Who Is the Night King? The White Walkers' Leader Could Be One of These 4 People

Reddit user turm0il26 is responsible for the brilliant theory that Bran is actually the Night King, and as season seven has progressed, it's only becoming more plausible. The theory suggests that Bran is flying through time desperately trying to stop the White Walkers before they have a chance to wreak havoc in the present. Ignoring the Three-Eyed Raven's warning that "the ink is dry" on history, Bran will eventually warg into the First Man who is kidnapped by the Children of the Forest and turned into the Night King. Unfortunately for Bran, when the dragonglass is plunged into the man's heart, the youngest living Stark will become trapped in his body and ultimately become the monster he had hoped to defeat.

It has been well-established that the Starks are descendants of the First Men who found themselves engaged in a battle with the Children of the Forest before the arrival of the Andals. Their history is intrinsically tied to the North, and that could explain why Bran and Jon are both so drawn to the battle against the White Walkers. The Starks are determined to defend their home and the realm, but what if their blood is what provides them with a direct link to the Night King? If he was a Stark when he was human, then that could explain how he could see and touch Bran, and it could possibly also hint at why he seems so focused on Jon. The blood of the First Men could form a bond between the Night King and his present-day descendants that allows them to feed off of the different forms of magic they both seem to possess.

The books offer a small clue that there is indeed a connection between the Starks and the Night King, since the book's version of the character is actually the 13th Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, who is a rumoured ancestor of the Stark family. However, his origin story doesn't involve the Children of the Forest.

In the A Song of Ice and Fire book series, the Night King is more of a myth, like Azor Ahai, instead of an actual character as he is in the show. Because of that, some book fans have speculated the Night King will be reborn, and if Reddit user theDarkLordofMordor's theory is correct, then Jon is destined to fulfill that role. Even though the books and the show's versions of the White Walker storyline are quite different, it's not beyond the realm of possibility that Jon could be the Night King. He's shown that his bravery can be a dangerous thing for him and those he loves. What if his most foolhardy plan of all is having Bran help him travel back to the war between the First Men and the Children of the Forest in order to take the place of the original Night King?

The Three-Eyed Raven was capable of accompanying Bran on jaunts through time, so it may well be within Bran's power to show someone else the past — or make them a part of it. This would add a devastating twist to the tale if it led to Daenerys killing Jon as the Night King, proving that she is the Prince or Princess Who Was Promised after all by mirroring how Azor Ahai forged his flaming sword by plunging it into the heart of the woman he loved.

Ultimately, the Night King's human identity may never come into play. He's just as likely to be a metaphor for the greatest enemy of them all: death. In an interview with Deadline, showrunner D.B. Weiss explained:

"I don't think of the Night King as a villain as much as Death. He is not like Joffrey, or Ramsey. He's not really human anymore. To me, evil comes when you have a choice between that and good, and you choose the wrong way. The Night King doesn't have a choice; he was created that way, and that's what he is. In some ways, he's just death, coming for everyone in the story, coming for all of us. In some ways, it's appropriate he doesn't speak. What's death going to say? Anything would diminish him. He's just a force of destruction. I don't think we've ever been tempted to write dialogue for the Night King. Anything he said would be anticlimactic."

The Night King may be the true god of death. And what do we say to the god of death? Not today.

It's no accident that the show's greatest villain is also its most mysterious. Whether there is a major twist in the Night King's story coming or not, he will remain the scariest monster of them all.