Recently, it was revealed that House of the Dragon wasn’t the only Game of Thrones prequel in the works and that HBO cancelled a spinoff known as Bloodmoon. The prequel would have taken place years before both stories during the fabled Age of Heroes and the wintry apocalypse known as The Long Night, a time when then there were no dragons and the First Men and Children of the Forest first fought against the White Walkers. However, now that we’ve completed the first season of House of the Dragon, fans are begging HBO to make a prequel series focus on The Night King (and his White Walkers) again.
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The final season of Game of Thrones will go down in history as one of the most controversial pieces of media ever conceived. The immense task of ending such a beloved show on a high note was something that showrunners D. B. Weiss and David Benioff couldn’t pull off, at least not without some major hiccups along the way. One of the most disappointing aspects of the series finale is how little we know about the White Walkers and The Night King. Even though we’ve been told since Season 1 that the White Walkers are the ultimate threat to all life in Westeros, the undead army barely makes itself known in the latter seasons at all. After a rather anticlimactic battle in Winterfell, the Night King and the White Walkers are entirely omitted from the series’ lore.
Considering how meticulous George R. R. Martin’s writing is, I find it hard to believe that he plans for the White Walkers to play such a small role in his upcoming novels. To make things worse, we’ve been fed small pieces of lore regarding the White Walkers and the First Men throughout the series, only for it to make no difference in the end.
For these reasons, I believe that the next logical step for HBO – after the upcoming Jon Snow series – is to concentrate on a prequel series regarding the White Walkers, with a special focus on their dreaded leader, the Night King.
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Myths and legends in the world of Game of Thrones are but another name for historical records. With House of the Dragon, we’ve seen many of the tales about the Targaryens and their propensity for madness or greatness were spot-on. Perhaps the same could apply to the mystery behind the White Walkers, and the Long Winter they carry with them.
A White Walkers/Night King show would have to focus on two things: who the White Walkers are, and what effect they had on the delicate balance of life in the North. We know for a fact that a legendary Stark, Bran the Builder, was instrumental in the first battles against the undead, and was even one of the masterminds behind the construction of the Wall.
What we want to know is what purpose the White Walkers serve for the Children of the Forest who created them. Was it all retaliation for the rapid expansion of the First Men’s territory? Or was there some other hidden meaning behind the creation of such a deadly weapon?
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In any case, the show would have to focus on what is known as the Age of Heroes of Westeros. This would also mean that a White Walker / Night King prequel show would be a vastly different affair than the usual Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon we’re used to seeing. It would still be a high fantasy tale, but with a much larger focus on magic and arcane knowledge that might give a whole other meaning to many of Game of Thrones‘s plot elements.
Sadly, a prequel show that focuses on the White Walkers and the Night King was announced but is now cancelled, so all we can do right now is come up with our own lore theories. Perhaps the Jon Snow show will expand upon the mythos behind these enigmatic creatures, as they play such an integral role in the life (and resurrection) of the last Targaryen.
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