White Walkers

Lore & Background

In the novels, the Others are an enigmatic species whose emergence caused a night lasting a generation and a winter spanning decades. Millennia ago, a pact existed between the Children of the Forest and the First Men until this threat arose. After being pushed back, the two races raised The Wall to bar their passage south. In A Game of Thrones, the general belief across Westeros was that they were gone for eight thousand years or merely legends used to scare children. However, they re-emerged beyond the Wall, creating wights and gaining power. In A Storm of Swords, Samwell Tarly kills an Other with a dragonglass dagger; its armor ran down in rivulets as pale blue blood hissed around the obsidian blade. The creature shrank and puddled, dissolving into white mist within twenty heartbeats, leaving only milkglass bones that melted too. Fragments found in A Dance with Dragons suggest they are also vulnerable to "dragonsteel," likely Valyrian steel.

In Their Own Story

As A Game of Thrones begins, a ranging party from the Night's Watch encounters a group of Others beyond the Wall who kill Ser Waymar Royce. Reanimated as a wight, he returns to kill the ranger Will. Later, Jon Snow and his brothers find two fallen corpses that rise at Castle Black to kill their living fellows before being destroyed. In A Storm of Swords, Sam Tarly kills an Other with dragonglass while his comrade Small Paul is killed and reanimated as a wight; the undead Paul proves immune to dragonglass but falls to fire. Bran Stark recalls the legend of the Night's King, a Stark who became the 13th Lord Commander after being seduced by a female White Walker, enslaving the Watch until defeated by the Starks and wildlings. Martin noted in 2012 that readers would learn more about their history in The Winds of Winter, though he remained unsure if they possessed a culture.

Reader's Guide

White Walkers create wights: undead creatures with pallid skin, black hands, and glowing blue eyes. In the books, dragonglass has no effect on wights, though it kills them in the TV series; fire destroys both wights and dismembered parts remain animated until burned. Wildlings beyond The Wall burn their dead to prevent reanimation. The TV adaptation introduces differences: a primary White Walker leader called the Night King is created by Leaf of the Children of the Forest stabbing a human prisoner with an ice dagger. In "Hardhome," Jon Snow shatters a White Walker with Valyrian steel sword Longclaw, proving its effectiveness unlike in the books. Unlike book wights, TV wights are destroyed by dragonglass and linked to their creator; when the Night King is killed by Arya Stark with a Valyrian steel dagger in "The Long Night," all White Walkers shatter and the Army of the Dead is obliterated. The show also reveals the Night King can turn dragons into wights, as seen with Viserion.

Did You Know?

• The Others speak a language that sounds like the cracking of ice on a winter lake.
• Samwell Tarly observed an Other dissolve into a fine white mist and leave only milkglass bones within twenty heartbeats after being stabbed with dragonglass.
• In the TV series, the Night King was created in the episode "The Door" by Leaf stabbing a human prisoner with an ice dagger.
• White Walkers are featured in merchandising including Funko POP! figures and a 9-inch Dark Horse bust statue released in 2013.
• Johnnie Walker released a Game of Thrones-inspired whisky named White Walker in 2018.