Night King, the most dreaded person in the whole of Westeros now, has entered the land with his army through the North for the first time in more than 8000 years. The question here is why now, why has he come back to the land of common folk? What exactly does he want from the land of Westeros and why exactly is he marching with hundreds of thousands of Wights, his fellow white walkers, giants and now a dragon as well? Like all the characters in Game of Thrones, the White Walkers too should have layers to their existence. They might not just be evil. The Night King too may have a strong and humane purpose to all his deeds. We believe that The Night King has come to Westeros to get what was rightfully his, his heir, as promised thousands of years ago by the Last Hero. It may sound bizarre at first but let’s first understand the history of the Night King in detail.
How was the Night King created?
The Children of the Forest, along with some Giants, were the original occupants of the land of Westeros. However, some 12,000 years ago, the First men reached Westeros by crossing a land bridge formed
The Children of the Forest lost control over the White Walkers and soon these creatures turned against their masters. Nevertheless, the centuries old war ended between the two and they made a peace pact. Meanwhile, the Night King and his fellow White Walkers return to the lands and start killing everyone they see. He resurrected dead people and formed the Army of the Dead. Since the White Walkers bring cold and darkness with them, a cold night started that lasted for a generation and was called the Long Night. Seeing the gravity of the danger looming over them, the Children of the Forest and the First Men join hands to fight against the White Walkers. They somehow manage to defeat the White Walkers an send them away far in the North to the Land of Always Winter. The Night King and his remaining army stayed there for millenniums to come. Furthermore, Brandon the Builder built the Wall to keep the White Walkers away from their land. The Wall is 700ft tall, 300ft thick and 300 miles long. The men could not build this Wall on their own. They got help from the Giants and the Children of the Forest. The magic spells used to build the Wall made sure that no dead creature could enter the Wall. Brandon the Builder builds a castle in the North and starts a kingdom called Winterfell. He also creates the Night’s Watch who would take care of the Wall.
Now, that we know the basic points of the history associated with the Night King and his men, let us get to the meat of the topic that what exactly the Night King wants! We know so little about his intentions, making him the most mysterious and dreaded characters in the whole show. Even during his last invasion, no one knew about his intentions. When they went back to the Land of Always Winter, everyone thought they were gone for good. The current generation of people did not even believe that such things existed and believed them to be just legends or folklore. However, now that every important person in Westeros knows that the threat is real and here, there is no hiding from the Night King
Why does he take new born babies?
We know just a few things that about the White Walkers and the Night King. We know that he has the ability to control cold, resurrect the dead to create an army, and the ability to transform babies to White Walkers to reproduce. The first time we see the Night King in the show is when a White Walker brings one of Craster’s son all the way up to the Land of Always Winter to present it to him. He then transforms the baby to a White Walker. By this, we do know that the Night King is ready for peace if he gets
something in return, and this is exactly what Craster was ensuring all these years by sacrificing his new-born sons. We also know that the Night’s King (the 13 th commander of the Night’s Watch) and Night’s Queen (a female white walker) too sacrificed their kids to the Night King. During the Long Night as well, the last hero could have made a similar pact with the Night King to make him leave with his army.
Why has he come now after so many years?
An interesting theme in the story suggests that the Night King has come back to the land of Westeros to find his heir. That may just sound crazy and lame but we have some proof to back it up. The first thing to notice is that the Night King only takes new-born babies as
Now, the thing to ponder is that why is he marching into Westeros if he was getting sacrifices from Craster on a regular basis. For that, we once again have to think about what the last hero would have promised the Night King. He might have promised that he can come back to the land to get his heir in the future.
We have seen that the Night King did not kill Jon Snow when he had two chances. He did not kill Dany either when she and Drogon were an easy target. This proves that he wants them both alive for some reason. Since the Night King has magical powers, he can foresee the future. He knew all along that Jon and Dany would have a baby, who will eventually become his heir. How much purer can the blood get than the mixture of the Targaryen and the Stark blood. Now that he knows that Jon and Dany are going to have a baby, he has entered Westeros to get what is rightfully his. The prophecy always said the Prince that was promised would have both Ice and Fire in him. Jon and Dany’s son is the perfect candidate for that. Giving the son away to the Night’s King will save the world, making the prophecy of the Prince that was promised saving the world true. We all know that the show has a bittersweet ending and Jon and Dany sacrificing their child for the greater good might be the bittersweet ending we may be in for in the end.
Watch this theory about Night King!