For those of you who haven’t seen Game of Thrones Season 7 episode 6 yet, please note this post contains SPOILERS.

Those of you who have seen the latest episode though, are probably mourning the death of Viserion. Yes, it was never confirmed the fallen dragon was indeed Viserion, but we can assume that it was him because 1) Danny was riding Drogon; 2) Rhaegal is named after Prince Rhaeger Targaryen, Jon Snow’s real father and there’s a popular fan theory that Jon is going to mount the dragon named after his father; and 3) Viserion was named after Prince Viserys and we know what he was- an evil, power-hungry mad-man who was ready to do anything to sit on the Iron Throne, so it’s only logical that the dragon named after him would be the one to die first (I’m not saying the other dragons will die too, I hope not, but you never know).

So the first question that has been circulating around is why the Night King did not kill Drogon with Daenerys on him. He was much closer, he was static and he had no idea of the threat coming. On the other hand, Viserion was flying high above the wights and was burning them on the sight. Is that a plot hole, an illogical scene, bad writing or something else, I don’t know, but here are my theories:

1. Drogon was sitting with his back to the Night King. His backside is very thick with dragon flakes, so it was very likely that the Night King’s spear would have failed to kill him. Probably hurt him, but not kill him. The other thing I’m thinking of here is the Night King didn’t want to kill his enemies in that fight. He knows very well Jon Snow, Daenerys and her dragons are the real enemy and that they can unite Westeros in an attempt to stop the White Walkers from invading the continent. However, the Night King wanted them to escape, I believe he missed Drogon intentionally when he threw the second spear. He wants a solid enemy south of the Wall and he has a clear plan in his head, one we are not aware of just yet.
2. Viserion was flying high, breathing fire with his chest well-exposed, so the Night King knew he’d kill him the moment he pierces him.
3. The Great War has not started yet- the White Walkers have not passed south of the Wall with their army yet, we don’t know if they’ll manage to. The Wall is built with protective spells against the dead so they cannot pass. This is why I believe the Night King needed a dragon of his own, as the dragon being a magical creature himself might be able to melt the wall down.

There have been other comments all over the net, condemning Jon’s decision to go beyond the Wall as stupid and illogical, again attributing it to bad writing and a rush to lead the story to an end. If you remember from Season 1, the White Walkers have been a threat since then. However, no one but the Brothers of the Night’s Watch was aware of their existence. Not even Ned Stark, the Warden of the North believed they existed anymore. That is why the Night’s Watch recruiter Yoren was sent down to King’s Landing to present King Robert with a body part of the Wight they managed to defeat in Castle Black and convince him to send an army north. However, he arrived at a bad moment- when everything had already started to fall apart; King Robert died, Ned Stark was beheaded and the war for the Iron Throne started, leaving no room in anyone’s mind for the possibility of the existence of White Walkers beyond the Wall. Now, seasons later (in the world of Game of Thrones it would be years) the war is still going and still, no one believes the existence of the Walkers. Jon Snow understands he cannot defeat the Night King and his army alone. The North, no matter how strong it might be, is not enough. That is why Jon went on this suicidal mission with the desperate hope to achieve two main things – 1) to somehow capture a Wight and present him to Queen Cersei and this way convince her to fight the Night King and not Daenerys for the time being; and 2) to make Daenerys follow him to the Wall with her dragons and see the threat for herself. That is why I think the mission was not in vain, even if it was suicidal. But Jon’s gone on many suicidal missions already – the Battle for the Wall, Hardhome, the Battle of the Bastards to name but a few – so going beyond the Wall to capture a Wight shouldn’t really be a surprise.

From this moment a series of questions arise- will the White Walkers cross the Wall? What are they going to use Viserion for? Who’s stronger a fire dragon or an ice dragon? How can the army of the living defeat a White Walker Ice Dragon? Can fire kill Viserion now as it kills the other Wights? The last thing we saw was Jon and Daenerys heading down to King’s Landing to meet with Cersei and try to convince her to join her forces with them and fight the Night King. Even if she joins them, she’ll still be plotting to kill both of them as they are a direct threat to her power. The moment the truth about Jon’s parentage is revealed, he becomes the biggest enemy of both Cersei and Daenerys. Both of them are power hungry and want power for the sake of power. Even though Daenerys might think she has good intentions, she’s blinded by what she’s achieved so far. She’s not evil as Cersei is, but she’s become too arrogant and cannot accept someone else might be worthier than her to rule.

No matter what happens, I believe this season finale will be as epic as the previous one and it will give us a lot to look forward to.

L. V. K.