Who is The Night’s King: A Brief History of The Others

True story—one of my favorite things to do on Monday mornings is read all the Unsullied recaps, because it’s like seeing the show with fresh eyes every week. This past Monday, I happened across one recap which inquired as to who exactly that blue gentleman was who raised his arms at the end of the Massacre at Hardhome. He went to ask if we, the internet, might have a name for him by end of the day Monday.

But the internet already has a name for him, as does the series. After all, as our viewers may recall, this is not the first time we’ve seen said blue gentleman and his spiky crown-like hairstyle. The first time was back in Season 4. We actually saw him twice, the first time as part of Bran Stark’s weirwood tree-induced visions in the second episode. But it wasn’t until he appeared in “Oathkeeper,” accepting the gift of Craster’s Child, that he really registered with the audience. It didn’t help that HBO for the first time revealed (on accident) their first “A Song of Ice and Fire” spoiler, by giving away his name: The Night’s King.

So who is The Night’s King, exactly, and why was it such a spoiler for HBO to give away his name last year? Because though The Night’s King has been mentioned in the books, back in the very beginning when Old Nan tells Bran some of her hair-raising tales while he recovers from his fall, he’s not a character anyone has met yet. As far as book readers were concerned, The Night’s King was one of those ancient legends, like The Rat Cook or the Ice Dragon. For him to suddenly exist in the world was akin to being informed that the Last Hero or Symeon StarEyes might be turning up.

As for who The Night’s King was, according to Old Nan, he lived during what was known as “The Age of Heroes.” The current calendar system in Westeros is based upon the Targaryen conquest of Westeros. The date 1 AC is when Aegon I (known as Aegon the Conqueror) and his sister-wives Rhaenys and Visenya ended their War of Conquest on Westeros and founded King’s Landing. Before Aegon arrived, the continent was engaged in what was known as “The Age of the Seven Kingdoms,” which lasted from around 3000 BC to 1 BC. Before that was the Age of Valyria, which began with the taming of the first dragons in 5000 BC and ended with the Doom of Valyria in 3000 BC (Jorah and Tyrion spoke about the doom a few weeks ago as they sailed through the ruins). Prior to that, there was the Age of the Andals, which began circa 6000 BC, when the Andals invaded Westeros.

Going even further back, there was the Age of Heroes, which is the time period of importance here. Believed to have lasted about 4000 years from around 10,000 BC to 6,000 BC, many of the Great Houses, including the Starks and the Lannisters, trace their lineages back to this period. The Age of Heroes included such historical events as “The Long Night,” which is when the Others—the book’s word for White Walkers—last attacked. That was circa 8000 BC. This is also the time period during which the legend of Azor Ahai started. It was also when Brandon Stark, known as Bran the Builder, built the Wall, in order to keep a White Walker invasion from ever happening again. (If Bran has seen the sort of invasion we witnessed at Hardhome, it gives new meaning to those Stark words “Winter is Coming.”)

With the building of the Wall came the invention of the Night’s Watch. Those first generations of men who guarded the Wall, manning all 19 fortresses, would have either lived through the Long Night, or been only a generation removed from it, and understood why the Wall existed and the terror it was supposed to stand against. But it wasn’t long until successive generations began to forget. The 13th Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch, an unlucky number if there ever was one, made that fatal mistake. According to Old Nan’s story, “[H]e was a warrior who knew no fear. And that was the fault in him, for all men must know fear.” According to legend, he fell madly in love with someone from beyond the Wall, “with skin as white as the moon and eyes like blue stars, her skin was cold as ice.” I think everyone recognizes that description after last week as that of an Other, or a White Walker. The Lord Commander chased, married, and bedded her, and became an Other himself. So for those on Twitter asking yesterday if there was a Mrs. Night’s King, the answer is yes, and don’t mess with her.

Don’t Do This.

With an Other now in charge as Lord Commander of the Wall, the Night’s King set up rule from the now-abandoned castle called the Nightfort. The stories of his reign are supposedly riddled with terrifying atrocities, most of which we haven’t heard, since Old Nan did not see fit to repeat them. What we do know is that it took years before another generation’s Brandon Stark (known as Brandon the Breaker) joined forces with the last man to style himself King-Beyond-The-Wall, Joramun, to defeat the Night’s King and free the Night’s Watch from his cruel reign. It was during this battle that Joramun is said to have blown “The Horn of Winter,” which caused the giants to awaken and rise from the Earth. Also, if blown again, this horn will reportedly bring down the Wall. Said horn is assumed to be in the possession of Mance Rayder in the books, but has not as yet made an appearance on the show.

Was the Night’s King killed in this battle? During the Long Night, it is said that the Children showed the First Men how to use dragonglass to kill the Others, but if Brandon and Joramun had no dragonglass during the battle, it is quite possible the Night’s King survived, and the man leading the army of the dead today is in fact that same man.

Unfortunately, we don’t know much about who the Night’s King was before he became an Other, as Brandon had all traces of the Night’s King struck from history in a misguided attempt to protect future generations. It is said that this was due to discovering the Night’s King “made sacrifices to the Others” (much like we saw Craster do), but another theory is that the 13th Lord Commander was in fact a Stark, and brother to Brandon, and striking his memory from history was done to protect the family.

So if this Night’s King is (or once was) a Stark, would that explain his jeering at Jon Snow, as the boat pulled away in defeat? Does blood see and recognize blood of it’s own? Probably not. Instead, Jon Snow most likely caught the King’s attention for a very different reason: Longclaw.

As you might note in our listing of the ages above, the Age of Valyria didn’t begin until somewhere around 5000 BC, a good three thousand years after the the Long Night, and the rise of the Night’s King. Valyrian Steel blades didn’t exist back when the last invasion happened. It is said that Azor Ahai had a sword known as “Lightbrigher” which he supposedly made by combining the blade with the soul of his wife, but as far as we know, that’s not actually Valyrian Steel.

In the books, Sam finds a reference to “Dragonsteel” which may be the same as Valyrian Steel, but that is unconfirmed. We do know, however, that Dragonsteel was forged with dragon fire in the Valyrian Freehold. Perhaps that link to dragons is enough. Either way, the Night’s King would not have encountered a long blade before that could destroy a white walker, which would raise Jon Snow up in his eyes as the first threat any of his army have encountered. Hence his singling out Jon for the challenge.

For those wondering, there are seven known Valyrian blades to exist at this time, including Longclaw. The others are Heartsbane (owned by Sam’s father, Randyll Tarly); Lady Forlorn (owned by House Corbray, which is loyal to House Arryn and the Eyrie); Nightfall (owned by House Harlaw of the Iron Islands); Red Rain (currently owned by House Drumm of the Iron Islands, probably stolen from House Reyne in the Westerlands); Oathkeeper (with Brienne of Tarth); and Widow’s Wail (which we assume was not buried with Joffrey.) There are also a few other non-sword blades running around—the dagger that was sent to kill Bran in Season 1, for instance (Littlefinger probably still has that). In the books, there is also an arakh, owned by Caggo (a character from a cut storyline) and rumors of a Valyrian axe. How these blades will come into play as the series goes on is yet to be determined, but Heartsbane may be central, especially if the assumption that Randyll Tarly is to play a major role next season is correct. As for other weapons made with dragon parts, there are supposedly Dragonbone bows, but one has not been seen in the books or in the show.

But beyond Dragonsteel, or dragonglass or dragon bows, I think the most effective weapons in the fight against the White Walkers will be the real things—dragons themselves. Dragons, as far as history tells us, weren’t bred and tamed by the Valyrians for another thousand or so years after the Age of Heroes ended, and didn’t come to Westeros until 8000 years later, so they’ll be new to the Night’s King. Someone needs to tell Tyrion to have Dany get those dragons out of the catacombs, and soon. We’re going to need them.

• Published on 06/02/2015 at 1:55 PM CDT
• Last updated on 07/22/2015 at 10:03 AM CDT