The Night King has been shrouded in mystery ever since he was first introduced in "Game of Thrones" Season 4's "Oathkeeper" episode when we saw him converting one of Craster's newborn sons into a fully fledged White Walker. Theories surrounding this mysterious White Walker leader, mostly revolve around his identity, his goal, and the reason why he is attacking now, after thousands of years. There is, however, one more thing, often overlooked by fans: the mystery of the Night King's sigil. So bear with us as we delve further into the exact meaning of this strange-looking symbol that could hopefully give us an answer about what The Night King really wants.
The Night King's book counterpart
In the previous article, we assumed that the show's Night King (given his godlike powers to resurrect and control the dead) is, in fact, the Great Other, the mysterious entity from George R. R. Martins' "A Song of Ice and Fire" books, the god of death, darkness, and most importantly the White Walkers, who is in eternal conflict with R'hllor a.k.a. The Lord of Light. But let's shift gears for a second and talk about the Night King's sigil. Take a look at a tweet below.
You can clearly see a symbol that looks like a skull of a crow with an eye on it. This clearly represents the Three-eyed Crow. And given the fact that the Night King is wearing this particular sigil it stands the reason to believe that it actually represents the White Walker deity, the Great Other, who may or may not be the Night King himself.
But what does the Great Other have to do with the Three-eyed Crow? Read on and you will find out.
night king sigil pic.twitter.com/JCGhu8vFCG
— Game of Thrones Season 8 theories (@GOTS8theories) 22. април 2018.
The Three-eyed Crow explained
According to YouTube channel Order of the Greenhand, the Three-eyed Crow that appeared in Bran's dreams was actually the Great Other in one of his many forms, and not Bloodraven.
Let's go through some evidence that supports this claim.
- In the books, Bran has three different types of dreams: Wolf dreams, Weirwood dreams, and the Three-eyed Crow dreams. When he dreams of Weirwood it "looks at him with its red eyes and calls to him with its twisted wooden mouth." And given the fact that Bloodraven has been attached to the Weirwood, it stands the reason to believe that he is coming to Bran in his dreams in the form of the Weirwood. So why would he suddenly begin to take the form of the Three-eyed Crow while continuing to visit Bran as a Weirwood as well? And Bran did have dreams with both the Three-eyed Crow and the Weirwood at the same time. It only makes sense if the Three-eyed Crow represents something else.
- Shortly after Ned was killed, Bran had a dream where he was visited by the Three-eyed Crow who took him down into the Crypts where he saw his father. And the next morning when he tried to get Hodor to take him down into the Crypts, Hodor refused to enter despite the fact that he was never afraid to do so before. And George R. R. Martin confirmed that Hodor was only afraid of entering the Crypts at that specific time. This most likely means that he was afraid of the Three-eyed Crow. Note that he has no problem entering Bloodraven's cave.
- When Bran finally reached Bloodraven, he asked him if he is the Three-eyed Crow. "A...crow?" Bloodraven replied clearly confused, "Once, aye. Black of garb and black of Blood." Meaning that he was once a crow as a member of the Night's Watch.
- Another indicator that Bloodraven isn't the Three-eyed Crow is the fact that he doesn't have three eyes, but just one red eye. "I have watched you for a long time, with a thousand eyes and one." Meaning that he watched Bran with his one red eye and a thousand different eyes of the Weirwood trees.
Now, given all that has been said, it appears that the Three-eyed Crow isn't Bloodraven, but a physical representation of the Great Other.
And if this deity is really the Night King, then this represents yet another instance where he was manipulating our characters by taking the form of the Three-eyed Crow and whispering in their dreams.
Don't forget to watch the Order of the Greenhand video for more details.