'Game of Thrones' season 8 episode 3 may see fallen Starks rise from the dead thanks to the Night King's white walkers
'Game of Thrones' fans have found reason to believe that the terror in the face of Arya in the first trailer, which is similar to Jon's shock in episode 3's preview hints at something that we haven't considered before — the dead Starks in the Crypts — who could possibly have risen from the dead during the 'War of Winterfell'.
In what is the longest episode of the show, we will see a lot of lives lost, but more importantly, we will find the answer to where the Night King is. In the last shot of episode 2, we see the white walkers reach Winterfell, but interesting we did not see the Night King or his undead dragon Viserion. There are three possible directions that the Night King will take and one of them leads to the theory that the dead Starks could be back.
Some have guessed that the Night King is marching south, to King's Landing with a part of his army. This theory suggests that the Night King will not drive his entire army to Winterfell as he would want to expand his army. With the help of Viserion, if he goes to King's Landing, he could increase the number of white walkers that Jon and Dany's army would have to fight despite winning the coming war.
Why is this plausible? Redditor u/qp0n, takes us back to season 4 when Bran travels north to meet Blood Raven. He touches a wierwood and sees a montage of images, all of which have happened. The Redditor explains, "All of those visions have since come to pass, except the ones where he sees a destroyed throne room and a dragon shadow pass over King's Landing. I believe the reason we are only shown a shadow was to not give away that it is actually the NK (Night King) and Viserion, not Dany and her dragons."
The second possibility is the one that Bran mentioned. The Night King might aim for him and so move towards Godswood while the rest of the white walkers move on to fight the others. This is not just unsurprising but may also turn out to be boring, especially considering the upcoming episode's length.
Which is why, the theory that the Night King will raise the dead Starks has gathered more momentum, in part thanks to Arya's expression of terror in the first trailer combined with Jon's shock in the recent episode 3 previews. So fans have come to believe that the more episode 2 stressed that the Crypts was safe, the more unbelievable it is.
The fact that Tyrion will be at the Crypts along with the majority of women and children does give us a hint at the carnage involved if the Night King were to raise the dead Starks. Dany's dialogue to Jon which goes "the dead are already here" seems to have fanned the speculation further. Sean Bean is reportedly doing a cameo in the season and fans on Reddit have guessed that he might appear as a wight, and so would Catelyn Stark, which would be a nod to the character Lady Stoneheart from the book.
One fan even commented, "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 (sic)."
This further adds to the theory that the white walkers may intermittently be the cause of their fall. What will the Night King really do? We must wait and watch the longest episode of the show, which will air on April 28 at 9 pm.