After eight long seasons of creepy-body-part spirals and turning babies into blue-eyed zombies, Game of Thrones fans have finally learned what the hell the Night King actually wants.
Warning: major spoilers for season 8, episode 2 of ‘Game of Thrones’ — “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” — will follow.
During a strategy meeting with Jon, Daenerys, Jaime and the rest of the Game of Thrones heroes, Bran — AKA the Three-Eyed Raven — chimes in with his unique insight on the Night King and how that knowledge can help them in their upcoming war against the Army of the Dead.
Following years of wondering what exactly the Army of the Dead’s ultimate goal is, the Three-Eyed Raven casually revealed what the Night King truly wants in a monologue that lasted no longer than a minute or two.
As Jon, Jaime and the rest of the Westeros leaders are discussing a way to draw the Night King out into the open (as they believe killing him will kill the entire army), they worry that the Night King wouldn’t dare expose himself if their theory on killing him were true.
However, the Three-Eyed Raven emphatically chimes in, claiming that the Night King so desperately wants to kill him that he will put himself out there.
“Yes he will, he’ll come for me,” Bran says. “He’s tried before, many times with many Three-Eyed Ravens.”
As Samwell responds by asking why the Night King would do such a thing, the Three-Eyed Raven finally revealed the Night King’s goal: “an endless night.”
“An endless night,” Bran says. “He wants to erase this world … and I am its memory.”
So, there ya have it, after eight long years of fan theories and speculation, the Night King’s goal is as simple as it could be: the end of humanity and it’s entire history.
However, given that Game of Thrones is Game of Thrones, we have a feeling that the impending face-off between the Night King and the Three-Eyed Raven is going to be a little more complex and nuanced than the explanation Bran just offered. Maybe we even get a word or two out of the Night King?
Now that we know what the Night King wants, the only lingering question regarding his character is where and when he came from (no, the Children of the Forrest shoving Dragon Glass into some dude’s heart doesn’t count, as we have no idea who that dude is, what he did to deserve such a thing, and what he’s been doing all this time.)
The eighth and final season of HBO’s Emmy Award-winning epic fantasy drama ‘Game of Thrones’, which consists of just six episodes, premiered on HBO on Sunday, April 14.
