The Night King vs. The Witch King of Angmar is a What-If? Death Battle by I'm Lynda. It features the Night King from the HBO television series, A Game of Thrones, and The Witch-king of Angmar from J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.
Description[]
Two of the baddest undead lords fight it out to decide who is the baddest of them all!
Interlude[]
Boomstick: Homicidal undead warlords, you can't have a decent Fantasy epic without them.
Wiz: They put the fear of God into the good guys, but what happens when they square off against each other?
Boomstick: Well, we're bringing two of them together to find out.
Wiz: The first one is the Night King, from the HBO television series, A Game of Thrones.
Boomstick: And the other is the Witch-king of Angmar from the trilogy of books and movies, The Lord of the Rings.
Wiz: I'm Wiz, and he's Boomstick.
Boomstick: And it's our job to analyze their weapons, armor and skills to find out who would win a Death Battle.
The Night King[]
Wiz: Once upon a time, perhaps 12,000 years ago, the Night King was just a normal human male. He was one of the "First Men," which is to say, the first humans to enter Westros. These First Men's arrival was resisted by the original inhabitants of the continent, the Giants and the Children of the Forest.
Boomstick: The Children of the Forest were a race of diminutive, magic-using humanoids, and they decided to use their magic to create a fantastic weapon to protect them. They captured a human, and used their magic to turn him into an undead creature, the Night King.
Wiz: The Night King was able to turn other humans into undead soldiers at his command, the White Walkers.
Boomstick: The Night King and the White Walkers became a very effective shield for the Children, but all actions have unintended consequences and this one was no exception. It seems that the Night King was not too happy with his new un-life, and with time he broke free of the Children's control. The White Walkers became a threat to all life in Westros, and as such the Children of the Forest, the Giants, and the First Men all had to band together, if they were to survive.
Wiz: The Night King was able to bring down a little Ice Age on Westros, in the form of a winter that lasted for a whole generation. This era was known as the Long Night, and the war that the living inhabitants waged against the White Walkers was known as the War for the Dawn.
Boomstick: Eventually the Night King and the White Walkers were pushed to the far north, and a huge wall was constructed to keep them out, hopefully for good.
Wiz: It worked. As a matter of fact, it worked so well that the Night King became regarded as an ancient myth. But, in point of fact, he did not fade away, or die or anything like that.
Boomstick: When Jon Snow, the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch encountered him, he decided to convince everyone else that the Night King really existed. He organized an expedition against the White Walkers, but when the Night King killed and resurrected a dragon, and then used it to break the wall, he found that he had opened up the Seven Kingdoms to the Night King's army.
Wiz: The undead army marched on Winterfell, and had basically won the battle, when the Night King confronted King Bran the First and his protectors, he was finally bested. The Night King shattered, as did his entire army, and disappeared as if they had never been.
Boomstick: When it comes to powers, the Night King is really cool. That is to say, that he is a being of ice, so his powers are pretty much ice-based. Wherever he goes, the temperature drops, and winter seems to instantly appear. He can even summon up blizzards whenever it suits him.
Wiz: Being a creature of the cold, you would think that he would be especially vulnerable to fire, but instead the opposite is true. He seems to be unfazed by fire, even when engulfed in dragon fire, which is usually assumed to be a particularly hot flame. Instead, fire seems to flicker and die in his immediate presence, most likely from the cold that radiates off of him.
Boomstick: Now, when it comes to combat ability, the Night King seems to be inhumanly strong. For example, he was able to throw an ice spear far enough to kill the dragon Viserion as it was flying at some distance from him. Also, he took a wooden dragonglass spear, easily snapped it with his bare hands, and then drove a splintered piece of it through the armored body of Theon Greyjoy, killing him.
Wiz: He also has a really enhanced durability. When he was knocked off of his undead dragon, he fell hundreds of feet to the ground, but appeared to suffer no damage at all.
Boomstick: A power that the White Walkers possessed, and one can assume that the Night King also possessed it, is an immunity to normal weapons. When they are struck with a normal weapon, the weapon simply shatters, apparently doing them no harm. However, this does not mean that they are totally invulnerable. Weapons made of Valyrian steel, which is probably magical in nature, and Dragonglass, which is a form of obsidian, can easily kill them, as it only took one stab of a Valyrian steel dagger to kill him.
Wiz: A more minor power seems to be that the Night King can cause fissures to appear in the ground at a touch. But, one of his greatest powers is that he can animate the corpses of dead men and women, turning them into wights, which are more or less zombie warriors at his command. He can do this just by lifting his hands, no contact is required.
Boomstick: So, when the winter wind is howling, watch your back, 'cause when this guy comes for you, it's a cold, cruel night indeed!
The Witch-king of Angmar[]
Wiz: About 1,500 years after the defeat and exile of the original "Dark Lord" of Middle-earth, his chief lieutenant, Sauron, hatched a plan to take over the world for himself. Disguising himself as a beautiful emissary of the gods, the Valar, he approached the elves in the guise of Annatar, the "Lord of Gifts." The plan was to forge a group of magical rings with the elves, and then create a master ring that would allow him to dominate the other rings' wearers.
Boomstick: Together Sauron and the elves forged sixteen rings, but all of them were tainted by his evil. Then, an elf named Celebrimbor used the knowledge that he had gained to make three "greater rings," which Sauron had never touched. Finally, though, Sauron forged his own greater ring, the "One Ring," which gave him dominance over the wearers of the sixteen lesser rings and the three greater ones. But, the elves were having none of that, so they took the rings off, and hid them away.
Wiz: Enraged at the frustration of his plan, Sauron grabbed Celebrimbor and tortured him to get the locations of the lesser rings, but could not get him to reveal the locations of the greater ones. So, Sauron raged through Middle-earth, hunting down and capturing the sixteen lesser rings.
Boomstick: At that point, Sauron fell back on Plan B. He took the sixteen rings in his possession, and gave seven to prominent dwarf lords, and gave the remaining nine to mighty rulers among humans. The identities of these nine men are not recorded, but it is likely that the one we are looking at here was a Númenórean king, who was also a powerful sorcerer.
Wiz: Regardless of who he was originally, the man who received this ring found his powers heightened, making him one of the greatest of the men of this Second Age of Middle-earth. Most likely, when put on, the ring made the man invisible, a power that would have aided him a lot, and the ring also greatly lengthened his life.
Boomstick: But, with time, this dude began to feel more stretched, as he slowly faded into the spirit world, finally becoming a rather insubstantial wraith: a "Ringwraith." The nine Ringwraiths were given physical form by Sauron, and they served him as his mailed fist. This specific wraith was the most powerful and most talented of the batch, and he became their leader. And, when Sauron was defeated at the Battle of Dagorlad, and the One Ring was cut from his finger, he lost the ability to form a body, and the Nine lost their bodies as well.
Wiz: Now, when the Nine put on their rings, they were not reduced to mere puppets by them. When Gollum found and put on the One Ring, he became dominated by it, and obsessed with it, but he never stopped being Gollum. And so, this Ringwraith also maintained his own identity.
Boomstick: As Sauron slowly regained his own power, he also fed power into the Nine, with this one being the first that he reactivated. During this Third Age of Middle-earth, it looked like humanity had finally reached a golden age, with them ruling two mighty kingdoms: Arnor and Gondor. But, practically forgotten by humanity, Sauron put his head Ringwraith in charge of undermining these two great kingdoms.
Wiz: Setting himself up as the king of a new nation, called Angmar, in the far northeast of the human kingdoms, he immediately got to work. He collected all the evil people and creatures that he could, and practiced mighty works of black magic, earning himself the title of "the Witch-king of Angmar." To make a long story short, when he had finished, the Kingdom of Arnor was completely destroyed, and the Kingdom of Gondor was greatly reduced, its line of kings apparently snuffed out.
Boomstick: After this, the Witch-king returned to Morder, and began laying the foundations for Sauron's future power, reorganizing the Nazgûl and gathering hordes of orcs. So when Sauron did indeed return to his thrown, the Witch-king was ready to serve him by leading the search for the One Ring, and leading his armies out against the last of Gondor.
Wiz: Before he had left the North, the mighty elf, Glorfindel, had prophesized that the Witch-king would not fall by the "hand of man," and so it proved. At the Siege of Gondor, he was first stabbed by a hobbit with a magical Dagger of Westernesse, and then finished off with the sword of the Rohirrim shield-maiden, Éowyn.
Boomstick: The first thing you would notice when meeting this guy is that he radiates an aura of fear. Most opponents that even just come into his presence feel an overwhelming cold and an even more overwhelming feeling of fear and dread. This affects men and horses, and only the absolute bravest are able to resist its effects. He also has an inhuman screech that projects this fear at a distance.
Wiz: Like all of the Nazgûl, the Witch-king always dresses in black, whether it's black robes or black armor. The most interesting thing is that since he is a wraith he does not have a physical body per se, but is given his form by Sauron. As such, he is invisible with the exception that his eyes burn like fire.
Boomstick: And, as for the armor, it doesn't necessarily matter, as the Witch-king cannot be harmed by normal weapons. Any weapon that strikes him will be destroyed, and the person doing the striking will be poisoned by the blow. When he was stabbed by Meriadoc Brandybuck and Éowyn, both of their weapons were destroyed and both were struck down, even though Merry's dagger was a dagger of Westernesse that was specifically enchanted against the wraith.
Wiz: When it comes to hand-to-hand combat, the Witch-king is skilled in the use of the sword and the mace or flail. His magical power seems to allow him to magically enhance any weapon, such as when he used his magic to enhance the power of the battering ram known as Grond, allowing it to break the gates of Minas Tirith in just three strikes. When he draws his sword, it bursts into flames.
Boomstick: And, he is a particularly strong fighter. His mace, or flail sometimes, is extraordinarily large and heavy, and yet he seeming uses it with easy. As a matter of fact, with one blow of this weapon he succeeded in shattering Éowyn's shield, and her arm for good measure.
Wiz: As an extra little goody, he also carries a Morgul-knife, a magical dagger that when it strikes someone, it poisons them, slowly but inevitably turning them into a wraith under the command of the Witch-king.
Boomstick: Now, this guy wasn’t called “the Witch-king” for nothing. He is in fact a powerful sorcerer, who was able to break Frodo’s sword and Gandalf’s staff at a bit of a distance. He has some control over the weather, being able to make frost or warmth at will, and during Grond’s final stroke against the gates, he even conjured lightning the strike the gate at the same time. He is also a very powerful necromancer, as was seen by his ability to nearly reduce Frodo to a wraith, and the fact that he called or created the Barrow-wights and commanded them to guard the Barrow-downs.
Wiz: He is a formidable commander, being the mastermind of the destruction of Arnor and the severe weakening of Gondor, as well as the near annihilation of the kings of both Arnor and Gondor.
Boomstick: But, don't think of the guy as invulnerable. He seems to be weaker in daylight, and he is vulnerable to fire and water. It appears that Daggers of Westernesse can sever his link to Sauron, which is why it was important that Merry's stabbing of the Witch-king happened before Éowyn's.
Wiz: But, beyond that, he is a formidable opponent to face. He survived the flood at the Ford of Bruinen, and even having his flying mount shot out from under him at great height.
Boomstick: Don't underestimate him, and don't be a wraith-ist!
Intermission[]
Wiz: Alright the combatants are set; let's end this debate once and for all.
Boomstick: It's time for a DEATH BATTLE!
DEATH BATTLE![]
Pre-Fight[]
The Witch-king of Angmar had again been sent to the far north, to the lands he had known for so many years, as he worked to destroy the Kingdom of Arnor. He had been successful then, and he would be successful now. His Master would accept nothing less.
The colossal Wall that marked the northern border of the West had been breached, and the Night King had led his forces through, threatening the City of Westerfell. And now Lord Sauron had sent him north to end the threat.
He had collected all of the forces loyal to Sauron that he could find: orcs, men and even mighty snow-trolls. And now the battle was begun.
Overseeing the battle, the Witch-king quickly discerned that the Night King was not to be taken lightly, every loss from his own army seemed to be added to the army of his opponent. He now knew that he had to take the battle to the Night King and kill the threat by cutting off its head.
Now mounted on his fellbeast, he circled the battlefield until he spotted the leader of the enemy. He brought the creature down in a steady glide, and then landed in the open ground in front of the Night King and his White Walkers. After he dismounted, he patted the creature's head, and then pointed off to where the undead dragon, Viserion, was attacking his troops.
He had little reason to believe that the fellbeast could overcome the dragon, but he had no love for the creature, and it would help to keep the dragon occupied.
When the fellbeast leaped up into the sky, the Witch-king turned and faced the Night King. He extended his arm, and let the head of his massive flail drop drown from the handle. He wanted the Night King to see what fate held for him.
The Night King stood watching him, his face showing no emotion, if indeed any emotion was left in the pit of ice he had for a heart.
The Witch-king walked toward the other with long powerful strides. An ice-cold wind, heavy with snow and freezing fog, caused his cape to billow behind him as if he were still flying upon his fellbeast. But he seemed to notice none of it. The wind waxed and waned as the two contended for control of the weather.
The Night King raised his arms, and his wights began to shamble forward at his unspoken command.
Without slowing his stride, the Witch-king raised his arm and opened his hand. He spoke a single word in the Black Speech, and the wights subsided, slowly returning to their original positions.
The Night King turned and looked to the left and the right, and then his gaze returned to the other. He reached behind him, and drew his sword of ice off of his back. He began walking forward.
Both combatants knew that this would be a battle with no quarter given or taken. Indeed, neither had ever shown the least charity to an opponent, and neither had ever known anyone to show the least charity to them.
So be it.
FIGHT! []
The Witch-king shrieked his defiance. The voice of the Witch-king was often enough to make brave men collapse in terror, but the Night King kept coming. His face, which itself looked like it was carved from living ice, did not betray even a touch of fear.
The Night King brought his sword around, in a horizontal cut. The Witch-king brought his own sword up, blocking the blow. The two swords struck, and stood locked against each other by the strength of their respective wielders. The sword of ice and the sword of fire stood against each other.
The Night King looked down in surprise at the other sword, for all other swords had shattered like glass when struck by his own weapon.
The Witch-king towered over his opponent, the iron crown on his head standing a foot higher.
Snow swirled on the gusting winds that whirled left and right, in answer to the demands of the combatants.
Employing all his strength, the Witch-king lifted his arm, forcing the two swords up in the frigid air. Then, he swung his flail around.
The Night King disengaged his sword, and spun around in a crouch, allowing the ponderous head of the flail to pass over his head.
The flail came around again, and the Night King again crouched allowing the head to pass over him.
This time, the Witch-king brought the great flail down and then up and over, bringing down in a crushing blow.
The Night King spun around, stepping around the falling flail, and then he came around and moved in. He slashed out with his ice sword, but the Witch-king caught the attack on his flaming sword.
The two undead chieftains traded blow after blow, each probing for a weakness in the other.
Suddenly, the Witch-king dropped his flail, and his left hand shot out, grasping the other by his neck. As he lifted the Night King into the air, the wight dropped his sword and clutched the arm holding him. The Night King drew on his power, seeking to turn his hulking opponent into another White Walker.
However, as he probed with his icy magic, he felt...nothing. It was as if the other fighter was not there at all. His eyes went down to his hands and then back up to the black face of the Witch-king.
"Fool!" the Witch-king hissed. "Don't you know that no man can kill me?"
But, before he could do more, the Night King lifted his legs and kicked out at his opponent. His feet crashed into the Witch-king 's breastplate, staggering him backward, and tearing himself out of the wraith's hand.
The Night King landed on the ground, and rolled, more feeling than hearing the Witch-king's sword pass over his head.
As the Night King fell back, the Nazgûl pursued, swinging his sword left and right.
The Witch-king was larger than any opponent the Night King had faced since his transformation, and far more dangerous. He would use all of his considerable experience to overcome this one as well. His vengeance would not be thwarted by anyone.
The Night King retreated and retreated, looking for an opening, and suddenly it came. The wraith pulled his arm back and swung his sword with all his might. Instead of retreating, the Night King dove under the flying blade, allowing its momentum to carry it over his head and on.
As he dove past the Nazgûl's leg, he slashed out, causing it to collapse under him. The dark lord dropped to one knee.
The Night King moved in, looking for a finishing blow.
But moving faster than was believable, the Witch-king reached into his boot, and drew his Morgul-knife. He caught the Night King's descending sword with his left hand, and with his right he plunged the magic blade into the other's shoulder.
The Night King staggered back in shock; his eyes went down to the knife that was sticking out of his shoulder. Still stepping back, he drew the knife out, and before his eyes the blade seemed to melt into nothingness, leaving him holding onto an empty hilt.
Seeing the Witch-king rise and advance on him, the Night King threw away the hilt of the Morgul-knife. The pain from the wound was intense, so he froze his shoulder, locking the poison away.
The flaming blade cut through the cold air in a sideways slice. The Night King brought his own sword up and parried it.
The battle raged across the snowy ground as the two opponents probed each other for weaknesses. The Witch-king used his size and strength to his advantage, while the Night King used his speed to his.
Beyond them, their two armies fought to the death. A huge snow troll slashed about with an iron bar, sending undead wights flying. An undead wilding leaped onto the back of a large orc, distracting him and allowing a White Walker to spear him through the chest with his sword.
And above them all, their two undead commanders battled, ignoring their plight. They knew well that the fate of the battle was being decided by themselves.
The Night King parried a stroke from the Witch-king , and counterattacked, seeking again to find an open shot at the other man's legs. The Witch-king , moving faster than his large size seemed to allow, blocked the attack.
Moving quickly the Nazgûl forced the Night King's sword to the right, and then balling up his left hand in a fist, he brought his mail fist around with a blow aimed at the other's head.
The wight ducked under the punch, and then brought his sword up to parry a blow from the other's flaming sword. As the other fell back, the Witch-king pursued, hammering at his sword with all his might. The Night King continued to fall back and back as the sword strokes landed.
Suddenly, as his sword descended, the Witch-king spoke a word of power in an ancient tongue. When the swords touched, the ice sword shattered as though made of glass. The mighty sword of the king of the Nazgûl continued its downward stroke, cleaving through the Night King's shoulder and into his chest, not stopping until it reached his diaphragm.
Instantly, the Night King shattered, as if he too were made of the same ice as his sword.
The sound of shattering continued as the Night Walkers also shattered into pieces.
K.O.! []
Looking about him, and seeing that the enemy was defeated, the Witch-king sheathed his sword.
His work here was finished, but his lord called to him from Barad-dûr. There were more enemies that needed to die.
He turned, and began walking towards his army.
Results[]
Boomstick: Oooooo-kay! Clean and decisive, just the way I like it! But I love the Night King and I can't see why he lost.
Wiz: Well, in many ways the Night King and the Witch-king of Angmar were very similar, and in many ways they were very well balanced. The Night King has the ability to shatter non-magical weapons, which is very similar to the Witch-king's ability.
Boomstick: The Night King can manipulate the weather, which the Witch-king can as well.
Wiz: Now, unlike the Night King, the Witch-king has the ability to manipulate fire, which we saw when he enflamed his sword and the gates of Gondor. But, the Night King can shrug off dragon fire, so that gives the Witch-king no discernable benefit at all.
Boomstick: But, what the ace that the Witch-king has up his sleeve is his ability to utter Words of Power. This gave him the ability to shatter the gates of Gondor and to shatter Frodo's magical Dagger of Westernesse at a distance.
Wiz: The Night King's physical feats were impressive, with his long-distance killing of the dragon Viserion with an ice spear being something likely beyond the Witch-king's ability. But, at the end of the day, the Witch-king's magical ability in his Words or Power was an advantage that the Night King had no answer to.
Boomstick: So, in an undead battle to the death, the winner was Tolkien's big bad baddie, the Witch-king of Angmar!
