dolorous Edd – Killed saving Sam. Became a wight for a second.
2. Lyanna Mormont – Died getting crushed by a wight giant, but she dragon-glassed its eye first. Also became a wight for a second.
3. Beric Dondarrion – Slain helping the Hound protect Arya.
4. Theon Greyjoy – Killed by the Night King in a last valiant effort to save Bran. Pretty cool way to die.
5. The Night King, the White Walkers, Ice Viserion, and all of the wights – Shattered or dropped dead(er) thanks to Arya stabbing the Night King with Valyrian steel.
6. Jorah Mormont – Mortally wounded protecting Daenerys from wights on the battlefield.
7. Melisandre – Finally fulfilled her purpose, tossed her magic necklace and died of old age.
That’s it. Six main characters and the entire army of the dead. A pretty small list, really.
Who Might Have Died
It was hard to see everything that happened, so we could be wrong, but we think the following might have died:
1. Rhaegal – Where did that dragon go? Did he die? Or did Drogon die? I really wish we could see anything. Maybe he’s dead.
Who Survived?
Literally everyone else. Sure, a ton of Dothraki soldiers and some unsullied and various vassals and bannermen died in the battle, but of our main folks, we still have:
1. Daenerys Targaryen – Alive. Killed some wights.
2. Jon Snow – Alive. Killed some wights. Couldn’t get to Bran.
3. Bran Stark – He sat long enough to get saved by Arya.
4. Arya Stark – Good thing she learned how to drop a blade into her other hand.
5. Sansa Stark – Was prepared to die fighting alongside Tyrion, but didn’t have to.
6. Tyrion Lannister – Was prepared to die fighting alongside Sansa, but didn’t have to.
7. Varys – Alive.
8. Samwell Tarly – Alive.
9. The Hound – Alive.
10. Jaime Lannister – Alive, but tired.
11. Brienne of Tarth – Alive, but tired.
12. Podrick Payne – Alive, but tired.
13. Tormund Giantsbane – Alive, but probably tired.
14. Missandei – Alive.
15. Grey Worm – Alive, somehow.
16. Gilly and Sam Jr. – Alive.
17. Drogon (and/or possibly Rhaegal) – Alive, but tired.
18. Gendry – Alive.
19. Davos Seaworth – Alive.
20. Ghost – After showing up out of nowhere in the previous episode, Ghost just disappeared at one point in this episode. But he’s in the promo for next week, so we’re good!
What Does This Mean?
It means the Starks of Winterfell ultimately had a much better weekend we expected.
We’ll see what happens in the next three episodes, but clearly the Night King wasn’t all that.
Images: HBO
Kyle Anderson is the Editor at Large for Nerdist. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Twitter!
