INTRO

4.1 INT: WINTERFELL CORRIDOR – DAY

JAIME approaches BRAN’s door, a Stark soldier flanking him on either side. THEON stands guard.

JAIME

I’d like to speak with him, if you’d be so kind.

THEON

He’s busy.

JAIME

I’ll wait.

JAIME leans against the wall, delighted by THEON’s obvious displeasure at his presence. THEON opens his mouth to speak.

BRAN [O.S.]

It’s alright, Theon. I was expecting him.

JAIME waves THEON aside, and THEON reluctantly surrenders the door. JAIME’s guards, ERIC and ARON, follow him into BRAN’s chambers, but BRAN gives them a nod of dismissal.

BRAN

Thank you. You can leave us.

JAIME’s guards look at one another dubiously, but in the end accede to BRAN’s instruction, and depart. JAIME, no less surprised at BRAN’s show of faith in the man that once pushed him from a tower window, accepts BRAN’s proffered seat across the fireplace from his own.

JAIME

Surely you could find a more dependable aide than a Greyjoy?

BRAN

Theon’s not here because he has to be. He’s here because he chooses to be, and for the right reasons. There’s nothing more dependable than that.

JAIME

Why didn’t you tell them what I did? Daenerys was looking for any justification to have me executed; but you didn’t give it to her.

BRAN

You and Theon have more in common than you might think: both despised for breaking their oaths, both living under a death sentence from a family member…

JAIME

Both missing important appendages, if rumours are to be believed.

BRAN

Both seeking redemption at the end of the world?

JAIME [SHARPLY]

I’m not here to atone for my sins.

JAIME [CONT’D; AS IF ONLY NOW REALISING THIS]

I’m not here for me at all, actually.

BRAN smiles to himself: this was the right answer.

BRAN

I didn’t tell Daenerys for the same reason we’re all gathered here to fight a battle we’ll almost certainly lose: because death is so terribly final, while life is full of possibilities.

4.2 INT: DAENERYS’ CHAMBERS – DAY

DAENERYS stands before the fire, facing her inner circle of TYRION, VARYS, JORAH, MISSANDEI, and GREY WORM arranged before her.

DAENERYS

I gathered you here because I want to be honest with you all. I want to give each of you the freedom to decide your own path. I am Your Queen and I could command your loyalty, but after everything we’ve been through together, if I thought I did not have your love than I know I would not want your service. What I’m about to tell you till change everything…and after that will come a time for choosing.

TYRION and VARYS, and MISSANDEI and GREY WORM, look to one another for any hint of where this might be going. JORAH studies the floor.

DAENERYS [CONT’D]

My brother Rhaegar did not kidnap and rape Lyanna Stark. They were in love, and after they ran away together, Lyanna gave Rhaegar a son, raised in secret to protect him from Robert Baratheon’s wroth. That secret should have died with Ned Stark.

The light of realisation dawns on TYRION’s face. His gaze settles somewhere off in the distance as he replays and recontextualises a thousand moments in light of this revelation.

TYRION

Jon Snow.

DAENERYS

His name is Aegon Targaryen, and he is the true heir to the Iron Throne.

DAENERYS studies every face in turn, reading their reactions.

VARYS

Rhaegar was married to Elia Martell. That would make Jon a bastard and exempt from the line of succession.

JORAH

Rhaegar had the marriage annulled, and wed Lyanna Stark soon after.

TYRION

Can any of this be proven?

JORAH

The marriage Samwell Tarly had from the diary of the High Septon that performed the ceremony. That Jon was their issue…only Bran Stark’s visions.

DAENERYS

No king’s claim to the throne was ever accepted, nor queen’s denied, on the basis of visions.

VARYS

Excepting the truly tyrannical, one king is very much like another in the minds of the commonfolk: they care not how the game of thrones is played. But the Lords and Ladies of Westeros…they have a vested interest in seeing its rules conscientiously upheld and – when circumstances demand - rigorously enforced.

TYRION stands and begins to pace the room, deep in thought.

VARYS [CONT’D]

If today a rightful king is denied his throne, then perhaps tomorrow it’s their own entitlement that comes into question. Pull that first thread and all our old assumptions about power and privilege begin to unravel.

TYRION

How many more joined the rebellion against the Mad King once Robert revealed his distant relation to the Targaryens? How many more switched their allegiance to Stannis Baratheon after he named Cersei’s children bastards born of incest? These things matter to the kind of people that assume it’s their prerogative to decide as much for everyone else.

VARYS

From the way you spoke…I take it you believe it to be true?

TYRION

More to the point, do you care one way or the other?

DAENERYS

Jon is not my enemy.

TYRION

Forgive me, I never meant to imply otherwise.

DAENERYS

But. I will not allow anything – or anyone – to keep me from realising my destiny and taking back the Iron Throne.

TYRION

Is your destiny so incompatible with Jon’s?

DAENERYS

Go on.

TYRION

Varys and I met with Ser Davos last night. A marriage between you and Jon was discussed.

DAENERYS

You were discussing my marriage?

TYRION

We were acting in your interests and the interests of the Seven Kingdoms. It’s precisely the reason you retain us in your service.

DAENERYS

I had begun to wonder.

TYRION

We thought you’d be pleased: using Ser Davos’ ignorance regarding your infertility to our advantage, we were able to secure the best possible terms, including a public declaration of support from Sansa that will go a long way to forestalling any potential resistance from her Northern lords. I really cannot see the issue!

DAENERYS

The first issue is that while Ser Davos may be ignorant of my infertility, Jon is not.

TYRION [DEFENSIVE]

You didn’t tell me -

DAENERYS [INTERRUPTING]

The second issue is that the Northern lords are no longer a concern. Sansa as good as pledged her loyalty to me last night on the battlements.

As ARYA predicted, TYRION is not convinced, but decides now is definitely not the moment to contradict his queen, or her ssumptions.

TYRION

I see. Is there a third?

DAENERYS

Rhaegar was my brother, which makes Jon my nephew. You’re a smart man, so you tell me: is there a third issue with this grand design you conceived and executed entirely in my absence?

TYRION

Targaryens wed brother to sister for centuries. I hardly see a union between aunt and nephew creating any great scandal.

DAENERYS

Jon might not see it that way. And once he learns he is first in the line of succession, he may not be inclined to share his rule with the second.

TYRION

We won’t know for certain until we tell him.

DAENERYS

Whatever decision each of you reach today, that one is mine and mine alone to make. Jon will know when I am ready for him to know, and not a moment before.

TYRION

You are going to tell him? You’ve decided that much?

DAENERYS [AS THOUGH SHE DIDN’T HEAR TYRION]

Torgu Nhudo. Missandei. You’ve both been very quiet.

MISSANDEI

I haven’t followed you all this way because of who your father was, or the strength of your claim. I followed you because I believe in you.

GREY WORM

You are my Queen. There is nothing more to say.

Pointedly, GREY WORM levels his gaze at TYRION.

GREY WORM

There is nothing more to say.

DAENERYS

Thank you, both. You’ve never given me cause to believe any different.

DAENERYS joins GREY WORM in regarding TYRION with a loaded glare. He looks to Varys, and they each attempt to read the other’s face for any hint of their inner workings. VARYS is the first to crack beneath the weight of the room’s expectant silence.

VARYS

I travelled halfway round the world to join your cause, Your Grace. What greater evidence of my commitment could I possibly offer now?

DAENERYS weighs VARYS’ words, her eyes narrowing in circumspection. Finally, she nods, and turns her focus back to TYRION. The room turns with her.

TYRION

My counsel is yours, now and always. As is my loyalty, Your Grace.

4.3 INT: BRAN’S CHAMBERS – DAY

BRAN sits in his chair by the fire. ARYA enters carrying a bundle of clothes and folded furs and drops them on the cot set up against the wall.

BRAN

It was kind of you to give up your room.

ARYA

It didn’t seem right, everyone having to share except me. I think Sansa’s the only one with a room to herself now.

BRAN

And Daenerys.

ARYA

I’m pretty sure Daenerys hasn’t been sleeping alone.

ARYA [CONT’D; AFTER A PAUSE]

You’re not going to do anything strange are you? I’m not going to wake up and find you levitating or speaking in tongues?

BRAN

If I do either, I promise to do it quietly.

ARYA

Do Three-Eyed Ravens snore?

BRAN

We haven’t shared a room since the summer we both caught redspots and Maester Luwin kept us locked in your room so we wouldn’t spread it around the castle.

ARYA

Mother tied those mittens on our hands so we wouldn’t scratch.

BRAN

Jon stood under your window so the two of you could throw a ball back and forth.

ARYA

And you and Sansa wrote letters to each other and posted them under the door.

The both smile at the memory.

ARYA [CONT’D]

Back then I thought the worst thing that could happen to me was marrying some lord and having a litter of children, spending my whole life in one place like a rat in a cage.

BRAN

Today, here and now, if I told you I’d seen your future and it was exactly that, would you be satisfied?

ARYA

I’d be happy to know I survived through the next few days…but no, I wouldn’t be satisfied.

BRAN

Even after everything you’ve been through, a quiet life still holds no appeal?

ARYA

A quiet life is no kind of life at all.

ARYA [CONT’D; AFTER A PAUSE]

Have you? Seen my future, I mean?

BRAN

I don’t need visions to know your future.

ARYA furrows her brow, feeling the progress she’d just made in reconnecting with her brother slipping away.

ARYA

So is this just who you are now? My brother, the spooky raven boy with three eyes that says strange things that nobody understands?

BRAN

Is this who you are? An emotionless assassin that lives only to exact her revenge?

ARYA

I like to visit the theatre, sometimes.

BRAN turns his head and looks out the window.

BRAN

I used to run across these rooftops every day of my life. I never fell, never so much as tripped. I loved the feeling of being up above everything, seeing the world from a perspective nobody else did. Nobody but the birds. Now I can’t run, I can’t climb…only in my visions am I able to pass beyond the limitations of this broken body.

ARYA

But those aren’t real, Bran. Not in the way we’re real, here, right now.

BRAN

Just because a moment passes doesn’t mean it’s no longer real. It still exists, somewhere beyond what we can see and hear and touch.

ARYA

I know how tempting it can be to forget yourself. There’s something freeing about leaving who you are behind, making yourself into something different and new. But it’s not freedom, not really. It’s a trap.

BRAN

“It is beautiful beneath the sea. But if you stay too long, you’ll drown.”

ARYA

What’s that?

BRAN

Something an old friend once told me.

ARYA

You have to remember who you are, always, because you don’t belong just to yourself. Mother, father, Robb, Rickon…they all live on with you, but if you die, then another piece of them dies too.

BRAN

I’m more than just this body, Arya. We’re all of us more than the face that stares back at us in the mirror. I thought you would understand that better than anyone. Or no-one.

ARYA is caught off-guard by hearing the familiar refrain from an unfamiliar source. She opens her mouth to speak.

S.E: knocking.

BRAN

Come in, Theon.

THEON

It’s time.

BRAN [TO ARYA]

You might have a room to yourself after all: I do have an awfully long way to go.

ARYA piles the furs she was carrying onto BRAN’s lap.

ARYA

Here, take these. It doesn’t matter where your mind goes if your body freezes while you’re gone.

THEON takes control of BRAN’s chair and wheels him towards the door.

ARYA [CONT’D]

Theon? Where were you when Bran and I had redspots? I don’t remember.

THEON

Your father took Robb and I hunting. We spent a week tracking deer halfway to Deepwood Motte. We’d fish and hike through the woods in the day, and at night we’d cook the fish we caught over the fire and sleep under the stars. We never did catch those deer. 

ARYA

Why wasn’t Jon with you?

THEON

He was supposed to be, but when you got sick he said he’d rather stay behind and keep you company.

ARYA and BRAN share a smile, and THEON wheels BRAN from the room.

4.4 EXT: GODSWOOD – DAY

THEON helps BRAN from his chair and positions him beside the weirwood tree. Over his head, the face carved into the trunk weeps its red sap. All around them, men busy themselves cutting down trees, sawing wood, and transporting the lumber away.

BRAN

I remember you leaving on that hunting trip. I watched from the window, and right before you passed through the gates, father turned and waved up at me. When I think of him, that’s what I see: sitting on his horse, with Ice at his belt and a fur cloak wrapped around his shoulders. He looks bigger than a giant.

THEON

Whenever I think of your father, I always picture him sitting right here, under this tree. I never knew if he was praying or just enjoying being somewhere so peaceful.

THEON [CONT’D; AFTER A PAUSE]

Have you ever seen him? In your visions, I mean.

BRAN

Just once, and only for a moment. It wasn’t what I hoped it would be.

THEON

I wish I could see him, just one more time. I’d tell him how sorry I was for what I did to his family.

BRAN

If I see him again, I’ll make sure he knows.

THEON nods gratefully. BRAN places his palm against the trunk of the weirwood and his eyes immediately cloud over.

4.5 INT: DAENERYS’ CHAMBERS – DAY

The tension in DAENERYS’ chambers is palpable, the silence seemingly endless.

DAENERYS

We need to leave now if we hope to return before the Night King and his army arrive.

TYRION and VARYS each silently encourage the other to speak.

TYRION

You can’t just leave. We need to decide what comes next.

DAENERYS

And we will, after I return.

TYRION

Think about what’s coming. The world you come back to is going to look very different from the one you’re leaving.

DAENERYS

Which is exactly why we wait. Until then, nobody breathes a word of what was discussed here. Is that clear?

DAENERYS receives a round of solemn nods from her council, but TYRION cannot help but feel her command was directed at him most of all.

4.6 EXT: BENEATH WINTERFELL’S WALLS – DAY

Beneath Winterfell’s southern walls, Drogon and Rhaegal hunch low to the ground, waiting and watching as JON bids his farewells.

DAVOS

There aren’t many places I’d less like to be than here in the coming hours, but you’re setting out to try and find one of them. I’m not sure if I should envy you or pity you.

JON

If everything goes to plan, I’ll be back before you have to decide.

They embrace. JON moves on to SANSA. She hugs him tight.

SANSA

Don’t be a hero. I’m sure sitting on the back of a dragon makes you feel invincible, but you can still die just as easily as anyone else.

JON

I know that better than most, believe me.

SANSA

And you remember Bran’s description?

JON

A plateau of ice, surrounded on three sides by mountains, overlooking the sea on the fourth, two hours north-west of the Frostfangs.

SANSA

As the crow flies.

JON

It’s been a while since anybody called me that.

ARYA is next in line, but a late-arriving TORMUND shoulders his way through and lifts JON up in a great bearhug.

TORMUND

You’ll always be a little crow to me!

TORMUND [CONT’D]

I have something for you.

TORMUND hands JON a wineskin. JON removes the stopper, takes a sniff, and recoils.

TORMUND [CONT’D]

Fermented goat’s milk, the last of my supply.

TORMUND leans in conspiratorially.

TORMUND [CONT’D]

Don’t drink it all yourself; share some with your Dragon Queen.

Now at last JON reaches ARYA. She jumps into his arms.

ARYA

Don’t die. I’ll be really angry with you if you die.

JON

I’ll try my best.

JON returns his sister to the ground. ED hands JON his sword belt, Longclaw attached by its scabbard.

ED

I gave it a good cleaning. Hurry back, won’t you?

JON

You going to miss me?

ED

Not as much as I’ll miss those dragons if you don’t make it back in time.

JON and ED embrace.

JON

Where’s –

JON is cut off by the arrival of DAENERYS and her entourage into the yard. With barely a glance in JON’s direction, DAENERYS passes by and climbs atop Drogon. Only then, settled in her elevated vantage point, does she look at JON.

DAENERYS

Shall we?

JON looks back at the yard, searching for someone. After a moment, he disappointedly turns and approaches Rhaegal, but before he can embark a familiar voice calls from the yard.

SAM

Jon, wait!

JON grins broadly at the sight of his old friend wombling across the yard, just as he did the first time they met, in the yard of Castle Black.

JON

Sam! Where’ve you been hiding? I’ve hardly seen you!

SAM

Listen, before you go…

SAM opens his mouth to unburden his soul to JON, but catches JORAH’s eye over JON’s shoulder. JORAH gives the slightest shake of his head. SAM looks at DAENERYS at the exact moment Drogon rears up and casts a long, dark shadow over the two old friends.

JON

What is it, Sam?

SAM

It’s nothing that can’t wait.

JON

You’re certain?

SAM

The next time we see each other, we’ll talk. Promise?

JON

Promise.

JON moves to let go but SAM holds on. 

ED

Sam.

S.E: Sam squeezing Jon tighter…

JON

Sam.

ED steps forward and peels a reluctant SAM away from JON. JON is about to mount up but there’s one more friend arrived to see him off: JON kneels to allow Ghost to lick his face.

JON

Be safe, boy. Don’t go chasing dead things, do you hear me?

S.E: growling.

Ghost bares his teeth as Drogon shuffles about to sniff at the direwolf. Drogon bares his own, but Ghost is undaunted.

JON

It’s alright, boy, he’s on our side.

S.E: persistent growling.

DAENERYS

Perhaps it’s best we get going.

SANSA wraps a placating arm around Ghost’s neck and JON climbs atop his dragon.

DAENERYS

Valahd!

JON

Valahd!

S.E: dragons taking flight

JORAH nods his approval to SAM, but SAM looks away and shuffles with ED back towards the yard. SANSA ruffles Ghost’s fur.

SANSA

I know, boy. I know.

4.7 EXT: WINTERFELL’S YARD – DAY

S.E: swords clashing.

BRIENNE watches as PODRICK trains a group of Northmen in the basics of swordsmanship. Frail old men, young boys as green as grass…this is the first time any of them have even held a sword, and for all PODRICK’s effort, their inexperience is all too plain. Undeterred, PODRICK alternately delivers constructive criticism and words of praise. BRIENNE smiles to herself: the student has become the teacher. JAIME approaches, his guards ERIC and ARON trailing him like his shadow.

JAIME

Lady Brienne.

BRIENNE

Ser Jaime.

JAIME

I wanted to thank you for what you said yesterday.

BRIENNE

There’s no need.

JAIME

You pushed back against a Queen. That’s never a small thing.

BRIENNE

Daenerys is not your sister. She doesn’t punish people just because they disagree with her.

JAIME

Nobody that sits a throne has much patience with dissenting points of view. The gold crown on their head makes that pretty clear, I’d have thought. As does the throne, come to think of it.

BRIENNE

You’re still here, aren’t you? She spared your life when she had every reason to feed you to her dragons.

JAIME

Why was that, do you wonder?

BRIENNE opens her mouth to answer but JAIME pre-empts her.

JAIME [CONT’D]

And don’t tell me it’s because she has a good heart or a keen sense of justice or any other naive nonsense. She let me live to prove a point, to demonstrate for these Northern lords that she isn’t her father, that she’s capable of showing mercy to even her worst enemy.

BRIENNE

You can’t be serious? You’re Jaime Lannister. The Kingslayer. If Daenerys mounted your head on a stick and took it on tour she’d ensure the loyalty of all Seven Kingdoms for a thousand years.

JAIME

Then who was it for?

BRIENNE

Why did it have to be for anyone? Perhaps Daenerys simply believes in second chances.

JAIME

It’s incredible to me that after everything you’ve seen you still assume the best in people.

BRIENNE

I suppose that’s naïve too?

JAIME

I think it’s rather admirable, actually.

Taken aback by JAIME’s complimentary candour, BRIENNE is momentarily lost for words. 

JAIME [CONT’D; LOOKING ABOUT]

I’m impressed with the preparations she’s made, at least.

BRIENNE

Most of this was Lady Sansa’s doing, actually. I may have made a suggestion or two.

JAIME looks up along the battlements, his mind turning.

JAIME

Might I make one of my own?

4.8 EXT: BATTLEFIELD – DAY

The ground north of Winterfell has been cleared and flattened. Everywhere, work is going on to prepare the terrain to the army of the living’s best advantage: stone walls are under construction, trenches dug, range markers erected, spikes whittled. BRIENNE and JAIME, together with JAIME’s guards, stand with RAYMEN beside his half-built Chevaux-de-Frise. He studies a page of parchment in his hands: the design for the scorpion that BRONN used against Drogon during the baggage train attack.

JAIME

Can you build it?

RAYMEN

Looks pretty straightforward, m’lord.

BRIENNE

Can you do it quickly?

RAYMEN

I’ll start right away, m’lady.

JAIME

Good man. Come find me if you have any questions. You can find me by the trail I leave in my wake.

JAIME smirks at ERIC and ARON as he and BRIENNE depart, knowing they’re obligated to follow.

4.9 INT: GREAT HALL OF WINTERFELL – DAY

TYRION and VARYS have Winterfell’s Great Hall all to themselves. They sit on the steps leading to the Lord’s table, each lost in their own thoughts.

VARYS

I’ve been trying to play out every possible scenario in my mind. As with so much these days, there’s too much we don’t know. Too much that I don’t know. So many of the players I was familiar with are gone from the board: King Robert, both his brothers, Tywin Lannister, Joffrey, the entirety of House Bolton and House Tyrell, Ned Stark.

TYRION

Turns out you didn’t know Ned Stark as well as you thought.

VARYS shoots TYRION a withering look.

TYRION [CONT’D]

Not helpful. Sorry.

VARYS

I’m not sure I even understand how the game is played anymore. A Master of Whisperers depends a set of rules; it’s in the hidden cracks between those rules that a spider spins his webs. With the world overcome with chaos, I keep finding myself with nothing to offer our Queen but well-spun old wisdoms that belong to a world which in all likelihood is gone for good.

TYRION

These are extraordinary times. Nobody has all the answers.

VARYS

You have a keen military mind. I imagine it’s been rather a long time since you felt superfluous to the needs of Daenerys Stormborn, Breaker of Chains and Mother of Dragons.

TYRION

Superfluous? Never. Out of my depth? Occasionally.

VARYS

Unappreciated?

TYRION

Consistently.

They exchange a wry grin, but neither is truly amused.

TYRION [CONT’D]

We all serve Her Grace as best we can according to whatever talents we possess. Missandei is her closest friend and confidante, and even Queen’s need one of those. Grey Worm provides her his battlefield expertise, Ser Jorah the benefits of age and experience.

VARYS

What does Jon Snow provide?

TYRION arches an eyebrow.

VARYS [CONT’D]

Besides that.

TYRION

He provides her the North.

VARYS

For a time, perhaps. But without children to continue his line, the North will eventually revert back to Sansa’s. You promised Ser Davos as much last night.

TYRION

A clear line of succession is essential in winning over support for Daenerys’ rule. We both agreed her fertility problems had to remain a secret.

VARYS

They do have a habit of piling up, don’t they?

The contemplative silence returns.

VARYS [CONT’D]

It’s your turn. Tell me what you’re thinking.

TYRION

I haven’t decided what I’m thinking just yet.

VARYS

You really are going to make me be the one to say it, aren’t you?

TYRION

Say what?

VARYS

What we’re both thinking: are we making the right choice?

TYRION

Asking that question now is treason.

VARYS

There is no greater treason than a rational man that disregards his own reason.

TYRION

You’re talking in rhyme again. You’ll realise how obnoxious that is when Bran Stark repeats your own words back to you.

VARYS

You and I are not Jorah Mormont. We’re not Grey Worm nor Missandei. We don’t look at Daenerys as though she personally hung the sun and stars in the sky. We chose to follow her because, of those precious few with the means to take power, we believed she would best wield it in service to the realm. I’m simply asking the question: is that still what we believe?

TYRION

Do I believe Jon Snow would be a good king? Yes, I believe he would make an excellent king. He’s principled but not inflexible, bold but not intemperate, compassionate but not impractical. He commands respect, makes allies out of enemies, and he understands power not as an end unto itself but as a means to better serve and protect the powerless…

VARYS

And?

TYRION

And…the real question, therefore, is not whether he would sit the Iron Throne well, but whether he would sit it better than Daenerys would. If the answer is “yes”, then the question becomes whether he would be so much better that it would justify all the misery and bloodshed it would cost to put him there instead of her.

VARYS

I really don’t think convenience should factor into it: either he’s the best choice or he’s not, whatever the cost may be.

TYRION

Including our own heads?

VARYS

Death by dragonfire, more likely.

TYRION

However much you may underestimate your own contributions of late, know that I for one have always thoroughly appreciated your slavish devotion to detail.

TYRION stands and begins to pace the floor before VARYS.

TYRION [CONT’D]

We made a commitment to Daenerys, and that means we are duty bound to do whatever necessary to secure her rule. Some challengers you dispatch on the battlefield, others by simply keeping secrets.

TYRION stops in front of VARYS and looks him in dead in the eyes so VARYS understands the gravity of his next words.

TYRION [CONT’D]

Jon must never know the truth. We take it to our graves.

VARYS

Ned Stark did exactly that, yet here we all are. Whether it’s Daenerys’ infertility or Jon Snow’s true parentage, no secret ever stays as such forever, my friend. Especially those that cause dynasties to rise or fall.

4.10 EXT: GATES OF WINTERFELL – DAY

A line of wagons a quarter-mile long stretches away from Winterfell’s gates, each wagon laden down with women and children, the old and infirm. GREY WORM walks the line, scanning the faces in each wagon before moving on. With a frown he turns and heads back into the yard, passing SAM and GILLY on his way. SAM lifts his diminutive namesake onto the nearest wagon and kisses him on the forehead.

SAM

Gilly, I have something for you.

SAM hands GILLY a parcel. She folds back the cloth to reveal the hilt of Heartsbane, the Tarly family Valyrian steel.

GILLY

Your father’s sword? Sam, you’re going to need this.

SAM

I have a sword made of dragonglass now; that’s going to be much more useful. Besides, it’s far too heavy for me. If anything should happen –

GILLY

Sam –

SAM [INTERRUPTING]

Listen to me: if anything should happen, return this to my father and tell him you stole it back from me. He’ll be so grateful to have it I’m sure mother can convince him to let you and Little Sam stay at Horn Hill. Or if you’d prefer, sell it and make a life for yourself somewhere else. Somewhere nice.

GILLY

We will sell it, and then we’ll make that choice together, as a family.

GILLY kisses SAM.

SAM

It feels like I’m always saying “goodbye”, but I never seem to get any better at it.

4.11 INT: DAENERYS’ CHAMBERS – DAY

MISSANDEI stands by the bed, folding a pile of DAENERYS’ clothing. GREY WORM strides with purpose through the open door.

GREY WORM

You are still packing? Come, the wagons are leaving.

MISSANDEI

These belong to Daenerys. I don’t need to pack, because I’m not leaving.

GREY WORM

I do not understand.

MISSANDEI

I have decided to remain at Winterfell instead of traveling south to White Harbour with the women and children.

GREY WORM

You cannot!

MISSANDEI [BRIDLING]

Excuse me?

GREY WORM

It is too dangerous.

MISSANDEI

Too dangerous for me, but not for you?

GREY WORM

Yes! I am Unsullied. I am great soldier. You are no soldier. You cannot fight.

MISSANDEI

I will serve as a signalman. Woman. Signalperson. I have already spoken with Lord Tyrion.

GREY WORM

And he permitted this?

MISSANDEI [BRISTLING]

I asked Lord Tyrion for suggestions on how I might contribute. I did not ask his permission, because Lord Tyrion is not my master, and neither are you.

GREY WORM

Missandei, please, I –

MISSANDEI [GOING TO GREY WORM; INTERRUPTING]

Torgo Nudho, listen to me: for a long time, our lives were not our own. The masters controlled our actions, and so they controlled not just what we did but who we were. Being free after experiencing slavery, it makes you recognise every single choice you make is important, because it defines who you are as a person. Every day, I move further away from my master because every day I get to make a thousand new choices. I serve Daenerys because I choose to. I’m here at Winterfell because I choose to be here. And I’m staying here because I get to choose that, too. These are all choices that I have made, choices I am proud to have made.

GREY WORM

I think I understand. If you did not make these choices, you would not be Missandei of Naath. You would not be the woman I love.

MISSANDEI

Loving you is the only thing in my life I didn’t choose. That happened all on its own.

GREY WORM

Promise me you will be careful. If anything happened –

MISSANDEI kisses GREY WORM passionately. They fall back on the bed, all MISSANDEI’s folding undone in a moment.

4.12 EXT: THE LAND OF ALWAYS WINTER – DAY

BRAN stands atop a mountain of ice, looking down on a vast plateau stretching away towards the sea. Set within the shadows of the mountain range, a giant palace of ice looms over the landscape, the ornate spires of its many towers scraping the grey-black canopy of stormclouds overhead. Despite the cloud cover, the palace somehow glistens in the perpetual gloom, streaks of blue and green twisting within its walls like prisms of light trapped inside a piece of fine crystal. Nothing moves in this land of the dead. BRAN furrows his brow in confusion.

BRAN

Why am I back here? I’ve seen this before.

As though in answer, the doors of the palace open and a dozen White Walkers emerge from within. They stand still as stone on the steps, their heads tilted skyward. BRAN gradually becomes aware of a persistent moaning sound from just beyond the ledge on which he stands. Traversing around the mountain’s face, he finds himself on the lip of an enormous crevasse. Far below, between the two walls of the great schism in the rock, a vast host of the undead lays in wait. The dreadful realisation batters Bran like an ice-cold gale: this army of wights can see onto the plateau while remaining hidden from view of anyone on the plateau itself.

S.E: dragon roar.

As the dragon’s shriek echoes against the ring of mountains and across the plain of ice, the White Walkers slowly turn away and return to the palace. A moment later, Drogon and Rhaegal descend from the skies and land on the plateau. BRAN watches as DAENERYS and JON climb down from their mounts and begin their approach towards the ice palace.

BRAN

They know they’re coming! It’s an ambush!

BRAN scrambles down the face of the mountain, tumbling haphazardly and landing with a heavy crunch on the ice below. He hauls himself to his feet and races after JON and DAENERYS.

BRAN

Jon! Stop!

JON actually hesitates on the threshold, his foot upon the bottom step, and looks back in BRAN’s direction. DAENERYS mouths something, and JON replies, their words blowing away on the arctic winds before they can reach BRAN’s ears. They turn towards the palace.

BRAN

No! Jon!

Again, JON and DAENERYS stop and turn in BRAN’s direction. BRAN allows himself a flicker of hope: he can still stop this!

BRAN

Jon! Don’t go in there!

JON and DAENERY turn and enter the gaping mouth of the palace. The doors begin to swing shut.

BRAN

No! Jon! Jon!

4.13 EXT: GODSWOOD – DAY

YARA and THEON stand together regarding BRAN under his pile of furs, his eyes misted and unseeing.

YARA

It’s time to move him to the wagons, Theon.

THEON

Just give him a few more minutes. We have no idea what we might be interrupting when we separate him from that tree.

YARA nods her reluctant assent. She begins to dance from foot to foot, rubbing her arms against the sharp morning freeze.

YARA

How are you not a block of ice, right now?

THEON

I suppose the cold just doesn’t have the same bite after nine years living in the North.

YARA

It’s not too late to change your mind. You don’t owe the Starks anything, you know.

THEON

I’ve made my choice, Yara. I’m staying.

YARA studies her brother’s face.

YARA

And it is your choice, and no-one else’s?

THEON

Bran didn’t ask me to stay, if that’s what you’re asking. Pretty much the opposite, actually.

YARA

After a while, Ramsay Bolton didn’t have to ask you for anything either.

THEON

That was different. I was afraid of Ramsay.

YARA

Whether they’re bonds of love or bonds of fear, a chain is still a chain, Theon. If you can’t walk away because something’s tethering you in place –

BRAN [INTERRUPTING]

Stop! No! Don’t go in there!

THEON rushes to BRAN’s side. YARA watches as he kneels down and wraps BRAN up in a bearhug, pinioning his thrashing arms by his side protectively.

THEON

Bran! Bran!

BRAN’s eyes demist and he sits up with a sharp intake of breath.

BRAN

Theon?!

THEON

You were screaming. I thought you were in danger.

BRAN’s eyes are wild; he grabs THEON’s arm and squeezes it tight.

BRAN

I have to go back, Theon! I need to help them!

THEON

Help who? What did you see?

BRAN

I saw Jon and Daenerys! They’re at the palace of ice, or…

BRAN’s face clouds over with confusion.

BRAN [CONT’D]

Or…they were there…or maybe they’re going to be…maybe I can still warn them!

THEON

There’s no time. The wagons are leaving for White Harbour.

BRAN

I need the weirwood tree. I can’t see everything I need to without it.

THEON

We can’t stay here. The Night King’s army will be here before morning.

BRAN

I sent them into an ambush, Theon. Please, I have to go back. Please, Theon!

4.14 EXT: GATES OF WINTERFELL – DAY

The line of wagons waits. SANSA arrives from the yard and takes the reins of her horse from a waiting groom. WOLKAN approaches from down the line.

WOLKAN

Everything is ready for your departure, my Lady.

SANSA looks back at Winterfell, clearly undecided. Just as she’s about to mount her horse, a STARK SOLDIER approaches.

STARK SOLDIER

Apologies, m’lady.

SANSA

What is it?

STARK SOLDIER

We’re running short of cloth for the trebuchet, m’lady. The stones won’t take fire without it.

SANSA considers a moment, then hands the reins of her horse back to the groom.

SANSA

Hold them a while longer. I’ll be back.

WOLKAN nods, and SANSA returns to Winterfell.

4.15 INT: SANSA’S CHAMBERS – DAY

SANSA throws open the doors of her wardrobe. She reaches in and fingers the fine stitching on her favourite dress, and pulls it from the wardrobe. Holding it up to her neckline, she considers herself in the floor-length mirror, admiring the way the dress plumes elegantly in the air as she twists her hips. Recovering herself, SANSA returns the dress to the wardrobe. She reaches in and transfers the entire contents to the bed. She gathers the dresses into one large pile and moves to carry them away when her eyes settle on a large wooden chest pushed against the far wall.

SANSA lays her hands on the chest, resting her fingertips on the weathered carving of a leaping trout painted in silver against a faded turquoise finish. Inside, the clothes belonging to her mother, Catelyn. SANSA feels her vision blurring as a faint echo of her mother’s smell rises from the fabric. Moving quickly lest her resolve weaken once more, Sansa reaches both hands into her mother’s chest.

4.16 EXT: WINTERFELL’S YARD – DAY

SANSA drops the pile of dresses - hers and her mothers’ both - onto the ground beside the trebuchet.

SANSA

Will this suffice?

STARK SOLDIER

I believe so, m’lady. Thank you, m’lady.

SANSA looks around her, searching for another problem to delay her departure, but everything looks to be running smoothly. Sighing, she crosses to the stables.

SANSA

OK, I’m ready to go.

The GROOM disappears into the stables to fetch SANSA’s horse. YARA approaches.

YARA

It’s probably best you see for yourself.

4.17 EXT: GODSWOOD – DAY

SANSA

He can’t just lie here in the middle of a battle.

SANSA stands beside THEON and YARA, looking down at BRAN lying on the roots of the weirwood. Around them, a collection of sawed-off stumps where just yesterday a dense copse of trees stood.

THEON

He said he can’t leave the weirwood.

SANSA

He has no choice in the matter. Put him on a wagon.

THEON

I can’t do that, Sansa. I gave him my word.

SANSA

I am the Lady of Winterfell, and he is my brother. If you refuse to do as I say I have plenty of guards that will. Now hurry, they’re ready to leave.

SANSA turns away, believing the matter closed.

THEON [INSISTENT]

He said Jon was in danger.

S.E: Sansa’s footsteps, halted.

THEON [CONT’D]

He said he saw Jon and Daenerys and a palace of ice. He said he sent them into an ambush, and that he had to go back and warn them. We have to let him try, Sansa.

SANSA

It’s not safe for him here, Theon.

THEON

I’ll stay with him. I promised him I would. I broke his trust once, Sansa. I won’t do it again.

SANSA looks from THEON to her brother and back again. She takes in the Godswood and Winterfell beyond.

SANSA [SIGHING]

Lady Greyjoy, I’m trusting you with command of the convoy.

YARA

You’re not coming with us?

SANSA

If Bran’s staying, then so am I.

4.18 EXT: WINTERFELL’S YARD – DAY

SANSA is making her way across the yard when ARYA falls into step beside her.

ARYA

Why are you still here?

SANSA

Bran can’t leave the Godswood. And I can’t leave Bran.

SANSA [AFTER A PAUSE]

You’re not going to try and convince me to leave?

ARYA

You’ve spent the last three years a prisoner to terrible men. If anyone has earned the right to decide for themselves where they go and when, it’s you.

SANSA stops and looks at her sister, legitimately touched.

ARYA [CONT’D]

Besides, I’m honestly not sure how much safer you’d be under Yara Greyjoy’s protection.

SANSA

I couldn’t refuse to send our women and children with her after Daenerys accepted for hers in front of everyone. We have to keep the pretence that we’re all the best of friends. For now, at least.

ARYA

Yara Greyjoy is Daenerys’ woman. We can’t trust her.

SANSA

No, but she’s Theon’s sister, and I trust Theon.

ARYA

So did Robb.

SANSA

Theon’s not the same person he was then. Besides, I thought you liked Yara?

ARYA

I’ve liked plenty of people that can’t be trusted.

4.19 EXT: WINTERFELL’S YARD – DAY

HOUND

Put your back into it, you big girl’s blouse!

BERIC, GENDRY, and the HOUND work with a team of Northmen to pull stones from the walls of the kitchens and stack them on a cart. They stop to watch with amusement as MAESTER WALKEN Walken attempts in vain to assert his authority as foreman over TORU and YANO at the entrance to the crypt.

WOLKAN

Come on, come on, let’s get to it shall we?

The Dothraki stare at him blankly.

WOLKAN

Come on!

WOLKAN patronisingly mimes stacking the stones.

TORU

Yer addrivat jin at? Me venat oqolat oqat.

[I cannot kill him? He sounds like a sheep]

YANO

Vozetti! Me sadizoslavat. Mae kisha khaleesi atzilliar inava safra. Anha ojilat…

[Of course not! It is forbidden. He is our Queen’s lover’s sister’s slave. I might have that wrong…]

WOLKAN gawps uncomprehendingly. He spots JORAH crossing the yard and calls out in relief.

WOLKAN

Ah, Ser Jorah! I wonder if you wouldn’t mind translating? I seem to be having difficulty making myself understood to these people.

JORAH

Vitherat, oko? Fini jinak?

[What’s this, friends? What’s happening?]

YANO

Me zalat addrivat mae ha mae izven.

[He wants to kill this one.]

TORU

Me shillolat kisha izven. Mae zafra atfiezar Jon Snow inava.

[He says I cannot. He is slave of Jon Snow’s sister.]

JORAH

Toru would like to kill you for speaking to them with such disrespect. Yano would also like to kill you, but does not want to offend Jon Snow’s sister.

WOLKAN turns white with fear. YANO sighs and pantomimes laying mortar.

YANO

Kisha ki gref movelat odzi. Kisha fichat davra divee.

[We cannot just build a wall. We need mortar.]

WOLKAN [RELIEVED]

Oh, yes, I understand! You need a bonding agent. Hmmm…OK, wait right here, I believe we have just the thing.

The Dothraki watch with disdain as WOLKAN scurries away.

TORU

Goshat shafka erinat mae addrivat?

[You’re certain I cannot kill him?]

JORAH

I’m afraid not. Lady Stark would notice his absence sooner or later.

4.20 INT: STORAGE SHED – DAY

WOLKAN opens the door to the storage shed and fusses about in the darkness. A hand shoots out and covers WOLKAN’s mouth while another wields a knife to slit open his throat. WOLKAN’s unseen assailant drags the Maester’s lifeless body into the shadows.

4.21 INT: WINTERFELL’S FORGE – DUSK

S.E: steel on steel.

GENDRY works at his forge. Beside him, the HOUND sorts idly through a pile of dragonglass swords, testing the weight of each one that takes his fancy then tossing them back onto the pile. ARYA steps stealthily into the room. She watches GENDRY work, unnoticed.

GENDRY

I’m not saying I’m a believer or anything, I’m just saying it can’t all be bullshit. How do you explain him coming back from the dead so many times if there isn’t at least some truth to the whole Red God thing?

HOUND

I don’t try to explain it, and neither should you. Life’s too fucking short, and getting shorter by the hour. Leave it to mad fuckers like Beric. It’s all they bloody do, is explain, whether anybody wants to hear it not. 

ARYA steps out of the shadows. The HOUND sneers at the sight of her.

HOUND [CONT’D]

I should have known a room full of things you can kill people with would draw you in like a fly to shit.

ARYA is unimpressed with the HOUND’s bark and patiently waits for him to be done.

HOUND [CONT’D]

You made it back to Winterfell after all, then. Is it everything you remembered it to be?

ARYA

It’s more crowded than it was.

HOUND

The little Lady doesn’t like dirty commoners making her daddy’s castle look untidy, is that it?

GENDRY

Leave her be.

The HOUND looks with surprise at GENDRY, then at ARYA, then back to GENDRY, the gears in his head clearly turning.

HOUND [LAUGHING]

You’ve got to be fucking joking. She’ll eat you alive!

He walks to the door, but pauses to offer GENDRY a piece of advice.

HOUND [CONT’D]

I don’t care how fucking short life is: if you’ve got any sense at all, you’ll get away from her faster than you ran to fucking Eastwatch.

ARYA

I don’t need you to protect me, you know.

GENDRY

I wasn’t planning to. If he’d called my bluff you were on your own.

ARYA grins and strolls through the forge towards GENDRY, admiring the various piles of weapons lying throughout. She picks up a short-sword with a dragonglass blade, begins to twirl it expertly.

ARYA

Jon told me you went north of the Wall. Fought the dead.

GENDRY

Not something I’m looking forward to doing again.

ARYA stops her routine and faces him.

ARYA

You know what’s coming, then. And you know what we have here. Be honest with me: do you think can we win?

ARYA watches GENDRY’s face intently as he tries his best to discern if ARYA wants the cold hard truth, or a reassuring lie.

GENDRY

I’m just a smithy, Arya. What do I know about tactics or strategy or how to win a battle? You’d be better off asking your brother. The one that used to be king? Although the one that can see into the future probably wouldn’t be a bad idea, either. 

ARYA can recognise a liar when she sees one, and what she saw in GENDRY’s eyes had too sobering an effect to allow for his attempt at levity. ARYA lays the short-sword on the workbench and appears to lose herself in introspection for a moment.

GENDRY [CONT’D; BREEZILY]

You didn’t come down here just to ask me that, did you?

ARYA takes a step closer to GENDRY, studying his face. GENDRY shifts uncomfortably.

GENDRY [CONT’D]

What are you doing?

ARYA

Did you think about me? Since the last time we saw each other?

GENDRY [SWALLOWING]

Yes.

ARYA smiles. She turns and walks for the door without waiting to confirm that GENDRY will follow.

ARYA

Come on. I want to show you something.

4.22 EXT: WINTERFELL’S BROKEN TOWER - DUSK

ARYA and GENDRY cross the newly-raised bridge connecting the Broken Tower to the battlements and climb the fresh-cut ladder mounted on the tower’s exterior. The rubble of the collapsed roof that gave the Broken Tower its name has finally been removed, and a sturdy wooden platform erected in its place.

GENDRY

Are you going to tell me what we’re doing here?

ARYA

This could be the last sunset we ever see. I wanted to share it with someone…

ARYA trails off, her final word unspoken. As they look out across the Northern landscape, the sun slowly begins to sink beyond the horizon.

GENDRY

No matter how hard I try, I just can’t seem to picture what comes next. I can’t see a future beyond tonight.

ARYA

You can’t give up hope. You have to believe we can win.

GENDRY

That’s not what I mean. In the past, it’s never mattered whether it was this king or that queen that sat on the throne. Nothing ever changes for people like me. Nothing ever gets any better. But that can’t be true this time, can it? If we survive the Night King, if we overthrow Cersei, things have to be different. I believe it, right down to my bones, but…I just can’t imagine what it’s going to look like.

ARYA

I’ve had this list in my head for so long…it’s all I’ve thought about, all I’ve been living towards. It’s only now, when I realise I might never get the chance to finish my list, that I’ve actually tried to look beyond the end of it.

GENDRY

What do you see?

ARYA

Nothing. I try and see myself as something else, someone else, someone with a different purpose besides…

ARYA cuts herself off. GENDRY discretely turns away, and recommits his attention to the setting sun.

GENDRY

Thank you, for this. I’m glad I got to see it.

ARYA chews her lip.

ARYA

Would you describe me as emotionless?

GENDRY

Angry is an emotion.

ARYA punches GENDRY on the arm.

ARYA

Shut up!

GENDRY

I’m serious. You’ve got every reason to be angry. Nobody gets to tell you that you don’t. There can be room in life for other things too, though.

ARYA

 Like what things?

GENDRY

I don’t know…anything. Books. Horse-riding. Music. Friends –

ARYA [INTERRUPTING]

Lovers?

GENDRY [AFTER A PAUSE]

I’ve heard painting can be very relaxing. I once –

ARYA pounces, cutting GENDRY off with a kiss.

ARYA

I might die tomorrow. I want to know what it’s like before I do.

GENDRY

No pressure, then.

They kiss and tumble to the floor in one another’s arms.

4.33 EXT: THE SKIES OVER WESTEROS – DUSK

DAENERYS rides Drogon high above the clouds, JON sitting atop Rhaegal two-hundred feet below. DAENERYS watches as JON dives Rhaegal beneath the clouds, then angles Drogon to follow.

JON continues Rhaegal’s descent until the dragon’s shadow rushes over the snow-covered ground below. He looks over his shoulder, confirms for himself that DAENERYS is still with him.

JON holds his breath as Rhaegal approaches Castle Black, the ramshackle fort as small as a child’s wooden toy from JON’s elevation. The dragon’s speed is such that the great thickness of the Wall, so indomitable from the ground, is already behind them before JON has time to truly appreciate the ease with which he just traversed a barrier that stood inviolate for eight-thousand years. The vast empty expanse stretches away to the farthest horizon, the great white void all that lies before them, nothing ahead but the desolate dominion of the Night King…and the secrets hidden within.

OUTRO