White Walkers


 * This article is about the race. For other uses see White Walker



"In that darkness the White Walkers came for the first time. They swept through cities and kingdoms, riding their dead horses, hunting with their packs of pale spiders big as hounds."

- Old Nan

The White Walkers, referred to as the Others in the books, are a mythological race mentioned in ancient legends and stories from the time of the First Men and the Children of the Forest. They are believed to have caused chaos and war in Westeros before they were defeated in a great struggle and driven back into the uttermost north, with the Wall raised to bar their return. Current belief holds that they have either never existed, or to be extinct, as they have not been seen for thousands of years. According to legend, the White Walkers speak a language known in myth as 'Skroth'.

Whilst held as myths and spoken in the same breath as 'grumkins' and 'snarks', there is a growing belief amongst the wildlings who live beyond the Wall that the White Walkers have returned.

Season 1
"The White Walkers have been gone for centuries."

- Eddard Stark

At the start of the series, there have been peculiar rumours from over the Wall mentioning the White Walkers. According to Will, a renegade from the Night's Watch taken captive near Winterfell, his patrol was ambushed by several White Walkers and his comrades Gared and Ser Waymar Royce were killed by them. Prior to this, the White Walkers had massacred a tribe of wildlings and left the corpses out as a warning. His story was not believed by Lord Eddard Stark, who executed him as a deserter. The White Walkers showed an ability to animate the corpse of a dead wildling child as a wight.

Lord Commander Jeor Mormont and Maester Aemon of the Watch ask Tyrion Lannister to persuade his sister to send them reinforcements. They claim there is something other than the wildlings beyond the Wall and it's been growing in influence for some time. With winter coming they fear this unseen enemy will make its move.

A band of wildlings fleeing south of the Wall passes close to Winterfell. One of them suggests taking a Stark captive for Mance Rayder, the King Beyond the Wall, but the others refuse to return north due to the dangers posed by the White Walkers.

Osha, one of the wildlings taken prisoner at Winterfell, reveals to the Stark household that she and her companions were fleeing South to escape the Walkers. She also reveals the Walkers are nocturnal and sleep in the day and hunt at night. When her words are dismissed by Maester Luwin due to the belief the Walkers are long dead, she reveals that they were only sleeping and "they're not sleeping now".

The bodies of several rangers are discovered a short distance north of the wall and are identified as Night's Watchmen who have been missing for weeks. Despite this Sam notes that the bodies show no signs of rot and appear in perfect condition. Later that evening one of the bodies reanimates as a wight and attempts to attack the masters. The creature is stopped when Jon discovers the creature's weakness is fire.

After disposing of the remaining bodies, Sam tells Jon that he read that only the touch of a White Walker could do what they have seen tonight. A worried Sam notes the weakness of the Night's Watch and if the White Walkers decide to come in force then they are in real trouble.

After recent events Lord Commander Mormont decides to mobilize the Night's watch to head out beyond the wall to assess the situation and if necessary make a preemptive strike against their enemies. He explains to Jon that the war in the South is of little concern in relation to the threat of the returning White Walkers.



Season 2
In the last scene of Episode 2 'The Night Lands'. Jon Snow wakes up to find Craster disposing a newborn baby (who happens to be a son) in the forest surrounding the keep. Jon Snow persues him in

attempt to find what really does happen to the newborn sons. Later, Jon sees that Craster only places the sons on the ground, only then to return to the keep. Jon then runs toward where the baby was placed and shortly after sees a darkened figure looming over the baby only then to be picked up by it. The 'figure' happens to

be a White Walker, considering the size and blue glowing eyes the figure possesed.

In the books
In the Game of Thrones television show, the term 'White Walkers' is used as an alternate name for a species called the Others in the books. They are held to be fairy stories by most of the people of Westeros. According to legend, the Others were creatures of ice and cold who, more than eight thousand years ago, came from the uttermost north during a winter that lasted a generation and a night that covered the world, the Long Night. The Others were defeated in the War for the Dawn by a great hero wielding a sword of flame. After the Others' defeat, Bran the Builder constructed the Wall with magic and artifice to ensure they could never ret

urn to threaten the people of Westeros and the world beyond. The War for the Dawn apparently unified the peoples of the North under the rule of the Starks and saw Winterfell built shortly thereafter.

The Night's Watch was founded to guard against the return of the Others, but this task is generally forgotten today. The Watch is instead believed to be guarding against the human wildlings who hold the lands beyond and occasionally try to raid across the Wall into the richer lands to the south.

Naming
The White Walkers are often known as 'the Others' in the novels, and were still known by this name in the first draft of the pilot script. Whilst the producers have not commented directly on the reasons for the name change, fans speculate that this was done to avoid similarities to an identically-named faction in the television series Lost. In the books, "white walkers" is the name given to the creatures by Wildlings, and with only a few Wildling characters, the term is heard only seldom.

Some fans have confused the term 'White Walkers' with their minions, reanimated c

orpses called 'wights'. This confusion possibly stems from the name change, when in the novels it is made very clear the Others and wights are two separate types of creature. Efforts have been made to correct this notion, with Sam refering to the corspses being "touched by white walkers" - not white walkers themselves.

Appearances

 * Winter is coming
 * The night lands