Game Of Thrones Season 7: Did The Night King Really Trap Jon And Dany?
Old ice head is playing 4D chess here.
Something has been nagging the Game Of Thrones community since that stunning penultimate episode of Game Of Thrones season 7... Didn't that plan to kidnap a wight rather fortuitously play into the Night King's hands? Sure, he lost a Walker and a wight, but he gained a dragon when Dany impulsively flew in to the rescue and he seemed remarkably prepared for that exact eventuality. It's like he knew.
In fact, it's not just like he knew, it's like he manipulated the entire situation in order to trap Dany into bringing her dragons North so he could add at least one of them to his undead army.
The question of why is pretty obvious on the surface: he wanted a dragon. They're really useful. But then there's something else that needs to be considered: the magic of the Wall that had previously been conjured to stop wights and White Walkers from crossing it. Could it be that the exception to that is wights who are taken across by the living willingly? We've seen wights cross the Wall before - when a pair were able to attack Jeor Mormont within Castle Black (and thus beyond the Wall itself), and they were taken across by the Nights Watch.
Perhaps the Night King's plan to break down the Wall (and its magic, even more importantly) depends on getting a wight across, and he knows exactly what he's doing? That would change things.
Anyway, there's a lot to consider when discussing whether the Night King was manipulating the situation. Let's break down the possibility...