The Hound and Beric inch through the dark passage, weapons ready. Beric's flaming sword lights the way. Wights snarl in the distance. They approach each corner with great caution. A door at the end of the hallway crashes down, two grappling figures following it to the floor. A snarling wight assaults the desperate Arya, who screams and grunts as she fends him off. Beric throws his flaming sword down the length of the hall, spinning end over end. It pierces the ghoul, throwing the wight off Arya.
The Hound battles with the wights pouring into the hallway as Beric pulls Arya to her feet. A prone wight stabs Beric in the ankle and he grunts in pain. Arya runs and Beric limps after her, while the Hound clears their path. The slow-moving Beric kicks and fights with the wights who catch up to him. Arya reaches the Hound, and he pulls her along.
Hound shouts, "Come on!"
Beric shouts, "Go!"
Hound shouts, "Come on!"
Beric stops to hold off the advancing wights. Arya looks back with dismay.
Beric shouts, "Run!"
Attracted to the sounds of battle, wights shamble out from many nearby passages. The Hound clears the way while Arya pulls Beric behind her. He surges ahead to pin a wight against the wall. Other wights crash into them. One of the ghouls stabs Beric in the gut with a dagger. Arya picks up an ax to come to Beric's aid. Nearby, the Hound fells another wight, then looks up to see a mass of undead hustling down the hallway. He retreats back to his companions. Arya helps the cowering Beric to fight off the wights that grapple him. The Hound picks her up from behind and carries her away. She resists.
Hound shouts, "We've gotta go!"
Beric starts to follow, but the wights lying around him stab and grab his legs. He braces himself in pain. The Hound and Arya run, pursued by a horde of undead. The wights around Beric stab and stab again. His energy starts to flag, but he breaks free and staggers away.
—--
The Hound and Arya burst through a door. Beric staggers in behind them. He falls to the floor as they slam the door behind them and hold it fast. Arya props up Beric against the wall while the Hound barricades the door with a chair and a large wooden bench. The light fades from Beric's eyes. Arya looks at him pleadingly.
Melisandre said, "The Lord brought him back for a purpose. Now that purpose has been served." Melisandre stands by the fireplace.
Arya said, "I know you." Melisandre walks towards Arya.
Melisandre said, "And I know you." Arya stands to face Melisandre.
Arya said, "You said we'd meet again."
Melisandre said, "And here we are. At the end of the world."
Arya said, "You said I'd shut many eyes forever. You were right about that too."
Melisandre said, "Brown eyes... green eyes... and blue eyes."
Arya nods as Melisandre lists the eye colors. Melisandre gives an almost imperceptible smile. Wights snarl and crash against the door.
Melisandre asked, "What do we say to the God of Death?"
Arya replied, "Not today." Arya looks at Melisandre and then the Hound. She jogs away from her companions, and they watch her go.
—--
Theon hears the wights snarling in the distance.
Theon shouted, "Here they come!" The soldiers ready their bows. Shadows streak through the snow-covered trees.
Theon said, "Steady, lads." Soldiers grab arrows and set them aflame. They ready their bows.
Theon said, "Steady now. Make every shot count." Shadows flit among the trees.
A man shouts, "Over there!" The snarling grows louder and the wights charge out of the woods, frenzied and in great numbers.
Another man shouts, "There!"
—--
Winterfell is surrounded by a moat of fire. Great swaths of field continue to burn where Drogon laid waste to the undead. The Night King looks backward to savor the damage of a turret collapsing, allowing Jon and Rhaegal to swoop down on him. Rhaegal spews a blast unfazing the Night King.
—--
Theon and the Northern soldiers unleash their arrows at the charging wights. Just above them, Rhaegal and Jon dodge another set of spears thrown at them.
Jon shouts, "Damn it!
Viserion swoops down from the sky as Rhaegal gets hit in the neck with a spear. Jon struggles to hold on. The Night King readies a javelin and throws it as Viserion and Tyrion swoops down. The dive caused the Night King to fall from his horse. Viserion with a spear straight through his neck plummets to the ground nearby with Tyrion on his back taking the full force on his stomach as he slides on the ground. Jon holds onto Rhaegal for dear life.
Meanwhile, Rhaegal reaches the ground with incredible speed and force and tries to transition from flying to running. The velocity is too great however, and the dragon ends up sliding on its belly, throwing Jon to the ground because the saddle became disattached. Jon gathers himself, groaning and panting. Drogon roars above him, with Aldarra riding assuredly astride him. When Jon was clear of Rhaegal who got up on his legs. Aldarra flew to find out where Tyrion and Viserion were.
She spotted him getting down off of the dragon. Aldarra lands and Tyrion climbs up on Drogon. Aldarra sat Tyrion in her lap and said, "We're family so nothing is odd about it. I'll be damned if I cannot save you."
They take off and Tyrion says, "I don't give a damn. Save me, Aldarra." She had Drogon burn Viserion. Tyrion said he was dead. She couldn't allow a dragon to become a part of the army of the dead.
—--
The courtyard is strewn with piles of bodies. Tormund, Gendry, and Jorah fight on. Drogon roars above them. Jorah reacts, drawn to help Aldarra.
—--
Drogon hovers above Winterfell. Aldarra looks down at the Night King on foot. He stands in a field below them and looks up.
Aldarra said, "Dracarys." She knew it would not kill him.
Drogon belches forth a column of flame that envelops the stoic Night King. Aldarra looks down with vindication at the massive fireball. Just below them, Jon limps towards the conflagration. Drogon ceases his attack and Aldarra watches as the fire dissipates. Jon gets as close as the heat will let him. Drogon squawks. The flames start to clear, revealing the Night King looking confident, unhurt, and unphased. He stares up at Aldarra, smirking at his invulnerability. The Night King picks up the javelin beside him. Aldarra immediately spurs Drogon to flee with Tyrion holding on to her arms as she had them around him holding on to the front of the saddle. The Night King hurls the javelin at the receding dragon, which misses by inches.
Satisfied, the Night King strides through the smoldering grounds towards the godswood. Jon draws Longclaw and sets after the Night King at a brisk run. The Night King walks calmly toward his intended target, but is quickly alerted to Jon's pursuit of him by the sound of Jon's footprints among the burning cinders. The Night King turns to look at him and Jon pauses. The Night King plants his feet and spreads his hands, beginning a silent invocation. Jon sets off towards him at a sprint, but has too much ground to cover. The eyes of the undead soldiers between them open, a vacant milky blue. Jon runs faster. Still fifty yards away, the slain soldiers sit up, then stand. Jon gets within ten yards of the Night King before the newly risen wights block his progress completely. Jon looks behind him to see scores of soldiers resurrected as undead warriors.
—--
Tormund and Jamie continue to fight the undead, yelling and grunting as they dispatch their foes. Jamie pauses, astounded as the slain soldiers in Winterfell rise to their feet. Sam pants for breath as the new undead rise in near silence, looking on in horror. Nearby, Tormund and Gendry do the same. The wind whistles and the undead clumsily take their feet. Nearby, the eyes of Lyanna pop open, showing milky blue irises, piercing and lifeless. Edd joins the ranks of the undead.
—--
The Night King stands motionless and menacing. Jon gasps for breath. The Night King turns his back to Jon and walks away. Meanwhile, the crowd of the undead closes in slowly around Jon. With no other option, he hacks at the undead that surround him.
—--
The undead continue to rise in the courtyard. Just beyond the wall, a score of White Walkers strut towards the gate, weapons drawn.
—--
Gilly hears rustling and scratching behind her. She turns her head and gasps when a skeletal hand breaks through the wall of the crypt. A dried up corpse twists out its tomb and wriggles onto the floor, snarling. Sansa looks up at the disturbance. Gilly rises to investigate, as does Sansa. Little Sam cries. The emaciated corpse gets to its feet. Varys jumps up.
Behind the crowd, another wall starts to crumble. People stand and begin to scream in panic. Another Stark ancestor wriggles out of its tomb. The women and children flee to another part of the crypt.
Sansa shouts, "Come on! Come on! No! No, no, no!"
One woman falls in the panic, and is dragged backward into the dark catacomb.
—--
Theon and the Northern soldiers expertly take down the charging wights with flaming arrows. They are successfully fending off the onslaught, but the wights are getting dangerously close. Bran continues to warg with the crows and sits motionless in his chair
—--
Jon parries the lumbering undead that threaten to surround him, vastly overwhelmed by the growing swarm. Suddenly, a wall of fire ignites just behind Jon, consuming the wights. Jon ducks and shields himself from the heat. The wights shriek and chitter as they collapse and die in the inferno. Jon catches his breath and looks up to see Aldarra and Drogon hovering above. The mighty dragon continues to spew forth his flame breath. Jon squints as he peers into the destruction of the flames. Drogon lands down heavily behind him and roars.
Jon shouts out, "Bran!"
Aldarra shouts, "Go!"
Jon runs towards Winterfell, tracing a path through the walls of flame that still burn. Behind Drogon, more undead run at full tilt. Aldarra, watching Jon make his way to Winterfell, doesn't see the new assault until they are leaping on her dragon. They swarm on Drogon's tail and flanks. The dragon shakes and whips most of them off, but those that hang on stab mercilessly into Drogon's hide. The dragon roars and screeches as the frantic stabbing continues. Aldarra grunts as she tries to stay on Drogon in spite of his contortions. Her buckles snapShe is thrown to the ground but Tyrion is still in the saddle somehow holding on as the wights continue to swarm over Drogon. The dragon labors and takes flight, undulating with great effort. The swarm of undead soldiers loses their grip as Drogon flies higher.
Aldarra watches as wights crash into the ground in front of her praying it's not Tyrion. They are bloodied and broken, but unphased by the traumatic wounds. They snap their attention onto Aldarra. She scrambled to her feet and pulled her regular sword. One gruesome, pale wight charges her, but is decapitated by Jorah at the last second. He grabs Aldarra and leads her away.
—--
Jon has reached the courtyard. A constant stream of bodies pours down from the parapets above. Jon struggles to walk through the mounds of bodies that cover the courtyard. He passes Gendry and Tormund, who continue to battle the horde of undead. Jon staggers onward and passes Sam who lies propped against another mound of bodies, frenetically stabbing the undead who cling to him. Jon hacks through an attacking wight, and looks backwards as Sam screams, desperate and panicked. Jon turns his back on his friend and continues forward, meeting more wight attacks. Brienne releases guttural grunts and screams as she hews through her foes. She is dangerously close to being overwhelmed, but Jon does not pause.
Jon enters a passageway, where the battle continues in close quarters. He dispatches those that try to stop them, and dodges falling debris. He stumbles, buried momentarily, but regains his feet and lurches through an iron gate that he slams shut behind him. Undead soldiers slam against the grate, hissing and grabbing at Jon. The gate holds fast, and Jon launches away further down the hall.
—--
Theon pants as he takes a few paces backward, notches a flaming arrow, and fires. He readies another arrow, but the wights are starting to get the upper hand, tackling the Northerners and encroaching on Bran, who continues to sit helpless while warging. Theon reaches for another arrow, but his bucket is empty. He bats down one wight with his bow, but is tackled by another. He squirms away, as the wight charges again. Theon yells as he raises a spear that impales the oncoming ghoul. Theon stands and leverages the wight away from Bran. He switches to hand-to-hand combat with the spear.
—--
Jorah leads Aldarra through the burning wreckage of the battlefield outside the walls of Winterfell. He chops down an undead soldier. Aldarra picks up a valyrian steel sword she sees on the ground. Jorah gores another two wights and the undead start to run at them from all sides.
—--
The reanimated Stark ancestors hiss and shriek as they attack those in the crypt. Women scream as they are clawed and chewed by the desiccated undead. Sansa is overwhelmed, panting as she listens to the screams of her people. Varys and Sansa are hiding behind a tomb. They catch one another's eye, and she regains her focus. She pulls out her dragonglass knife. They exchange a long look. Varys gives a quick smile. He exhales sharply and turns quickly around the side of the tomb.
—--
Jon continues his progress towards the godswood.
—--
Jamie, Tormund and Brienne struggle against the overwhelming numbers of the undead.
—--
Jorah and Aldarra stave off their attackers among the burning rubble by the trenches. One wight stabs Jorah in the side before he and Aldarra work together to dispatch him. Jorah staggers to his knees, but regains his stance. The fight continues.
Aldarra shouts, "Jorah!"
—--
Women and children try to flee the reanimated Starks corpses. Sansa swivels to take a look. Varys seizes his moment and makes a break across the chamber, followed by Sansa. He reaches an alcove where some others have taken refuge. He looks for his next opportunity.