Season 8 - Episode 2
The light and the night
Winterfell
On the previous night, many new allies had arrived in Winterfell. And many old friends, or enemies, were meeting again, all around, inside and outside the castle.
Outside the castle
Daenerys and Jon were walking through the camp to check the status of the army, after Tyrion and Varys had arrived with the rest of the Unsullied and Dothraki. A woman in a red cloak walked towards them and they stopped. Melisandre joined them, first hesitant, for she did not know Jon's feelings towards her, but then he smiled, sweet goodhearted forgiving Jon, and she was reassured. Jon told her what he and Dany had learned the night before, asking if she saw it in her flames, if that was the reason why she asked Daenerys to summon him in Dragonstone, if that was the reason why the Lord of Light had brought him back.
"I don't know, Jon Snow. As I explained, I have only the power that the Lord gave me, I don't know why. I know, however, that a prince was promised, a warrior of light, a son of fire, that would defeat the darkness."
"I have heard of this prophecy in Essos. Azor Ahai tempered the sword in his wife's heart." said Daenerys, with much concern.
"Sometimes prophecies are not to be taken word by word, Your Grace: often they use symbols to represent something else. I know that this prophecy was translated incorrectly: the word for prince in High Valyrian is the same as the word for princess. It could be either of you. Or it could be the third dragon.".
"Is there another?" asked Jon quite agitated.
"There must be. After all, the dragon has three heads. And the word for dragon does not have a gender either. Forgive me now, there is somebody else that I need to meet.".
Jon and Daenerys were left more confused than they were before. The previous night had been intense for them: Jon was a bundle of emotions, learning that he was raised as a bastard, when, in truth, he was a king; he was afraid he would lose his sisters or the woman he adored. Dany was afraid that learning they were related would have affected their relationship, for Jon had been raised as a Stark, and Starks do not wed their blood relatives; she was worried that a thirst for power could possess her...or him..., leaving only ashes of their love.
The only solution to all those doubts was talking to one another, and trust that the other would have understood and listened. And they did. All night. To then find that they cared about each other more than any throne, any title, any relation, and to be devoured by sadness at the thought of what it could have been if they had been raised as Targaryen heirs, in Westeros, and not as a fugitive and a bastard.
They were truly, deeply, allies, and destined to be together, to fight together, to flourish together. But now Melisandre had thrown off the balance they had reached. Another dragon?
In Sansa's chambers
Sansa was recalculating how to administer food stokes and flocks, now that they had to feed not only the Northmen, but also the Unsullied, the Dothraki, and the dragons. And survive the long winter. And make sure the dragons were well fed, so they would not eat them all. And help Sam with the books from the Citadel. She was resting her eyes, when somebody knocked on her door.
"My Lady...", said Tyrion, after having received the permission to enter the room.
Sansa expected to see him, she just did not know how she would have felt. Tyrion had been respectful of her, when she used to think that being married to the Imp was being married to a monster. She treated him like a monster. With Ramsey, she learned that the true monsters are monsters in the heart, not in the body. A lesson she should have learned with Joffrey. But again, she was a slow learner. So, seeing Tyrion again, ultimately, revealed her guilt, how she had humiliated herself being so stupid, so mean, to Jon, to Tyrion. She wondered if Tyrion would have forgiven her, like her brother did. Ashamed, she could only whisper "My Lord..."
Tyrion knew she was beautiful, he had admired her intelligence, her resilience in King's Landing, but did not expect to find her so astounding. "It is a joy to see you are well, my Lady. I know you had to endure much more of what you had to face in King's Landing, even though that would have already been enough to annihilate most people. But not you. As I once told you, you may survive us all." he said smiling at her with lovingness.
"I must apologise, my Lord, as I left you there alone, taking the blame for Joffrey's death. It was not I who killed him, but I am sorry I went away. I am also sorry for the way I treated you in our marriage. You were good to me, and I never told you that.".
"There is no need to apologise. I am just glad you survived. And I look forward to the many clever debates I will have with you. If we survive, of course.".
"Perhaps we could start now, and not leave it to chance. Samwell Tarly left me some history books to peruse, in search for information about the Night King. Though, I have this pile of documents to go through, I could use your help with the books, my Lord.".
"Tyrion, Sansa. Call me, Tyrion. I am still your husband after all, until we decide otherwise. From where should I start?".
In the courtyard
After talking to the King in the North and the Dragon Queen, Melisandre approached Arya Stark, who was accompanied by Nymeria, whom Melisandre had brought to Winterfell the night before. Nymeria now led a pack of wolves, but it took her only a little time to remember Winterfell, her brother Ghost, and Arya: after wrestling playfully with Ghost for a while, she showed up in Arya's chambers in the middle of the night, opened a chest, picked a glove, and put it on Arya's face while she was sleeping. Arya could not believe she was not dreaming, she explained to Nymeria why she had to send her away, and the wolf seemed to understand: they slept embraced all night, like no time had passed.
Arya was filled with anger when she saw Melisandre.
Melisandre said "I told you we would meet again.".
"You are on my list, Red Woman."
"I did not kill him, Arya Stark. He is not among the mistakes I made. And you will see him again soon."
Arya could not suppress the smile on her face.
"Have you closed many eyes so far?"
Arya remembered Malisandre's prophecy. "Only brown eyes so far...no blue or green eyes.".
"Do not worry, you will catch up soon. Mark my words." said the Red Woman smiling, leaving Arya paralysed by her own thoughts while Nymeria was licking her hand.
In the throne room
Everybody that was in Bran's chambers the night before had made a pact: nobody else should have known about Jon, at least for now. Creating "factions" before the two imminent wars would have been unwise, especially since Jon was a man, and people tend to prefer men in positions of power, for no apparent reason.
The Starks, Daenerys, and whatever Jon was, were trying to convince the Northmen that Daenerys was a good Queen, a fair Queen. She had offered to save them in exchange for nothing, and swearing allegiance to her was only fair. Yet the back and forth with the Northern ladies and lords had gone on for a while. Even Jon was losing his temper, still shaken for what he had learned the night before: "My lords and ladies, Queen Daenerys has freed cities, that with her guidance only knew prosperity and justice. She gathered the biggest army that the world has ever seen, and instead of conquering the seven kingdoms with fire and blood, she is instead stipulating alliances, saving thousands of innocents. She could take the North in a heartbeat, if she wanted, yet she is here, helping us fight our war. I really do not understand your attitude here.".
"How do we know she is not like her father? How do we know that one day she won't wake up wanting to burn us all?" said a voice in the crowd.
Daenerys felt hurt. She had been fighting with the expectation of her turning mad all her life, she could read the hinting to it in people's eyes. She knew she was passionate, she knew she had not particularly enjoyed compromise in the past, but between being firm in her positions and being mad there was a huge difference. And Jon had added calm to her life, the ice to soothe the fire. She was not the last Targaryen, she was not without family anymore. She was loved in Essos, she was loved by Jon, and his family respected her. This gave her the strength to stay calm, and reply: "In understand your concern, believe me. I am well aware of my heritage. You think you hate my father, but you were not burnt in the end, you kept living your lives.".
Murmurs of disapproval filled the room.
Dany ignored them and continued: "I have more reasons than you to hate my father, because my life was affected by him. I was raised in a land that was not mine, by a cruel brother that sold me when I was a little more than a child. I know violence. I know pain. I know starvation. I know fear. And I do not want any child to grow up feeling what I felt."
There was a respectful silence all around her now.
She urged further: "I never knew the privileges of my name, I was never spoiled by its resonance, because the only thing that it would bring was fear and wariness. I promise you that if you were to trust me, you will know a different Targaryen, you will know a better world. We can build it together, for the spring to come.".
She looked at Jon, to get a sign of any sort. He smiled, full of pride and admiration.
Lady Lyanna Mormont stood up: "Your Grace, thank you for being so patient with our distrust of you. We had chosen another king for us, we only know the king in the North whose name is Stark. Jon Snow is a bastard, but he is a Stark to us. And if a Stark trusted you, I should trust you as well. Though might I suggest, perhaps a marriage would be the fastest way to gain consensus for this alliance? The whole North would bend the knee faster if you married the king we chose for ourselves.".
Both Jon and Daenerys expected such suggestion would have been raised. However, they had never discussed it between themselves. Jon loved her of course, he wanted to marry her, but he knew he was a bastard, so he never suggested a marriage himself, afraid to weaken her position as a ruler; after what he had learned the night before, about who he really was, he now felt at least his name would be worth of her. Dany loved him, of course, and wanted to marry him, but she was afraid to pressure him after what they had discovered the night before.
"Your King is not alone trusting our Queen" interrupted Sansa, who had noticed Daenerys and Jon's embarrassment, and wanted to move on from that awkward moment, "all the last Starks do. And you must know that this was also our father's, Ned Stark's, hope, for the last Targaryen to return. This should be enough for the North.". She was very careful not to say "last Targaryens", plural.
The was no time for a reply, as the sound of a horn called everyone's attention, the room emptied very quickly, and they all ran to the gates to see what was happening.
In Sam's chambers
Tyrion crossed franticly the long and cold corridors of the castle, slowed down by the heavy books he was carrying, searching for Sam's chambers. He had looked lazily at some of the books earlier, as Sansa had asked, truth be told only to be with Sansa, but then he found...he needed to talk to Sam.
He had two books with him, one was a record of magic in the Seven Kingdoms and the other a collection of tales for children that the maesters had transcribed. Tyrion truly believed that stories passed on by nans and maesters contained truths often unacknowledged. And he felt this time he might have been right.
"Samwell Tarly? I am Tyrion Lannister, we need to talk." said Tyrion brutally once he entered Sam's chambers, to then shut the door even more abruptly.
Sam's head surfaced from behind a pile of books he had on the table.
"Lord Tyrion, it is an honour to..."
"Sam, Lady Stark asked me to help her with the books you gave her...Sam...look...There is no mention of White Walkers for thousands of years, it seems like they were sleeping, but now they are not asleep anymore. What woke them? And why? Did they sense something now that had not happened for thousands of years?"
"Well, I do not..."
"And look at this book of tales: there is a story about the thirteenth lead of the Night's Watch. He fell for a woman with the "skin of the colour of the moon and eyes like blue stars", and lost his soul. He became the Night's King and he ruled on the Sworn Brother's for years. He was said to be a Stark, and he was defeated by an alliance between the Starks and the Wildlings.".
"What do you think this means, Lord Tyrion?"
"I do not know." yelled Tyrion, who had never felt so frustrated. "I am sorry, I don't know. I don't know. But I know these are all fragments of the same story. What I cannot understand is how they fit together.".
"Bran said he went back to see the creation of the Night King we are facing now. It seems he was created by the Children of the Forest, from one First Man, as protection from the other First Men.".
"Now that we are at it, actually, how does Bran's power work exactly? Help me understand.".
"Well, he is the three eyed raven. He was a powerful warg before, but the former three eyed raven, who had lived for thousands of years among the Children of the forest, sent him visions, to be found by him. He passed all his powers onto Bran, after teaching him how to use them. Bran can travel in people, or as himself. He cannot be seen where he visits, he is either in the head of the person or the animal he is using to travel, or just a spectator. However, he told me he affected the past, in spite of the fact that he cannot be seen. He connected past and present, causing damage to the mind of his servant. Or, another time, he was heard by somebody whose name he was calling. He even got a mark on his arm by the Night King, although they never met in person, so it is very powerful magic, in the both of them. He spent, and spends, a lot of his time in another skin: I read somewhere that wargs need to be careful, not to get lost in the animal in which they travel. Bran does not seem concerned about this aspect. I have never seen that sort of magic." Sam was trying to gather his thoughts "They seem connected, Bran and Night King, in some way. They find each other. I thought about this at length. The only explanation I could find is that they use the same kind of magic.".
"Wait...you said that the Night King was created by the Children of the Forest, thousands of years ago, and that the previous three eyed raven was thousands of years old and lived among the Children of the Forest. You suggested the Night King and the three eyed raven use the same kind of magic. And I read that the White Walkers slept for thousands of years and now they are awake. What if the Night King was awoken by the previous three eyed raven's magic, since he was using it to connect with Bran?".
Sam became restless and all of a sudden reached for a book left open on a chair. Tyrion was more and more agitated.
"Look at this, Lord Tyrion.". Sam lowered the opened book for Tyrion to see. "There is a drawing of a dagger made of Valyrian steel, it is among the little record there is about the Night King.".
Tyrion looked at the book, not really sure about what to say since he did not understand what was the point that Sam was trying to make.
Sam sensed how perplexed Tyrion was and continued: "Littlefinger owned this dagger. He gave it to the assassin he sent to kill Bran. When Catelyn Stark asked for his help to identify the owner of this dagger, Littlefinger lied and said it was you. He did it to fuel the conflict between Starks and Lannisters of course...".
Tyrion was stunned into silence.
Sam proceeded "When Littlefinger came here, after the Battle of the Bastards, he gave the dagger to Bran...well, he was an extremely deranged person in my opinion...anyway, he told him that in a way that dagger had made Bran who he was. Bran found no use for the dagger himself, and donated it to his sister Arya. You see? We have the dagger that is supposed to help defeat the Night King, and even the dagger has a connection with Bran. Well, I still do not know what it means of course..." he laughed hysterically, and then collapsed on a chair drained of his energy.
Tyrion kept thinking out loud: "The Starks descend from the First Men, so in a way they must be somehow connected to the Night King. It is also in the tale I found. There the Night's King was a Stark, and he was defeated by a Stark.".
"What does this all mean, Lord Tyrion?"
"I cannot put my fingers on it, Sam. I do not know...yet."
At the gates
The gates were open, to let the Northmen who were looking for protection, or to join the battle, arrive to the castle. A man in a grey cloak passed the gate, trying to go unnoticed. He was especially concerned in hiding his right hand, but Brienne of Tarth could not be fooled: she recognised Jamie Lannister in a heartbeat. "What are you doing here? And without an army?" she asked.
"Cersei lied. She never intended to send her army. She actually sent Euron Greyjoy's fleet to escort the Golden Company from Essos to King's Landing.".
"We must talk to the Dragon Queen. Why are you here? Why are you telling us this?"
"You told me to fuck loyalty and I did.".
Brienne smiled "But..."
The sound of a horn interrupted them.
The council that was reunited in the throne room rushed to the gates as well. They witnessed a group of men riding right into the courtyard and then dismount very quickly, their face signed with urge and horror.
Tormund, Gendry, Beric, and the Hound had reached Winterfell the fastest they could.
"The Whites are only a few hours away. They will be here in the morning." yelled the Hound.
"I thought they would have come at night." Jon was disheartened.
Tormund corrected him: "Jon, they don't come when it is night. They bring the night. We have to get ready for battle.".
At the smithery
"So, the Red Woman did not lie, she did not kill you." said Arya emotionlessly.
Gendry had joined the smiths to help them forge more weapons from the dragonglass mined in Dragonstone. The largest part had been forged in Dragonstone already, for order of the Queen, but it was best to have an excess of weapons, hoping that it would have helped in the battle.
He heard Arya's voice and he thought he was dreaming. He turned around and found her staring at him, mostly annoyed. "What was the use she had of you exactly, then?"
Gendry was in love with Arya, he always had been. But she was a child when they met, and he wanted to wait for her to be a woman before talking to her about it. Then he got taken by Melisandre, and he had imagined every night, since then, how it would have been to see Arya again, and every night he had prayed for her safety. There she was now, safe, in front of him.
She was taller now, of course, after so many years. She had always been determined, a little smug, and ultimately protective of him, just a bastard, even though she was a lady. The look in her eyes had changed, it was more piercing now, she was trying to read every single thought of his.
He gave her the biggest smile filled with joy of seeing her, and he was so fast in hugging her that she did not have the time to put on the pretence of being detached. She laughed. "You did not answer my question.".
"Apparently, I am the bastard son of Robert Baratheon. She needed the blood of the son of a king for one of her spells; she did not need to kill me. She tied me up to a bed, stripped me naked, and used leeches to get my blood.".
Arya pushed him away with anger: "You slept with her?".
"She is not you, so no." he found himself saying, without even realising it. He blushed, and Arya blushed as well.
This red-faced moment was interrupted suddenly: "Hey you, the last time I saw you, you left me dying.".
Arya turned around and saw the Hound. "Hello, Sandor. You are well, I can see.".
"Not thanks to you, little monster." he responded, smiling at her, though, happy she was alive.
"Am I interrupting something?" asked Sansa, walking in the smithery. "I only came to check on the dragonglass weapons, but I see it is quite crowded in here.".
"Everything is progressing well, my Lady. It is just old friends meeting after many adventures."
"You are still alive, little bird. I am glad to see that. I learned what happened to you. I wish I had followed you, so I could have protected you." said Sendor to Sansa.
"Thank you Sendor. You do not know how many times I wished I made different choices." replied Sansa.
"You did not make wrong choices, little bird. Ramsey Bolton was a sick bastard and he should have been drowned in his own shit.".
"Jon and I made sure he died in worse way. Thank you for your words, though.". Sansa felt some warmth around her heart. It was true, what had happened with Ramsey was not her fault.
Arya and Gendry followed the conversation between the Hound and Sansa, to avoid each other's eyes.
Arya got through all the emotions that were being poured in the smithery, and said: "Actually, I came also because I designed a weapon that could allow to fight faster, at a greater distance from the enemy, and to fight with more than an enemy at the time. And I wanted to have one smith forging only this until the battle.". She opened her drawing on the table and the others regained control over themselves, and leaned over to see what she meant.
"That is brilliant." said Sansa.
"You are meant to be a knight." approved Sendor.
"I shall get right on it." proclaimed Gendry proudly.
In the royal chambers
After a quick supper, Jon and Dany were trying to avoid thinking or talking about how desperate the situation was, or how scared they were, or discuss strategies: they would have had all night for that; they tried to discuss how wonderful the North was, Dany described Meereen, Jon told her how tired he was of the cold. Until they reached a moment of silence, and silence often let's dark thoughts surface.
"If I die tomorrow, I want to die as your husband.".
"I shall not marry you tonight Jon, so you will be forced not to die, to marry me after the battle.".
"Some time ago, I said to the Red Woman not to bring me back if I had fallen during the Battle of the Bastards. I would come back a thousand times now, just to be with you.".
She kissed him.
Suddenly, they both heard confused noises, screeches, so they went close to their chambers window: they looked up in the night sky and saw three small dragons, not fully grown, yet dancing among the clouds with Drogon and Rheagal, like small children with their parents.
"How can it be?" asked Jon in awe.
"Drogon must have laid eggs when he disappeared." said the Mother of Dragons, whose eyes were filled with tears of happiness, and with her voice broken by joy, she looked at Jon: "It looks like we have more allies now.".
TO BE CONTINUED
