Everyone loves a good villain, and the massive sum of TV viewers who watch HBO's fantasy drama Game of Thrones know this all too well. Between Joffrey, Ramsay, and Euron Greyjoy, there's always been plenty of characters up to no good. But there is another villain who, although silent, has been a constant threat in Game of Thrones since the opening scene of episode one. That's right, I'm talking about the Night King and his army of undead warriors. This badass dude shows up once or twice a season, reminding us that the real threat is beyond the wall. The only problem is, when the hell are we going to hear him speak?
Game of Thrones co-creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss recently sat down with the folks over at Winteriscoming.net, where they were asked about the Night King's surprising lack of dialogue. It turns out this was a purposeful choice, and he ain't talking anytime soon.
We don't think of The Night King as a villain as much as Death. He is not someone who's like Joffrey or Ramsay. He's not really human anymore. Evil comes when you have a choice between that and good, and you choose the wrong way. The Night King doesn't have a choice; he was created in that way, and that's what he is. In some ways, he's just Death, coming for everyone in the story, and for all of us.... In some ways, it's appropriate he doesn't speak. What's Death going to say? Anything would diminish him. He's just a force of destruction. I don't think we've ever been tempted to write dialogue for The Night King. Anything he said would be anticlimactic.
Mic drop. Once again, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss has blown my mind in regards to Game of Thrones, and this time I'm not even watching an episode.
Sequences featuring the Night King are some of the most terrifying that Game of Thrones has ever shown us. From the opening scene, it was clear that there was some freaky zombie stuff going on in Westeros. Since then, we've seen the King riding on an undead horse, turning a baby into a White Walker, raising a mass of Wildlings from the dead, and taking a scary grip on Bran's arm. What seemed a vague background character has gotten closer and closer to the protagonists, and we will presumably see his war on the living in the final two seasons.
While I would love to see more of the Night King, there is something powerful about how strong and silent he is. His soul focus is increasing his numbers and killing as many humans as possible. And while we got some backstory about his creation in Season 6, it appears that he won't be fleshed out much more. Mostly because he doesn't really have flesh.
Do you want the Night King to have some dialogue, or are you happy with his current depiction? Sound off in the comments below.
