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GAME OF THRONES
“Kings of Winter”
Written by Madison Goldman and Kaely Malik
Based on A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin
ACT ONE
EXT. WINTERFELL – DAY – PAST
Eight thousand years ago –- the Long Night has ended. Winterfell is being constructed. The FIRST KEEP and WATCHTOWER stand formidable.
GIANTS and CHILDREN OF THE FOREST lay stones in the partially- constructed Winterfell walls.
BRANDON STARK –- the Three-eyed Raven –- walks past the workers unseen. He leans close to…
…BRAN THE BUILDER, the legendary founder of House Stark, who places his hand on the wall and closes his eyes. He whispers an incantation.
Waves of glistening LIGHT radiate from Bran the Builder’s hands. The light spreads over the entire wall.
The CROAK of a raven with three eyes distracts our Bran.
Bran follows the black bird into the crypts. He knows, for better or for worse, he must follow his guide.
INT. CRYPTS – DAY – PAST
Bran raises his lantern as he walks through the dark, empty crypts.
If the familiar crypts seemed eerie filled with the statues of the Old Stark Kings, they have an even more bone-chilling atmosphere now without the Kings of Winter watching over Bran.
Bran runs his hand over the few hollow tombs. He sees something shiny in a half-open tomb. He takes a few steps closer and feels a chill that stops him in his tracks.
Before Bran can glimpse the shimmering object…
…the NIGHT KING emerges out of the darkness.
Bran and the Night King lock eyes. The Night King reaches out to touch Bran. Startled, Bran drops his lantern.
The crypts go BLACK.
EXT. WINTERFELL – GODSWOOD – DAY – PRESENT
Bran sits alone with his back against his favorite weirwood tree, only the whites of his eyes visible. Bran’s eyes suddenly return to normal.
Bran collects himself under the weirwood’s pensive expression, its leaves a brighter red than fresh blood.
INT. WINTERFELL – GREAT KEEP – DAY
Brandon Stark sits across a large map table from JON SNOW and DAENERYS TARGARYEN. All the major players have gathered around the map of Winterfell. But Bran has their attention.
BRANDON STARK
The Night King doesn’t want to
destroy Winterfell.
TYRION LANNISTER
The fact that he’s headed this way
would suggest otherwise.
BRANDON STARK
No, he wants Winterfell.
SANSA STARK
Why would the Night King want
Winterfell?
BRANDON STARK
Winterfell was protected by the
Children of the Forest and Bran the Builder for a reason.
DAENERYS TARGARYEN
What reason?
BRANDON STARK
I don’t know.
JON SNOW
What does the Night King want with
Winterfell?
BRANDON STARK
I don’t know.
DAENERYS TARGARYEN
Your information is not
particularly impressive.
ARYA STARK
Could you do better?
DAENERYS TARGARYEN
I brought armies and dragons.
Jon eyes Arya, who stands down.
JON SNOW
Even if Winterfell is protected
from within, we will prepare to defend it just the same.
Jon touches the map of Winterfell, where rows of BLACK STONES encircle the castle walls.
Jon pushes several stones toward a row of WHITE STONES, which surround both the black stones and the castle.
JON SNOW (CONT’D)
The Dothraki will use their speed
on horseback to cut through the Army of the Dead.
Jon separates the white stones. Jon nods to JORAH MORMONT, who stands near TYRION LANNISTER.
Jon pushes a different set of black stones toward the separated white stones.
JON SNOW (CONT’D)
The Unsullied will engage the
wights left standing. We’ll cut their numbers in half before they ever reach our walls.
TYRION LANNISTER
That is an optimistic strategy.
DAENERYS TARGARYEN
You disagree? We have the Dothraki,
the Unsullied, and the Northern forces.
JON SNOW
The Army of the Dead are untrained.
They’re mindless. Their greatest strength is their numbers. If they swarm, they can overwhelm us. But we have just as many fighters on the side of the living as they have on the side of the dead.
TYRION LANNISTER
Every one we lose, they gain.
JON SNOW
What would you suggest we do?
TYRION LANNISTER
You can’t win using conventional
military strategy against an unconventional foe.
SANDOR CLEGANGE
What would you know? You got your
face nearly cleaved in two at your last battle.
TYRION LANNISTER
True. That is why this time I plan
to stick to my true talent.
JAIME LANNISTER
Drinking?
TYRION LANNISTER
Strategy. I will be safely inside
these magically protected walls putting my very large brain to good use.
ARYA STARK
(unimpressed)
We’ll need better weapons, for those more inclined to actual fighting.
SAMWELL TARLY
We’re forging Valyrian steel
weapons as fast as we can. We’ve already tipped the Unsullied spears with dragon glass.
DAENERYS TARGARYEN
And we have dragons.
JON SNOW
Which we will use –- sparingly.
DAENERYS TARGARYEN
I can burn the entire Army of the
Dead to ash in a blink.
ARYA STARK
Can you kill the undead dragon?
Daenerys hesitates. Tyrion watches the look that passes between Jon and Daenerys. It’s not lost on Arya either. Jon turns back to the battle plans.
JON SNOW
We can’t lose another dragon.
(a beat)
Bran, will the magical protections hold?
BRANDON STARK
As long as there is a Stark in
Winterfell, yes. And the more Starks, the stronger our ancestors’ bonds become.
TYRION LANNISTER
So the Starks will also be inside
the walls of Winterfell.
JON SNOW
I’ll go wherever the fighting is.
JAIME LANNISTER
And who will protect you? You are
the rightful heir to the Iron Throne.
SANDOR CLEGANE
Someone he can trust, Kingslayer.
Bran, stone-cold with a hint of fear in eyes, looks directly at Jon.
BRANDON STARK
The Night King and his army are
close.
Jon places a finger on a milky quartz rock –- distinct, different from the rest of the stones on the table –- and pushes it toward Jaime. He looks Jaime in the eye.
JON SNOW
We’re in need of a Kingslayer, Ser
Jaime. Fail us, betray us, and we’ll all be marching in a different army.
Jon looks to Jaime, who nods.
INT. WINTERFELL – CORRIDOR – DAY
Jaime walks quickly to catch up to Brienne and Sansa.
JAIME LANNISTER
Lady Brienne.
Brienne stops walking. Sansa looks from Brienne to Jaime, then keeps walking.
BRIENNE OF TARTH
Ser Jaime.
JAIME LANNISTER
Both Stark girls are safely in
Winterfell. Lady Catelyn would be proud.
Brienne unbuckles her sword belt and holds it out to Jaime.
JAIME LANNISTER (CONT’D)
What are you doing?
BRIENNE OF TARTH
You gave me Oathkeeper for a
purpose. As you said, my oath has been kept.
JAIME LANNISTER
Then perhaps you will make me
another oath.
BRIENNE OF TARTH
I am sworn to the service of the
Stark girls. I cannot leave them.
JAIME LANNISTER
This oath you can accomplish by
their side.
BRIENNE OF TARTH
What is it?
JAIME LANNISTER
I should like the pages of my book
to say more than ‘Kingslayer’ once I die. If this battle bodes ill for me, I want you to hold the memory of what happened here. I should like the world to know that a Lannister tried to pay his debt to the Starks.
BRIENNE OF TARTH
Don’t be sentimental. You will write your own legacy for many
years more.
JAIME LANNISTER
Will the honorable Brienne of Tarth
refuse to swear an honorable oath?
Brienne sighs.
BRIENNE OF TARTH
I vow to hold memory of all that
happens here, should any harm befall you.
JAIME LANNISTER
(teasing)
Was that really so difficult?
Brienne smiles in spite of herself.
JAIME LANNISTER (CONT’D)
Now put that sword away. It was a
gift. Next thing I know, you’ll be trying to give back poor Podrick. Has the lad learned to sit a horse yet?
Brienne puts Oathkeeper back around her waist. She and Jamie resume their walk down the hallway together.
BRIENNE OF TARTH
Very ill. But I’ve grown rather
fond of the boy. He may be a swordsman yet.
JAIME LANNISTER
And I thought dragons were the most
astonishing thing to happen in recent memory.
They’re both smiling.