Game of Thronesmade a big change to the books with the Night King, and it ended up hurting the story. What happened with the White Walkers was a big reasonGame of Thrones’endingwas heavily criticized, as the threat was dealt with in just three episodes of the final season, despite having been built up since the opening scene of the entire show.
The Long Night was just one night, with theNight King killed by Arya Starkto eliminate all White Walkers and wights. As a result of that,Game of Thronesseason 8left behind a lot of questions about them, which added to the frustration. However, it’s a problem that could perhaps have been avoided if the Night King had never existed in the first place. That’s a radical change to the show, butnotto George R.R. Martin’s books.
Game Of Thrones Invented The Night King
The Character Doesn’t Exist In GRRM’s A Song Of Ice & Fire
Game of Thronesintroduced the Night King in season 4, revealing himturning a baby into a White Walker, butthe character does not actually exist in Martin’sA Song of Ice and Firenovels. The Others - the more common term for the White Walkers in the books - do exist and have a similar narrative function, but they don’t have any kind of recognized king or leader, at least not throughA Dance with Dragons.
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The introduction is one of a few changes the show made to the Others from the books. Their appearance is different too, asGame of Thrones' take is more like ice zombies, whereas they’re a bit more inhuman, ethereal, and even beautiful in the novels. TheWhite Walkers also speak in the books, making a sound like cracking ice, which ultimately was cut from the show. They’re relatively small, though, compared to the creation of the Night King.
In the books, the closest counterpart is the Night’s King (note the apostrophe), who was the 13th Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch.
Inventing the Night King is an understandable decision, as it gives the White Walkers a clearer face. It creates a true TV villain, an ultimate enemy that needs to be defeated. In the books, the closest counterpart is the Night’s King (note the apostrophe), who was the 13th Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch. According to legend, he fell in love with a White Walker, and they ruled together, committing many atrocities, but he is not the Night King. Martin himself discussed the discrepancy in a comment on hisNot A Blogpage:
“As for the Night’s King (the form I prefer), in the books he is a legendary figure, akin to Lann the Clever and Brandon the Builder, and no more likely to have survived to the present day than they have.”
How The Night King Changed The White Walkers & Hurt Their Ending
It Could Have Been Better Without Him, Despite Some Great Moments
InA Song of Ice and Fire, the Others essentially function as a force of nature, albeit a supernatural one. They’re something akin to Westeros' climate change: a near-unstoppable threat that requires all of humanity banding together to defeat it. Martin seeks to explore the goodandbad in people in his works, looking at the human heart in conflict with itself, but the Others are a different threat because they technically aren’t evil. They move to their own needs, seeking to destroy all of humanity because that simply is what they do.
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This holds true to an extent inGame of Thrones, butthe Night King forces the change because he means they absolutely are human.The Night King’s origingoes back the Children of the Forest, who created him (and perhaps other White Walkers) while at war with the First Men. That means it’s baked into their very being that they are not just a force of nature, which fundamentally changes what’s required from a villain.
With the Night King established as the once-human big bad, then it means there should be more about his motivation, his past, and what he really wants.
Initially, this did actually work well. The Night King turning a baby is a chilling moment (although not one that necessarily requires his existence). Further, him staring down Jon Snow at Hardhome, and raising his arms and raising the dead, is one of the show’s most haunting, indelible images. But for the issues it caused later down the line, I’m not sure that it was entirely worth it when viewed as a whole, especially because there weren’t more of those moments to justify it.
Season 3, episode 8, “Second Sons”
Jon Snow
Season 5, episode 8, “Hardhome” / season 7, episode 6, “Beyond the Wall”
Season 6, episode 5, “The Door”
Arya Stark
Season 8, episode 3, “The Long Night”
With the Night King established as the once-human big bad, then it means there should be more about his motivation, his past, and what he really wants.Game of Thronesonly half-explained why the Night King wanted Bran Stark, without getting into too much detail about it. But because the Night King effectively exists as a person, and not just some supernatural force of destruction, that’s not enough.He’s a real character, but without real characterization, and that means the White Walkers' ending leaves a lot more to be desired because so much is unexplained.
A Song Of Ice & Fire’s Others Can Have A Better Story
The Long Night Should Be Better In The Books
Although I think it’s possible Martin will add his own twist to the White Walkers' creation inA Song of Ice and Fire, including their links to the Children of the Forest, it should be better than whatGame of Thronesdid. Partly that’s because there’s more room for a deeper exploration of them, and if we do get a twist like that, it will probably be fully explained. But the absence of the Night King also makes that easier, but there’s less to explain, and even as a creation of the Children, they can still work as an unstoppable force.
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There are other factors that should help make the books' version better as well, not least making the Long Night, well, longer. It’s easy to imagine Martin devoting hundreds of pages and multiple POV chapters to it, with it happening across different locations, rather than it just being one night in Winterfell. Obviously, that itself depends onThe Winds of Wintergetting a release date, but optimistically speaking, it should beatGame of Thrones, precisely because it’s already so different.
Game Of Thrones
Cast
Based on George R. R. Martin’s ongoing A Song of Ice and Fire novel series, Game of Thrones is a fantasy drama set in the fictional continents of Westeros and Essos. It follows noble families like the Starks, Lannisters, and Targaryen vying for control of the Iron Throne while a rising threat from the undead looms in the North. The series received significant critical success and amassed a loyal fan base due to its high production values, sprawling sets, iconic characters, and shocking twists.
Game of Thrones
Game of Thrones is a multimedia franchise created by George R.R. Martin. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire is the basis for the award-winning HBO series Game of Thrones, which lasted for eight seasons. After the incredibly divisive final season of Game of Thrones, the series was followed up by the prequel series House of the Dragon, which also received critical acclaim.
