At the start of Game of Thrones, we meet the Stark family. There’s Ned, Catelyn, Robb
– and they all die. But we still got Sansa, Arya, Bran, Rickon's alive in the books, and
there's Jon, who’s secretly half-Targaryen, at least in the show . We tend to see the
Starks as the good guys, but the Stark family aren’t the Brady bunch – in Chapter 1,
Ned beheads a guy, and makes his sons watch. And the kids all get pets from a giant dead
wolf. It’s clear from the start that the Starks are connected to harsh ancient customs
and mysterious magic . Bran becomes a psychic tree god, Arya a Faceless assassin, and Jon
an undead prophetic warrior-king. The blood of House Stark is tied to the ancient secrets
of Winterfell and the Wall, the Night’s King and white walkers – which might hint
at the ending of Game of Thrones. According to legend, House Stark began eight
thousand years ago – after the Long Night, when the white walkers “came for the first
time” . The walkers were defeated by “the last hero” with the children of the forest
, or by Azor Ahai with a flaming sword – there are lots of different legends . But the walkers
went away, and Brandon the Builder raised the Wall to keep them out. Brandon also built
the castle of Winterfell – and started House Stark, who ruled as Kings of Winter for thousands
of years . Eventually, a people called the Andals invaded Westeros from across the sea,
bringing a new religion and culture. Only the Kings of Winter could resist them , and
that’s why the north keeps the customs of the First Men, worshiping the old gods – and
remembering things that others forget . It all ties back to the foundation of House Stark
in the fight against white walkers and winter. The ancient words of House Stark are a warning
that “Winter is coming” . The castle of Winterfell might be named for the place where
the white walkers were defeated – where winter fell. Winterfell is built on hot springs
that keep it warm through winter . And the crown of the Stark Kings was spiked with “iron”
– a metal of winter “to fight against the cold” . In the Winterfell crypts, the
statues of dead Starks have swords of iron – and it’s said that white walkers hate
iron . Winterfell might have magic defences against white walkers. Cause the Wall and
Storm’s End have protective spells , and Brandon the Builder is sposed to have built
them both – maybe he gave Winterfell protective spells as well. It’s said “There must
always be a Stark in Winterfell” , as though the Starks have an ancient responsibility
to defend the north from winter and white walkers.
But the story goes deeper than that. Along the Wall are nineteen castles, mostly abandoned
now. The oldest is the Nightfort – a dark and “sinister” place that’s connected
to the white walkers. There are stories of a “thing that came in the night” , that
killed people then brought them back as “shambling” slaves , like wights. There’s a tale of
a knight with eyes like blue stars , like a white walker. And the oldest Nightfort legend
tells of the Night’s King. In the TV show, the leader of the white walkers is called
the Night King, but he seems to be a different character to this Night’s King. Cause the
Night’s King was Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch, and he met a woman with skin cold as
ice, and eyes like blue stars – which sounds like she was a white walker. The Night’s
King made her his queen, and gave her his seed and his soul. Together they ruled the
Nightfort, and made sacrifices to the white walkers. Which might mean that they gave their
children to the walkers – like how the wilding Craster sacrifices his children. The Night’s
King and Queen ruled for thirteen years, until they were cast down by the Stark king, Brandon
the Breaker. All records of the Night’s King were destroyed, and his name was “forbidden”
– “wiped from the memory of man” . Why was the name of the Night’s King so important?
Well, Old Nan says that the Night’s King was the brother of Brandon the Breaker – that
the Night’s King “was a Stark” . So did an ancient Stark marry a white walker?
We can’t totally trust these old legends – no one really knows what happened thousands
of years ago . But the stories are there to give us hints, and there was obviously some
kinda white walker action at the Nightfort. Which might have been the plan from the beginning.
Cause in Book 3 we see the Black Gate, a “secret” “hidden” “magic gate” at the Nightfort
that lets Watchmen through the Wall. It’s made of a living weirwood face, at the bottom
of a deep dark well. It’s super creepy, and looks like the sorta gate you’d use
if you were secretly giving babies to white walkers. And thing is, the Black Gate is “as
old as the Wall itself” , it was built into the Nightfort from the start – was this
place designed for sacrifice to the white walkers? The Nightfort was the “chief seat”
of the Night’s Watch for thousands of years , it was the first castle on the Wall , possibly
built by Brandon the Builder, founder of House Stark. So why do its oldest legends point
to sacrifice and marriage to the white walkers? One popular theory is that the walkers weren’t
just defeated in the Long Night – there was actually a peace agreement. We know that
lots of wars in the north ended with the Starks marrying a daughter of their enemy – so
maybe the Long Night ended with the Stark Night’s King marrying a white walker. We
know that Craster makes peace with the walkers by sacrificing his children – so maybe sacrifice
at the Nightfort was part of this white walker peace deal. We also know that humans once
made a pact with the children of the forest – and this was done before a grove of weirwood
trees. Maybe the weirwood Black Gate represents a similar pact between white walkers and the
Starks. Maybe an marriage alliance with the white walkers is how the Starks become the
Kings of Winter, and built the icy Wall. Maybe the phrase “There must always be a Stark
in Winterfell” was part of this agreement. This is just speculation. If there ever was
a peace with the walkers, it’s now forgotten. But the Starks might still be connected to
the walkers by their blood – there’s a theory that the Starks are descended from
the Night’s King and his icy Night’s Queen . Game of Thrones is full of symbolic repetitions
and parallels [show Ned behead, Robb behead, Jon behead] – it’s like poetry, it rhymes.
And one of the stories that’s repeated is of a baby boy with a secret special bloodline
being raised as a Stark at Winterfell. For example, Jon Snow is secretly the son of Rhaegar
Targaryen, but Jon is raised as Ned Stark’s son at Winterfell. Another example is the
story of Bael the Bard – where the son of a wildling was raised as a Stark at Winterfell.
And there’s a similar story with Gilly’s baby. Remember that Gilly is one of the wives
of Craster, who gives his sons to the white walkers. When Gilly gives birth to a son,
she and Sam run south to save the baby – passing through the Black Gate at the Nightfort. The
plan is to raise Gilly’s baby as Sam’s bastard – and Jon considers raising the
boy at Winterfell . So over and over there’s a story of a baby boy with a secret bloodline
being rescued and raised at Winterfell. Maybe the same thing happened with a child of the
Night’s King. Like, we’re told that Brandon the Breaker cast down his brother the Night’s
King. What if Brandon found one of the Night’s King’s children at the Nightfort? Would
Brandon murder his own baby nephew, when kinslaying is such a crime in the north ? Or would Brandon
take his brother’s baby to Winterfell and raise him as his own – just like Ned raised
Jon, and the Starks raised Bael’s son. The story of Bael reveals that the Starks have
wildling blood. Maybe the story of the Night’s King reveals that the Starks have the blood
of the Night’s Queen – the blood of white walkers.
We are told that the Starks are “not like other men” – that they’re “made of
ice” , and “made for the cold” . Old Stark kings included Brandon “Ice Eyes”
, and Edrick “Snowbeard” . They named their sword Ice – just like white walkers
use swords of ice. Maybe to the ancient Kings of Winter, the words “Winter is coming”
was a boast, and a threat. Cause the ancient Starks didn’t accidentally take over the
north. They conquered it, kingdom by kingdom – slaughtering men, stealing wives, wiping
out entire houses . These Starks were bad guys who did “terrible things” . Maybe
in this brutal past the Starks embraced their white walker blood, just as the Targaryens
embrace their blood of the dragon in their conquests. There’s a great symmetry in the
Targaryens having fiery dragon blood , if the Starks have icy white walker blood. But
being related to ice demons musta gone out of fashion, because now the Starks seem to
wanna to deny their white walker heritage. Like that’d be why they hide the Stark name
of the Night’s King. And these iron swords in the crypts – we’re told that they keep
“the spirits of the dead locked [in] their tombs” . Why do the Starks need to lock
away their own ancestors? Maybe cause their ancestors are part white walker. Maybe the
Starks started using these iron swords to lock away their icy heritage. Maybe the iron
in the crown of the Kings of Winter is there to suppress the white walker in the mind of
each Stark. Maybe Winterfell isn’t built just to keep walkers out – it’s built
to keep white walkers in. This whole thing could be very Lovecraftian.
H. P. Lovecraft was a horror writer who influenced Game of Thrones author George Martin – there
are Lovecraft references all over the world of Thrones, go watch our East video. And one
of Lovecraft’s recurring ideas is the fear of something terrible in your ancestry. In
one story, called The Shadow over Innsmouth, the narrator finds out that he’s descended
from evil fish gods called Deep Ones. He tries to resist the Deep Ones, but ends up joining
them in the sea. Maybe, similarly, the Starks will discover to their horror they’re descended
from white walkers – but will have no choice but to join them. Remember that Gilly’s
baby was meant to be sacrificed to the white walkers – apparently to be transformed into
one. So when Gilly and Sam take the baby south instead, the white walkers come after them
– to take back the baby that was promised . Maybe that’s what’s happening with the
Starks. Like, if the Starks are all descended from a baby of the Night’s King who was
meant to be sacrificed, maybe the walkers are now coming south to take back what’s
owed – to take the Starks as their own. Jon Snow is set up as the guy to beat the
white walkers. But surely the story won’t end with just like a sword fight with the
Night King. Author George Martin says that Game of Thrones isn’t about good guys fighting
bad guys , it’s about conflicts within the human heart , like love versus duty, survival
versus sacrifice . And that’s what Jon’s story’s all about. He sacrifices his honour,
his love, his own life. Maybe now he’ll have sacrifice himself to the white walkers.
He is “the Prince That Was Promised” – in more ways than one . Maybe he’ll represent
the Stark blood promised to the white walkers. Jon makes peace with the wildlings. Maybe
he’ll make peace with the white walkers. It could be another marriage pact – Jon
could become the new Night’s King. There are lines in the books about Jon having armor
made of ice , and his skin growing pale and cold . The tragedy here would be that Jon
has just fallen in love with Daenerys. So again he’ll have to choose between love
and duty, between fire and ice – between banging his aunt, and becoming a popsicle
king to save the world. It’s fantasy and it’s human drama and it’s bittersweet
– this could be the ending of Game of Thrones. If you liked this video, please like and subscribe,
we’ll be making lots more videos for the final season of Game of Thrones. For more
on the Starks and white walkers, check out Lucifer Means Lightbringer, Ideas of Ice and
Fire , Gray Area and others – the community’s done lots of great analysis on this stuff.
Thanks to artists Oriana Weisner, Klaradox, pahapasi, and Ertaç Altınöz. This video
topic was chosen by the Patrons at patreon.com/AltShiftX. Thanks to Patrons DrB, Gyovai Dóra, Jack
Ierfone, Travis Leleu, William Applegate, Story Hideo-Smith, MajorasMasque, Jordan Bell,
Max Campagna, Casper Sedgwick, Sam Goss, and solvalent. Cheers.