How ‘Game of Thrones’ Kind of Forgot Winter Is Coming
If you’re not caught up on “Game of Thrones” through Season 8, episode 3, then stop reading this and tell the god of SPOILERS: “Not today.”
As winter finally arrives in the final “Game of Thrones” season, the Night King’s chances for a victory look very good. His massive army of zombies — its ranks filled with undead humans and giants and even a dragon—is poised to overrun not just the human stronghold of Winterfell but also the entire continent of Westeros. The only hope for Jon Snow, Daenerys Targaryen and the forces of living is to kill the Night King and therefore break his unholy magic spell that raises seemingly endless hordes of the dead to fight for his cause.
This is a moment that calls for the Night King to make the most of his army’s unique strengths with a patient strategy that takes advantage of the coming of winter. Instead, he gambles upon a riskier strategy by ordering an immediate frontal assault that exposes himself in the process — and he ends up losing everything.
The Night King begins with all the advantages to win a long war of attrition that exhausts both the forces and supplies of the living. His army of zombies (known as “wights” in “Game of Thrones” lore) has the unique advantages of not needing food, shelter, or sleep. The wights do not suffer from the cold winter weather…
