"Game of Thrones" season 8 episode 2 revealed that the Night King's goal is to bring about the endless night and erase the world's memory by killing Bran, the current Three-eyed Raven. And while this does sound pretty one-dimensional at first, when you think about it, it actually makes a ton of sense. I mean the guy is called the Night King, so the fact that he wants the endless night shouldn't surprise us at all. But just because he wants to rule the night, it doesn't mean that he wants to rule it alone, which brings me to the latest theory by Reddit user u/ajniggles.

Warning: Potential spoilers for "Game of Thrones" season 8 episode 3 ahead.

The secrets of the Winterfell Crypts

The Night King's goal may be an endless night, but that doesn't mean that it's his only goal. If this theory is to be believed, then the Night King also wants to free his Queen who's been trapped at the lowest level of Winterfell Crypts since the first Long Night.

The idea may seem crazy, but there are actually quite a few clues from the books and the show that support this claim.

  • First of all, there's a ton of foreshadowing in the "GoT" season 8 episode 2 where pretty much everyone was saying how safe the Winterfell Crypts are, which could be a hint that something of importance might end up happening down there in the next week's episode.
  • In George R. R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" books, Jon Snow often dreams of the Crypts. "He is afraid of what he will find within them and awakens when they become too dark." There's also an interesting passage from one of these dreams that adds fuel to the "The dead Starks will rise" theory that's become extremely popular this past week. Take a look at it down below.
  • Bran also dreamt of the Crypts with the Three-eyed crow back in season 1 and book 1.
  • Let's not forget that iron longswords are placed across each lord's lap to keep vengeful spirits within the crypt, which is curious, to say the least.

Now that we've established the importance of Crypts, let's see what could happen in the next week's episode.

The aftermath of the Battle of Winterfell

In "Game of Thrones" season 8 episode 3, the Army of the Dead will win the Battle of Winterfell, and the main characters will be forced to retreat. According to this theory, in the very last scene, the Night King will head down to the lowest level of the Crypts and free his beloved Queen from the cell of twisted Weirwood roots.

The theory then takes a rather unexpected turn. It suggests that the Night King and the Night Queen will then fly away on Viserion, and the Army of the Dead will immediately stop fighting and begin marching back north. But that would be pretty anti-climactic, don't you agree?

Instead, it's far more likely that the Army of the Dead now led by both the Night King and the Night Queen would then go further south to destroy the rest of mankind.

Not only does this theory lends depth to the character of the Night King, but it also adds another layer to the mystery of who he truly is. And while "Game of Thrones" might not reveal the Night King's identity, the upcoming prequel about the Long Night most certainly will.
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