Entertainment

This Winterfell Crypts Theory Could Turn 'Game Of Thrones' Into Your Worst Nightmare

Helen Sloan/HBO

After two Game of Thrones episodes filled with jokes, romance, and relative calm, fans are preparing for the absolute worst in Episode 3's battle. Who's going to swoop in at the last minute? What's going to go wrong that even the brain collective of the Lannister brothers, the Stark sibs, and the Targaryen entourage couldn't predict? A lot probably. In fact, this one theory about the Winterfell crypts on Game of Thrones makes total sense and is most likely how things will go down. And the worst part about it? It's kind of...well, obvious.

Episode 2 placed way too much focus on who was and was not going to hide in the crypts in case of a siege. Multiple times, it was referred to as the safest place to be. It's an amateur jinx, to be quite honest. Based on various conversations between characters and teasers for the upcoming episode, the characters who we know will be down there when Night King and his army set foot in Winterfell include Gilly, little Sam, Lord Varys, a small girl with a burn on her face, and maybe Tyrion — though he didn't exactly look like he was en route. There will likely be others, too.

Something bad is definitely going to happen in the crypts. When an undead army comes knocking, you don't want to be anywhere near graves. The theory, posed by entertainment writer Alicia Lutes on Twitter, is this: what if the Night King and the White Walkers re-animate the dead Starks' bodies and skeletons and use them to kill everyone down there?

Not only does this mean that all the innocent non-fighters in the crypts are probably going to die, but it could mean some heartbreaking cameos. There are lot of ancient Kings and Queens of Winterfell buried in those crypts, and a lot of characters we know. Could the upcoming episodes mark the zombified return of Rickon, Ned, Robb, Talisa, and Lyanna? There's even — gulp — the possibility that Littlefinger's body is hanging around.

What about Catelyn? Could those who dreamed of Lady Stoneheart appearing on Game of Thrones finally get what they've always wanted, from a certain point of view?

Would any of those dead bodies be recognizable at this point? Ned lost his head, after all, and it has been about five years since the Red Wedding. Are we certain those bodies were returned to Winterfell?

According to Entertainment Weekly, the Battle of Winterfell will feature the most characters since the show's pilot episode. Logic stands that this likely means more characters than just the Night King will be joining the next episode. That could mean Bronn, another Greyjoy, Melisandre, or something much more sinister.

The significance of the crypts has been raised, pun fully intended, multiple times already by Game of Thrones in the extracurricular material for Season 8. The first teaser, which is traditionally an isolated artsy scene that never appears on the show but foreshadows events, showed Sansa, Jon, and Arya meeting in the crypts together. The new opening credits sequence also features them.

Whatever happens in the crypts during the Battle of Winterfell, it isn't going to be good, and if the dead do rise, hopefully the living down there can rise to the challenge as well.