Kayti Burti from Collider gives a great refresher course on what differentiates a wight from a White Walker and as you know, the most powerful White Walker of them all is the Night King, who was the first and is the most powerful. The idea that they were created as a means of protection by the Children of the Forest is just another indication that no one’s perfect since obviously the Night King got a little out of control and started challenging everyone that came his way, including his creators. But if you’re not ready for spoilers and haven’t seen the latest episode you might want to turn away now and save yourself the irritation of finding out something you didn’t want to know yet. As you might already know the White Walkers went far beyond just rebelling against their creators and were on their way back through Westeros, with Winterfell being their primary target as of the latest episode. But there have have been plenty of great moments before this monumental battle, all of which have been leading up to the inevitable storm that would befall the living.
Here are ten great White Walker appearances throughout the years.
10. The first appearance
If you’d already read the first book then you had an idea of what was coming, but still, seeing it on screen was something unique that simply took your breath away since the electric blue glow of those eyes in the murk was terrifying, and the manner in which the bodies of the wildlings were butchered and arranged was nothing less than brutal. But there was more to come obviously, as this was just the barest hint of that.
9. Creating the Night King
One of the First Men that was created to be their weapon, the Night King eventually turned on the Children of the Forest and created his own army, thereby showing them that they had made a huge mistake and that it was going to cost them dearly. One thing you’ll note however is that in his conquest the Night King never really did much damage to the surrounding landscape, apart from those man-made structures that he tore apart. It’s almost as though the main directive the Children of the Forest had designed him for was still in effect.
8. Bran meets the Night King
Obviously this was before Bran became the Three-Eyed Raven since he was still quite unsure of himself and didn’t know much about the Night King. But upon meeting the master of the dead for the first time Bran was likely thinking that he’d made a mistake, especially when it was revealed that the Night King could see and interact with him in this state.
7. Sam sees the White Walkers
In a way this is almost insulting since it could be said that the White Walker that let Sam live was under orders to leave someone alive to tell of their coming. But it could also mean that he simply wasn’t worth the commanding Walker’s time, which seems to be Sam’s story when you really think about it. He’s not much of a fighter and as a character he’s definitely better off in the library no matter how cowardly it makes him feel at times.
6. Daenerys tries to burn the Night King
This is where the spoilers come in so if you’re not ready for it you might want to look away. During last night’s episode the theory of whether the Night King was a Stark or Targaryen, one furthered by Rebecca Hawkes of The Telegraph and many others, still wasn’t quite settled. It’s true that fire can’t harm a Targaryen, despite the fate of Dany’s brother, but one has to remember that the Night King is able to summon a blizzard, and as such should be able to withstand even dragon’s fire.
5. Sam vs. White Walker
This has to be one of the most unlikely kills to ever happen. In the world of D&D it would mean that Sam rolled a natural 20 on attack and as many players know, that’s all it takes at times to eliminate a foe, even if they’re so much more powerful than their enemy. Some might have called this a fluke, but at the very least it was a way for the humans to fight back finally, especially since Sam made a deduction based on what happened.
4. Hardhome
The fight for Hardhome was tough enough, but the fact that the Night King, the biggest and baddest White Walker of them all, didn’t even set foot on the battlefield until it was all over said that his armies were just that tough and that overwhelming. It was a bit of injury and insult mixed in together though when he raised his arms while looking at Jon and raised the entire lot of those that had just been killed without any apparent difficulty.
3. Night King kills Viserion
At this point we already knew the Night King was tough, but taking an ice spear and aiming so unerringly at one of the dragons also makes him seem as though he’s one of the greatest fighters in the entire series since quite honestly that shot is one that would make any marksman proud. Plus, he managed to procure a new and deadlier weapon out of it.
2. Jon vs. White Walker
Yeah, Jon had no idea just who he was going up against or how tough a White Walker really was, but the surprise evident on the Walker’s face when Jon’s sword didn’t freeze and break was priceless as only a moment later Jon discovered that White Walkers are extremely susceptible to Valeryian steel.
1. Arya kills the Night King
I’m betting that a few people thought this death was too simple, too out of nowhere, and in a way not at all what they were expecting. Bran is not a warrior to start with, and if not for Arya he would have been killed. But then you have to think that he kind of knew she was coming, if only because he’s been seeing things emerge since he became the Three-Eyed Raven. That being said though, you also had to know that something was about to happen when Arya replied to Melisandre with “Not today.”
‘Not today’ indeed.
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