In perhaps one of the saddest moments in Game of Thrones history, Viserion, one of Daenerys Targaryen's beloved dragons, was killed during the show's seventh season when the Night King hurled an ice javelin at it. As if losing Dany's scaly child to her greatest enemy wasn't enough, the Night King brought Viserion back from the dead as a White Walker dragon. While many fans have pointed out that having Viserion's fire-breathing powers is a huge advantage to the Night King, one fan theory suggests the dragon might be an even greater asset to the Army of the Dead than anyone expected.
According to a theory by Reddit user cake_flattener1, the Night King's greatest advantage is now the mobility he's gained through his new dragon.
The Night King now has a dragon (thanks, Dany!). So far most discussion I've seen has focused on the dragon's power, as we saw when it breached the Wall this week.But the dragon has a far greater power in the Night King's hands - its mobility. The Night King can now fly anywhere in Westeros relatively quickly. And he can raise the dead. Not only is this a place where people don't burn the dead, but due to the recent wars ravaging Westeros there are plenty of corpses lying about or in mass graves.At the moment the heroes think the battle will be fought in the North on a front defined by the advance of the army of the dead. But they're about to be proven horribly wrong. If the Night King takes off on a grand tour, the entire continent will be facing a zombie apocalypse overnight. Cersei thinks she can quietly rebuild her power while the fighting happens elsewhere? Wrong. Dany thinks her armies can march up the Kingsroad untroubled? Wrong. Euron thinks the Iron Islands (or even Essos?) are a safe haven? Wrong.
With the aid of zombie Viserion, the Night King can reach any location in Westeros more quickly, not only advancing the White Walkers' invasion, but giving him the ability to raise the dead without even leaving the sky.
Based on how he's reanimated the dead in the past, the Night King has the ability to either turn someone into a White Walker by touching them, as he did with Craster's baby in Season 4, or turn them into a wight by using his powers from a distance and raising his arms. With this method, he can raise thousands of wights at once. Even though they won't be as strong as they would be if he touched them and turned them into White Walkers (wights are more susceptible to weapons like fire and dragonglass), an increase in the numbers of the Army of the Dead would still pose a huge threat to the alliance of the living.
Since he doesn't need to touch corpses to reanimate them, the Night King could potentially raise large groups of people from the dead without getting off his dragon. Since Westeros is going through a period of civil war, cake_flattener1 notes, large groups of corpses in mass graves are currently spread out across the continent.
Because the majority of Westerosi residents were either unaware of the White Walkers' impending invasion or didn't believe the threat was real, they haven't made a habit of burning their dead—the only way to prevent them from being revived. This means the Night King can raise recruits all over Westeros, spreading out his army so they can attack from all sides.
Cersei's plan to let the White Walkers take over the North and deal with whatever is left of the winning army when it reaches King's Landing isn't going to work anymore. If the Night King uses Viserion to the extent of its abilities, he can ride the dragon to King's Landing and reanimate the fallen Lannister soldiers as wights. Cersei—and everyone else in Westeros—is in serious danger.
This would also be a huge disadvantage to Jon and Daenerys, as they barely have enough men to fight against the White Walkers now. If the Army of the Dead were to increase in size, they might not stand a chance. On top of all of that, the Night King could still take the time to fly to Essos and wreak havoc there, meaning not even Euron and his fleet or the Golden Company are safe. With so much potential for chaos and destruction, the Night King's strategy in using Viserion to take over Westeros will play a key role in the outcome of the war.
There's no telling exactly what the Night King plans to do next. But if anything is certain, it's that, no matter how powerful the players are, no one in Westeros is safe anymore. Cersei had better watch her back next season.
