Warning: This post contains spoilers for Game Of Thrones season 8.
All things considered, the Battle Of Winterfell had as happy of an ending as we could have hoped for. Most of the major characters made it through alive, but one big death just changed the course of history. Now that Arya (Maisie Williams) has killed the Night King, one of the biggest threats for Westeros has been eliminated. However, there's another way it could have all played out, and Isaac Hempstead Wright, who plays the all-knowing Bran, just gave us a glimpse of it on Instagram.
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Bran and the Night King have always had a special connection — there's even a theory that Bran is the Night King — which is why the young Three-Eyed Raven offered himself as bait to lure the Night King out onto his own. Wouldn't it have been nice if instead of all this fighting, the two characters realized that they actually had a lot in common and laid down their (magical) swords?
"Here’s a still taken from the alternate episode 3 ending in which the Night King becomes Bran’s carer and they both live happily ever after," Wright posted on Instagram along with a picture of the Night King (who, under all those prosthetics, is played by Vladimír Furdík) holding an umbrella over both of them as they appear to listen to instructions for the scene.
The Night King looks, dare I say, tender? Get you a man who doesn't want you damp during the 55 days it took to film this battle sequence!
In this alternate ending I can only assume that the Night King is going through a King Midas-type situation (but with ice, instead of gold) and can no longer live with the guilt of the destruction he's caused. To attempt to make amends, he's dedicating the rest of his immortal life to helping with menial work at Winterfell, such as changing sheets, taking out the trash, and, yes, holding umbrellas. Winter is here, after all.