What was the real purpose of the White Walkers in Game of Thrones?
Game of Thrones
Updated Aug 30, 2026
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Contains spoilers: Major spoilers through Game of Thrones Season 8, E
Direct answer
In HBO's Game of Thrones, the White Walkers were originally created by the Children of the Forest as a magical weapon to defend themselves against the First Men. They later became an independent threat to all living things. The show says the Night King's final aim was to kill Bran—the Three-Eyed Raven, "the world's memory"—and thus "erase this world," but it never fully explains his deeper motive or how the White Walkers broke from their creators.
## Their confirmed original purpose
The Children of the Forest created the first White Walker, the Night King, during their war with the First Men. In Season 6, Episode 5, "The Door," Leaf explains that the Children were being slaughtered and their sacred trees destroyed, so they made the White Walkers to defend themselves. That is the clearest canonical answer to their original purpose: they were a weapon of war against humanity.
## What they became
By the time of the main story, the White Walkers no longer function as servants of the Children. The Army of the Dead kills Children of the Forest and threatens every living people in Westeros. The series implies that the weapon outgrew, escaped, or turned against its makers, but it never depicts or directly explains that change.
## The Night King's apparent final goal
At the Battle of Winterfell in Season 8, Bran says the Night King wants to "erase this world" and that Bran is its memory. This makes Bran his key target. However, the show never gives the Night King a spoken explanation, and it does not establish that erasing humanity or memory was the White Walkers' purpose from their creation.
## What happens when the Night King dies
Arya Stark kills the Night King in "The Long Night." The other White Walkers shatter, and the wights in the Army of the Dead collapse. This confirms that, in the show, his existence was the sustaining command link for the whole force.
## The books are different
In George R. R. Martin's published A Song of Ice and Fire novels, these beings are called the Others. Their origin, leader, and ultimate purpose remain unrevealed. The show's Children-of-the-Forest origin for the Night King is not confirmed book canon. The novel's legendary "Night's King" is also not established as the same figure as HBO's Night King.
The Children of the Forest created the first White Walker, the Night King, during their war with the First Men. In Season 6, Episode 5, "The Door," Leaf explains that the Children were being slaughtered and their sacred trees destroyed, so they made the White Walkers to defend themselves. That is the clearest canonical answer to their original purpose: they were a weapon of war against humanity.
## What they became
By the time of the main story, the White Walkers no longer function as servants of the Children. The Army of the Dead kills Children of the Forest and threatens every living people in Westeros. The series implies that the weapon outgrew, escaped, or turned against its makers, but it never depicts or directly explains that change.
## The Night King's apparent final goal
At the Battle of Winterfell in Season 8, Bran says the Night King wants to "erase this world" and that Bran is its memory. This makes Bran his key target. However, the show never gives the Night King a spoken explanation, and it does not establish that erasing humanity or memory was the White Walkers' purpose from their creation.
## What happens when the Night King dies
Arya Stark kills the Night King in "The Long Night." The other White Walkers shatter, and the wights in the Army of the Dead collapse. This confirms that, in the show, his existence was the sustaining command link for the whole force.
## The books are different
In George R. R. Martin's published A Song of Ice and Fire novels, these beings are called the Others. Their origin, leader, and ultimate purpose remain unrevealed. The show's Children-of-the-Forest origin for the Night King is not confirmed book canon. The novel's legendary "Night's King" is also not established as the same figure as HBO's Night King.