In this week’s Send the Ravens column answering your ‘Game of Thrones’ questions , find out who the Night’s King is exactly, the difference between the White Walkers and the Wights and much more….
By Damon Martin — Editor/Lead Writer
Ask your questions on Twitter @DamonMartin
“The long night is coming and the dead come with it”
Lord Commander Jon Snow uttered those words on this week’s episode of ‘Game of Thrones’ titled Hardhome as he tried to warn the Free Folk that they were in grave danger if they stayed north of the Wall and refused his offer for safe passage to the south where they could farm land and avoid the ravages of winter and the coming long night.
So what exactly is ‘The Long Night’?
Well, 8,000 years before the Targaryens conquered Westeros and before there was ever a Wall, winter blanketed the known world and with it came cold and darkness that is said to have lasted for a generation. Men were born, lived their lives and died never seeing the sunlight.
It was during this time that the creatures we now know as White Walkers first emerged from ‘the Land of Always Winter’ aka far, far, far north. They had pale skin and blue eyes and everywhere they went, death followed. They rode horses resurrected from the dead and giant ice spiders as they tried to conquer Westeros and every living thing in it.
Legend says that the White Walkers were eventually beaten back by a great hero named Azor Ahai and his flaming sword called Lightbringer along with the children of the forest and the first men of the Night’s Watch. They were able to strike a blow into the White Walkers and as spring finally emerged, the dead things crawled back to the north never to be seen again.
Until now.
As for their crowned leader called The Night’s King…we first saw him last season when one of Craster’s baby boys was taken north and a lone White Walker touched him with a finger and he turned ghastly pale and his eyes turned as blue as sapphires.
The legend of the Night’s King is mostly fable due to the fact that the records about this infamous character were burned after he was defeated thousands of years ago, but the story says he was the 13th Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch and he was from the north. Some stories say he was a Stark or perhaps a Bolton, but no one would actually claim this devilish fellow.
The Night’s King apparently spotted a beautiful woman standing north of the Wall while he was patrolling and he knew right away that he had to have her. So the Night’s King pursued the woman and eventually returned with her as a wife. She was said to have skin as white as the moon and eyes as blue as stars, which leads most to believe she was a White Walker. The legend goes onto say when the Night’s King returned to the Nightfort with his queen that they declared themselves royalty and the Night’s Watch and everybody else would fall under their reign. The Nightfort was the biggest and mightiest castle owned by the Night’s Watch until the order dwindled in number and they eventually abandoned it because the upkeep was too expensive (The Nightfort is the castle where Bran, Hodor and the wonder twins run into Samwell before going north of the Wall on ‘Game of Thrones’).
The Night’s King and his icy queen ruled the north under the cover of darkness for 13 years until finally Brandon Stark also known as Bran the Builder teamed up with the King-beyond-the-wall Joramun to defeat the black hearted ruler and eradicate him from the history books. Because Bran destroyed all the records to try and wipe The Night’s King from history that’s why many believe he may have been a Stark after all.
Regardless, The Night’s King is who you saw raising the Wildlings from the dead and touching the baby and turning him into a White Walker. It is said his soul was taken the day he gave his seed to his corpse bride. Morbid stuff, huh?
With that said let’s get to your questions this week!
@DamonMartin So what's the difference between White Walkers & the Zombie/skeleton things? Are the White Walkers like the leaders?
— richie (@richie11pm) June 1, 2015
The best way to put this — The White Walkers are creatures, the wights are the people they kill that now serve them.
Wherever the White Walkers go, they carry their own special brand of ‘cold’ with them and anyone who dies in that area will rise back up again. Remember back in season one when there was a member of the Night’s Watch who was found dead and they took him back to Castle Black and he eventually ‘woke up’ and went after Lord Commander Mormont until Jon Snow stopped him? That’s a wight.
The White Walkers themselves are creatures only created through their own choosing such as the Night’s King, who was turned by his corpse bride, or the babies that are gifted to them like Craster did to all his male heirs. The rest of the people who are killed by the White Walkers in battle that come back from the dead are the Wights, and their only purpose is to serve the White Walkers.
Another difference between the two — White Walkers can only be killed (or at least what we know about them) by objects created with dragonfire. For instance, the dragonglass dagger that Samwell used to kill a White Walker two seasons ago or say a Valyrian steel sword (which is forged in dragonfire) that Jon Snow used to kill a White Walker in this past episode.
The Wights, on the other hand, are more or less zombies who will just keep coming and coming until you basically dismember them and even then if they have a free hand or arm, they will keep trying to kill. The best way to kill a Wight is by burning them (like the brothers of the Night’s Watch have been doing to all their dead lately).
https://twitter.com/TheRealTeagle/status/605236953781575680
The snowy mist you’re talking about is basically just the cold that travels with the White Walkers as they go wherever they are going. It doesn’t kill anybody, it just re-animates the dead.
Because the White Walkers are traveling further and further south from their home called ‘The Land of Always Winter’, the cold is coming with them. Anyone who dies while they are around will come back as a Wight with the purpose of serving the White Walkers.
@DamonMartin Dont know if its a Q, but what about making a list of all the people that have got valyrian steel so far? Im so confused lol
— RandomThingsLover (@RandomthLover) June 1, 2015
Alright here’s the full list of known Valyrian steel swords still in play in the ‘Game of Thrones’ universe as well as a few more that are mentioned in the books
Longclaw — the blade of House Mormont that was given to Jon Snow
Oathkeeper — the blade of Jamie Lannister that was melted down from Ned Stark’s sword Ice that is now in the possession of Brienne of Tarth.
Widow’s Wail — the other sword made out of Ned Stark’s blade Ice that was in the possession of King Joffrey, but now is believed to belong to his brother Tommen
The dagger that was used in the attempt on Bran Stark’s life that is now in the possession of Petyr Baelish
Now these are the swords still in play from the books, but have not appeared on the show:
Heartsbane — the greatsword (similar to Ned Stark’s Ice) that belongs to Randyll Tarly aka Samwell’s father
Lady Forlorn — the sword of House Corbray, currently possessed by Ser Lyn Corbray
Nightfall — the sword of House Harlaw and in possession by Ser Harras Harlaw
Red Rain — sword of House Drumm, which they stole in a raid. It’s believed this sword may be the ancestral weapon of House Reyne (remember the song ‘Rains of Castamere’? Those people that the Lannisters wiped out). Both Red Rain and Nightfall come from houses in the Iron Islands aka the Greyjoy territory.
There’s also House Celtigar, which sits in Blackwater Bay and they are great collectors and amongst the treasure they’ve amassed throughout the years it’s said that they have a great Valyrian steel axe in their possession.
There are tons of Valyrian swords that are unaccounted for such as Blackfyre, the ancestral sword of House Targaryen that was lost when King Aegon IV gave the weapon to his bastard Daemon (who eventually formed his own faction House Blackfyre) but after his death, it disappeared and no one has seen it in over a hundred years. There’s also the Targareyn sword called Dark Sister, which was last given to a man named Bryden Rivers. The reason that name is important is because he’s also a former Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch who many believe is the greenseer that Bran met inside the Weirwood tree at the end of season 4.
Don’t forget if you have questions about ‘Game of Thrones’ don’t hesitate to ask on Twitter or leave your comments here!
