Game Of Thrones Season 8: Ranking Every Character Worst To Best

29. The Night King

Night King
HBO

There were years of waiting to see the living do battle with the army of the dead. The threat of the White Walkers has been building ever since the opening scene of the show, and Season 8 was where it was finally supposed to reach breaking point.

Which it did, but also didn't. After eight years of setup, The Long Night was, in the end, just one night. At the heart of this is the Night King, the man the show invented to give the White Walkers a clear leader and us a proper antagonist to root for, but then forget to develop. He's had some cool moments, and does so again in Season 8: the dragonfire sequence is well done, and he gets to show a bit of character, and his death at the hands of Arya is a genuine shock.

Still, there's too much left unknown, and things happened too soon, for him - or the White Walkers and wights at large - to be a wholly satisfying part of the season.

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Contributor
Contributor

NCTJ-qualified journalist. Most definitely not a racing driver. Drink too much tea; eat too much peanut butter; watch too much TV. Sadly only the latter paying off so far. A mix of wise-old man in a young man's body with a child-like wonder about him and a great otherworldly sensibility.