ACT THREE
INT. RED KEEP – THRONE ROOM – NIGHT
Beric, Varys, and Melisandre surround Daenerys’ body. Beric is bowed over his queen, silently praying.
BERIC DONDARRION
We serve the same god. Help me send her to the Lord of Light.
MELISANDRE
Without sacrifice, words are simply smoke in the wind.
BERIC DONDARRION
Surely you don’t mean that.
MELISANDRE
There are other ways to serve the dead.
Varys clasps his hands and steps backward. He is not a religious man. He will give them space.
EXT. ISLE OF FACES – NIGHT
The Night King struggles to break free of Bran’s warg. He strains, unable to move his body.
Jon stares at the hilt in his hand. He fumbles for a backup.
Bran struggles to keep control over the Night King’s mind. He pulls him to…
EXT. WINTERFELL – BROKEN TOWER – DAY – VISION
Not the ruins they left behind, but a Winterfell from years ago surrounded by misty green hills.
Present day Bran climbs the Broken Tower, moving just as nimbly as the day he was pushed.
Summer, just a puppy, paces at the foot of the tower, barking frantically.
The Night King pursues Bran, climbing impossibly fast. He reaches for Bran’s ankle with his icy blue hand. He grasps Bran’s leg, stalling him.
EXT. ISLE OF FACES – WEIRWOOD GROVE – NIGHT
Bran is caught in the warg. Veins straining in his neck with his internal struggle, mouth open in a soundless scream.
Everyone gathers around Bran. Jon joins to them.
JON SNOW
Brienne, you need to take everyone to safety.
ARYA STARK
Like hell she will. I didn’t come all this way to run like a Southern coward now.
JON SNOW
Did you see? Valyrian steel won’t kill him. We are out of options.
SANSA STARK
I agree. We need to get as far away from here as possible.
JON SNOW
Good. You need to go.
SANSA STARK
Wait. You’re not coming?
JON SNOW
I have to finish it. If I can’t end him, I can slow him down.
ARYA STARK
I won’t leave you.
ASH
There is another way.
Everyone looks at the Child. But Bran speaks, still trapped in the warg.
BRANDON STARK
Night King.
JON SNOW
Yes, that’s what we’re trying to figure out.
ASH
Listen to him.
BRANDON STARK
Jon, Night King. Steel.
ARYA STARK
Bran, what are you saying?
ASH
He cannot speak fully. He cannot break the warg and keep control of the Night King.
SANDOR CLEGANE
Seven fucking hells. I’ll distract that frozen cunt of a king.
The Hound draws his sword. Brienne holds hers aloft as well.
BRIENNE OF TARTH
I’ll join you.
SANDOR CLEGANE
I don’t need help. Not for this.
BRIENNE OF TARTH
My duty is to defend the Starks. Together we stand a chance.
Together, they run out at the Night King.
Bran comes out of the warg. Blood drips from his eyes.
BRANDON STARK
Jon must become a Night King. Only then will he have the power to defeat this one.
SANSA STARK
I won’t let that happen.
JON SNOW
It’s not up to you, Sansa. Bran, what are you saying?
BRANDON STARK
When the Wall falls, all the fires will go out. We need fire and ice to win this war.
JON SNOW
This fight is between the living and the dead. I can’t just step over to the other side.
BRANDON STARK
You’ve been prepared to give your life for quite a while now.
JON SNOW
Not like this.
BRANDON STARK
You are Targaryen and Stark. Your blood sings the balance needed for this to work. You’re the only one who can.
The ringing of steel and a roar of pain echo from across the ridge.
EXT. ISLE OF FACES – CLEARING – NIGHT
Brienne and the Hound duel with the Night King. Their swords ring heavy as they rain powerful blows against him.
The Night King SWINGS his sword, landing a blow on Brienne’s breastplate. It shatters.
The Hound roars and attacks the Night King with unparalleled hot fury. His blows are so quick and powerful the Night King can only defend.
The Hound might win this.
The Hound forces the Night King to kneel under his attack.
Suddenly the Night King’s hands fly up, catching the Hound’s sword in his frozen grip. The Hound struggles, pressing down with all his strength. His scarred face twitches with effort.
The Night King rises, pushes back against the blade. Its hilt catches the Hound under his jaw. The man stumbles back, dazed long enough for the Night King to slit his throat.
Dark blood spatters against the snow as Brienne roars.
BRIENNE OF TARTH
Sandor!
The Night King heads for the weirwood grove.
EXT. ISLE OF FACES – WEIRWOOD GROVE – NIGHT
The group hears Brienne let loose a wail that can only mean death.
BRANDON STARK
It needs to happen at the oldest heart tree, where the first pact was made. Goodbye, brother.
The Night King crests the ridge. Bran slips back into the warg, which…
…stops the Night King in his tracks.
EXT. WINTERFELL – BROKEN TOWER – DAY – VISION
Bran kicks the Night King, who loses his grip. The Night King tumbles.
Bran climbs higher, higher, to the window –– that window where Bran met his fate so many years ago.
Bran climbs onto the ledge and looks in.
NED STARK stands there, his hands clasped behind his back.
BRANDON STARK
Father.
EDDARD STARK
The man who passes the sentence must swing the sword.
Bran steps into the broken tower.
EXT. ISLE OF FACES – WEIRWOOD GROVE – NIGHT
Jon turns to the largest weirwood, its massive trunk rising into the night sky.
ARYA STARK
You can’t be considering this.
JON SNOW
We can’t make Lightbringer.
SANSA STARK
Wouldn’t we need magic?
ASH
Bran has it. As do we.
JON SNOW
If I do this, would I still be…me?
ASH
No.
JON SNOW
So I live undying, watching my family grow old and die and their children grow old and die.
ASH
No. You must go North.
ARYA STARK
Can you reverse it?
ASH
No.
SANSA STARK
You seem fond of that word. Surely, you can explain more.
ASH
(speaking only to Jon)
If you do this, there changing back. If you survive, you will be exiled to the deep North, never to return.
JON SNOW
What if this doesn’t work?
ASH
The Long Night comes. Man may cease.
JON SNOW
There has to be another way.
ASH
It is our best chance at fixing this problem.
JON SNOW
A problem of your creation. You made this Night King. You should be making the sacrifices.
ASH
We would if we could, but it must be man. And for your sacrifice, we offer this: to fade away. No more will we meddle in the affairs of man.
JON SNOW
And how do I know you’ll keep your end?
ASH
A pact made in front of a heart tree cannot be broken.
Jon looks at his sisters, at the Children. At the Night King, glaring down from the ridge.
Jon offers his arm. Ash takes it. A pact is made.
INT. BROKEN TOWER – DAY – VISION
Bran and Ned smile at each other.
EDDARD STARK
Bran. You’ve come a long way from that boy who couldn’t hit a target.
BRANDON STARK
I still can’t.
EDDARD STARK
No. You can do much more.
A SOUND from the window behind Bran. He turns to look, sees the Night King grasp the ledge and pull himself into the window.
Bran turns back to Ned. Ned holds his great sword ICE, offering the grip to Bran.
Slowly, Bran unsheathes the great blade. He turns to face the Night King as Ned steps back.
INT. RED KEEP – THRONE ROOM – NIGHT
Beric holds his hands over Daenerys’ heart and wounds. He prays quickly to the Lord of Light to save her.
Much more methodical, practical, Melisandre washes her Queen’s body as best she can. Carefully wiping away the grime of war.
She pulls Beric’s knife from his belt and slices off a lock of Daenerys’ short hair.
She takes it, chanting lowly in High Valyrian, and lets the hair fall into the flames of Varys’ torch.
INT. BROKEN TOWER – DAY – VISION
Bran swings the mighty sword, bringing it crashing down against the Night King’s blade.
Bran pushes down, pressing the Night King back against the window ledge.
The Night King slips out from the attack, using Bran’s momentum against him. He grabs Bran by the throat, holding the boy out over the open air.
EXT. ISLE OF FACES – WEIRWOOD GROVE – NIGHT
Blood flows out of Bran’s eyes. The frost creeps further up his leg.
Across the ridge, the Night King glares at them.
He pushes a foot, taking a step. Then another. His fingers tighten on Dawn’s hilt.
Bran’s warg is breaking.
Jon sees the Night King moving.
JON SNOW
We haven’t any dragonglass. Is there another way?
ASH
Valyrian steel would work just as well. Dragonglass is forged into the metal.
BRANDON STARK
The Catspaw dagger.
Arya looks at the dagger.
ARYA STARK
(to Bran)
Is this why you gave it to me? You knew Jon would need the dagger.
Bran remains in his warg.
SANSA STARK
You can’t be serious.
JON SNOW
Ash, are you able to do this?
ASH
I am. Arya, give me the dagger.
ARYA STARK
I won’t.
JON SNOW
Arya–- [you can’t stop this]
ARYA STARK
If you’re going to do this, it should be one of us. A Stark.
Arya looks at her siblings. Sansa nods.
ARYA STARK (CONT’D)
It should be me.
JON SNOW
I can’t ask you to do that.
ARYA STARK
You’re not.
JON SNOW
Can she do it?
ASH
We’ll have some magic to work, but she can push the blade, yes.
ARYA STARK
Do you really want a stranger to end your life?
Jon nods his assent.
INT. RED KEEP – THRONE ROOM – NIGHT
Melisandre lays hands with Beric. She continues chanting in High Valyrian as he does in the Common Tongue.
In the shadows, Varys cannot look away.
EXT. ISLE OF FACES – NIGHT
The moment of truth.
As Jon is bound to the heart tree, Sansa hugs him. She can’t let him do this without him knowing how much she loves him.
She’s letting him go.
Arya holds the Catspaw, not ready to do what she must. Ash murmurs ancient words of magic. Jon nods to Arya.
Arya looks between its sharp tip and her brother’s bare chest. She places the pointy end on the center of his chest.
ARYA STARK
The North will remember.
Arya looks into his dark brown eyes, so like her own. Years of memories pour between them in an instant.
Arya gives one push, shoving the blade into Jon Snow in a single motion.
Another push of her wrist, and the hilt breaks off. The steel is buried in Jon’s chest, with no way out.
Jon GRUNTS in pain, struggles against the bonds.
His head falls forward, limp against his chest. Arya looks at Ash. This wasn’t supposed to happen.
ARYA STARK (CONT’D)
What did you do? What have I done?
SANSA STARK
Jon. Jon!
Jon Snow is dead.
INT. RED KEEP – THRONE ROOM – NIGHT
Beric and Melisandre pray over Daenerys’ body. Varys steps forward.
VARYS
Perhaps it’s time.
Suddenly, Beric and Melisandre both jolt upright as though stricken by lightning. They collapse, their faces frozen in awe and ecstasy.
Varys approaches, apprehensive. He examines the bodies, never touching them. The bodies’ dead eyes stare.
Varys steps back, looking at three corpses where there was only one.
Then, a CLAP of celestial thunder as Daenerys Stormborn of the House Targaryen, first of her name, the Unburnt, Queen of the Andals and the First Men, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, Breaker of Chains, Mother of Dragons, the woman forged in ice and fire –-
The AZOR AHAI
Gasps for air and bolts upright.
She looks around. Takes in the death and ruin. She gasps in horror at the bodies lying next to her. Pushes herself away from them.
Daenerys sees Varys. Upon meeting her gaze, the Spider drops to his knees.
He cannot meet her gaze.
DAENERYS TARGARYEN
What has happened here?
VARYS
A miracle, Your Grace.
DAENERYS TARGARYEN
Drogon?
She touches her wound, remembering.
VARYS
I am sorry for your loss.
(beat)
What of your other child?
Daenerys places a hand over her womb and closes her eyes. Her eyes snap open.
DAENERYS TARGARYEN
He lives.
Daenerys has fire in her eyes.
EXT. ISLE OF FACES – NIGHT
Jon’s head droops. Dark blood marks his wound. Sansa weeps over her dead brother.
Arya is a hollow shell. She prepares a torch to burn her brother’s body.
Suddenly, Jon’s head snaps up. He gasps for air.
His dark eyes turn azure blue.
His body FREEZES, leaching it of color. His tissue desiccates, forming deep grooves in his flesh. His form becomes leaner, somehow more efficient. It becomes something else entirely.
Jon Snow is a Night King.
The bonds securing him to the tree freeze and shatter.
He looks at his hand, undead and translucent. He looks around at his family, expression unreadable.
Sansa is horrified. Arya searches for a hint of her brother in that cold face.
ARYA STARK
Jon?
SANSA STARK
Arya, don’t.
Brienne’s hand closes on her sword hilt, ready to draw.
Jon bends down and picks up Longclaw’s hilt. He runs his hand from the hilt to the length of a sword. He forges a blade of glacier ice.
ARYA STARK
What are you doing?
Jon hefts the sword in the moonlight.
BRIENNE OF TARTH
Everyone, stay behind me.
Brienne draws her blade.
Jon looks at the group and readies his sword.
INT. BROKEN TOWER – DAY – VISION
The Night King holds Bran out the window. Thunder claps in the background. Clouds gather, unnaturally fast.
Bran looks past the Night King, to his father.
EDDARD STARK
You think my life is such a precious thing to me?
(MORE)
EDDARD STARK (CONT’D)
What of my family? Now that is worth trading one’s honor.
Ned nods gravely.
Bran disappears, just as LIGHTNING STRIKES the broken tower with a blinding flash.
EXT. ISLE OF FACES – WEIRWOOD GROVE – NIGHT
Exhausted, Bran releases the Night King from the warg. The Night King immediately charges at the group, moving inhumanly fast.
Jon charges.
Jon’s sword clashes with the Night King’s.
Ice meets Dawn.
END OF ACT THREE