Game of Thrones theories: Does Jon Snow deserve credit for Night King battle scene?

It appears some fans can’t quite believe that Arya would have been capable of her big hero moment on her own

Clarisse Loughrey
Saturday 04 May 2019 10:34 BST
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Game of Thrones: Arya kills Night King in season 8

WARNING: Spoilers for Game of Thrones season 8

Game of Thrones fans went wild for Arya Stark’s big hero moment during the Battle of Winterfell, where she killed the Night King with the Valyrian steel dagger. Drake even gave her a shout out while accepting a Billboard Music Award.

However, it appears some fans can’t quite believe that Arya would have been capable of such a feat on her own, despite the fact it was foreshadowed all the way back in season 3.

Reddit users have instead attempted to give credit to Jon Snow, arguing that his screaming match with the wight dragon proved enough of a distraction for Arya to pass through the Godswood and attack the Night King.

As user AppleSoapp writes: “[Jon screamed] at the undead dragon to distract it so Arya can run past and kill the Night King. The undead dragon was protecting the entrance to the Godswood. Watch it again, you can actually hear him scream ‘GOOOOO – GO – GO.’”

10 seconds later the scene you can see the hair of a White Walker flying up when Arya sprints past the group of White Walkers. Jon once again was ready to sacrifice himself to kill the Night King.”

However, many argue that it’s clear Jon’s scream is out of pure frustration, accepting that he may have no way to defeat this dragon, and, furthermore, that Arya’s years of training have given her the skills needed to get the job done.

Maisie Williams, who plays Arya, had previously admitted she was nervous about the fan reaction to Arya’s big moment.

“It was so unbelievably exciting,” she said, adding: “But I immediately thought that everybody would hate it; that Arya doesn’t deserve it. The hardest thing is in any series is when you build up a villain that’s so impossible to defeat and then you defeat them.”

She continued: “It has to be intelligently done because otherwise people are like, ‘Well, [the villain] couldn’t have been that bad when some 100-pound girl comes in and stabs him.’ You gotta make it cool. And then I told my boyfriend and he was like, ‘Mmm, should be Jon though really, shouldn’t it?’”

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