--- title: Will the Winterfell Battle Strategy Fail on Game of Thrones? description: This chilling theory about the Night King may foreshadow a major flaw in the Winterfell battle strategy on Game of Thrones. canonical: https://time.com/5575355/game-of-thrones-battle-of-winterfell-night-king/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-04-22T17:17:26.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:58:44.360Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: How the Battle of WInterfell Strategy Could Fall Apart og:description: Potential spoilers ahead og:url: https://time.com/5575355/game-of-thrones-battle-of-winterfell-night-king/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcfdaafb651740347/698948b5e76ad2a944634880/gameofthronesbattleofwinterfellnightking.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: GameofThronesBattleofWinterfellNightKing og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How the Battle of WInterfell Strategy Could Fall Apart twitter:description: Potential spoilers ahead twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcfdaafb651740347/698948b5e76ad2a944634880/gameofthronesbattleofwinterfellnightking.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # This Chilling _Game of Thrones_ Theory May Foreshadow a Major Flaw in Winterfell’s Battle Strategy > 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 Apr 22, 2019 5:17 PM UTC  In season 8 episode 2 of Game of THrones Jon Snow and company prepare for the Battle of WInterfell. In season 8 episode 2 of Game of THrones Jon Snow and company prepare for the Battle of WInterfell.Helen Sloan/HBO  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Apr 22, 2019 5:17 PM UTC **Warning:** This post contains spoilers for [_Game of Thrones_ ](http://time.com/4913247/game-of-thrones-season-8-premiere-date/)[season 8](http://time.com/4913247/game-of-thrones-season-8-premiere-date/). During a strategy meeting for the [impending showdown with the army of the dead](http://time.com/5542922/game-of-thrones-season-8-battle-of-winterfell/) in the second episode of _Game of Thrones_ season 8, [Bran suggested that he be used as bait](http://time.com/5574932/game-of-thrones-bran-night-king-battle/) to lure the Night King to the Winterfell godswood. The thinking behind this approach was that if the group can figure out a way to kill the Night King, then all of the dead that were turned by him will fall as well. But in order to do that, they’ll first need to catch the leader of the White Walkers in a vulnerable position. “He’ll come for me. He’s tried before, many times with many Three-Eyed Ravens,” Bran explained before some providing some much-needed clarification on the Night King’s motives. “He wants to erase this world. And I am its memory.” However, based on the Night King’s seemingly uncanny ability to be in the right place at the right time, some fans have long speculated that he may possess the same [greenseeing abilities](http://gameofthrones.wikia.com/wiki/Greenseer) that Bran has. “I also believe that the Night King is both a warg and a greenseer,” [Reddit user snowcapped mountain](https://www.reddit.com/r/asoiaf/comments/6zbgn2/spoilers%5Fextended%5Ftheory%5Fon%5Fhow%5Fww%5Fmagic%5Fworks/) theorized following the “Beyond the Wall” episode of season 7\. “Him being a greenseer would explain how he is able to perceive Bran when he is in his visions. The \[Night King\] having greensight could make it \[so\] that he knew that \[Jon, Tormund, Jorah, Gendry, Beric, Thoros and the Hound were\] going to cross the Wall and that he knew that there would be a dragon coming. His marching towards the wall would simply be him fulfilling one of his visions (also explains why he randomly has chains with him).” If the Night King is already aware that the living intend to use Bran as bait, that could be disastrous for our band of heroes — especially [Theon](http://time.com/5574913/game-of-thrones-theon-sansa-bran/), who has vowed to protect Bran to make amends for his past mistakes. However, because the Night King wasn’t shown among the White Walker ranks advancing on Winterfell in the closing moments of Sunday’s episode, other fans think that he won’t even be present at the battle. A viral theory put forward by [Reddit user qp0n](https://www.reddit.com/r/asoiaf/comments/bdwuse/spoilers%5Fextended%5Fmy%5Fnight%5Fking%5Fis%5Fnot%5Fstupid/) before suggests that the Night King will take advantage of the distraction his army provides to conquer King’s Landing with undead Viserion. “When the army of the undead line up for the battle of Winterfell, the Night King and his zombie dragon will not be there. Instead he will already be near to his next target … King’s Landing,” the Redditor explained. “Most people have come to assume that the living will lose the Battle of Winterfell and fall back to [Moat Cailin](https://gameofthrones.fandom.com/wiki/Moat%5FCailin)…I predict they actually win the battle… only to find out soon after that there is a new army of the dead much bigger and much further south…the population of King’s Landing.” After all, there’s still going to be three episodes left when the Battle of Winterfell is over. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5575355/game-of-thrones-battle-of-winterfell-night-king/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5575355/game-of-thrones-battle-of-winterfell-night-king/"},"headline":"This Chilling Game of Thrones Theory May Foreshadow a Major Flaw in Winterfell’s Battle Strategy","datePublished":"2019-04-22T17:17:26.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:58:44.360Z","description":"Potential spoilers ahead","url":"https://time.com/5575355/game-of-thrones-battle-of-winterfell-night-king/","keywords":["Television","Newsfeed","game of thrones","TV","clickmonsters"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcfdaafb651740347/698948b5e76ad2a944634880/gameofthronesbattleofwinterfellnightking.jpeg?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/bltcfdaafb651740347/698948b5e76ad2a944634880/gameofthronesbattleofwinterfellnightking.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"GameofThronesBattleofWinterfellNightKing","caption":"Where is the Night King on Game of Thrones","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/5575355/game-of-thrones-battle-of-winterfell-night-king/","name":"This Chilling Game of Thrones Theory May Foreshadow a Major Flaw in Winterfell’s Battle Strategy"}}]}] ```