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In S07E06 of Game of Thrones, we see the Night King killing a dragon with an ice spear.

That got me thinking why didn't he use those spears to kill Jon Snow and others when the white walkers were waiting for ice to form for almost one night.

Could there be a specific reason for that?

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    This is just speculation, but it could be that they trapped Jon & Co. in order to get Daenerys to come and save them with her dragons so that they could try to steal one.
    – Mike.C.Ford
    Aug 22, 2017 at 8:39
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    I think we don't know yet but there are essentially two possibilities: 1) It's more evidence that the Night King didn't want them dead yet because they're useful to his plans, which would also explain many other questions about that episode, or 2) It's just a flaw in the plot and simply doesn't add up. I hope it's the former but fear it's the latter
    – user56reinstatemonica8
    Aug 22, 2017 at 8:58
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    I get to this point in this answer: Why did the Night King attack the furthest target first?
    – LeonX
    Aug 22, 2017 at 14:51
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    @user568458 - There's more than two possibilities. Analogy: Why didn't Jamie and Bronn use Qyburn's scorpion to kill individual Dothraki horsemen? Because it's a specialized weapon with capabilities that no other ones did for a specific purpose, but those specialized capabilities didn't make the weapon more effective for conventional uses, and did not have unlimited rounds to waste on targets that could be taken out as effectively with conventional weapons vs. the specialized one. That answer could easily apply to magic ice spears. That would be neither wanting them alive, nor a plot hole.
    – PoloHoleSet
    Aug 23, 2017 at 14:52
  • @PoloHoleSet They had a clear cut opportunity for many hours and chose not to use conventional weapons, but to do nothing. If, the day prior to that battle, Jaime and Bronn had been hanging out next to the ballista and noticed Dany, Tyrion and four high-ranking dothraki camped out on a small island in that river/lake, and they just watched them for around 24 hours without firing at them, even while they slept, I'd question that too...
    – user56reinstatemonica8
    Aug 23, 2017 at 15:19

2 Answers 2

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There was no need.

Jon and his group weren't going anywhere, They were trapped on a island in the middle of an ice lake and he was happy to wait.

We've seen that the night King is very patient and is taking his time in actually attacking the South.

It's not until Danaerys and her dragons appear that there is any danger to his forces or any urgency.

Then he takes down an immediate threat rather than one that certainly can wait.

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  • Not sure if the night King is not yet attacking the south because he's patient. To my understanding the wall is built with some magic spells on it that prevents the white walkers from crossing it.
    – Sembei Norimaki
    Aug 22, 2017 at 8:45
  • Well he's certainly taking his time in getting there...it's been years now. :)
    – Paulie_D
    Aug 22, 2017 at 8:46
  • An immediate threat is a whole team of the main story characters who are the also the commanders of armies and who are sitting ducks on a bigger sitting duck. The lich could have easily killed them right there, handle the other two flying dragons and end this soap opera of cliche come backs following your own logic. Oh, wait he could have done it while they were on that island without dragon support as well.
    – minerals
    Aug 22, 2017 at 9:31
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    could it be that Night King wants Jon alive for some reason ? He has had multiple chances to kill Jon so far.
    – sps
    Aug 23, 2017 at 15:12
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    @minerals - I think he would have cast the first spear at them if it were not for the other dragons still actively burning the troops and, one would think, the command group might be next. Once the first one went down, the other airborne one peeled off, and then there were none threatening the dead army. As soon as that was the case, he did go after the grounded one. Simply a matter of targeting priority. I think people spend too much time on mundane, simply explained matters as things that are somehow implausible or impossible.
    – PoloHoleSet
    Aug 23, 2017 at 18:17
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Short Answer:

He needed a dragon to bring down the 700ft high, 300-mile long wall. That's why he patiently waited for the Jon and Co to capture a white walker, the raven to fly out to Dragonstone and then Dany to come in with her dragons.

The Ice Dragon



Long Answer

Maybe because he cannot kill Jon Snow!

Here's my speculation:-

When the long night fell upon Westeros for the first time and the white walkers invaded the western land, the first men searched for children of the forest because they thought that their magic could help defeat the white walkers.

No one truly knows how were the white walkers defeated for the first time, but there are myths that the last hero from the first men fended off attacks from the Wights and finally reached children of the forest to gain their help. The night's watch was formed. The walkers were defeated and they retreated to the far north of Westeros and the Wall was built. Bran the builder (Founder of House Stark), along with the children of the forest were able to cast some spells on the wall to keep the white walkers away. And then the night's watch and the castle black was formed.

According to the legend, the 13th lord commander of the wall (who was stark) fell in love with a white walker (night's queen) and named himself the night's king making that white walker his bride. A marriage was arranged to keep the peace between white walkers and the first men which a tradition in Westeros to keep peace and build alliances. If this is true, then their children will be half white walkers and half stark which explain why the Starks have such an affinity for cold weather and why they tend to be wargs and green-seers. All the Stark children are wargs, they each have a special connection with their respective direwolves. This half white/half stark also explains to some extent why Melisandre was able to bring Jon back to life.

Jon, having ancestry from both Targaryen (Fire) and Stark (Ice) makes him the perfect candidate for the song of Fire & Ice and bringing peace to Westeros.

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    This really is too complicated.. lol. But interesting as well. I would want this to be the reason for not killing Jon.
    – sps
    Aug 24, 2017 at 6:14

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