'Game of Thrones' Night King Theory: Can Dragon Fire Kill Him in Season 8?

We already know that dragon fire on Game of Thrones can totally roast undead wights faster than hot dogs on an open flame, but when it comes to White Walkers and the Night King, we have no idea what to expect. Nobody in the history of Westeros has ever tried, but if we had to guess, it probably won’t work that well.

The second episode of Season 8, “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms,” saw the show’s remaining heroes gathered around a war table planning for when the Night King’s army inevitably hits Winterfell in Episode 3. Their entire plan hinges around using Bran Stark, aka the Three-Eyed Raven, as bait to lure the Night King out into the open of the Godswood. In theory, killing him would destroy his entire army.

“Dragon fire will stop him?” Arya asks of the weird wizard that used to be her brother. “I don’t know,” Bran says. “No one’s ever tried.”

We’re sorry to say that if we had to bet on whether or not this plan would work, we’d bet against dragon fire being able to slay the night king. There’s even evidence from the show to prove that point, which the characters seem to be overlooking in Season 8.

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In Season 7’s “Beyond the Wall,” moments before the Night King kills Viserion with a giant ice spear, a pile of zombies in front of him have been set ablaze by dragon fire. As he approaches, the fire dissipates. Does this blaze still count as dragon fire? Or did the dragon fire just cause regular fire? This distinction might not even matter if the Night King is as cold as we think he is.

“You’ll notice when the Night King walks forward with his spear he steps into a line of fire and the first brushes away from him when he steps through it,” episode director Alan Taylor told The Daily Best. “We saw that effect earlier in the series — that he seems to repel fire.”

When the Night King attacks the cave of the Three-Eyed Raven, the Children of the Forest create a circle of flames that the Night King walks right through. And when Jon Snow first fights a White Walker in “Hardhome,” the creature walks right into a wildling building that’s on fire.

As it approaches, the flames recede as if the White Walker is radiating enough cold that it can extinguish fires. We’ve seen throughout the series that your average White Walker can freeze-shatter a steel blade. Real-world science tells us that steel freezes around -3,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

Compare that to when Drogon roasted Randyll and Dickon Tarly: Their bones were turned to ash, meaning his fire would have to be around 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit. Assuming real-world physics have any impact on these magical creatures, then a dragon’s breath probably isn’t hot enough to melt a White Walker, let alone their Night King.

Of course, White Walkers and dragons are magic creatures not bound by anything as mundane as human science. Still, it doesn’t seem like dragon fire will be able to get the job done.

“It’s possible that dragon fire may not work on [the Night King],” director Alan Taylor theorized to The Daily Beast.

What if he’s right? What if Drogon and Rhaegal blast the Night King with fire only for him to hurl an ice spear in one of their faces? 

Jon Snow’s gambit is all about blasting the Night King with dragon fire. They might also try Valyrian steel, but would that even work? The Children of the Forest created the Night King by shoving a piece of dragonglass into his heart, so what if the only way to unmake him is to do the exact same thing? Between dragon fire, Valyrian steel, and dragonglass, the latter seems like the weakest weapon they have against the Night King, but it’s entirely possible it’s the only one they can use to defeat him once and for all.

Game of Thrones Season 8, Episode 3 airs on HBO Sunday, April 28 at 9 p.m. Eastern.