The battle for Winterfell hasn’t even cooled off yet. Still, I have some burning questions after the last episode of Game of Thrones episode 3. Here are my burning questions about The Battle for Winterfell.

Make sure that you’ve checked out my review of The Long Night here

Spoilers below!

1. What the hell was Bran doing the entire time?

So, the linchpin to the entire battle plan was sitting in the Godswoods. The entire time. Being protected by the Greyjoy warriors. As he gets into position, Bran wargs out and begins to control the ravens that fly through the sky.

The camera pans to the conspiracy of ravens and we see them fly up into the sky through the blizzard and right into the dragon’s battle. Then the ravens scatter and…

We return Bran throughout the episode to see him still warged out but we never seem the ravens again. Nor do we ever really see the point in Bran taking control of the birds.

What was he doing the entire time? He couldn’t have been too helpful himself, but he could have taken control of some of the animals and pit them against the white walkers.

Otherwise, he was just sitting there the entire time doing nothing.

2. What was up with the White Walkers in the library?

While the scene was filled with tension, I didn’t understand what was going on in the library. It seemed like all the white walkers were on a mission to destroy Winterfell and anyone that got in their way until the library.

Now, I get it from a drama standpoint. We watched (with some confusion as to why this was happening) as Arya tiptoed and moved around the library trying not to get caught. Still, the white walkers here didn’t seem like they were too worried about the battle that was raging on outside.

Did those walkers have a purpose?

3. Why did the Night King want Brand dead?

Bran said that the Night King wanted him dead because he represents history. Makes sense, but then what about books? It doesn’t seem like any of the White Walkers in the library were too concerned with the books in the library. If they really wanted to rid the world of men and the history of men, I would think that they might want to take out the recorded history as well.

4. What was up with the symbols?

Since the opening scene of the very first episode off Game of Thrones the white walkers have been leaving these symbols behind. Usually the symbols are made out of bodies. Now that the Night King has been destroyed and all white walkers are gone we have no answers to why the white walkers took the time to make these symbols.

I’m expecting this to be answered in the book, but the tv show just seems to be skirting around the issue.

Were these spirals of bodies just a challenge to those that were still alive? Did they serve any more purpose? I’m left wondering that’s for sure.

5. Is there more?

There has been such a build up to the war with the White Walkers and the impending Winter.

Well, winter came and it left.

Is that all? It was a tough battle and many of the troops died (and then died again once the Night King brought them back) but it felt a little anticlimactic. For 10 years, we have been waiting for winter to come. Last season ended with the wall coming down. It was epic. You could feel the march into Winterfell coming.

Then, one battle past the wall and it’s all over.

This might lead me to think that maybe not everything is over with. Maybe there the Night King isn’t all dead. Maybe.

6. How many dragons are alive?

We started with 3 dragons. One was killed and brought back to life by the Night King. Once he died, I’m pretty sure that he is gone.

Throughout the battle of Winterfell, we see Dani’s dragon getting attacked by white walkers, which swarm it like ants do and we also know that Jon got knocked off his dragon.

I’m assuming that both dragons are still alive, but at the close of the episode we only see one dragon.

Did they both survive the battle?

7. Is Ghost still alive?

Ghost is expensive to create. It’s a CGI giant wolf on the screen and they have dragons to make as well. I wouldn’t think that Ghost made it through the battle just because of the budget.

The last we saw of Ghost, he charged into battle on the front lines with the Dothraki. All of the Dothraki were killed in the first wave of White Walkers. Jorah was able to make it back from the attack though, so could Ghost have?

I probably wouldn’t count on it, but we didn’t see his death either, so there’s a chance he’s still alive.

8. Why are all the smart people on this show so dumb?

Since the show left the books behind, it seems bad to be a smart character on the show.

Tyrian and the other non-fighters have had a rough go of it for a few seasons. Each time they make a plan it seems to fail.

This week was no different. How could none of these so called smart people realize that they were going into a crypt with dead bodies that would come back to life.

Now it was pretty much foreshadowed last week that something would happen, but you would think that at least one of the tacticians would think this through.

It’s not the smartest place to be when the enemy can raise the dead…

9. What happens next?

The Night King is dead. The army of the North is mostly dead ( for some, dead twice). Will Cersei march on Winterfell? Will Dani and Jon march Jon Kingslanding now?

Whatever it is, I’m not sure its been as built up as the Night King. I really wish that maybe they would have flipped the battle for Winterfell and whatever comes next.

Of course, we have been with the characters that are left more than the Night King or the White Walkers so it makes sense to really end with the struggle for the throne.

But to me, it seems like the pay off would have been better and the battle more dramatic if they had dealt with who would rule first and then defeated the undefeatable army. That could just be me though.

Wrap up

Don’t get me wrong. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. I thought the episode was great, but I did still have some questions lingering when all was said and done. Maybe I’ll get the answer to these as we finish the season and maybe I’ll have to read the books.

What do you think? Do you have any questions I didn’t address here? Let me know in the comments.