Game of Thrones season 8 episode 1 spoilers: How that gruesome death is shaping up unimaginable horrors from The Night King
The Night King didnt need to appear in Winterfell to leave his mark on season 8 (Picture: HBO) *War..
*Warning: This article contains spoilers from Game of Thrones season 8 episode 1.
Game of Thrones fans may still be waiting to be reintroduced to The Night King in season eight, but the chilling leader of the dead still managed to kill in a terrifying message to Winterfell.
Episode one of the final chapter was an epic feast of indulgence for fans, with epic reunions, new romances and of course the blow to Jon Snow (Kit Harington) that hes been shacked up with his auntie Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke), who is already public enemy number one.
However, while the key players of Westeros all got away from the instalment without a single scratch, 10-year-old Lord Ned Umber (Harry Grasby) became the first casualty of the cycle, bowing out in a particularly gruesome end.
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The series kicked off with Ned promising to gather his troops to gear up for the battle against The Night King (Vladimir Furdik), but just moments later the child was nailed to a wall, surrounded by sawed off limbs forming a ritual symbol, and his eyes had turned to the deathly blue of a white walker.
While Neds death, albeit a shocker in what was otherwise a relatively pleasant 60 minutes by Game of Thrones standards, wont do much to pull on the heart strings of fans, it is a reminder The Night Kings brutality knows no bounds.
Bearing in mind the biggest battle in television history is just two weeks away, The Night Kings message is a clear promise of the horror to come.
All in all, Winterfell was a roaring success for fans on Twitter who unanimously agreed that two years and two winters since the finale of season seven warranted its epic big budget return.
More: Game Of Thrones
From the moment Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) laid his eyes on Bran Stark (Isaac Hempstead Wright), to Samwell Tarlys (John Bradley) heartbreaking encounter with Dany, theres a lot to be excited about as we enter the final five episodes.
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Fans were already in tears before a single word had been spoken over the dark new title sequence, although they were pretty miffed when the instalment wrapped up without