'Game of Thrones: The Last Watch' gives the Night King the ending he deserved which the HBO show failed to deliver
"I was always the shadow behind them," this line from the 'Game of Thrones: The Last Watch' documentary does more justice to the Night King's character than the show ever could. The two-hour long documentary narrates the story of eight people including Vladimir Furdik, who plays the Night King. In clips where Vladimir Furdik talks about his role on the show, viewers get an insight into who the Night King was, why he did what he did, and why he did not deserve the ending that he got in episode three of the show's final season. 'The Long Night' saw Arya Stark killing the Night King in just a few seconds — the leader of the army of the dead shattered in seconds after seven seasons of looming threats and build up.
The rushed anti-climactic defeat of the Night King and his entire army was one of the major points that made season eight the object of much criticism and disappointment from fans. 'The Last Watch' salvaged this disappointment to a certain extent, shedding light on what goes into the making of a massive show like 'Game of Thrones'. Humanizing the efforts of the cast and crew, the documentary also showed viewers the antagonized Night King's other, human side. Vladimir Furdik, who is from Czechoslovakia, has worked as a stuntman for 33 years.
"I prepare the actor to be famous, I prepare them to look good in front of the camera. I was always a shadow behind them; nobody saw me," Furdik says in the documentary. "And now I am in the front line, so I am like 'Wow! What am I doing here? Why me?" the actor shares about his role in 'Game of Thrones'.
The actor can be seen getting his make up done while listening to some music, leaving viewers awed as they watched the Night King sans his brooding, evil on-screen persona. Furdik says that after the revolution in Czechoslovakia, many of his friends became gangsters, or as he calls it, "bad boys". "I was 14 or 15 and I had to make a decision," says the actor, who had to decide between joining his friends and becoming a gangster or continuing in show biz. He chose the latter, and "that's good," he says, as "most of my friends are dead already."
The actor also speaks about his transition into the Night King on the show and says that the makeup played a big part in it. He also says that the children of the forest wanted him to be Night King, so he killed them, which is a better explanation to the Night King's character than the show ever offered, according to many fans.
"He's the biggest, baddest, villain in 'Game of Thrones', but he's the most adorable Czechoslovakian stuntman," said Jeanie Finlay, the director of 'The Last Watch'. The documentary serves as an emotional and fitting goodbye to the show, reminding fans once again why they fell in love with television's biggest series.
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