[SPOILERS]A very long Night King origin theory...

Sorry for the length, it is comprised of an amalgam of a lot of theories...if you are bored...proceed...

When the NK origin and motivations are revealed it will be built on stories that were already told. The reveal of the NK will inform events we have already seen/read rather than add an entirely new mythos to GoT. This is a carefully crafted story based on incredibly detailed source material from GrrM. D&B would have known the NK origin from the start as GrrM did and would have woven it into the story since he is such a primary threat. Knowing this and having faith in all of them I think they have.

• Disclaimer:

D&B used the source material so some answers might be in the books, some on the screen. I think D&B might have streamlined the concept of the NK and combined/modified legends (Last Hero and Azor Ahai) or characters (Lady Stoneheart and Coldhands) etc but we will end up in roughly the same ending and motivations as GrrM books. So I think we can take from the books to a degree to unravel the mystery of the show. But I think things like Coldhands (GrrM insisted it isn't Jon's uncle in the books and I don't think it is), 13th lord commander/Night's King, Lady Stoneheart along with the Last Hero were omitted/modified to make the story simpler for TV where books can be far more intricate.

This quote from GrrM most influences my analysis of the NK even in GoT more than anything else:

"It’s not like evil dresses up in black clothing and you know, they’re really ugly. These are some of the things that Tolkien did; he made them work fabulously, but in the hands of his imitators, they become total clichés. I mean the orc-like creatures who always do dress in black and... they’re really ugly and they’ve got facial deformities or something. You can tell that if somebody’s ugly, he must be evil."

To me this is the single most important statement about the story as a whole and the NK. If this does not speak to the NK, I don't know what does. He is literally saying that the "demonic beast of pure evil" is not what he wants to do.

• So I think the final big shock will be the Night King isn't truly evil, just someone who was twisted and is opposed to Westeros but with very good cause. Taking the above quote into account I can't see how the NK can just be a Sauron type, not with all the three dimensional evil villains in Westeros GrrM created.

This idea came to me while looking over many other theories and it ties several of them together. I won't go into all the evidence of each theory since that would take a lot of time and most of you have already watched or read the same theories videos and posts and this will be long enough. I'll just be relating how I think they may interact in relation to my theory. I was looking for something that tied all of the below together.

This theory occurred to me while rewatching episode one.

Opening Episode - The NK started his move south which resulted in Ned beheading a deserter in the beginning of GoT. This tells us two things, the dead are coming after thousands of years and Starks believe in Oath's to a fault. Since what Ned was being told was true and important but Ned (the moral center of the story in most people's opinion) cut his head off anyway.

My theory speaks to this one scene, in the first episode the seeds of the destruction of the Starks are sewn when the Lannisters arrive and the NK had begun his march after thousands of years of relative inaction just prior. Something from the story we are watching is driving him because otherwise he would be truly unconnected from the narrative and I don't think that is the case.

The one thing that seems to differentiate this moment in time from all others in Westeros history is the Starks have been moved from Winterfell, they had an unbroken line for as long as their history seems to exist but now that a Stark is no longer in Winterfell does the Night King move and winter comes. The fact the show is based around the destruction of the Starks can't be a coincidence with the NK just choosing now to arrive.

• I think the constant betrayal and mistreatment of the Starks resulting in them losing Winterfell and the NK deciding to finally attack are connected.

D&B either made an error or knew what they were doing when the dragon was pulled from ice with chains. I think they knew what they were doing. I think the NK can see the future to a degree and he knew the Stark's would fall when Jon Arryn died, the inciting incident of the story. So why would he care about Jon/Dany or the Starks?

A few theories would tie this together:

• The Last Hero is the Night King - The Last Hero isn't really a thing in the show like the 13th lord commander but I think the basic concept of a man fighting the undead (Azor Ahai possibly in the show to "streamline" it) will end up in one form or another merged together in a flashback.

So as cold and death filled the earth, the last hero determined to seek out the children, in the hopes that their ancientmagics could win back what the armies of men had lost. He set out into the dead lands with a sword, a horse, a dog, and a dozen companions. For years he searched until he despaired of ever finding the children of the forest in their secret cities. One by one his friends died, and his horse, and finally even his dog, and his sword froze so hard the blade snapped when he tried to use it. And the Others smelled the hot blood in him and came silent on his trail, stalking him with packs of pale white spiders big as hounds.

I think something like this will happen in flashback similar to Jon's trek to fight the NK (minus the spiders for budget) but it will end with the man we saw getting dragonglass shoved in his chest and then resurrecting his dozen companions.

The COTF were losing and in desperation used a scorched earth weapon, the Wights that would kill all the men (possibly COTF also, as a doomsday weapon) but leave their trees intact (which I think they value more than their own lives).

I think the Wights needed to be controlled or might have been controlled already by an evil man (the bearded leader of the Wights we saw in the cave painting, I doubt our NK shaved) and they needed a replacement Night King to stop them.

The Last Hero (probably AA in the show) underwent the process (like Coldhands in the show, who was streamlined into Jon's uncle to make the NK origin simpler, since I think he is tied to it) and became the NK.

• The Last Hero had to battle and defeat the prior NK for control of his armies. Once he had control and was the NK he could order them north and "save mankind."

So Beric was wrong when he told Jon they only needed to kill the NK, beating the NK might stop the Wights he made himself but I don't think it stops the other White Walkers. I think GrrM and D&B are messing with the fans to make them think there is a death star style simple solution.

Maybe the Last Hero was the very first NK in the books and there is a long line of them like in Westeros history but in the show they are making only one or two (following the original bearded leader?) of them to simplify it. That is why there is Nights King and Night King confusion with GrrM and the 13th lord commander etc, even saying the original NK is like a myth and won't even appear in the books. Its probably too much to get into.

"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."

I think the main thrust will be, the NK moniker is a curse and you need to defeat him to take control of his army and stop them from wiping out Westeros.

Now what would the Last Hero/Night King want if he was to do something so horrible to himself in return from Westeros?

• Last Hero/NK is a Stark/Targ bastard child and also "Lightbringer"
• Azor Ahai and Nissa Nissa were Stark and Targ descendants -

There are videos out there and posts that suppose NK was a Stark bastard (Jon Snow is an evil name north of the wall). Again we have the issue of show vs book and the fact that the lore has many holes in it on purpose. Without going into other posts (and people can read or watch the youtube videos to see if they agree). At that time Starks and Targs might not have existed but they do mention dragonsteel so it is possible their descendants and blood did.

A Feast for Crows - At Castle Black Samwell Tarly tells Jon Snow that he found one account of the Long Night that spoke of the last hero slaying Others with a blade of dragonsteel. Supposedly they could not stand against it. Jon wonders if dragonsteel refers to Valyrian steel.

Might not be Targ's but Targ descendants could have been present at that time and the Last Hero/AA had a sword derived from their magic so he might have their blood. So suppose this person was a descendent of the Stark and Targs and also a bastard like Jon which would be the cyclical history of Westeros.

• They had a union of Ice and Fire to create Lightbringer (not a forge but a childbirth, there are videos that talk about how the sword is used often by GrrM as a euphemism for male anatomy and sex). Azor Ahai would be the father of the Last Hero/Lightbringer in the books possibly but the show might just eliminate all this and make Azor Ahai the Last Hero and Lightbringer in a flashback essentially the same legend and merge all the lore for simplicity.

The joke on the show being the Melissandre is seeing "Snow" as AA but it's not Jon Snow, it's actually the NK's original name. He was Azor Ahai (book version Last Hero), not Dany or Jon. But Jon can take his place...because he has the right mix of blood.

• Only a child of Ice and Fire can control the army of the dead. The "song" of ice and fire controls the dead.

The NK could have been looking for a replacement and that is why he keeps converting Crasters babies, he was hoping one would be able to take his place but it never worked. But I think only a child of ice and fire can lead the army of the dead and maybe he finally figured that out when he saw Jon at Hardhome. He could be fixated on Jon as his replacement, that might have been the cause of the stare-down.

So in addition to removing the curse what would the NK want and why move south now? If it was just Jon he would have attacked right after Lyanna gave birth or at any point since then. If you were ok being an evil dark ice lord to save westeros what changed your mind? What is a motivation that could make him different than a Sauron?

• Westeros is full of Oathbreakers:

Like Jon, the Last Hero/AA wanted to save his family. So this Stark bastard could have said something like this to the other leaders of Westeros knowing how they murder and cheat each other out of land before setting out to find the COTF and save Westeros from the White Walkers:

• I'll go but a Stark must always be in Winterfell. All the great houses (or their descendants) owe me big time. This was the oath that would be broken when Jon Arryn was killed and started the whole game of thrones that led to the fall of House Stark.

This would make the NK sympathetic to Jon. He was betrayed akin to how Jon was by the Nights Watch and also has suffered greatly for doing the right thing. Also, Westeros is full of oathbreakers even if they don't remember the oath, a Stark must always be in Winterfell...should have kept that one. Jon keeps his word to a fault...so if Westeros broke it and the NK is in the right...how would Jon react?

• Winter is coming - the threat if anyone ever moves the Starks out (which they did and so the NK moved south and winter came with him)
• The North Remembers ( pre-dates the red wedding) A warning, remember the pact.

The problem is they did forget the pact and they ended up pushing the Starks from Winterfell and unleashing the NK wrath against the Oathbreakers, the people of Westeros. So the NK is very much like Ned, someone who made the ultimate sacrifice for Westeros but was betrayed. Now he is back from the dead (and myth) for revenge. I think is may also be why they removed Lady Stoneheart, it is redundant in a TV show while it is good foreshadowing in a book.

Does this mean he is coming to "help" the Starks? No, not at all. I think he lost his humanity and as evidenced with his run ins with Jon he doesn't have any love for the Starks, the oath was simply broken and winter is coming. If they get in his way I think he'd kill them all too. In addition to revenge on the people of Westeros and the COTF.

I think this also explains why he hated the COTF and the Three Eyed Raven (he looked pissed when he found them in the cave) because they suckered him in the deal and didn't really tell him they made the White Walkers in the first place.

So now you go to help, make a deal with them, become cursed forever to stop this evil force only to find out it was the ones who cursed you who made the threat to begin with. That would motivate me to hate the COTF. Now I think he wants...

• Freedom - He needs a suitable replacement, a child of ice and fire to take his place and lead the army of the north. It could be Jon. My bet is that he wants Dany's child. There are times he could have killed both of them but let them live. If he can see the future he would know he has several options now if they have a child together.
• Revenge on Westeros for breaking their oath and removing the Starks and the COTF/Three Eyed Raven for their deception.
• The Song of Ice and Fire is the child of Jon and Dany that after all these years will produce an heir the NK can bestow his powers on. I think he wants their baby to take his place but it may be Jon that takes the burden in the end. I think this is the song though, the merging of both bloodlines that can take the NK curse and lead the army of the dead away.

I think Jon will come to learn the NK isn't the mindless evil he thought he was, was once a man like Jon who tried to save everyone around him and was betrayed in the process just as he was and left for dead...as is common in GoT. Will it end with Jon relieving the NK of his watch or the NK taking their child (obviously over their dead bodies) I don't know. I don't expect a fun sword fight ending with Jon Snow beheading the NK and destroying the army of the dead. I think the price to defeat them will be great and the secrets of the past will reveal Westeros to be at fault for causing all of this.

Submitted May 01, 2018 at 01:29PM by fearsundown https://ift.tt/2KsaiW9