The Night King Explains Why He Didn’t Fight Jon Snow At Battle Of Winterfell

Warning: Contains Spoilers

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A lot of Game of Thrones fans were surprised when Arya brought the Battle of Winterfell to an end, but now the Night King himself has explained why he didn’t fight Jon Snow. 

Well, when I say ‘the Night King himself’, I mean actor Vladimír Furdík, the man behind the icy supreme leader.

The Night King hasn’t had much chance to comment on the battle, given the fact he shattered into thousands of pieces as a result of Arya’s kick-ass attack.

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The huge battle took place in the most recent instalment of Game of Thrones, with epic fights and dramatic moments filling every second of the 80-minute-long episode – though actor Emilia Clarke has said there’s much more to come.

One of the most iconic moments was of course when the army of the dead’s leader met his demise, and although it was undoubtedly awesome, many people – including Kit Harington – thought Jon should have been the man for the job.

But Furdík, who took over the Night King role from British actor Richard Brake in season six, explained in an interview with Bustle why he didn’t fight Jon.

He admitted that he was initially hoping for a one-on-one battle, but he came to realise that a King shouldn’t get his hands dirty.

The actor explained:

I was actually surprised. This small lady, she’s going to kill me? Why not Jon Snow? Why not a fight between Jon Snow or some other surprise?

But then I decided that in history, everywhere, kings never fight.

I am a king, I have bodyguards. If I need to kill Jon Snow, there are 10 or 12 other White Walkers who can fight him.

Of course, the Night King’s bodyguards didn’t come in very useful at the end, but Arya’s surprise attack still didn’t give the icy villain the opportunity to put up much of a fight.

Once Furdík came around to the idea that his character’s death would not involve Jon, he started to get more wrapped up in the proposed storyline, and even pitched his own ideas.

He told Bustle:

I said, ‘OK, I have a better idea. What about, I will grab you and you will throw the knife to Bran and he will throw the knife at me in my back or something?’

So we had fun. We just spoke about the other variations with Maisie and little Bran [Isaac Hempstead Wright] — they are very good friends.

The death might not have been what fans expected, but it was still impressive all the same!

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Emily Brown

Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.