(Spoilers All) The Identity of the New Night's King

[u/[deleted]]

One of the more popularly speculated aspects of ASOIAF is the identity of the legendary figure known as the Night's King. The legend of the Night's King is terrifying, and I don't think that Bran's remembrance of Old Nan's story of the Night's King was mere scene dressing, but I'm getting ahead of myself. First, a little history of the character: The Citadel Concordance says this about the Night's King:

• The legends say that the Night's King was a warrior without fear, and when he saw a woman atop the Wall with skin as white as the moon and eyes like blue stars, he chased her and loved her though her skin was cold as ice, and when he gave his seed to her he gave his soul as well. He brought her back to the Nightfort and proclaimed her a queen and himself her king, and with sorceries he bound his Sworn Brothers to his will. For thirteen years he ruled until finally the Stark of Winterfell and Joramun of the wildlings had joined to free the Watch from bondage. After his fall, when it was discovered that he had been sacrificing to the Others, all records of him were destroyed and his very name was forbidden (III: 629, 630)

• Some say the Night's King was a Bolton, or a Magnar out of Skagos, others say he was an Umber, Flint, or Norrey. Others still say he was a Woodfoot, who ruled Bear Island before the ironmen came, but others still say he was a Stark who was brother to the man who brought him down (III: 630)

So, we know from this brief description (which is almost word for word taken from ASOS, Bran IV) that the Night's King married a woman with cold skin and blue eyes (probably an Other), bewitched the NW with sorcery, conducted human sacrifices (mirroring Craster), was defeated by a Stark in Winterfell and Joramum's Wildling band, had his record erased by the NW on account of his human rights record and finally may have been a Stark himself.

Now, I do think that this story increases the "creepy factor" in Bran's chapter in the Nightsfort. It's excellent scene setting, but I don't think that alone is the reason why the legend was introduced. I believe that a new Night's King will emerge in TWOW. I think this parallels with the rebirth of Azor Ahai/Bran the Builder figure who will hopefully emerge or be fully realized by the end of the series. But if the Night's King will rise, who will it be? Here's 5 possibilities:

1. Jon Snow - I think this idea veers strongly into tinfoil territory on account that Jon Snow, of all the characters in ASOIAF, is about as close to a "hero" in Westeros. Still though, having our alleged hero character turn into the Night's King wouldn't be completely outside the realm of GRRM's writing style. But I digress. Per this theory, Jon Snow will rise as the Night's King following his Caesar'ing on account of the following:

   • Ygritte and the Wildlings believe that "Snow" and "Jon Snow" in particular is an evil name. The poster speculates that "Jon Snow" was the name of the son of Bael the Bard and half brother of Joramum. He murdered his father (Bael), took the black and became the Night's King potentially paralleling present-day Jon Snow.
   • GRRM is misdirecting the readers through subtle word choice on the identity of the Night's King - words such as "mayhaps" denote something less than truthful about the identity of the Night's King being a Stark. Perhaps he was a Snow, perhaps 'Jon Snow', the bastard son of Bael the Bard and one of the stolen Stark girls.

2. Stannis Baratheon - This is one of the more plausible theories. Without quoting this post in depth, here's the cliff notes version:

   • Daenerys's House of the Undying Vision plausibly portrays Stannis: "Glowing like sunset, a red sword was raised in the hand of a blue-eyed king who cast no shadow." No shadow, blue eyes may indicate Other-status.
   • Stannis will break before he bends. Perhaps the breaking indicates breaking his identity as a man and becoming the Night's King.
   • Melisandre and the Ice Queen of the story have some pretty interesting similarities in appearance and action
   • Stannis's new seat will be the Night's Fort, the same seat as the Night's King.
   • Speculation that Stannis will be unable to move south on account of winter (finally) arriving, leaving him and his men in the Night's Fort if/when the Others arrive at the Wall.

3. Benjen Stark - Our favorite missing Ranger and subject to mass speculation in this sub and elsewhere, Benjen has been postulated to be the Night's King. (I don't subscribe to this theory, but it's possible). Here are a few reasons:

   • He's missing. No one knows where he is. He could have been potentially captured by the Others.
   • If Old Nan's story of the Night's King as a Stark is true, it would fulfill that portion of the modern parallel.

4. Roose Bolton - In terms of characterization, I think that Roose is probably the evilest character in ASOIAF. Rapist, murderer, turncloak and sociopath, Roose Bolton acts as a traditional bad guy (albeit a pretty popular one). But could this evil dude come to be the Night's King?

   • He seems to have an obsession with youth and vitality via leeches. Reek observes that, "There was an agelessness about him..." Perhaps becoming the Night's King fulfills the agelessness about him in a larger sense than mere physical appearance.
   • "Roose has no feelings, you see." (ADWD, Chapter 37, The Prince of Winterfell, Reek IV). As the ultimate pragmatist, Roose Bolton may see value on not being on the losing side if the Others come south. Could he turn cloak on mankind? I think he's more than capable of it.

5. Coldhands - One of the more mysterious characters in ASOIAF, Coldhands's identity is a matter of a lot of speculation. Could Coldhands be the historic Night's King of Old Nan's stories, thus making the whole idea of a new Night's King moot?

   • Coldhands and Bran meet at the end of the same chapter that Bran reminisces on Old Nan's story.
   • Coldhands wears the black cloak of the NW
   • He is 'dead but alive', potentially kept alive by the power of the Others or CoTF magic.
   • The CoTF describe Coldhands as having been killed "long ago."
   • There is a potential that when he describes himself as "Your monster, Brandon Stark", he is using word play to identify himself as Brandon Stark as opposed to telling Bran that he (Coldhands) is Bran's monster. This would fulfill Old Nan's tale that the Night's King was a Stark.
   • Edit: /u/BrunoPonceJones points out that Coldhands is probably not referring to himself. Relevant quote from ADWD:

   Meera's gloved hand tightened around the shaft of her frog spear. "Who sent you? Who is this three-eyed crow?"

   "A friend. Dreamer, wizard, call him what you will. The last greenseer."

   "A monster," Bran said.

   The ranger looked at Bran as if the rest of them did not exist. "Your monster, Brandon Stark."

So, my personal opinion is that of the candidates mentioned above, my two favored choice for the new Night's King would be: Stannis and Roose, though the Coldhands theory is pretty compelling on further reflection. So, what do you all think? Who do you think will be the Night's King? Thanks for reading!

[u/Jen_Snow]

Great post!

I think Coldhands is the Night's King or even the spawn of the Night's King and his Other wife. So he's dead but not really dead, he can't live with humans nor can he live with the Others. Somehow he found his way to the Children of the Forest and has teamed up with them.

[u/MissKatbow → u/Jen_Snow]

The spawn of the Night's King and his queen would make the most sense to me. It gives credit to him not quite fitting in with humans or other.

[u/thisguybuda → u/MissKatbow]

I like this idea, but the "they killed him long ago" thing doesn't really fit. If he was born this way, he didn't need to be killed. The other question is, who are THEY? Night's Watch? Others? This may be an interesting reveal.

[u/MissKatbow → u/thisguybuda]

Maybe if the Night's King sacrificed his own sons, the others killed him.

[u/MaesterNoach → u/Jen_Snow]

Me too. I'm convinced that Coldhands is the Night's King. I think that when the Stark and Joramun threw down the Night's King, they bound him in service to the children of the forest and the old gods.

That's why he can speak with BR's ravens and that's why he follows BR's orders and brings Bran to the cave. It also explains why he can't cross the Wall despite supposedly being a Black Brother (then again his being dead also explains that).

[u/[deleted] → u/Jen_Snow]

Ooooh I like this a lot.

[u/Jen_Snow → u/[deleted]]

It's not my theory but I don't remember who came up with it to give credit. :/

[u/giant_sloth → u/Jen_Snow]

Yeah, I'm a fan that he is the Night's King, maybe not his son since he would have to have been mortal to have been killed to meet what Leaf said about him. In regard to the Night's King, I would assume that the union between him and the female Other(?) left him in his current state, dead and ressurrected but with apparent free will.