1. Awakening on the Ice Crystal Throne
As the cold wind swept across the Haunted Forest's ice plains, the Night King opened his eyes.
It wasn't a 'seeing' in the human sense—his eye sockets were two solidified balls of blue light, like the only stars in the polar night, now reflecting the writhing army of wights below. He sat enthroned on a throne forged from ice crystals, a throne pieced together from thousands of frozen, cracked ice rocks. Each ice rock encased an ancient human skeleton, its finger bones still in a grasping posture, as if trying to break free from eternal ice.
Below the throne, three White Walker Generals knelt on one knee. Their armor was covered in translucent ice crystals, and the long spears in their hands radiated an bone-chilling cold. The general on the far left raised his head, his blue-light-flickering eyes meeting the Night King's, silently conveying information—the wight reconnaissance team had returned, bringing news from south of the Wall.
The Night King slowly rose. The ice crystal throne shattered into fine ice beneath his feet, dissipating with the wind. He was much taller than an ordinary man, the edges of his black cloak adorned with condensed icicles. With every step he took on the snow, he left deep blue ice crystal imprints, within which ancient runes were faintly visible—the curse the Children of the Forest had etched into his soul.
He walked towards the 'trophy' brought back by the reconnaissance team—a Night's Watch corpse. There were claw marks on the corpse's throat, but it hadn't been turned into a wight; instead, it was frozen solid. The Night King extended a pale finger. The moment his fingertip touched the corpse, the ice began to melt, revealing the wolf emblem on the Night's Watchman's chest—the symbol of House Stark.
A blue light flickered in his eye sockets.
Memories surged like an undercurrent beneath the ice: thousands of years ago, he too was human, a leader of the northern tribes, until the Children of the Forest plunged a dragonglass into his heart, transforming him into 'the first White Walker,' a weapon to guard the forest and fight against humanity. But later, humans and the Children of the Forest turned against each other, the Children of the Forest perished, and he became a weapon without a master, the embodiment of eternal winter. He hated humanity's betrayal, hated the Children of the Forest's manipulation, and even more so, hated the magic that left him neither truly alive nor truly dead—dragonglass and fire.
The wights of the reconnaissance team prostrated themselves on the snow. Their eyes also glowed blue, but much dimmer than the White Walkers' light. The Night King bent down, placing his palm on the head of the leading wight, instantly reading its memories: bonfires on the Wall, a dragonglass dagger in a Night's Watchman's hand, a black-clad man (Jon Snow) examining wight remains, and... red flames (Daenerys's dragonflame) flashing in the distant sky.
Fire.
The Night King's fingers tightened abruptly, and the wight's head shattered in his palm, ice crystals and black blood splattering. He stood up, looking south, his gaze piercing through thick clouds, through thousands of kilometers of snowfields and mountains, seeing the red walls of Meereen, seeing three dragons circling in the sky, seeing the black dragon on the golden-haired woman's (Daenerys) shoulder breathe fire, burning the slave masters' banners.
The blue light in his eye sockets sharpened.
He knew fire—it was a force opposed to him, a tool the Children of the Forest used to ignite dragonglass, a weapon humans used to drive away winter. And dragons were the embodiment of fire, the symbol of the Targaryen Family, the only beings in thousands of years truly capable of harming White Walkers. He had seen dragons on the ancient ice plains, seen the ancestors of the Targaryen Family ride dragons to battle White Walkers. In those times, winter was forced to retreat, until the number of dragons diminished, and humans once again fell into infighting.
Now, the dragons had returned.
2. Assembly Call on the Ice Plains
The Night King turned, facing the three White Walker Generals, and made a simple gesture: his left hand clenched into a fist, then slowly opened.
The White Walker Generals immediately rose. Amidst the flickering blue light, the sound of a horn echoed across the entire ice plain. It was not a human horn, but an instrument made from a giant ice shell, its sound deep and icy, capable of piercing through blizzards and reaching every corner of the ice plain.
The moment the horn sounded, countless pairs of blue-glowing eyes began to emerge from the snow.
First came the ordinary wights: dead northerners, wildlings, and even knights who had died hundreds of years ago. They wore tattered clothes, some clutching rusty swords, others bare-handed, yet all marched in synchronized steps, gathering towards the Night King's location. Then came larger creatures: dead mammoths, their tusks thick with ice, each step making the ice plain tremble; dead giant bears, human skeletons still hanging from their claws; and even a few giant corpses, their chests pierced by ice arrows, yet still able to hoist massive blocks of ice as siege weapons.
The Night King stood on high ground, watching the wight army converge like a tide. His gaze swept over every wight; each was his subject, a part of the eternal winter. He knew that humans called him 'the Night King,' and his army 'the Army of the Dead,' but they didn't know he was merely fulfilling his destiny—the world was meant to be eternal winter, and humans had disrupted the balance with fire and magic. Now, he would restore that balance.
A White Walker General walked to his side, pointing towards the depths of the Haunted Forest to the east. The Night King looked in the direction he pointed; the trees there were all frozen, icicles hanging from their branches like countless sharp knives. In the deepest part of the forest, there was a forgotten ruin, an ancient altar of the Children of the Forest, and in the center of the altar, a huge dragonglass was embedded—that was the last magic left by the Children of the Forest, and also what the Night King had always wanted to destroy.
He took a step, and the White Walker Generals and the wight army followed closely, walking towards the depths of the forest. The ice crystal imprints on the snow formed a long line, like a blue snake, winding across the ice plain.
Along the way, he encountered a group of migrating arctic foxes. Their fur was pure white, particularly conspicuous against the snow. The Night King stopped, the blue light in his eye sockets flickered, and the arctic foxes suddenly halted, their bodies beginning to freeze. A few seconds later, they turned into ice sculptures. Then, the ice sculptures cracked, and several 'ice foxes' with blue-glowing eyes emerged, joining the wight army.
This was his ability—to transform all living things into a part of the eternal winter, whether they were humans or animals, whether they were willing or not. He didn't need to ask for consent, didn't need to explain, because winter needed no reason, just as death needed no reason.
Arriving before the altar in the depths of the forest, the Night King looked up at the huge dragonglass. The surface of the dragonglass glowed green, the magic of the Children of the Forest, capable of suppressing the White Walkers' power. He stretched out his hand. Before his fingertip even touched the dragonglass, he felt a burning pain—that was the dragonglass's natural counter to White Walkers, the last shackles the Children of the Forest had left him.
He stepped back, gesturing to the White Walker Generals behind him. The White Walker Generals immediately stepped forward, their ice spears simultaneously striking the dragonglass. The moment the ice spears contacted the dragonglass, green light and blue ice crystals collided, emitting a piercing sound, and cracks appeared on the surface of the dragonglass. Then, the giants from the wight army stepped forward, striking the dragonglass with huge blocks of ice, once, twice, thrice... "CRACK!"
The dragonglass finally shattered, the green light dissipating into the air, replaced by blue ice crystals that covered the entire altar. The Night King stepped forward, picking up a piece of shattered dragonglass. The pain in his fingertip disappeared—the last shackles of the Children of the Forest had also been broken by him.
He looked up to the south, the blue light in his eye sockets becoming even brighter. Now, nothing could stop him, no dragonglass, no magic of the Children of the Forest, only human resistance and those three newly returned dragons.
He knew that dragons were powerful, that dragonflame could burn wights and even harm White Walkers. But he also knew that dragons were controlled by humans, and humans always made mistakes, always fought amongst themselves, always forgot the true threat for the sake of power. He had seen too much human infighting, seen the Targaryen Family slaughter each other for the iron throne, seen House Stark betrayed by Lannister Family, seen the northern lords wage war for land.
This time, it would be no exception.
3. Distant Omens of Fire
The Night King sat on the shattered dragonglass altar, closing his eyes (though he had no true eyelids, the blue light in his eye sockets dimmed), and began to sense the distant world.
His consciousness spread like ice mist, covering the entire North, covering the Wall, covering the southern kingdoms. He could sense the heartbeats of the Night's Watch on the Wall, sense the calculations of the officials in King's Landing, sense the breathing of the dragons in Meereen, sense the dagger in the hand of a little girl (Arya) in Braavos.
He first 'saw' the Wall: Jon Snow was inspecting a section of the wall, a dragonglass dagger in his hand, while Night's Watchmen beside him were moving wildfire, preparing to reinforce defenses. The Night King's consciousness lingered on Jon, blue light flickering—this man had human blood, and also... Targaryen blood?
The Night King's memories surged again: thousands of years ago, the Targaryen Family came from the East to Westeros, bringing dragons, and fought against White Walkers. Their bloodline carried the power of fire, capable of communicating with dragons and resisting winter. And this man named Jon, possessing both the wolf blood of House Stark and the dragonblood of the Targaryen Family, was a hybrid of fire and ice.
Interesting.
The Night King's consciousness continued south, reaching Meereen: Daenerys was in the council hall discussing plans to return to Westeros with Tyrion and Illyrio, while three dragons circled above the city, dragonflame occasionally falling, burning abandoned estates outside the city. The Night King's consciousness lingered on the dragons, the blue light turning icy—these three dragons were still young, their fire power not yet strong enough, but they were growing, becoming increasingly dangerous.
He 'saw' Tyrion devising economic plans, Illyrio drawing up routes for the return to Westeros, and Daenerys comforting the freed slaves. They thought they were establishing a new order, thought they could fight against the Lannister Family, but they didn't know that the true threat was in the North, approaching them.
The Night King's consciousness continued west, arriving in Braavos: Arya was playing a role in a theater, a small dagger (needle) in her hand, her eyes sharp, like a cat waiting for its prey. The Night King's consciousness lingered on her, and a blue light flickered—this little girl had the flame of revenge, the will to survive, and a faint magic still lingered on her dagger (needle was made of valyrian steel and could harm White Walker Generals).
He "saw" Arya practicing assassination at night, saw her evading the Faceless Men in the streets, and saw the list hidden in her pocket (Cersei, Joffrey, Ramsay Bolton...). She thought her goal was revenge, but she didn't know that when winter came, everyone on her list would become wights, becoming enemies she needed to fight.
The Night King's consciousness finally returned to the North, to The Citadel: Sam was consulting records about White Walker Generals in the restricted section, holding a scroll of the children of the forest's chronicle, on which was written, "dragonflame can break the White Walker Generals' bodies." The Night King's consciousness lingered on Sam, and the blue light became even colder—this bookworm had found a way to fight White Walker Generals, found the secret of fire and dragons. He would tell this secret to Jon, tell Daenerys, and unite humanity against the eternal winter.
He must be stopped.
The Night King opened his eyes (the blue light in his eye sockets brightened again) and made new gestures to the three White Walker Generals: two generals would remain on the ice field, accelerating the assembly of the wight army, including the bodies of sea monsters hidden in the deep sea; the third general would lead a small elite wight squad to infiltrate the Wall and assassinate that bookworm (Sam) in The Citadel, to destroy the "method of resistance" humanity had found.
The White Walker Generals took the order and immediately set off with their squad. Their figures disappeared in the snow, like ice melting into darkness.
The Night King looked south again, the blue light in his eye sockets flickering with anticipation. He knew this war would not end quickly; humans would resist, unite, and fight his wight army with dragonflame and dragonglass. But he also knew that the eternal winter would eventually come, for this was the world's destiny, his destiny.
He recalled the words the Children of the Forest spoke when they created him: "You will be the guardian of balance, fighting against human greed and destruction." But later, he understood that balance did not need a guardian, only destruction—destroying human greed, destroying human infighting, destroying everything humanity had built with fire and magic, and returning the world to its original state, to eternal winter.
Four, Undercurrents Beneath the Wall
Three days later, the elite wight squad led by the White Walker Generals arrived at the foot of the Wall.
The Wall, like a giant Ice Dragon, stretched between the North and the South, hundreds of feet high, covered in thick ice, with watchtowers and fortresses built by the Night's Watch. The members of the elite wight squad were all carefully selected: there were dead Night's Watch members familiar with the Wall's defenses; dead wildlings skilled in climbing; and several "ice wights"—their bodies covered in special ice crystals, able to resist ordinary flames, and even withstand dragonglass attacks for a short time.
The White Walker Generals stood at the foot of the Wall, looking up at the Night's Watch on the watchtowers. The Night's Watch were patrolling, their torches swaying in the wind, illuminating their vigilant faces. The White Walker Generals gestured, and several dead Night's Watch wights immediately moved. Dressed in tattered black clothes, they mimicked the Night's Watch's footsteps, approaching a crack in the Wall—a flaw discovered by a reconnaissance team. Due to disrepair, the ice at the crack had thinned, enough for wights to infiltrate.
The Night's Watch on the watchtower did not notice anything unusual, thinking they were their comrades patrolling below the Wall. It wasn't until the wights approached the crack and began to dig into the ice with ice picks that the Night's Watch realized something was wrong, immediately raised their bows, and shot burning arrows.
The arrows landed on the wights; ordinary wights were instantly ignited and turned to ash. But the "ice wights" were unharmed; their ice-crystal-covered bodies resisted the flames. They continued to dig into the ice, and the crack grew larger and larger, finally wide enough for a person to pass through.
The White Walker Generals were the first to enter the crack, with the elite wight squad following close behind. The inside of the crack was pitch black, with only the wights' blue glowing eyes providing faint illumination. The walls of the crack were covered in thick ice, with human carvings—left by the Night's Watch hundreds of years ago, recording their history of fighting White Walker Generals.
The White Walker Generals' fingers traced the carvings, and ice crystals condensed on his fingertips, covering those records, sealing them forever. He didn't need human history, didn't need human memory; he wanted to create new history, new memories—the history of eternal winter.
The squad passed through the crack and arrived on the south side of the Wall. This was a snowfield, with a Night's Watch patrol in the distance. The White Walker Generals gestured, and the squad immediately dispersed, hiding behind snowdrifts and rocks, waiting for the patrol to pass.
The patrol consisted of five Night's Watch members, their voices carrying across the snow: "I heard the Lord Commander (Jon) received a letter from The Citadel saying there are dragons in the East that can fight White Walker Generals..." "Dragons? Those are just legends, aren't they? I've only seen wights, seen their blue eyes..." "Legend or not, we must hold the Wall, we can't let those monsters through..."
As the patrol approached, the White Walker Generals suddenly rose, his ice spear piercing the leading Night's Watch member. Before the Night's Watch member could react, he was impaled by the ice spear, his body instantly freezing. The other Night's Watch members immediately raised their weapons but were surrounded by the elite wight squad. A few minutes later, the patrol was wiped out, their bodies transformed into new wights, joining the squad.
The White Walker Generals looked at the newly joined wights, a blue light flickering. These new wights were familiar with the southern terrain and the Night's Watch's communication methods, which would help the squad infiltrate better and complete their mission—assassinate Sam and destroy The Citadel's records.
The squad continued south, their target The Citadel, the bookworm who held the secret of "dragonflame against White Walker Generals." They knew that The Citadel was located in Oldtown, thousands of kilometers from the Wall, and would pass through many human towns and armies along the way. But they were not afraid, for they were emissaries of eternal winter, embodiments of death; human towns and armies would only become nourishment for their growth.
Five, The Foretelling of Eternal Night
Meanwhile, the Night King had completed the assembly of his wight army on the ice field.
Millions of wights were arranged in neat formations, stretching from one end of the ice field to the other. In the front rows were ordinary wights holding ice spears, in the middle were White Walker Generals riding Ice Dragon, in the back were giants and mammoths carrying ice blocks, and on the outermost flanks were reconnaissance units composed of ice foxes and ice wolves. The Night King stood at the very front of the army, his black cloak fluttering in the wind, ice crystals sparkling with blue light on his armor.
He raised his right hand, palm up, and instantly, the entire ice field began to shake. The ground cracked, and countless ice spikes erupted from underground, forming a massive ice wall that separated the wight army from the southern world. Then, he turned his palm down, and the ice wall began to move, pushing the wight army towards the Wall.
This was the foretelling of eternal night.
The Night King knew that when his army reached the Wall, humans would feel fear and despair. They would unite, fight him with dragonflame and dragonglass, and fight him with House Stark's wolfblood and Targaryen's dragonblood. But he also knew that fear and despair would make humans make mistakes, break their alliance, and plunge them back into infighting.
He recalled the war thousands of years ago: humans and the Children of the Forest united, fighting White Walker Generals with dragonglass and fire, forcing him back to the northern ice fields. But later, humans betrayed the Children of the Forest, annihilated them, and enjoyed the warmth and peace of the South alone. Now, humans were uniting again to fight him, this "common enemy," but he knew this alliance would not last, just like the alliance thousands of years ago.
The Night King's army continued its advance, the ice field trembling beneath their feet, and the blizzard following behind them. He looked up at the southern sky, where a few bright stars shone, what humans called the "Stars of the Seven Gods." He knew that humans believed in the Seven Gods, the Old Gods, and the lord of light, but they did not know that the true "God" was the eternal winter, and he was the embodiment of that eternal winter.
His gaze once again pierced through the clouds, seeing the dragons of Meereen, Jon's dragonglass dagger, Sam's the children of the forest's chronicle, and Arya's needle. These were all humanity's weapons against him, humanity's last hope.
But he didn't care.
Because eternal winter would eventually come, because he would eventually destroy everything, and eventually return the world to its original state.
The Night King stopped, standing at the highest point of the ice field, looking at the boundless wight army behind him. He made a gesture, and the White Walker Generals immediately blew new horns. This time, the horn blasts were louder, colder, spreading throughout the North, reaching the Wall, and every corner of the South.
This was the horn of attack.
This was the horn of eternal night.
In the Night King's eye sockets, the blue light flickered to its extreme, like two burning blue stars. He knew that it wouldn't be long before he reached the Wall, broke through human defenses, and let eternal winter cover all of Westeros.
And those humans, those who believed fire and dragons could save them, would eventually wail on the ice field, eventually become part of his wight army, eventually become part of eternal winter.
This was his destiny.
This was the world's destiny.
The blizzard grew fiercer, swallowing the Night King and his wight army. Only the blue light, flickering in the blizzard, like countless eyes, watched the southern world, waiting for the moment of attack, waiting for the moment eternal winter descended.