Battle of Winterfell (Great War)

"This article is about the Night King's attack on Winterfell. For other battles taking place at Winterfell, see Battle of Winterfell (disambiguation)."

"They're coming. We have dragonglass and Valyrian steel. But there are too many of them. Far too many. Our enemy doesn't tire, doesn't stop, doesn't feel. We can't beat them in a straight fight."

- Jon Snow

The Battle of Ice and Fire is the final battle of the Great War between an alliance of living armies, including the forces of the Starks, Arryns, and Targaryens, against the army of the dead led by the White Walkers. The battle takes place at Winterfell, the seat of House Stark and regional capital of the North.

The living face heavy casualties but ultimately prevail when Bran Stark draws out the Night King in the Winterfell godswood, where Arya Stark destroys him with a Valyrian steel dagger, causing all of the White Walkers and the wights to fall and ending the Army of the Dead.

Prelude
Jon Snow, King in the North, prepared the North for the White Walkers, who rose again after thousands of years during his time in the Night's Watch. He negotiated with Daenerys Targaryen during her invasion of Westeros, eventually cultivating an ally in her. After Cersei Lannister, who held the Iron Throne after the War of the Five Kings, agreed to a parley in King's Landing, Jon ventured beyond the Wall with a team to capture a wight, which nearly failed until Daenerys rescued Jon and the survivors, though at the cost of one of her dragons, Viserion, who died at the hands of the Night King. The wight was presented by Jon, Daenerys, and their followers at a parley at the dragonpit before Cersei, Euron Greyjoy, and their entourage. While Euron declared he would retreat to the Iron Islands, Cersei agreed to a truce, and later further agreed to send her armies north to assist in the Great War after negotiating with her brother Tyrion, the Hand to Daenerys.

After Jon and Daenerys began sailing back to the North following the parley, Cersei Lannister revealed to her brother Jaime that she and Euron Greyjoy plotted to betray the truce that they agreed to, and that Euron was ferrying the Golden Company from Essos to Westeros on the Iron Fleet in order to help the Lannisters reconquer the Seven Kingdoms. Seeking to uphold the vow he made at the parley, Jaime abandoned his sister in King's Landing and rode north alone to help in the Great War against the White Walkers and the army of the dead. Upon arriving at Winterfell, Jaime was put on trial for his actions against Houses Targaryen and Stark, but was ultimately allowed to stay in Winterfell while Winterfell prepared for the army of the dead.

Meanwhile, after rescuing his sister Yara from their uncle Euron, Theon Greyjoy set sail to Winterfell with some ironborn warriors whilst Yara and the rest of their followers sailed to the Iron Islands to take them back from Euron in Daenerys' name, allowing the living to retreat to the Iron Islands should Winterfell fall. Theon and the ironborn were also allowed to stay at Winterfell to partake in the great battle.

Elsewhere, the Night King breached the Wall with a reanimated Viserion, nullifying its magic and allowing the White Walkers and the army of the dead to cross into the realms of men, heading first towards the North. The White Walkers first attack Last Hearth, the seat of House Umber, where everyone is killed, including Lord Ned Umber, unable to escape Last Hearth before the army of the dead arrived. By the time Tormund, Lord Beric Dondarrion, and acting Lord Commander Eddison Tollett arrived at Last Hearth with the other survivors of the fall of the Wall, the castle had been abandoned, indicating that the White Walkers and the army of the dead were getting close to Winterfell. Tormund, Beric, and Edd, alongside the other surviving Free Folk, members of the Brotherhood Without Banners, and members of the Night's Watch, reached Winterfell before the army of the dead did, and warned Jon Snow that the White Walkers would be there within the night.

The battle
As the Dothraki prepared for the impact against the wights, Ser Jorah Mormont noticed Melisandre approaching them from the dark. Melisandre asked the Dothraki horde to raise their weapons and, with the help of Valyrian chants, she was able to light their weapons on fire to fight against the army of the dead.

The Dothraki then charged towards the wights with their flaming weapons in hand, along with Ser Jorah Mormont and Ghost. However, as the combined force faded into the dark, all the flames vanished and only a few Dothraki and Jorah were able to escape.

At this point, the living understood that the numbers in Night King's army were overwhelming. The entire force of the wights made their way towards Winterfell, impacting with the ground forces of the living. The sheer number of wights caused the ground forces to retreat back into Winterfell so that a protective trench filled with heavy wooden spikes could be ignited. During the retreat, one wight killed Eddison Tollett after Edd saved Sam from death at the hands of another wight.

The initial plan was for Danaerys and Drogon to ignite the trench, and Ser Davos Seaworth signalled with lit torches for the attack. However, Danaerys and Drogon were lost in an ice cloud conjured by the Night King and could not see the signal. In an attempt to ignite the trench, archers shot flaming arrows at it but to no avail as the wood was too cold to catch from mere arrows. A group of Unsullied then accompanied Melisandre towards the trench, as she believed she could light up the trench with the same Valyrian chants. After a few failed attempts, Melisandre was finally able to burn the trench, cutting off the path to Winterfell.

Daenerys and Jon rode Drogon and Rhaegal respectively, and were able to destroy most of the wights approaching the castle, however, a cold wind swallowed the dragons into its darkness and they were only able to make their way through once the trench was lit. From the darkness emerged the Night King riding the reanimated Viserion, who tried to attack Drogon with his ice flames but was quickly distracted by Jon. Rhaegal and the reanimated Viserion fought each other and were both heavily injured. The Night King took this as an opportunity to attack and kill Jon, but Daenerys was able to interfere and she dismounted the Night King from Viserion. Daenerys tried to kill the Night king with dragonfire but he was immune to the dragon's flame. He reached out for his ice blade to attack Drogon, causing Danaerys to frantically steer Drogon up and away. The Night King missed his shot and Daenerys was able to escape from him.

Although the living held their own for a little while, they were eventually pushed back into Winterfell. The Night King reanimated all the fallen soldiers who had just perished, an made his way to the godswoods, where he killed Theon Greyjoy, who was protecting Bran. As the Night King was about to kill Bran in the godswoods, Arya Stark came out of nowhere and, through her sleight of hand, was able to stab the Night King with the Valyrian steel dagger, consequently causing the White Walkers to be destroyed and wights extinct.

Aftermath
"We have won the Great War. Now we will win the last war."

- Daenerys Targaryen Daenerys Targaryen addresses a gathering of surviving Northern and Vale lords and knights in Winterfell, declaring that while the living have won the Great War, they now have to win the last war.

In the books
In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels by George R.R. Martin, an equivalent battle has not occurred. The TV show has surpassed the timeline of the books, so it is unclear if an equivalent battle will occur. It is also unknown if the Others (the name of the White Walkers in the books) will share a similar, if not the same, fate as their counterparts do in the TV series.