The Winds Of Winter's Night King Replacement Will Fix 2 Game Of Thrones Mistakes

Image via HBO Published Sep 11, 2026, 3:17 PM EDT James Hunt is a writer and editor based in Newcastle, UK. A Sports Journalism graduate from the University of Sunderland, he quickly realized that supporting his local football (or "soccer") team, Sunderland AFC, was painful enough without having to write about it, so decided to write a load of nonsense about movies and TV instead. Sign in to your ScreenRant account The Winds of Winter will do things differently from Game of Thrones, and with that it can avoid some of its biggest villain mistakes, particularly with the Night King. The leader of the White Walkers became the overarching threat of the entire series until being killed by Arya Stark halfway through the eighth and final season, in a move that left many disappointed at how quickly it happened and just how much was left unanswered. There are plenty of reasons to believe things will be better in George R.R. Martin's remaining A Song of Ice and Fire books (after Winds, he also plans A Dream of Spring to conclude things). The benefit of time is a major one, but there are also crucial differences when it comes to the White Walkers. Most importantly, the Night King doesn't exist in the books, and was created for the show to provide a more typical villain for TV audiences. The absence of the Night King does raise questions, though, when thinking about where things will go in The Winds of Winter and Martin's potential endgame ideas. And since some of the plot beats that Game of Thrones hit with him are likely from the broad strokes the author provided, one solution may lie with another of the saga's big villains. How Euron Greyjoy Could Take On The Night King's Role In The Winds Of Winter Credit: MovieStillsDB Euron Greyjoy is one of the most exciting characters headed into the next book. While Game of Thrones wasted him, there is a lot of potential for the character, and The Winds of Winter's best preview chapter, titled "The Forsaken," largely concerns him, though it's told from the POV of his brother, Aeron. He has been captured and is being tortured by Euron, in a sequence that offers some of the darkest, most vivid imagery Martin has conjured. In the show, Euron's goals were pretty simple: get a crown and bed the queen. In the books, while both of those are certainly a factor, he seemingly has even grander ambitions. One theory is that he is plotting to unleash an Eldritch apocalypse on Westeros [h/t PoorQuentyn], with some sort of sea monster like a kraken to be called forth, and with him to be reborn as a God in the new world. As Aeron dreams of Euron: "He saw his brother on the Iron Throne again, but Euron was no longer human. He seemed more squid than man, a monster fathered by a kraken of the deep, his face a mass of writhing tentacles." In Game of Thrones, the one who wanted to unleash what was effectively a supernatural apocalypse upon the world was the Night King, but such goals seem to belong to Euron in the books. And even if it doesn't involve getting into some Lovecraftian monsters, there are more direct elements he could take. Key to this are two horns: Dragonbinder and the Horn of Joramun, aka the Horn of Winter. The former has been sent with Victarion Greyjoy to Meereen, because Euron has his eyes on Daenerys Targaryen and her dragons. The whereabouts of the Horn of Winter are unclear, but an old warhorn found by Samwell Tarly may actually be it. He still has it with him in Oldtown, which is where Euron's story happens to be headed. Dragonbinder is said to give the master control over a dragon who hears it, while the Horn of Joramun is said to possess the power to bring the Wall down. So, it is very possible that both will be blown in The Winds of Winter: one to give Euron a dragon, and the other to bring the Wall down, both of which were achieved by the Night King in Game of Thrones (though in that case, he used the dragon to achieve the Wall's destruction). The Citadel · Maester’s Examination How Well Do You Know Westeros? “When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die.” 🐺StarkWinter is Coming 🦁LannisterHear Me Roar 🐉TargaryenFire and Blood 🦌BaratheonOurs is the Fury 🐙GreyjoyWe Do Not Sow ENTER WESTEROS → 01 The Lannisters are the wealthiest family in Westeros, ruling from their ancestral seat. What is the name of their castle? AHighgarden BStorm’s End CCasterly Rock DThe Eyrie ✓ Correct! Casterly Rock sits atop gold mines in the Westerlands and has been the seat of House Lannister for centuries. The gold beneath it is the source of the family’s legendary wealth — though as Tywin once noted, the mines ran dry years ago. ✗ Dracarys! The answer is Casterly Rock. Highgarden belongs to the Tyrells, Storm’s End to the Baratheons, and The Eyrie to the Arryns. Casterly Rock has been the Lannister stronghold since Lann the Clever swindled it from House Casterly. NEXT → 02 Jon Snow rises through the ranks of the Night’s Watch to eventually hold what title — the highest position in the order? AFirst Ranger BLord Commander CMaster of Arms DWarden of the North ✓ Correct! Jon Snow was elected the 998th Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch by his sworn brothers. He was one of the youngest men to ever hold the title, following in the footsteps of legends like Jeor Mormont. ✗ Dracarys! The answer is Lord Commander. While Jon started as a steward, he was elected Lord Commander after the death of Jeor Mormont. Warden of the North is a different title entirely — one held by the Stark family. NEXT → 03 Daenerys Targaryen hatches three dragons from petrified eggs. Which of the following is NOT one of her dragons? ABalerion BDrogon CRhaegal DViserion ✓ Correct! Balerion “the Black Dread” was Aegon the Conqueror’s dragon, who died of old age over a century before the events of the show. Daenerys’ three dragons are Drogon, Rhaegal, and Viserion — named after Khal Drogo, Rhaegar, and Viserys. ✗ Dracarys! The answer is Balerion. Daenerys’ three dragons are Drogon (black and red), Rhaegal (green and bronze), and Viserion (cream and gold). Balerion the Black Dread was Aegon the Conqueror’s mount, dead long before Daenerys was born. NEXT → 04 The Red Wedding is one of the most shocking moments in TV history. At whose castle does this massacre take place? AHarrenhal BRiverrun CCasterly Rock DThe Twins ✓ Correct! The Red Wedding took place at The Twins, the castle of House Frey. Lord Walder Frey violated the sacred guest right by slaughtering Robb Stark, Catelyn Stark, and their bannermen during the wedding feast of Edmure Tully and Roslin Frey. ✗ Dracarys! The answer is The Twins. Walder Frey’s castle — two towers spanning the Green Fork — was where he broke sacred guest right to massacre the Starks. “The Lannisters send their regards” remains one of the show’s most chilling lines. NEXT → 05 Jon Snow wields a Valyrian steel bastard sword given to him by Lord Commander Jeor Mormont. What is the sword’s name? AIce BLongclaw CHeartsbane DOathkeeper ✓ Correct! Longclaw is a Valyrian steel bastard sword that was the ancestral weapon of House Mormont. Jeor gave it to Jon after he saved the Lord Commander from a wight, replacing the bear pommel with a white wolf for House Stark. ✗ Dracarys! The answer is Longclaw. Ice was the Stark greatsword (melted down by Tywin Lannister), Heartsbane belonged to House Tarly, and Oathkeeper was one of the two swords forged from Ice. Longclaw is the Mormont blade Jon carries throughout the series. NEXT → 06 Tyrion Lannister serves as Hand of the King to which ruler, expertly managing the defense of King’s Landing during the Battle of the Blackwater? ARobert Baratheon BTommen Baratheon CJoffrey Baratheon DDaenerys Targaryen ✓ Correct! Tywin sent Tyrion to serve as Hand in his place during Joffrey’s reign. Tyrion brilliantly orchestrated the defense against Stannis Baratheon’s fleet using wildfire, though he received no credit and was nearly killed in the battle. ✗ Dracarys! The answer is Joffrey Baratheon. Tyrion served as Joffrey’s Hand of the King in Season 2, appointed by his father Tywin. He later served as Hand to Daenerys, but it was under Joffrey that the Battle of the Blackwater took place. NEXT → 07 Jon Snow’s true parentage is one of the show’s biggest reveals. What is his real Targaryen name, given by his mother Lyanna Stark? AAegon Targaryen BAemon Targaryen CRhaegar Targaryen DJaehaerys Targaryen ✓ Correct! Lyanna Stark named her son Aegon Targaryen. He is the legitimate son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna, who were secretly married. This made Jon the true heir to the Iron Throne — a fact that changed the course of the final season. ✗ Dracarys! The answer is Aegon Targaryen. Lyanna whispered the name to Ned Stark in the Tower of Joy. Jon is the son of Rhaegar Targaryen (not named after him), making him Aegon — a name carried by many Targaryen kings, including the Conqueror himself. NEXT → 08 In the series finale, who is chosen by the lords and ladies of Westeros to rule the Six Kingdoms as king? AJon Snow BSansa Stark CTyrion Lannister DBran Stark ✓ Correct! Bran Stark — now Bran the Broken — was chosen as king of the Six Kingdoms at the Dragonpit council. Tyrion argued that Bran’s story was the most compelling reason to rule. Sansa became Queen in the North, and Jon was sent back to the Wall. ✗ Dracarys! The answer is Bran Stark. Tyrion nominated Bran at the great council, arguing “who has a better story than Bran the Broken?” Sansa was crowned Queen in the independent North, Jon returned to the Wall, and Tyrion served as Bran’s Hand of the King. REVEAL MY SCORE → The Citadel · Results Sealed Your Westeros Record ⚔ / 8 Did you claim the Iron Throne — or lose your head? ↻ PLAY THE GAME AGAIN Furthering this is that Euron's agenda may be linked to the Others. Another popular theory is that he has ties to the Three-Eyed Crow (changed to the Three-Eyed Raven in the TV show), given he is nicknamed the Crow's Eye, and he had dreams of flying as a boy, similar to Bran Stark's. It may be that Euron is a failed or rejected disciple of the Crow, and that he is at least somewhat aligned with the White Walkers and their goals because of that. Game of Thrones gave the Night King the motivation of wanting to kill the Three-Eyed Raven, and this might be where that idea came from. Likewise, Euron did kill a dragon in season 8, which could also have been something that was loosely taken from some of Martin's plans for the character. The Winds Of Winter Can Avoid Two Villain Mistakes That Game Of Thrones Made Image via HBO A lot of this is theoretical, but even if just some of it comes to pass, it will make Euron a much bigger villain than Game of Thrones ever managed to. Indeed, that's already the case in A Song of Ice and Fire, because Thrones turned him from a menacing, mysterious force who dabbled in the darkest of arts to a Temu version of Jack Sparrow, but The Winds of Winter can take it even further. He's primed to be, if not a main villain, then at least one of the most fascinating ones, and someone with the potential to cause sheer chaos and untold damage to the realm. He might not actually get to fulfill his apocalyptic goals of sea monsters and being reborn as a Drowned God, but he could do enough by taking a dragon and/or bringing the Wall down. This also highlights another advantage the books have when it comes to the White Walkers, because the lack of the Night King is a good thing here. Even if they were allied with Euron in some way, he is not the person leading them, and their actions as a supernatural force remain separate from his own. One of the problems with introducing the Night King is that you remove that aspect from the White Walkers. By having him, and showing that he was human, you in turn need to provide more of an explanation about who he is, where the White Walkers came from, why they're returning now, and so much more. And Game of Thrones was not forthcoming with those things, because it too often shied away from the more fantastical and magical aspects and instead focused on the political. If the Others start making more of a move in The Winds of Winter, they will still be operating like a supernatural force of nature, which is how Martin intended them, and it's much easier to achieve that without a figurehead. This way, both the White Walkers and Euron Greyjoy will both be better, and the overall story will be stronger for it. Publisher(s) Bantam Spectra Genre Fantasy Franchise A Song of Ice and Fire Author(s) George R. R. Martin Genre(s) Fantasy The upcoming sixth and penultimate book in George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series. The long-awaited sequel will continue the stories of Daenerys Targaryen, Jon Snow, Tyrion Lannister, and more characters who were brought to life in HBO's Game of Thrones.