Game of Thrones  is going strong (thank the Former Gods, the New Gods, the Lord of Low-cal, the Many-Faced God, and The Drowned God), so it's fourth dimension for a refresher on ane of the most of import elements of the prove: The White Walkers.

These ancient, terrifying, mummy-like antagonists with their ice zombie army are becoming increasingly vital as Game of Thrones races towards its inevitable conclusion. As everyone and their female parent (i.e. Cersei) is vying for the Iron Throne, a desperate few know that the true threat lies beyond The Wall… and that it'southward coming for the globe of men.

Hither's everything you need to know near The White Walkers:

Who are the White Walkers?

The White Walkers are leaders of an ice zombie horde known as "wights" seemingly intent on destroying the world of men. They come from the far Due north, deep across The Wall, but have been organized nether the rule of the Dark King and are making their style south to Westeros as we speak.

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Prototype via HBO

Non that anyone besides the wildlings, Jon Snowfall, the Night's Sentinel, and Ser Davos are taking the threat seriously, though. In the kickoff trailer for Flavor 7, we hear Davos tell someone: "If nosotros don't put bated our enmities and band together, we will die. And and so information technology doesn't thing whose skeleton sits on the Iron Throne." Listen to the homo, dammit!

Where did the White Walkers come up from?

The White Walkers were created by the Children of the Woods thousands of years ago as a form of protection against the Commencement Men who were cut their sacred copse and slaughtering their tribe. (Rude). The White Walkers were originally Beginning Men themselves, before being captured by the Children of the Forest to be changed into weapons. The Children of the Wood pressed dragonglass daggers into the chests of these Get-go Men to create the start White Walkers.

Eventually, the White Walkers rebelled, Cylon-style, from their lives of forced war-making and decided to make war on their own terms, attacking the living indiscriminately and becoming the most feared creatures in all of Westeros. Or and so the legends say. We've yet to hear the White Walkers' side of the story.

Who is the Dark King?

The Night King (or sometimes called Night'south King) is most recognizable of The White Walkers. You lot've probably seen this icy bad guy in a meme or gif, raising his artillery in an "Are you non entertained?" gesture every bit he resurrects a whole hordes of fallen wildling corpses into wights. Considering that'southward something he can do.

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Prototype via HBO

The Night King was the outset of the White Walkers. He was one of the First Men before he was turned into something else past the Children of the Forest. He has the power to turn human infants into White Walkers, as we saw with Craster's sons who were given as sacrifices to the Night King in return for Crasters' and his breed'due south safety. He also raised Dany'southward dragon Viserion from the dead, and rode him while destroying the Wall. Talk about flex.

What practice the White Walkers want?

I mean, they're probably pretty mad nearly that enforced slavery thing. Likewise, they were created with a atypical purpose — war — using untested magic as the instrument. In other words: The Children of the Forest were just kind of badly winging it. They were playing with burn (or, in this instance, water ice) and almost definitely got burned. Now, they're getting everyone else burned, too.

Perhaps, given their origins, the White Walkers are incapable of wanting anything other than to conquer. Or maybe they're just actually angry. Frankly, this is the Children of the Forests' fault, though it seems like a low blow to harp as well much on this point, given that most of them are expressionless, many at the hands of The White Walkers themselves.

Have the White Walkers attacked Westeros before?

Yep. Roughly 8,000 years ago, during the longest winter in recorded history (it lasted an unabridged generation), the White Walkers struck Westeros. Information technology was not good, but, eventually, the people of Westeros joined forces and, with the help of the Children of the Forest and the giants, drove the White Walkers back into the North. The Wall was built to keep the zombie horde at bay, and the Night's Watch took their first pledge. Since then, the White Walkers have faded into fairy tale and most people in the world of men think they are simply a scary story made upwardly to keep children in bank check.

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Paradigm via HBO

What do we know of the White Walker civilization?

Well, we know they speak a language called Skroth, which author George R.R. Martin describes as sounding like the peachy of water ice. Some of the White Walkers we have seen on the show have crown-similar horns of water ice, suggesting they are office of some kind of ruling class. This form of White Walker has always been seen wearing black armor. The Night King leads them.

What do the White Walkers believe in? Melisandre claims the White Walkers worship a god chosen the Great Other who is basically the Lord of Lite'southward enemy. It is unclear if the Great Other is related to whatever of the many other religious deities we have heard about on this evidence and then far.

Update: In Season 8, Bran reveals that the Dark King wants to destroy him considering he holds all of the history of man. The Dark Male monarch has evidently tried to come for other 3-Eyed Ravens for the same reason, just now that he has marked Bran, information technology seems clear that the White Walkers want to destroy whatever remaining semblance of the living and their world. -- Allison Keene

What powers practice White Walkers have?

White Walkers are super strong and also seem to have some sort of ability to dispense the weather. They usually appear accompanied past a blizzard and dropping temperatures. That's but how White Walkers roll.

Update: Confirmed. The Nighttime King called downwardly a mighty, zero-visibility blizzard that threw the Boxing of Winterfell into chaos and dislocated both Daenerys and Jon and their dragons. - Dave Trumbore

White Walkers have the ability to freeze anything they touch, as we saw in Season 2 when a White Walker froze Sam'southward sword to the shattering signal. Maybe near terrifyingly, the White Walkers are able to reanimate corpses of fallen men, turning them into wights. Wildlings have taken to burning their corpses to prevent them from being added to the White Walkers' increasingly massive army.

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Prototype via HBO

The Dark Rex in particular has demonstrated further power. In addition to his aforementioned ability to turn man infants into White Walkers, he can plow hundreds of corpses into wights with the raising of his arms (the wights and so deed in a singular hive-mind, and come to save others who are in peril), can cause fissures in the basis, and can marker a person for pursuit every bit he does with Bran in Season 6. Once marked, it is rumored that no bulwark can prevent the Night King from post-obit his casualty, which has led many fans to speculate that Bran's mark volition help the Night Male monarch and his army laissez passer The Wall (as has indeed come to laissez passer).

Update: Oh, and he can besides reanimate expressionless dragons into wight/undead dragons. Aye. (Bears, too, but c'mon. Dragons.) In the Season 7 finale, nosotros saw the reanimated Viserion equally a mount for the Night King, able to destroy the Wall with his blue fire. With the Wall destroyed and the White Walkers marching south, we volition soon see how Viserion might interact with his living brothers ...- Dave Trumbore

Update the second: There was a dragonfire fiiiiight! o/ - Dave Trumbore

Tin White Walkers be killed?

Yeah, information technology'due south not easy, every bit Sam discovered the terrifying way. White Walkers are vulnerable to blades made from dragonglass or Valyrian steel. Jon Snow uses his Valyrian steel sword Longclaw to take out a White Walker at the boxing of Hardhome in Flavour 5. Unfortunately, the art of forging Valyrian steel has been lost, which means at that place are a express number of Valyrian swords left in the earth. For more than on Valyrian steel, bank check out our primer on the subject.

Unlike wights, information technology is much harder to burn down a White Walker because they are and so common cold, though there is speculation that dragonfire might exercise the trick.

Update: Turns out that "dracarys" won't get the job washed confronting the Nighttime Male monarch himself, even when the large bad takes a full nail of dragonfire from big ol' Drogon. Good try though!

Update:When a White Walker falls, still, the wights they resurrected lose their mobility mojo. This was previously but seen during Season 7, Episode 6 "Beyond the Wall" but played a big part in the survival of the people of the North. Arya'due south deathblow to the Night Male monarch with her Valyrian steel dagger non but turned the icy leader to powder, his entire army besides crumbled into uselessness. Handy, that! - Dave Trumbore

Are the White Walkers an allegory for something?

A number of online critics accept commented on the thematic similarities betwixt the White Walkers and climatic change. Vocalisation's Christophe Haubursin and Zack Beauchamp made a whole video well-nigh it in 2015, while the New Statesman'southward Laurie Penny put it rather succinctly in 2016 in her story "Why Game of Thrones is the perfect bear witness for the modernistic age":

"Correct now, the really frightening prospect is that the world is actually being run by vicious idiots with only one-half a program between them who are also decorated fighting each other to pay attention to the weather condition, which is nearly to kill the states all."

Are the White Walkers going to kill anybody in Westeros?

Probably — and anybody west of Westeros, too.

Update: Sadly, for some fans out there, the White Walkers, wights, and Night King are probably no more afterward Arya'south successful stab. While that certainly wipes out the biggest threat in the Known Earth, information technology too probable robs the show of the nigh interesting dramatic tension it's ever had. These terminal three episodes volition prove out whether that's true or not.

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Image via HBO
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Image via HBO
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Epitome via HBO

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