Game of Thrones recap: Who lived, who died and how each character fought in the Battle of Winterfell

From Arya to Genry, we rate how each character faired during 'The Long Night'

**Spoilers for Game of Thrones season eight, episode three "The Long Night" ahead**

The Battle of Winterfell has come to an end. While many fan-favourite characters remain standing, a few also perished at the hand of the Night King.

So, who died? Who survived? And how did each of them fight? The Independent dissects the episode below and offers a rating, with some justification, for each character out of five.

Arya Stark: Alive (5/5)

Let’s start with Westeros’s true hero, The Possibly Prince(ss) That Was Promised, Arya Stark. Having started on the battlements, Arya was soon outnumbered and almost defeated by the Walkers. Thanks to a heroic Hound, the young Stark managed to escape to the library.

There, Arya navigated some slow-moving Wights (it was all very reminiscent of Jurassic Park‘s velociraptors in the kitchen) and, with the help of Beric, managed to meet The Red Woman. A quick reminder of a certain prophecy about “blue eyes” and Arya was using sneaking up on The Night King.

As we all now know, Arya launched herself at The Night King and stabbed the White Walker leader, ending the villain’s reign of terror and dusting the Army of the Dead. What’s more heroic than saving the entire population of Westeros from being turned into undead Wight? Full marks all round.

The Night King: Dead (4.5/5)

The Night King on ‘Game of Thrones’ (HBO)

That’s that. The Night King fought an excellent battle, tearing through the Winterfell armies and outmanoeuvring both Jon and Daenerys on all fronts. Yet, all it took was a last-minute dagger to the stomach to end the looming White Walker threat.

By far the luckiest escape our heroes have ever had, and arguably an anticlimactic one considering the show’s biggest villain – at least, the one we all presumed would be the final boss – has died with three episodes remaining. There’s now everything to play for in King’s Landing. But, for now, RIP The Night King, the scariest unmotivated undead character on television.

Jon, Daenerys and the dragons: Alive (0/5)

Somehow, after employing the worst tactics seen in Westeros since Jaime met the Dothraki on an open field, Jon and Daenerys managed to come out victorious. They spent the majority of the episode flying around the battlefield on their dragons, occasionally burning a few undead, and being confused by the strong winds.

When they finally met the Night King, the duo were both easily dispatched. Daenerys then have to rely on Ser Jorah to save her while Jon ran through Winterfell, miraculously avoiding the blue dragon fire.

Of course, everything turned out alright: the dragons are still alive (as confirmed by next week’s trailer) and The Night King has been vanquished. How they will defeat Cersei – considering their dire approach to this battle – remains a mystery.

The Dothraki and Unsullied: Dead (1/5)

What was Jon and Daenerys’s plan for the Dothraki? Their weapons were not dragonglass or Valyrian steel. And without the surprise appearance of The Red Woman, who set their arakhs on fire, they would have had no way of actually killing the White Walkers.

Then there are the Unsullied. Also without dragonglass weapons, the army of Unsullied sacrificed themselves to save the unappreciative Northerners. They were supposed to be the best fighters in all Braavos, yet quickly perished. A disappointing end to Daenerys’s armies.

Grey Worm: Alive (2/5)

The Unsullied may be dead, and Grey Worm may have seemed like a guaranteed gonner approaching the Battle of Winterfell, yet, the leader of Daenerys’s army is still alive. Somehow. No one can quite understand how or why.

Melisandre: Dead (4/5)

Melisandre and Arya Stark on ‘Game of Thrones’ (HBO)

Given her knack for predicting future events, Melisandre saying she would die “tonight” was a pretty big giveaway. Melisandre was one of the MVPs of the battle, first lighting the Dothraki blades and then the trenches (which Daenerys was supposed to do, had she not been tumbling through the clouds with Jon). The Red Woman then guided Arya towards her destiny, helping the Girl-Who-Now-Has-A-Name kill the Night King.

At the episode’s end, Melisandre​ – with her mission to help bring down the Army of the Dead finally complete - removed her magic necklace and embraced death. A fitting end to her story. Read more about Melisandre’s ending here.

Brienne, Podrick, Thormund: Alive (2/5)

How? HOW? Having all said their final farewells around the Winterfell fireplace, Brienne, Podrick and Thormund are all still kicking. Surely one of them was supposed to get ripped apart by Wights? All their stories have already been nicely wrapped up already. What purpose can they really serve in the future?

Still, they fought a good fight, taking down swathes of Wights. Brienne, in particular, did well to lead the charge into the Wights and still make it back into the walls of Winterfell. Just a shame you could hardly see the action ​because the episode was so dark.

Theon Greyjoy: Dead (4/5)

Theon’s fate was inevitable, the character having said his goodbyes and apologised to everyone who needed apologising too. The Greyjoy was charged with defending Bran, and did an admirable job, considering he was the last man standing by Bran’s side (even if his death – charging at The Night King – could have been avoided had Theon just waited a minute for Arya to finally appear.

Still, that does not take away from Theon enjoying one of the best character arcs in the history of Game of Thrones. After first appearing on the show as a sycophantic brat at Winterfell, he was kidnapped and tortured into becoming “Reek” for the amusement of Ramsay Bolton. Once he was rescued, he managed to redeem himself after a long journey back to Winterfell (saving his sister along the way), and thus sealed his doom.

The Hound: Alive (3/5)

The Hound overcame his crippling fear of fire to protect Arya and even survived the Long Night. With the Clegane brother remaining on two feet, that can only mean one thing: Cleganebowl incoming!

Lyanna Mormont: Dead (4/5)

Lyanna Mormont was meant to be a one-scene character. Yet, proving herself an immediate fan-favourite, the showrunners decided to keep bringing Lyanna back, leading to a heroic death during the battle. After refusing to run from a charging wight giant, the dying girl used her final ounce of strength – even as the giant is crushing her body in his hand – to stab him through the eye. Her death was later confirmed when the Night King raised her as a wight. Goodbye Lyanna, you will be missed.

Jaime Lannister: Alive (2/5)

Despite only having one hand, Jaime Lannister managed to kill multiple Wights and survive The Long Night. That was always going to happen – the Lannister has too many family issues to resolve (AKA Cersei).

Eddison Tollet/Dolorous Edd: Dead (3/5)

Dolorous Edd started as mere comic relief, yet arose to Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch. And now his watch has ended, having been stabbed by a wight while defending Samwell Tarly. An honourable end.

Samwell Tarly: Alive (-1/5)

Why the writers decided to have Samwell running around Winterfell like a headless Ned Stark remains a mystery to fans. The character accomplished nothing other than being mortified by everything going on around him. It’s a minor miracle Samwell’s still alive.

Beric Dondarrion: Dead (4/5)

Beric had been brought back from the dead dozens of times, all to serve The Lord of Light and help defeat the Night King. Turns out Beric’s purpose was to die saving Arya, who would inevitably kill The Night King and, seemingly, fulfil the Azor Ahai prophecy (more on that here). Another character who met a grisly, yet purposeful end.

Bran Stark: Alive (1/5)

Bran Stark in ‘Game of Thrones’ (HBO)

Bran was the willing bait to lure The Night King to Godswood, where Arya would kill the villain. While there, Bran warged into some ravens and flew around the battlefield, luring the Night King away for a quick second. Why, though, Bran was not more helpful remains a mystery. Some fans believe that those scenes in the Godswood have some much deeper meaning. For now, we still have questions over why the Three-Eyed Raven was not using his magical powers for something more productive than just watching the battle from above.

Ser Jorah Mormont: Dead (4/5)

Having survived Greyscale, Jorah Mormont finally perished at the Battle of Winterfell. A dozen wights stabbed Jorah as he defended Daenerys, bringing his story arch to a fitting conclusion as he redeemed himself for once betraying Daenerys. His death was one of the more moving scenes of the episode, with Dany mourning while Drogon watches over them.

Tyrion, Sansa, Varys and the other Crypt dwellers: Alive (1/5)

When the undead Starks in the crypts came back from the dead, Tyrion and Sansa basically made a suicide pact. One of their deaths seemed imminent. Yet, no heroic sacrifice was needed, as Arya saved everyone in the crypts by killing The Night King. All that panic down below and not a single named character died – a bit of a waste.

Gendry: Alive (4/5)

Having gone at it hammer and tongs with Arya just before the battle, Gendry was fighting fit and ready to take on the Night King’s army. And that he did, killing numerous Wights. And lest we forget: Gendry helped forge the weapons the Northerners used to battle the Army of the Dead. There’s aslo a chance Gendry could end up on the Iron Throne – being the son of Robert Baratheon. How exactly that will all play out remains unknown.

"The Long Night" was a “gritty, epic and profoundly silly” episode according to our critic, who awarded the episode five stars. Meanwhile, the intense trailer for next week’s episode sees everyone turn their attentions to the Iron Throne and the fate of Cersei Lannister.

The final season of Game of Thrones continues every Sunday. The show will be available on Sky Atlantic and NOW TV in the UK.