3 major reasons why fans are dissatisfied with the Battle of Winterfell

Game of Thrones – “The Long Night”. Photo: Helen Sloan/HBO

Part One: Prophecy

One of the most prevalent prophecies in A Song of Ice and Fire is that of Azor Ahai, or “the prince that was promised”. It is told throughout Westeros that the previous Long Night was ended by a warrior of legend, Azor Ahai, whom through the sacrifice of his love, wielded the flaming sword Lightbringer and defeated the White Walkers, bringing daylight back to the realm.

The prophecy itself is mysterious, and in the book it is obsessed over by multiple characters. It is brought up in the show as well, famously by Melisandre, who once believed Azor to be Stannis Baratheon. By the end of season 7, however, she believes it to be Jon Snow, and that is where all recent evidence points. When Arya stabs the Night King, all of this prophecy is thrown out the window.

Here is where there is a departure from other twists in the series. The prophecy is not subverted; Arya is clearly not Azor Ahai as opposed to someone more expected. It is instead entirely abolished, falsified, and forgotten. The prophecy may as well have never existed in the fist place because it in no way contributes to this episode, or the downfall of the Night King. It is incongruent with the rest of the series, and it drew too much investment from the fans to just be ignored.

There is no intentional, intelligent subversion here. In fact, as showrunner David Benioff says in HBO’s “Inside the Episode” segment, Arya was chosen simply because she was the unexpected choice — not because she fulfilled a prophecy, or because the series has been gearing toward it for eight seasons, but because she was “surprising”.

In one fell swoop, Jon’s storyline loses its focus. What is his purpose now, if not to defeat the Night King and become Azor Ahai? It devalues the themes of sacrifice, fate, and history that have made the show so heavy-hitting in the first place.

But most egregiously in my eyes, it demystifies the Night King and turns him into the most one-dimensional of villains. The White Walkers are introduced to us in the first sequence of the show, and were built up to be the main antagonizing force for the better part of 10 years. They are shrouded in mystery and pure elemental power, and yet they are eliminated without answering our biggest questions.

What was the purpose of the sacrificial spirals and shapes? What are their true motives? Do they have a deeper connection to the Starks and Winterfell? We will never get the answers. The Night King will never utter a word in the series, and the apocalyptic end of all life was boiled down to a mere side quest before the battle with “final boss” Cersei.

The Night King up until this point was one of the most mysterious, ominous, and downright terrifying villains in television history, and he did not deserve such an underwhelming ending. Technically, the dead would have won the battle if he had just not shown up.