The Night King Won the Battle of Winterfell, According to New Game of Thrones Theory

Warning: Spoilers for all aired episodes of Game of Thronesahead.

There are just two episodes of Game of Thrones left: Let the fan theories fly.

As enthusiastic as Game of Thrones's fan base is, some are getting fed up with this season. Characters are making uncharacteristic moves, and love scenes seem to be overpowering actual battles. Fans are angered with how their favorite characters are behaving. Showrunner David Benioff confirmed that Daenerys Targaryen just “kind of forgot about the Iron Fleet and Euron [Greyjoy]’s forces,” while Tyrion Lannister is definitely not the clever man he used to be. So what’s really going on here? Well, one fan has a possible explanation.

Redditor Inherent_Advice argues that the Night King actually won the Battle of Winterfell, even though he ended up being killed by Arya Stark. What if his job was already done by then? The fan recalls what the undead leader wanted, which Bran Stark tells everyone in the episode “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.” While they’re preparing for the war against the dead, the Three-Eyed Raven explains that the Night King wants to kill him to erase the world and start “an endless night.” Samwell Tarly then goes into his little speech, stating, “That’s what death is, isn’t it? Forgetting. Being forgotten. If we forget where we’ve been and what we’ve done, we’re not men anymore. Just animals.”

“Winter did come for Westeros. And what do we know about winter? That it's an endless night of forgetting,” the Redditor writes, referencing all of the poor choices the characters have made since the Battle of Winterfell. They also point out how Bran has become useless since “The Long Night.” This could be because the Night King is dead, but it also could be because he won.

As you might expect, the comments section has received all kinds of reactions, with one even writing, “This could also explain why [George R. R. Martin] forgot to write the last two books of the series.”

Are our favorite characters really this naive in the war for the Iron Throne? We’re hoping for an explanation before the series ends.