For almost as long as the series has been airing, HBO’s Game of Thrones has been leading up to an epic faceoff between the remaining living characters and the army of the dead led by the fearsome Night King. That final standoff will be taking place in the eighth and final season’s third episode, which finds the army of the dead and the newly joined armies of the living facing off in the epic Battle of Winterfell.
This is a battle that the characters have been bracing for since at least the seventh season, if not longer than that. Discoveries have been made along the way about what sort of weapons are most effective for defeating and killing the monstrous White Walkers, or wights, that make up the Night King’s undead army. To date, three primary materials can destroy these frightening beasts: Valyrian steel, dragonglass, and fire.
So as we - and the characters themselves - brace for what’s to come at the Battle of Winterfell, it’s as good a time as ever to take stock of where our beloved heroes stand, in terms of battle ready swords and weaponry.
Needle
Arya Stark may be one of the most fearsome little killers in all of Game of Thrones, but when it comes to swords that will come in handy for fighting off the army of the dead, her beloved sword Needle sadly won’t be all that much help. No matter how truly gifted Arya has proven herself to be at the Braavosi art of water dancing swordsmanship, that doesn’t help the fact that Needle is a very small, lightweight sword made only of traditional castle-forged steel.
In the eighth season’s first two episodes, Arya consults with smith turned lover Gendry Waters and requests that he make her a special weapon - what appears to be a double-edged spear with dragonglass spikes at either end. This weapon will definitely serve her better in the battle to come.
Dragonglass Weaponry
While there are no specific swords made from the mythical material known as dragonglass, the sheer abundance of dragonglass weaponry introduced in the series since the middle of the seventh season clearly signals that this substance will play a key role in the Battle of Winterfell. The Unsullied, Daenerys’ loyal army, replaced their traditional spears with ones forged with dragonglass.
Similarly, this season, Gendry has been hard at work on forging and smithing new dragonglass based weapons, easily in the hundreds if not thousands. The dense obsidian may be too heavy to produce any true battle ready swords, but even in small amounts, the volcanic material will prove quite helpful in taking on the army of the dead.
Littlefinger’s Dagger
From the very beginning of the series, the dagger that once belonged to Petyr Baelish, also known as Littlefinger, has turned up at very key moments. Whether in the assassination attempt against a young, newly paralyzed Bran Stark, or during Littlefinger’s own execution, the blade - conveniently forged of Valyrian steel - sure has a way of cropping up whenever it’s essential to the plot.
Using a Valyrian steel dagger in hand to hand combat may not exactly be ideal when taking on so many undead soldiers. But if The Walking Dead has shown us anything in its depiction of zombie battles, it’s that sometimes, the most successful kills can happen in close combat with a sturdy dagger in hand.
Heartsbane
Heartsbane is a perfect example of a truly beneficial weapon that the series has been keeping quiet about for quite some time. When Sam and Gilly visited the Tarly family home in Horn Hill in the sixth season, Sam stole his family’s ancestral sword, Heartsbane, as revenge in a way for his father’s cruel treatment of him and his beloved.
Of course, as it turns out, Heartsbane is yet another sword forged from Valyrian steel, dating back hundreds of years to battles that ancestral Tarlys fought in with previous Targaryen kings. With the sword now in the hands of one of Game of Thrones’ most revered fighters in Ser Jorah Mormont, there’s no telling just how useful this weapon will be in the Battle of Winterfell. Here’s to hoping Ser Jorah succeeds - and survives.
Longclaw
While Ser Jorah Mormont now holds the ancestral Tarly family sword, the ancestral Mormont family sword has belonged to none other than the rightful heir to the Iron Throne himself, Jon Snow, for much of the series. Gifted to him by Jorah’s late father, Jeor Mormont, for whom he served as a steward during their shared time at the Wall, Longclaw has been Jon’s faithful weapon for years now, serving him well through every battle he has faced.
Jon has faced the White Walkers with Longclaw more than any other character has ever encountered White Walkers before - so far as we know, at least. Jon’s level of familiarity with this form of combat, plus the sword’s being forged from Valyrian steel, will surely make a great difference in Jon’s success in fighting off the wights during the epic battle to come.
Widow’s Wail
The fourth season premiere of Game of Thrones, “Two Swords,” finds the malevolent Tywin Lannister having the ancestral sword of the Stark family, a Valyrian steel sword called Ice, melted down and re-forged into two new swords. The first of these blades, eventually named Widow’s Wail, is first intended as a wedding gift for King Joffrey Baratheon - but following his murder, the sword changes hands, from Joffrey, to King Tommen Baratheon, before finally landing in the hands of their father, Ser Jaime Lannister.
As one of the most gifted and revered a fighter in the Seven Kingdoms, Ser Jaime should hopefully have little trouble fighting the army of the dead back with a Valyrian sword in his possession. While his combat skills may not be as strong as they once were, prior to the loss of his hand, he has immensely improved his skills in recent years, and should pose quite a threat on the battlefield once more.
Oathkeeper
The first of the swords forged from the melted down Valyrian steel of the ancestral Stark sword Ice is Ser Jaime’s Widow’s Wail. The other blade belongs to the newly knighted Ser Brienne of Tarth, the first female knight in the history of the Seven Kingdoms. Her sword, gifted to her by Jaime Lannister, is called Oathkeeper.
Over the course of the series, Ser Brienne has consistently proven herself to be one of the most capable fighters of them all, taking on the likes of Sandor Clegane, Lannister bannermen, rapers and thieves, and even Ser Jaime himself at times. She is brutally efficient in her fighting style, and with a Valyrian sword on her side, she should likewise prove to have quite the advantage in the Battle of Winterfell.
Beric Dondarion’s Flaming Sword
Valyrian steel is well and good and all, and dragonglass isn’t too shabby either. But at the end of the day, one of the most efficient and least troublesome ways to dispatch of any of the White Walkers is to simply burn them alive. Generally speaking, no swords are capable of doing that - except for one sword, the flaming blade possessed by the leader of the Brotherhood without Banners, Lord Beric Dondarrion.
During the seventh season’s sixth episode “Beyond the Wall,” Dondarrion and his flaming sword both proved themselves to be welcome additions to the newly forming allegiances and armies of those fighting the dead. The magic and mystery of his weapon may be beyond comprehension for many of the series’ characters, and he may not be the most trustworthy of individuals himself. But at the end of the day, the brutal efficacy of a flaming sword might just be the best hope the army of the living have against the army of the dead.
