--- title: Game of Thrones: Will There Be a Massive Battle at Eastwatch? description: Ever since Jon sent Tormund to guard Eastwatch-by-the-Sea, Game of Thrones has seemed to be building toward a major battle at the castle. canonical: https://time.com/4894299/game-of-thrones-eastwatch-by-the-sea/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-08-10T18:21:46.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T16:55:34.431Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Why Eastwatch Could Be a Pivotal Location on 'Game of Thrones' og:description: "Bran saw the Night King and his army marching towards Eastwatch" og:url: https://time.com/4894299/game-of-thrones-eastwatch-by-the-sea/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt06165ab3c336cb27/6988d90b656a3f2e45bd1326/game-of-thrones-eastwatch-jon-snow-05.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: game-of-thrones-eastwatch-jon-snow-05 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Why Eastwatch Could Be a Pivotal Location on 'Game of Thrones' twitter:description: "Bran saw the Night King and his army marching towards Eastwatch" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt06165ab3c336cb27/6988d90b656a3f2e45bd1326/game-of-thrones-eastwatch-jon-snow-05.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Why Eastwatch Could Be a Pivotal Location on _Game of Thrones_ > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account.  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Aug 10, 2017 6:21 PM UTC  Helen Sloan—HBO  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Aug 10, 2017 6:21 PM UTC **Warning:** This post contains spoilers for season seven of [_Game of Thrones_](http://time.com/game-of-thrones-2017/). Ever since [Jon Snow](http://time.com/4890649/game-of-thrones-jon-snow-dragon-daenerys/) sent Tormund and his Wildling army to guard [Eastwatch-by-the-Sea](http://time.com/4892366/game-of-thrones-season-7-trailer-scenes-unaired/) in the _Game of Thrones_ season premiere, the plot has been hinting at a major battle at the castle. And judging by the title of the upcoming fifth episode, “Eastwatch,” the time for the (presumably epic) showdown may be nearly upon us. “Last time we saw the Night King was at Hardhome,” Jon told Tormund, referring to the season five massacre at the Free Folk fishing village. “The closest castle to Hardhome is Eastwatch-by-the-Sea.” Eastwatch-by-the-Sea is the easternmost castle along the Wall belonging to the Night’s Watch. It is one of the three remaining Wall castles — along with [Castle Black](http://gameofthrones.wikia.com/wiki/Castle%5FBlack) and [The Shadow Tower](http://gameofthrones.wikia.com/wiki/The%5FShadow%5FTower) — still manned by the men of the Watch. **MORE:** **To stay up to date on everything** **_Game of Thrones_** **, follow our all-encompassing** [**Facebook**](https://www.facebook.com/WiCnet/?utm%5Fsource=time&utm%5Fmedium=article&utm%5Fcampaign=wicfacebook)[ **page**](https://www.facebook.com/WiCnet/?utm%5Fsource=time&utm%5Fmedium=article&utm%5Fcampaign=wicfacebook) **and sign up for our** [**exclusive** ](https://pages.email.ew.com/game-of-thrones?utm%5Fsource=time.com&utm%5Fmedium=referral&utm%5Fcampaign=gameofthronesnewsletter)[**newsletter**](https://pages.email.ew.com/game-of-thrones?utm%5Fsource=time.com&utm%5Fmedium=referral&utm%5Fcampaign=gameofthronesnewsletter)**.** It also seemed to be referenced a second time in the premiere when the Hound described his [fire vision](http://time.com/4860314/game-of-thrones-hound-fire-vision/). “Ice, a wall of ice. The Wall…It’s where the Wall meets the sea. There’s a castle there. There’s a mountain, looks like an arrowhead. The dead are marching past, thousands of them.” This scene — along with [shots from the season seven trailers](http://time.com/4892366/game-of-thrones-season-7-trailer-scenes-unaired/) — seemed to suggest that Beric Dondarrion and the Brotherhood Without Banners were also headed toward Eastwatch, heralding a meeting of several fan-favorite characters. Not to mention that this week’s preview shows Jon dead set on convincing Daenerys that it’s time to head north to fight the White Walkers. “Bran saw the Night King and his army marching towards Eastwatch,” he says as a shot of Bran’s ravens spying on the wights appears. However, neither the promo nor the [photos for the episode](http://time.com/4894034/game-of-thrones-season-7-episode-5-jon-snow-daenerys-targaryen/) show the actual castle in the mix. Hopefully it’s still standing. “Eastwatch,” the fifth episode of _Game of Thrones_‘ seventh season, airs Aug. 13 at 9 p.m. on HBO. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4894299/game-of-thrones-eastwatch-by-the-sea/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4894299/game-of-thrones-eastwatch-by-the-sea/"},"headline":"Why Eastwatch Could Be a Pivotal Location on Game of Thrones","datePublished":"2017-08-10T18:21:46.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T16:55:34.431Z","description":"\"Bran saw the Night King and his army marching towards Eastwatch\"","url":"https://time.com/4894299/game-of-thrones-eastwatch-by-the-sea/","keywords":["Television","game of thrones","TV"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt06165ab3c336cb27/6988d90b656a3f2e45bd1326/game-of-thrones-eastwatch-jon-snow-05.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt06165ab3c336cb27/6988d90b656a3f2e45bd1326/game-of-thrones-eastwatch-jon-snow-05.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"game-of-thrones-eastwatch-jon-snow-05","caption":"","creditText":"Helen Sloan—HBO","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/television/","name":"Television"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4894299/game-of-thrones-eastwatch-by-the-sea/","name":"Why Eastwatch Could Be a Pivotal Location on Game of Thrones"}}]}] ```