“The Dead Are Already Here”
The third episode of HBO’s eighth season of Game Of Thrones continues next week with the massive Battle Of Winterfell.
With a plan in place to use Bran as bait in the godswood in the hope of luring the Night King, the battle begins.
HBO has confirmed that next week’s episode is 82 minutes long, which is the longest of the entire Season 8.
The battle took eleven weeks of night shoots to complete. The Battle Of Winterfell is said to be one of the longest battle sequences in the history of film or TV, eclipsing the 40-minute Battle of Helm’s Deep from The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.
Here’s the teaser:
How Does The North Stop The Night King?
During the episode, “A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms”, battle plans were mentioned, although we never get to hear the actual plan, and there were plenty hints about the coming battle littered through the episode.
Winterfell’s Defenses
During the opening credits, when the camera pans over Winterfell, the new features surrounding the castle, are trenches filled with spikes.
Those spikes have had shards of dragonglass added to them, and dragonglass fixed to the castle walls and on top of the battlements.
As well as having Dany’s dragons, the Unsullied were seen testing out a trebuchet in front of the castle, and these traps are sure to be helpful for the Winterfell defenders.
It’s also safe to assume the North will have a few more tricks up their sleeves.
The Crypts Of Winterfell
Supposedly the safest place in Winterfell, but in the above teaser, we see the Night King’s army preparing to face off against the Northern Army, Jon remarks, “The Night King is coming.” Dany then says to him, “The dead are already here.”
The line is no doubt an editing decision, but damn it’s intriguing, given that it could be Dany referencing a theory about the Night King bringing the dead back to life from the crypt inside Winterfell.
The theory is, what if the Night King wasn’t present in the shot of the White Walker army because the Night King has already snuck off deep into Winterfell to raise the dead inside the crypt?
We’ll have to wait a bit longer to find out what happens, but it’s clear that The Battle Of Winterfell is upon us.
There are only four episodes left. Game Of Thrones returns to HBO this Sunday night with the Battle of Winterfell.
