Armed with Dragonglass and Valyrian Steel, the armies and heroes of the Stark Alliance
positioned themselves in and around Winterfell, awaiting the army of the dead.
Defending the left flank was Jaime Lannister, Brienne of Tarth, Podrick Payne and the armies
of the vale, while on the right there was Sam Tarly, Ed Tollett, Gendry, Sandor Clegane,
Beric Dondarrion and Tormund Giantsbane, alongside the armies of the North, the free folk, and
the last of the Night’s Watch and Brotherhood without Banners.
The center, which would face the brunt of the attack, was held by Greyworm and the Unsullied,
with Jorah Mormont leading the Dothraki Vanguard, accompanied by the direwolf Ghost.
The rest of their forces were position inside Winterfell, with Sansa, Arya, Davos and others
atop the walls, while Lyanna Mormont and her men defended the inner courtyard.
In the godswood Bran Stark awaited the Night King, protected by Theon Greyjoy and the Ironborn,
and within the Crypts beneath the castle, non-fighters like Gilly, Tyrion, Varys and
Missandei took refuge with the women and children.
Watching their armies from a distance, the dragons Drogon and Rhaegal soared through
the darkening sky while their riders Daenerys Targaryen and Jon Snow looked on with concern.
Moments before the first charge, the red priestess Melisandre appeared and rode towards the vanguard,
casting a spell to light the swords of the Dothraki.
The sight of thousands of weapons bursting into flame encouraged the allies, but such
inspiration was quickly abandoned, when Jorah, Ghost and the Dothraki Vanguard opened the
battle by charging against the enemy ranks, only to be destroyed in a matter of moments,
leaving Jorah and a handful of others to race back in retreat.
Terrified and badly outnumbered, the allies waited in silence, until the cries of the
enemy filled the air, and a deep, menacing darkness blackened the sky.
Though some few started to break and run, most stood firm only to be swiftly massacred
by the endless hordes of undead which crashed upon them, shredding their way through any
opposition, including the Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch Edd Tollett died early
on after saving the life of Sam Tarly.
Having never encountered such an imposing enemy, chaos erupted along the front lines,
with casualties mounting at a staggering pace, until Daenerys Targaryen upon Drogon, and
Jon Snow riding Rhaegal arrived to burn the thousands of enemy soldier with dragonfire.
Unfortunately their assistance soon lessened when Jon charged at the White Walkers observing
from the treeline, only to caught up in a brutal snow storm blocking their visibility
and causing Rhaegal and Drogon to crash into one another.
Horrified by the battle, Sansa retreated into the crypts with the women and children, where
she could offer no words of comfort to those she encountered.
Meanwhile, the allies fell back, bringing the remnants of the right and left flank into
the castle, while the Unsullied held the center, sacrificing themselves the protect the retreat.
Though most of the Unsullied were slaughtered, Grey Worm and small contingent survived, falling
back to protect the gate, and call for the lighting of the trench.
Yet due to the darkness and snow storm, the dragonriders could not see the signal, leaving
Melisandre to perform yet another powerful spell, surrounding the castle in a roaring
fire, which at last gave them a temporary reprieve from the fighting.
But it was not long before the Night King found a way past this obstacle, ordering hundreds
of his own troops to throw themselves into the fire, creating piles of bodies to act
as bridges for his wights to pass over.
Once again battle erupted all around them as the enemy frantically climbed over the
walls and an undead giant broke down the main gate, allowing them to eventually make their
way through every room in Winterfell.
And while the giant swatted away all those who dared face him, he took his time with
Lyanna Mormont, squeezing the life from her young body which allowed her to summon the
last of her strength and stab the creature’s eye with a dragongalss dagger, leaving them
both to collapse and die.
Killing dozens of enemy soldiers atop the walls, Arya was soon overrun and so retreated
inside, where she used her stealth skills to momentarily avoid detection, though she
was eventually found and would have died, if not for the heroism of the Lightening Lord
Beric Dondarrion, who sacrificed himself to save her life while the Hound got her to the
relative safety of a nearby room.
Finding Melisandre already there, Arya was at last reunited with the Red Priestess spoke
a prophecy several years earlier, when they met in the camp of the Brotherhood without
Banners.
“I see a darkness in you, and in that darkness eyes staring back at me.
Brown eyes, Blue eyes, Green Eyes.
Eyes you’ll shut forever.
We will meet again.”
In the skies above Winterfell, the Night King atop Viserion attacked Drogon and Dany with
blue fire, before launching a strike against the castle walls.
Seeing this, Jon and Rhaegal charged into the enemy, locking up in a death grip as the
dragons bit and clawed each other to pieces.
When Drogon swept in and joined the fight, Viserion retreated and the Night King fell
to the ground, while Rhaegal made his own landing, shaking off his rider before collapsing
with serious injuries.
Seeing an opportunity to end the battle, Dany ordered Drogon to unleash a torrent of dragonfire
upon the Night King, but it had no effect.
Jon Snow then tried to run at enemy leader and face him in a final duel, but did not
make it, as he found himself surrounded by a brand new army of wights when the Night
King raised the dead all around them, which now included all those who perished fighting
for the alliance.
With the enemy seeming invincible and their plan in shambles, the remaining defenders
made their last stand.
After saving Jon Snow from the enemies surrounding him, Drogon was overrun by wights leaving
Dany to fall off him as he flew away.
Alone in enemy territory, she would have died if not for Jorah Mormont, who ran to her defense,
and sacrificed himself to save her life.
Meanwhile, as Jon tried desperately to reach the godswood and kill the Night King, he was
forced to ignore the plight of their warriors and heroes, with Davos, Sam, Grey Worm, Sandor,
Tormund , Gendry, Brienne, Jaime, and Podrick all continuing to fight within the crumbling
castle.
Yet just as he reached the entrance to the godswood, Viserion reappeared and rained blue
fire down upon them, blocking Jon Snow from reaching his destination.
With the situation already dire, even the women and children were not safe, as the dead
bodies of the crypt rose up and started killing the people trapped within.
The defenders largely vanquished, and the castle in ruins, the Night King and his White
Walkers marched their way into the godswood, surrounded by their undead soldiers.
As nearly all the Ironborn died defending Bran, only Theon Greyjoy was left to face
down the enemy leader.
Though visibly shaken, Bran gave him some final words of encouragement before he made
a suicidal charge against the Night King, who swiftly killed him with his own spear.
Ye just as all seemed lost, and the Night King reached for his sword to kill Bran, Arya
Stark ran quickly and quietly passed the white walkers, leaping into the air with a Valyrian
steel dagger in her left hand.
Though the enemy sensed her presence and caught her by the neck and wrist, she was able to
drop the dagger into her free right hand, and plunged into the Night King’s body.
Collapsing into shattered ice, the White Walkers soon followed, as did Viserion and the undead
army, leaving the few survivors of the Stark Alliance to claim victory.
Though many died in the Battle of Winterfell, including the entire Dothraki and Unsullied
armies, as well as the heroes Edd Tollett, Lyanna Mormont, Beric Donarrion, Theon Greyjoy
and Jorah Mormont, they suffered yet another casualty once the fighting ended, as the red
priestess Melisandre walked out into the snow and with her mission complete, took off the
magical necklace to reveal her true self as an elderly women, before she collapsed and died.