Fall of Winterfell

* The Army of the Dead is given free reign to conquer the entire mainland of the North

Factions| * House Stark
	+ House Karstark †
	+ House Mormont †
	+ House Hornwood
* House Targaryen
	+ Dothraki
	+ Unsullied
* House Arryn
	+ House Royce
* House Greyjoy(under Theon)
* House Lannister(under Jaime and Tyrion)
* House Baratheon
* Night's Watch
* Brotherhood Without Banners †
* Free Folk
	+ Army of the Dead

Casualties| **Heavy*** Lord Commander Eddison Tollett
* Lady Lyanna Mormont
* Lady Alys Karstark
* Qhono
* Prince Theon Greyjoy
* Ser Jorah Mormont
* Lord Beric Dondarrion
* Melisandre

### Civilian casualties

Heavy

The **Fall of Winterfell** was the first major pitched battle in the Great War, pitting the Army of the Dead lead by the Night King against the alliance of armies and combatants collectively known as the Living. It took place at Winterfell, the seat of House Stark and the regional capital of the North.

## History

### Prelude

Jon Snow, King in the North, prepared the North for the White Walkers, who rose again after thousands of years during his time in the Night's Watch. He negotiated with Daenerys Targaryen during her invasion of Westeros, eventually cultivating an ally in her. Daenerys's Hand, Tyrion Lannister, came up with a plan to capture a wight so they could convince Queen Cersei Lannister to agree to a truce during the Great War. Cersei held the Iron Throne after the War of the Five Kings and agreed to a parley in King's Landing. In accordance with the plan, Jon and a team ventured beyond the Wall to capture a wight. The mission nearly failed but Daenerys, atop Drogon, rescued Jorah Mormont, Tormund, Beric Dondarrion, Sandor Clegane, and Gendry, while Jon fought off wights to allow Daenerys and the others to flee. However, the Night King managed to kill one of her dragons, Viserion, during the rescue mission.

The wight was presented by Jon, Daenerys, and their followers at the Dragonpit Summit before Cersei, Euron Greyjoy, and their entourage. While Euron declared he would retreat to the Iron Islands, Cersei agreed to a truce, and later further agreed to send her armies north to assist in the Great War after negotiating with her brother Tyrion.

After Jon and Daenerys began sailing back to the North following the parley, Cersei revealed to her brother Jaime that she and Euron Greyjoy plotted to betray the truce that they agreed to, and that Euron was ferrying the Golden Company from Essos to Westeros on the Iron Fleet in order to help the Lannisters reconquer the Seven Kingdoms. Seeking to uphold the vow he made at the parley, Jaime abandoned his sister in King's Landing and rode north alone to help in the Great War against the White Walkers and the army of the dead. Upon arriving at Winterfell, Jaime was put on trial for his actions against Houses Targaryen and Stark, but was ultimately allowed to stay in Winterfell while Winterfell prepared for the army of the dead.

Meanwhile, after rescuing his sister Yara from their uncle Euron, Theon Greyjoy set sail to Winterfell with some ironborn warriors. Meanwhile, Yara and the rest of their followers sailed to the Iron Islands to take them back from Euron in Daenerys's name. Theon and the ironborn were also allowed to stay at Winterfell to participate in the great battle.

Elsewhere, the Night King breached the Wall with a reanimated Viserion, nullifying its magic and allowing the White Walkers and the army of the dead to cross into the realms of men, heading first towards the North. Gendry (who was soon legitamised by Daenerys as Gendry Baratheon), Edric Storm, and Devan Seaworth barely escaped the Wall with their lives, fleeing to Winterfell to warn it's occupants of the approaching Army of the Dead.

The White Walkers first attacked Last Hearth, the seat of House Umber. The residents of Last Hearth were killed, including Lord Ned Umber, who was unable to escape before the army of the dead arrived. By the time Tormund, Beric Dondarrion, and Lord Commander Eddison Tollett arrived at Last Hearth with the other survivors of the fall of the Wall, the castle had been abandoned, indicating that the White Walkers and the army of the dead were getting close to Winterfell. Tormund, Beric, and Edd, alongside the some of the surviving Free Folk, members of the Brotherhood Without Banners, and members of the Night's Watch, reached Winterfell before the army of the dead did. They warned Jon that the White Walkers would be there within the night.

### The battle

As the Dothraki prepare to charge against the wights, Jorah Mormont notices Melisandre approaching from the dark. Melisandre asks the Dothraki to raise their weapons and, with the help of Valyrian chants, lights their weapons on fire to fight against the army of the dead.

The Dothraki charge with their flaming arakhs led by Jorah and Ghost. At the same time, catapults and trebuchets launch a flaming barrage onto the undead army, while Gendry and Edric fire their scorpions. However, as the Dothraki horde fades into the dark, all the flames vanish; only a few Dothraki, Jorah and Ghost manage to escape and flee to Winterfell.

After the failed cavalry charge, the wights surge forth, first colliding with the armies of the living. Daenerys and Jon fly over the battlefield on Drogon and Rhaegal, and burn many of the wights with dragonfire to aid the retreat. However, the Night King conjures a blizzard, causing the dragons and their riders to become lost and cutting off any further support for the defenders on the battlefield. Jon and Daenerys struggle to find one another in the stormy skies and reunite above the clouds, but the Night King finds them. He attacks, but Daenerys and Jon manage to evade it, and the Night King makes his way to Winterfell. On the ground, Eddison Tollett is killed after saving Sam. The sheer number of wights causes the defenders, with the exception of a number of Unsullied covering the retreat, to pull back into Winterfell, so that the protective trench filled with heavy wooden spikes can be ignited.

Devan Seaworth tries to signal Daenerys to light the trench. However, Daenerys and Drogon cannot see the signal through the storm. In an attempt to ignite the trench, archers shoot flaming arrows into it, but to no avail. The extreme cold and the wind extinguish the arrows. Men are sent out to ignite it with torches, but are attacked by wights. A group of Unsullied then escorts Melisandre towards the trench. After a few failed attempts, she ignites it, buying the living a few moments' reprieve.

At the Night King's command, individual wights fall into the flaming trench, building up enough bodies to smother the flames and allow the other wights to cross. The wights climb over one another to scale the walls, and the defenders fight them on the ramparts and within the walls. An undead giant smashes through the gate, allowing more wights to enter, and inflicts heavy casualties before being killed by Lyanna Mormont, who stabs it in the eye with a dragonglass blade. However, she is fatally crushed in the undead giant's grasp. The wights breach the castle's interior, and Arya Stark, Sandor Clegane, and Beric Dondarrion, fearing the castle will soon fall, make their way to the crypts, planning to evacuate the civilians sheltering therein.

In the skies, the Night King rides the undead Viserion and makes to attack the castle. Jon, riding Rhaegal, engages the Night King in battle. For the first time since the Dance of the Dragons, dragons fight one another. Rhaegal and Viserion clash in the air, both taking heavy injuries. The Night King is unseated from Viserion when Daenerys, atop Drogon, tackles him. Rhaegal is forced to land, being too injured to remain airborne while Jon falls off Rhaegal. Viserion breaks free of Drogon's grip, but is killed by a dragonglass spear fired from Gendry's scorpion, sending the undead dragon crashing into the walls of Winterfell. Daenerys locates the Night King and tries to kill him with dragonfire. To her shock and horror, he is unaffected by the flames. Drogon flees the scene in terror, nearly knocking Daenerys unconscious, but is composed after Bran Stark wargs into him.

Jon Snow and Gendry Baratheon confront the Night King just outside Winterfell's damaged curtain walls, and the trio engage in a climactic duel. Meanwhile, other White Walkers enter the desolated castle and begin raising the dead as wights, and are confronted by Jaime Lannister, Brienne of Tarth and Jorah Mormont. The groups of fighters eventually unite in the courtyard leading into the Godswood. attempting the stop the Night King and the White Walkers from killing Bran Stark, who is positioned as bait by the Heart Tree.

Jon Snow finally stabs the Night King through the chest, and although the action momentarily stuns him, the Valyrian steel fails to kill him. With all hope seemingly lost, the living combatants make a final stand, until Drogon, carrying Daenerys, Bran and Theon Greyjoy, emerges and burns away the wights attacking them, allowing Jon, Jaime, Gendry and Brienne to climb on and escape, while Jorah and Theon remain behind, fighting on until their deaths. Elsewhere in the castle, Rhaegal evacuates other fighters, including Grey Worm, Tormund, Podrick Payne, Edric Storm and Devan Seaworth, while Arya, Beric and Sandor evacuate the crypts, although Melisandre and Beric die in the process.

Winterfell is ultimately left in ruins, as the survivors flee south.

### Aftermath

The survivors from the crypts emerged from a passageway some distance south of the castle, where they boarded a number of skiffs on a tributary leading to Castle Cerwyn. Drogon and Rhaegal, custodian of thier own survivors, rendezvous with the skiffs at Castle Cerwyn, where Lord Cley Cerwyn organised a more efficient southward evacuation of civilians and combatants, before Castle Cerwyn is also reached by the White Walkers.

The Night King succeeded in reanimating Viserion for the second time, after removing the dragonglass scorpion bolt that brought the dragon down, and soon continued on his campaign of total death and destruction.

## See also

* Battle of Winterfell on Wiki of Westeros