Game of Thrones: What does it take to kill the Night King? Arya’s got skillz

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— What does it take to kill the Night King?

Definitely not a pair of fire-exhaling dragons. The Night King turns out to be flame retardant.

Nor does the ability to loop through time and assume control of ravens’ brains help much. Bran Stark pretty much sat helpless beneath the Weirwood tree, waiting to be rescued in a way that was no different than a damsel tied to train tracks in a silent film.






Past experience dueling the Night King provided to be of little help. Jon Snow — after multiple showdowns with the blue-ish personification of cold death — was pinned down far away from the action by the Night King’s own “ice” dragon.






In the Associated Press’ weekly “Wealth of Westeros” series, we’re following the HBO fantasy show’s latest plot twists and analyzing the economic and business forces driving the story. This week, Arya’s triumphant assassination of the king ice zombie has prompted an appreciation among us for the role of skills, in economics as well as medieval Westeros.






Because — SPOILER ALERT — it took skills to kill the Night King.

Arya Stark stabbed the Night King into a shattered death. As he held her aloft in a choke hold, Arya deftly dropped a Valyrian steel knife into her free hand and plunged the blade into the Night King’s surprisingly brittle chest.






Arya trained for this precise moment for almost the entire duration of the HBO series. It was the kind of outcome that few fans of the show foresaw, unless they internalized the lessons of the 18th Century philosopher Adam Smith, who is known as the “father of economics.”






In his 1776 book “The Wealth of Nations,” Smith theorized that the ability to specialize in a distinct set of skills will lead to stronger economic growth. Skilled blacksmiths, tailors, lawyers, doctors, bankers and software programmers not only work more quickly, but they produce a better product. Getting skills requires a combination of time, training and teachers.






This was Arya’s advantage.

She took fencing lessons in King’s Landing with Syrio Forel (RIP). Orphaned and alone after Ned Stark’s death in the first season, she mastered the art of hiding in plain sight.

Arya then sailed east to study how to become an assassin under the tutelage of the faceless men at the House of Black and White. She trained on the long-staff against the cruel waif, learning how to fight while blind-folded.






Just before the battle of Winterfell, she commissioned a special staff with a detachable blade in order to compete against the Night King’s army. And careful viewers saw her dagger move against the Night King before, when Arya was mock-fighting Brienne of Tarth in the seventh season.