The Battle of Winterfell was fought and won by the living during Season 8, Episode 3, of HBO’s Game of Thrones .
The series is based on a series of books by George R.R. Martin, and tells the story of noble families as they try to gain control over the fictional land of Westeros. In Season 8, the members of these rival families are forced to look beyond their differences and band together to defeat a common undead enemy, the Night King and his army of White Walkers.
Throughout the series, the writers created a rivalry between Jon Snow, played by Kit Harington, and the Night King, but fans were shocked at the end of the battle after another character delivered the fatal blow, cutting down the Night King and his army. In the last few minutes of the episode, viewers watched as Arya Stark (Maisie Williams) appeared out of nowhere and took down the Night King with a small blade, while Jon spent most of his time hiding from an undead dragon instead of defending his home.
During an interview, Harington recently opened up about his disappointment with the way his character was written during the battle, according to a report from Comic Book .
“I was slightly pissed off I was on a dragon, it stops me from fighting in a crowd,” he told Entertainment Weekly . “It’s going to look cool but I wanted, in some ways — just as Jon does — to get back down on the ground. The fact he can fly a dragon means he has to but his place is down there amongst the sword swingers.”
But despite his frustrations, Harington went on to discuss his favorite episode of the show’s final season. Episode 4 will air on Sunday, May 5, and Harington says it shows how the characters will react now that they’ve “seemingly got what they needed.”
“The world is safe now. They’re celebrating and saying goodbye to lost friends. But as an audience you’re going, ‘This is only episode four, something’s going to happen.’ And that’s the cool thing because I think the characters are aware of this as well,” he said. “There’s something twisted and uncomfortable about it. It’s so Shakespearian.”
The eighth and final season of the show will be the shortest of the entire series with only six episodes. And now that the Battle of Winterfell has been won, the characters must prepare themselves to fight another battle, which will finally determine the ruler of the seven kingdoms.
Game of Thrones airs on Sundays on HBO.
