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Warning: Game of Thrones season eight spoilers ahead!
Game of Thrones [3] has spent the better part of eight seasons blowing scorching-hot dragon fire all over the concept of anyone having a truly happy ending, but the recent Battle of Winterfell [4] left fans pleasantly surprised when Arya swooped in out of nowhere to kill the Night King [5]. Behind the scenes, it looks like an entirely different — and even nicer — story was taking place, and we are here for the sweetness.
In an Instagram post on Monday, Isaac Hempstead-Wright shared a photo of himself and Night King actor Vladimír Furdík in full character on what looks to be a particularly sunny day of filming. "Here's a still taken from the alternate episode 3 ending in which the Night King becomes Bran's carer and they both live happily ever after," Hempstead-Wright captioned the photo, in which Furdík is holding up an umbrella to shield them both from the sun.
Hey, maybe the Night King is actually a super chill guy at heart who cares about his friends and even goes out to get White Walker manicures [6] with them (said no one ever). While that's a stretch, to say the least, it's fun to imagine an alternate ending where the Night King actually takes care of Bran, especially considering all of the dark connections between them [7] in the show. We'll have to wait and see what's in store for Bran, but in the meantime, take a peek at the preview for next week's episode [8].