'Game of Thrones' season 8 episode 3 preview: Are the crypts of Winterfell really a safe place to be with the Night King's army around?
Jon Snow and the rest of the army in the North quite confidently declared in Episode 2 of 'Game of Thrones' Season 8 that the crypts of Winterfell would be the safest place to keep the women and children from the looming threats of the Great War. Throughout the episode, we heard the crypts being mentioned several times and in a conversation between a little girl, Ser Davos, and Gilly it was established that while the army protects Winterfell, the little girl would help protect the people in the crypts. Later on, it was also revealed that Lord Varys and Tyrion would be joining the women and children as Daenerys wanted them to remain safe in case she returned to take back the Iron Throne.
However, it seems keeping people in the crypts to protect them from the war isn't the safest idea after all. To understand why the crypts are being claimed as unsafe let's first consider what is actually stored in them- the tombs of the dead Starks. The crypts of Winterfell are the places for the Starks to bury their dead, and over the seasons we have seen the statues of Lyanna, Ned, Catelyn, Rob and Rickon being put up when the characters died. As we know, the Night King is building an army of dead and over the course of the show we have seen several instances where he actually killed people and raised them back from the dead.
It might be possible that the dead Starks will be raised from the dead by the Night King to kill all those who are hiding in the crypts. One fan on Reddit claimed, "The Night King to invoke chaos will raise the long deceased Starks of the crypt to attack and convert the women and children into white walkers." This theory was subtly hinted at in the teaser of Season 8, 'Crypts of Winterfell', where we saw Jon, Sansa and Arya walk into the crypt and discover their own statues placed there. However, Bran's statue was missing and that could be a major clue about the Great War. It might suggest that Bran has enmeshed with the Night King as we did hear him confess the Night King is coming for the last memory of mankind, which is the Three-Eyed Raven.
On the other hand, some fans also believe that in a turn of events the dead will rise from the crypts to defend Winterfell. A fan mentioned, "If the Night King is trying to erase history, and the north always remembers, maybe the key to destroying him is in the crypt. Like they put the secret deep down there and it's up to Sam to find it. Also, I read something about the Stark men being buried with iron swords laying across them. There are theories that say the dead Starks will rise to defend Winterfell. Something about a Stark always has to be in Winterfell, and that's the key to raising the dead to defend the castle. Either way, I think the crypts are important but not for the obvious reasons."
It will be quite painful to watch some of the beloved characters turn into White Walkers within the fraction of a second. Whatever it is, the Great War is supposed to be the longest battle sequence ever to be filmed, and we can expect that the crypts will have a major role to play in this battle for Winterfell.