Who is the Night King, could he really be Bran Stark and how are white walkers created in Game of Thrones?

GAME of Thrones is all about noble houses at war – but the white walkers could be about to rain chaos down on the Seven Kingdoms like they’ve never seen before.

Here’s all you need to know about the walkers and their commander the Night King as they seem ready to cross The Wall and attack Westeros.

The Night King and his army of the dead are the biggest threat to Westeros

What are white walkers?

The white walkers are currently the biggest threat facing Westeros – much bigger than any civil war that could be about to erupt.

They are a race of ice creatures who were thought to be the stuff of legend before they returned to Westeros in the first ever scene of Game of Thrones – and have now been seen in the flesh (?) by Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen.

White Walkers have superhuman strength and have powers relating to ice and cold that mean their arrival is usually accompanied by blizzards and extreme cold temperatures – which is why northerners ought to be worried about the return of so much snow.

They can also resurrect the dead to act as their servants, and have commanded a huge army of the dead, known as “wights”, to attack Westeros’ human inhabitants.

The white walkers could do some serious damage if they are able to cross the wall and reach Westeros

Who is the Night King and how was he created?

Every army needs a commander, and the Night King is the leader of the white walkers’ army of the dead.

He coordinates the walkers’ attempts to attack The Wall and move south towards Westeros, and is the most powerful among them.

But the Night King’s existence did not come about naturally.

In season six of Game of Thrones, Bran Stark learned that the Children of the Forest had created the Night King.

During a vision he saw the man who became the Night King tied up against a tree, and watched as one of the Children pushed dragon glass into his heart, turning his eyes the characteristic bright blue of the walkers.

The white walkers were created in the same way so that the Children could protect themselves from humans, but the move backfired and the walkers became hugely dangerous in themselves.

The Night King was created thousands of years ago by the Children of the Forest

There is currently a hugely popular fan theory which says that Bran Stark is actually the Night King.

A Reddit user has claimed his incredible powers and ability to travel back to past events and ‘warg’ – placing his soul in to the body of a different person or creature – makes the theory viable.

User turm0il26 claims that Bran either wargs into the human who becomes the Night King, or tries to kill the Children of the Forest who create the zombie king.

However, he ends up becoming the Night King as he has travelled too far back to leap back in to the present day.

It’s riveting stuff – and as Bran has gone from cute kid to a smug psychic misery guts who refers to himself as the Three-Eyed Raven, it makes sense that he might make one MORE transformation.

Could animals become wights? Could a dragon become one?

Wights are the reanimated army of the dead who do the white walkers’ bidding.

We’ve seen that the walkers’ horses are not living since the commanders of the army of the dead first rode into view.

While in season 7 episode 6 there was further confirmation that animals can be used in the army of the dead as a bear with the startling blue eyes of the walkers and their army attack Thoros of Myr.

Now the army of the dead has become scarier still after the Night King reanimated Daenerys’ slain dragon Viserion – meaning the odds of Jon Snow defeating the white walkers look slimmer than ever.