An Ode To The Night King

Published May 1, 2019 · Updated July 6, 2022

Hi Shat Hosts!

Thank you for making such great content. You guys make my 9-5 workday feel a little less monotonous.

I have watched Sunday’s episode three times at this point and I agree with almost everything you guys have mentioned in the deep dive. One thing that should be mentioned is just how FREAKING BAD ASS the Night King was in this episode. Not only did the makeup and costume departments outdo themselves…the Night King looked absolutely exquisite…the GOT team chose just the right moments to weave the Night King into this episode’s narrative (I know this is an unpopular opinion as many people think he got too little screen time).

The Night King had three truly notable moments in the episode that are worth noting:

The Night King does not come in until about 30-40 min into the episode…this leaves the audience questioning whether he is actually in Winterfell. When we first do see the Night King riding on Viserion, there is a masterful low angle shot focusing on his hand and moving up to his face. As low angle shots often make us feel vulnerable, the Night King appears to be looming over us. As you guys mention often in the podcast many of things GOT does could seem cheesy in theory – like OF COURSE the Night King shows up riding on a dragon. BUT, the combination of music, camera angles, and the fantastic makeup of the Night King, make this moment truly terrifying — I couldn’t have asked for the Night King to enter this episode any other way.

The second moment is the resurrection scene after Daenerys tries and fails to burn the King with dragon fire. While this scene was, in my opinion, one of the best of the episode (I mean watching all the dead bodies rise within Winterfell was truly something else), the part that stuck out to me the most was that GOT chose to give the Night King a concrete personality trait that we really haven’t seen before. Usually the Night King is stoic – stone cold figuratively and literally. But this time we actually see him SMILE. This smile speaks millions because not only does it make the King appear to be more emotionally complex then we had first anticipated, the smile also opens up a character flaw. The smile elicits a strong air of cockiness and self-assurance. This overconfidence is what will eventually lead to his downfall.

The final moment is of course the action between The Night King, Theon, Bran, and finally Arya. As the pace slows down and close ups become more abundant, this scene is again time to really appreciate just how fucking good the Night King looks. (I’m sorry, I just can’t get over it; this makeup job was just so out of this world). Narratively, we see The Night King die at the hands of Arya due to the character flaws he exhibits in the resurrection scene. The Night King’s overconfidence gets the best of him and he underestimates Arya as a worthy opponent.

When the night king does finally die I was initially upset because I wanted to see more of him and thought the show did a disservice by killing him off so quickly. However, after really ruminating, I think it is my own selfishness that led me to this conclusion. The Night King’s story ended here at Winterfell and it was always supposed to end at Winterfell. GOT is big this season on having its character’s story arcs go full circle. The Night King is another example of this as he dies almost exactly how he was born. Also, if you are thinking about legacy (shout out to Ken L.), I think that even though the Night King is dead, his impact will be with us for the rest of the season. We are not 100 percent on who lived and who died in this episode but we can reasonably say that almost all of the Dothraki and two thirds of the unsullied are gone. This will undoubtedly have a huge impact on the rest of the episodes to come.

Thank you for reading such a long email. I just needed to send out an appreciation post to the Night King. It is remarkable that a character that has not said a line of dialogue and has had such little screen time throughout the series has become one of my favorite characters and one that I will undoubtedly remember for a long time

Keep up the good work! I look forward to listening to small counsel!

Best,

Jake H.

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