HBO Game of Thrones
The new episode of Game of Thrones was phenomenal. But there were so many layers to the ending, you might want a review of just what happened. Here’s an explanation for the ending of Game of Thrones Season 8 Episode 3: The Long Night.
This post will have major spoilers for Season 8 Episode 3.
Melisandre’s Magic & Her Work Are Both Done
HBO
Melisandre’s purpose was always to find and guide Azor Ahai aka The Prince Who Was Promised. There are differences between the prophecies in the book, but in the show Melisandre used the terms interchangeably.
Here entire purpose was to stop the White Walkers by following the Lord of Light and the Azor Ahai prophecy. She thought Stannis and then Jon Snow were the prophesied ones. It appears that at the end, she decided it was Arya.
I’ll dig deeper into how Arya might be Azor Ahai in a future article. But for now it’s sufficient to say that Melisandre apparently believed she was the one. Lightbringer was Arya’s Valyrian dagger, which had originally been used in an attempt to kill Bran in Season 1. Littlefinger returned the dagger to Bran, who then gave it to Arya last season.
Azor Ahai & the Prince Who Was Promised
HBO
Azor Ahai is a mythical, god-like figure who is said to have forged a sword named Lightbringer thousands of years ago, which was used to defeat both darkness and what is called The Great Other. He had to plunge the sword into his true love in order to give the sword the power it needed to destroy darkness. Since Azor Ahai’s battle took place around the same time as the battle with the White Walkers in the north, it’s assumed that he may have been the one who ultimately defeated them.
A prophecy in the books states: “There will come a day after a long summer when the stars bleed and the cold breath of darkness falls heavy on the world. In this dread hour a warrior shall draw from the fire a burning sword. And that sword shall be Lightbringer, the Red Sword of Heroes, and he who clasps it shall be Azor Ahai come again, and the darkness shall flee before him.”
The idea is that a new Azor Ahai will be reborn to defeat the White Walkers now that they are advancing again. Some also say this will be the same as “The Prince That Was Promised,” another prophecy in the books and the show. Melisandre has used the two interchangeably in the show.
It appears that those prophecies were about Arya. Remember, George R.R. Martin actually likes to portray prophecies as misunderstood, so it makes sense we wouldn’t guess it was her.
Arya Was Trained for This Moment
HBO
Arya appearing unexpectedly behind the Night King isn’t a plot hole. She was trained by the Faceless Men for this very moment. Jon even commented in an earlier episode about how she had learned to move without being detected.
Arya demonstrated to Brienne in a previous episode how she could drop a weapon from one hand and catch it with the other.
Bran delivered the Valyrian dagger, that was used to try to kill him, to Arya last season. He must have foreseen what would happen. The Valyrian dagger is Lightbringer.
Melisandre reminded Arya that she was trained for this. She reminded her of her early teachings: “What do we say to death? Not today.”
In Season 3, Melisandre prophesied over Arya, saying: “I see a darkness in you. And in that darkness, eyes starring back at me. Brown eyes, blue eyes, green eyes. Eyes sealed shut forever. We will meet again.” Brown eyes were the Freys. Blue eyes referred to the Night King, we now know. And green eyes? Perhaps those eyes belong to Cersei.
Melisandre’s Work Is Done
HBO
And now, Melisandre’s work is done. Her necklace helped her do magic, and it seems that she has used up most of her magic by the end of the episode. We see a sign of this when she had trouble lighting the trenches earlier. That’s why she throws off her necklace and abandons it.
At that point, she returns to her true form.
The directors have said before that Melisandre is a few centuries old. In 2016, they said she needed to reflect upon her true self to get a better grasp of her current predicament. But her true self is tired, and now it was time for her to let go.
In the books, Melisandre explained that the necklace holds the glamour spell. In fact, rubies are a common jewel used for glamour. There’s even a theory in the books that because Rhaegar was killed while wearing rubies, perhaps it wasn’t really Rhaegar who died. But that idea wasn’t introduced in the show, where Rhaegar is truly dead.
The nice thing about Melisandre’s story is that she was able to end her life on her own terms, when her work was done.
For a full death count from the episode, see Heavy’s story here.