Nations/People + Special oranisations/groups/association

Alchemists´Guild

The Alchemists' Guild is an ancient Westerosi order based in the city of King's Landing, in the Guildhall beneath Rhaenys's Hill, claiming magical and arcane knowledge. If they ever did possess such powers, their knowledge and abilities have waned over the centuries, and they have been largely eclipsed by the order of maesters, who focus on scientific knowledge and disdain belief in magic. The Alchemists have also drastically dwindled in number during the decline of their order, and unlike the maesters who have at least one representative at every major castle or town, it is uncommon to encounter the Alchemists outside of one of the major cities of the Seven Kingdoms.

They are the only people in the Seven Kingdoms with the knowledge to create and handle the exceptionally dangerous concoction known as wildfire, which members of the Guild refer to as "the Substance". Because of their ability to produce the volatile flammable substance, alchemists are colloquially known as pyromancers.

The Alchemists claim that they were capable of wielding powerful magical abilities many centuries ago, but similar to the Warlocks of Qarth in Essos, their powers waned over the generations. In more recent centuries, most of their claims were generally regarded as fanciful.

Andals

The Andals are a race of men who invaded Westeros six thousand years prior to the events of the series. In the present day, they are the dominant ethnic and cultural group in the continent.

Children of the Forest

The Children of the Forest are a mysterious non-human race that were reportedly the original inhabitants of the continent of Westeros. They were already living in Westeros when the First Men migrated to the continent, 12,500 years before Robert's Rebellion. According to legend they were last seen during the Andal invasion six thousand years before the War of the Five Kings. In the present day, most believe that they are simply the stuff of myth and never existed at all. Even the few that do believe they once existed believe that they have long since gone extinct.

The Children of the Forest were said to be humanoid, but when grown to manhood they were no taller than human children. They generally preferred to live in the depths of the forests in hidden villages, in crannogs of the swamps, or in caves. Thus they came to be known as "the Children of the Forest".

The Children of the Forest worshiped nature gods, the countless and nameless spirits of every tree, every rock, and every stream. Their religion devoted to the Old Gods of the Forest had no complex temples, but according to legend it was the Children that carved faces into the sacred Weirwood trees. These carved heart trees were the closest thing to a  shrine in their religion.

The Children of the Forest weren't very technologically advanced, though they were very woodcrafty and had a great knowledge of the plants and animals of the forest. They hunted using bows made of weirwood and used blades made of Dragonglass.

The wise men of the Children of the Forest were known as "Greenseers", who are said to have wielded powerful magic.

City Watch

The City Watch is a law-enforcement institution charged with acting as the policemen of King's Landing. They are informally known as "Gold Cloaks" due to the gold-colored cloaks their members wear as part of their uniform.

Dothraki

The Dothraki are a race of nomadic horse-mounted warriors in Essos, the continent to the east of Westeros across the Narrow Sea. They inhabit the vast central plains of Essos, known as the Dothraki sea. They are said to be born, fight, and die in the saddle. Dothraki warriors are commonly referred to as "horselords" but may also be derisively called "screamers" as well.

The Dothraki are nomadic horse-mounted warriors, who sweep across the vast central plains of Essos in search of plunder. Most of their society is centered around their horses: even their name for themselves in their own language, "Dothraki", literally means "riders". Dothraki boys learn to shoot bows from horseback when they are only four years old. The Dothraki will abandon a sick or injured leader who can no longer ride a horse.

The Dothraki are divided into several nameless clans known as khalasars, led by a single leader, the khal . The khalasars roam the Dothraki Sea, always on the move looking for new pasture lands and new targets for plundering. The Dothraki frequently raid neighboring regions, such as Lhazar to the southeast or the Free Cities to the west. The Dothraki live by taking what they need including supplies, valuables, and new captives to serve them as slaves. The Dothraki respect force, and thus only respect those who are able to successfully resist them, while conquered slaves deserve only contempt. The Dothraki are usually dismissive of infantry (with the notable exception of the elite Unsullied warrior-eunuch legions).

The Dothraki traditionally fight with curved swords known as arakhs, and also employ bolas, daggers, whips or huge, recurved bows with impressive range and striking power that can be fired from horseback. They also shun armor, considering speed and freedom of movement to be more important in battle. Warriors braid their hair and only cut it when defeated, so the world may see their shame.  As light cavalry, their attacks are extremely fast and deadly, but they are vulnerable to archers and on the ground they are less effective against armored infantry despite their speed.  However, they seldom attack on foot except for individual combat, so they usually retain the advantage.

The only Dothraki city is Vaes Dothrak, located to the far north-east of the Dothraki sea. It is ruled by the Dosh khaleen, crones and wise women who were once the wives of now dead khals. All Dothraki commerce (with fellow Dothraki and other Essos peoples) is done in the marketplaces of the city, and all sacred rituals are conducted there. Drawing weapons or shedding blood is forbidden inside Vaes Dothrak, although there are loopholes to the unspoken rule of not killing anyone.

Dothraki do not trust salt water, because their horses cannot drink it. The literal term for ocean in the Dothraki language is "poison water". They refuse to sail in ships over the oceans. Thus they are not considered a threat by the Westerosi because they will not cross the Narrow Sea.  However, Drogo was willing to consider it when provoked enough, and what was left of Daenerys's khalasar (about 100 Dothraki) loyally made the journey across Slaver's Bay with her, though many became ill because they were unaccustomed to sea travel.

It is said that the Dothraki "don't believe in money", instead taking what they want through raiding (which includes enslaving defeated peoples). The two resources they actually have on the plains of the Dothraki Sea are miles upon miles of grass, and horses. As people can't eat grass, the main staples of the Dothraki diet are horse meat and fermented mare's milk.

What material wealth or precious objects they do possess have been acquired through raiding surrounding nations such as the Free Cities, Slaver's Bay, or Lhazar; or from raiding other Dothraki hordes to take their plunder secondhand. The Dothraki do not so much function on the barter system, as they use the honor system: they frown upon "trade" but honor the exchange of gifts, such as tribute. Long ago the Free Cities decided that it was often less destructive to just give the Dothraki massive tributes in gold, finished products, and slaves, than to try to fight them off (though a Dothraki horde might still attack if they find the tribute insufficient, or if they just haven't had a good fight in a while). The Dothraki will not reciprocate these "gifts" on an immediate quid pro quo trade system. However, they will as a rule keep their word to eventually give a gift which they have promised, though they will do it in their own time.

In practice, however, if a Dothraki horde has a particular need for a resource that it cannot obtain through direct raiding, i.e. new armor and weapons, they will resort to actual "barter" by trading slaves they have captured in return for finished products from the Free Cities or Slaver's Bay.

Mirroring the importance of the horse in their culture, the Dothraki religion worships a deity known as the Great Stallion.Dothraki religion also rejects the employment of blood magic. For this reason, maegi are distrusted and hated by Dothraki.

The Dothraki have their own language, which is quite different from the Common Tongue of Westeros. There is no word for "thank you" in Dothraki.

Important Dothraki terminology:

• Dosh khaleen - council of crones. Widows of deceased khals, who preside over the Dothraki city of Vaes Dothrak. Wise-women who are essentially the leaders of the Dothraki religion.
  

• Dothraki - lit. "men who ride", "riders"; the Dothraki people. A single Dothraki rider is a dothrakaan.
  

• Khal - Dothraki warlord.
  

• Khaleesi - The wife of the khal.
  

• Khalasar - Dothraki clan or tribe, led by a khal.
  

• Ko - Kos are lieutenants of a khal, commanding subdivisions of a khalasar. On the death of a khal, a ko may try to become the new khal, or split off his own riders to form a new, smaller khalasar.
  

• Dothrakhqoyi (lit. "Bloodrider") - a Dothraki warrior that has pledged his life to the service of a khal. A khal and his bloodriders address each other as Qoy Qoyi ("Blood of my blood").
  

Faceless Men

The Faceless Men are an organization based in the Free City of Braavos, though their members range far and wide across both Essos and Westeros. They are reportedly a guild of assassins who command exorbitant fees, but have a reputation for success that is unparalleled by any comparable organization. The Faceless Men possess the ability to physically change their faces, shapeshifting so that they appear as an entirely new person.

First Men

The First Men are the original human inhabitants of Westeros. They ruled the continent for millennia before the Andals invaded from the eastern continent of Essos. The Andals overran most of southern Westeros, but failed to take the North. While the blood of the First Men and the Andals has intermingled over thousands of years of dynastic marriages, the inhabitants of the North have the greatest amount of First Men blood in their veins and keep their traditions.

Kings/Queens Guard

The Kingsguard/Queensguard is an elite group of seven knights, supposedly the greatest and most skilled warriors in all of Westeros, who serve as the royal bodyguard of the King/Queen of the Andals and the First Men. Their duty is to protect the King/Queen and the royal family from harm at all times. The Kingsguard/Queensguard swear the most holy of vows to fulfill their sacred duty, and - in theory - are meant to be the living exemplars of the pinnacle of knightly virtues. Like the brothers of the Night's Watch, members of the Kingsguard/Queensguard are sworn for life and are forbidden from owning land, taking a wife, or fathering children.

The Kingsguard was created 300 years ago by the first Targaryen king, Aegon the Conqueror, when he united the Seven Kingdoms under a single monarchy and established the Iron Throne.

Members of the Kingsguard wear gold plate and scale armor with white detailing and white armor.

The deeds of every knight who has ever served in the Kingsguard/Queensguard is kept in a large book called The Book of Brothers. The book is stored in White Sword Tower and it is the responsibility of the current Lord Commander to keep all entries updated.

The Kingsguard(Queensguard is led by the Lord Commander who appears to have no marks on his armor to distinguish him from other members. Under normal circumstances, the Lord Commander sits on the Small Council as the King's/Queen´s advisor in military matters.

Maester

Maesters, formally known as the Order of Maesters, are an order of scholars, healers, and learned men in the Seven Kingdoms. Due to their scientific and intellectual pursuits, they are sometimes referred to as "the knights of the mind". Focusing on scientific knowledge and disdaining belief in magic, in the present day the Order of Maesters has largely eclipsed the older Alchemists' Guild, which claims to possess arcane magical knowledge, but whose number, power, and abilities have waned over the centuries.

The maesters are a secular organization, not a religious order, though they do swear sacred oaths to follow the duties and restrictions of their office. Unlike certain other organizations such as the Faith of the Seven, which has male and female priests, women are not allowed to join the maesters, and thus its membership is all-male.

Almost every castle and noble family in Westeros, no matter how small, has a maester on hand to teach the lord's children, give him counsel, and attend to medical and educational needs. The lords of the Seven Kingdoms are also reliant on their ability to send long distance communiques using trained messenger ravens, which they are responsible for tending in a castle's rookery. Maesters also serve as the resident medical expert at a castle, responsible for everything from setting broken bones, assisting childbirth, and knowledge of medicinal herbs and potions to aid fevers and internal illnesses. In addition, maesters also observe changes in the weather to watch for shifting of the seasons.

Maesters are expected to eschew their familial background and political allegiances. They drop their family name when they join the order. They are assigned to serve at castles and holdfasts throughout the Seven Kingdoms and are bound by their vows to serve whoever holds the castle in which they reside, regardless of change in lordship. It is not considered a breach of their vows if a maester advises the current lord of their castle in military matters to defeat their enemies, but if their lord is defeated by his enemies and possession of the castle officially changes hands, the maester is expected to serve its new lord.

Similar to the Night's Watch, the Order of Maesters is an egalitarian institution whose members must ignore their past family and political ties, give up their right to inheritance, and take an oath of celibacy. Thus, like the Night's Watch, younger sons or bastard sons are often made to join the maesters, so as not to interfere with the inheritance of firstborn and/or legitimate sons. Another similarity is that both the Night's Watch and the maesters are considered to be servants of the realm. It is possible to be both a maester and a member of the Night's Watch, due to the similar restrictions of their vows and because the castles along the Wall each need a maester. This has always been something of a rarity, however, as even during its prime the Night's Watch only maintained nineteen castles along the Wall, and by the time of Robert's Rebellion, the number of manned castles had dwindled over the centuries to only three. Thus in the current era there are usually only three maesters who are also members of the Night's Watch. Should the need arise at the Wall, it is also permissible for a member of the Night's Watch to be trained as a maester at the Citadel, then return to the Wall to serve as the maester of one of its castles.

The headquarters of the Order of Maesters is the Citadel, a complex devoted to higher learning, which is located in the city of Oldtown in the southwest of the Reach. New initiates are trained at the Citadel, and upon finishing their studies, gain the title of "maester" and are assigned to serve at a castle or town in Westeros. The entire order is ruled over by the Conclave, the council of archmaesters, who reside in the Citadel.

The Grand Maester is considered the most senior member of the order, and is its personal representative to the king/queen on the Iron Throne. The Grand Maester is elected by the Conclave, but resides in the Red Keep in King's Landing, to personally advise the king/queen and serve on the Small Council. Only the Conclave may select the Grand Maester and while the King/Queen or Hand may dismiss the Grand Maester from the council, they cannot strip him of his title.

Maesters wear a chain around their necks composed of various substances to signify their personal expertise. Each link indicates a different field of study. There are hundreds of recognized fields each with a different representative substance. Maesters are expected to wear their chains at all times, even when sleeping.

Known metals and corresponding fields of study include:

• Silver - medicine and healing

• Gold - money and accounting

• Iron - warcraft

• Black iron - ravenry

• Valyrian steel - "the higher mysteries" (magic). Only one maester in a hundred possesses such a link, as study of the occult is frowned upon by the order.

Night´s Watch

The Night's Watch is a military order which holds and guards the Wall, the immense ice structure which separates the northern border of the Seven Kingdoms from the lands beyond. At the onset of the War of the Five Kings, the order is currently led by acting Lord Commander Alliser Thorne from the stronghold of Castle Black.

The Night's Watch consists of three groups: the Rangers, who fight, defend the Wall and patrol the Haunted Forest; the Builders, who maintain the Wall and the castles; and the Stewards, who support and feed the members of the Watch.

According to legend, the Night's Watch was founded 8,000 years ago. They now protect the Seven Kingdoms from threats beyond their northern border, such as white walkers, wildlings and giants. They man a vast structure known as the Wall, a 700 foot tall and 300 mile long barrier which separates the Seven Kingdoms from the lands to its north. It is formed mostly from ice. The Watch have built several castles along the southern edge of the Wall to house their men. They also control a region south of the Wall known as the Gift, from which they obtain supplies and provisions. The region was donated to them by House Stark, the Kings in the North, at the time.

Members of the Night's Watch swear an oath of duty that is binding for life and prohibits marriage, family, and land ownership. Recruits renounce all past allegiances and birthrights. Joining the Watch provides absolution for past crimes and immunity from further punishment. Brothers start with a clean slate and can rise within the ranks whatever their origins. They describe one another as "sworn brothers" because of the oath. Men of the Watch dress entirely in black, giving rise to the nickname "crows" - which is what the Free Folk commonly call them - or "black brothers". Members of the Night's Watch are not specifically forbidden from seeing their families, but they cannot leave the Wall without permission. Desertion is punishable by death.

"Night gathers, and now my watch begins. It shall not end until my death. I shall take no wife, hold no lands, father no children. I shall wear no crowns and win no glory. I shall live and die at my post. I am the sword in the darkness. I am the watcher on the walls. I am the shield that guards the realms of men. I pledge my life and honor to the Night's Watch, for this night and all the nights to come."
   ―The Night's Watch oath

The Watch was once highly regarded and their ranks were filled with volunteers from noble houses, as serving was a sign of selfless devotion to the protection of the realm. However, most recruits are now criminals avoiding punishment, nobles avoiding scandal, orphans and other social outcasts. Men known as wandering crows, travel around the Seven Kingdoms gathering recruits for the Watch, offering them escape on the Wall. For the highborn, the Wall is a convenient place to exile embarrassing or disgraced family members.

By the time of the TV series, the institute has fallen into disrepute and is largely ignored by the throne. It is severely undermanned; dwindling numbers have led to all but three of the Wall's nineteen castles being abandoned. The Night's Watch is now led from its stronghold at Castle Black. The Shadow Tower and Eastwatch-by-the-Sea are the only other castles that are still manned.

Small Council

The small council is a body which advises the King/Queen of the Seven Kingdoms and institutes policy at his command. It is the inner (thus "small") council of the King/Queen, essentially forming the "government cabinet" of the Seven Kingdoms. Members are appointed to their position by the King/Queen, theoretically they can be dismissed at will by the King/Queen, however in practice this might lead to undesirable political fallout. The King/Queen serves as the head of the council and takes note of its recommendations, but only the King/Queen can make the council's decisions into law. The Hand of the King/Queen is the leading advisor on the council and serves as the King's/Queen´s proxy when he/she is not present, in which case the Hand chairs the meeting. If the King/Queen is a minor, then by default the appointed Regent will act in place of the King/Queen on the council.

The Small Council meets at the capital city of King's Landing in the Red Keep, in the same building as the Iron Throne courtroom.

Members of the Small Council are appointed and dismissed by the King/Queen, in theory as the King/Queen wills. In practice, of course, appointments or dismissals may have undesired political consequences which the King/Queen must consider.

The Small Council usually consists of seven non-hereditary positions (possibly to reflect the traditions of the Faith of the Seven). Long vacancies sometimes occur for one of these positions, i.e. during time of war, though this is considered undesirable.

• Hand of the King: chairs the Small Council, serves as the King's/Queen´s proxy during his absences.
  

• Master of Coin: the realm's chief treasurer and bookkeeper.
  

• Master of Whisperers: the realm's chief intelligence advisor and spymaster, supervising covert activities and information gathering, both at home and abroad.
  

• Master of Laws: the realm's chief legal advisor, who also manages the Red Keep's dungeons, and supervises law enforcement.
  

• Master of Ships: the realm's chief naval officer, supervising the Royal Fleet and coordinating the realm's maritime defenses.
  

• Lord Commander of the Kingsguard/Queensguard: the realm's chief military advisor, particularly in regards to land-based warfare. While the King/Queen personally appoints knights to the Kingsguard/Queensguard at his/her whim, once chosen they are lifetime appointments, which cannot legally be removed. In theory, however, a King/Queen may demote the Lord Commander back to being a regular member, and elevate one of the other six Kingsguard to Lord Commander (though it is unknown if this has ever happened).
  

• Grand Maester: the maester assigned to the Red Keep, and thus to the realm. Like all maester assignments, the Grand Maester is appointed by the Conclave of Archmaesters at the Citadel, not the King/Queen. While controversial, the King/Queen and the Hand of the King/Queen have the authority to exclude the Grand Maester from the Small Council, and even imprison him, but cannot replace him as Grand Maester. This makes the Grand Maester unique as the only member of the council not specifically chosen by the King/Queen.
  

If the Regent of an underage King/Queen does not already possess one of these positions, then they are included in the Small Council as the King's/Queen´s proxy.

The Commander of the City Watch is not, strictly speaking, a position in the Small Council, however the Commander frequently attends Small Council meetings to report on conditions in the capital city.

The council may on occasion extend invitations to other lords to occupy a seat on the council, despite there being no actual "office" for them to fill (serving as advisors who function as ministers without portfolio).  

Unsullied

The Unsullied are elite warrior-eunuchs bred and trained in Astapor, one of the three major cities of Slaver's Bay. They are slave-soldiers famed for their skills and discipline in battle. They are also often purchased from Astapor by some of the Free Cities, such as Qohor.

Unsullied battle tactics are based on the legions of the old Ghiscari Empire, involving large groups of them fighting in lock-step phalanxes using spear and shield, though they are also trained to use shortswords for close-quarters combat. Slave-eunuchs who have been trained from birth to fight, the Unsullied are renowned for their utter discipline on the battlefield, both in their usage of incredibly coordinated large unit phalanx formations, and because they will never break in the face of overwhelming odds, even to the point of death.

Because they are eunuchs, the Unsullied will not succumb to bloodthirsty or sexual urges in the midst of battle; their actions will only go as far as what they have been ordered to do, and nothing more. The Unsullied also seem resistant and even immune to pain. However, Unsullied do possess emotions and can show anger.

Warlocks

The Warlocks are a group of magic practitioners based in the city of Qarth. They gather at the House of the Undying and are recognizable by their blue lips, caused by their custom of drinking a substance known as shade of the evening.

Similar to the Alchemists' Guild of the Seven Kingdoms, the warlocks' power and prestige have waned over the years, and some of the Qartheen elite regard them with a contempt. Nevertheless, the Warlocks still hold a permanent seat in the Thirteen, the ruling council of Qarth.

Wildings/Free Folk

The Free Folk is the name used to refer to themselves by the people who live in the lands beyond the Wall, still on the continent of Westeros but beyond the northern border of the Seven Kingdoms. The name they employ makes reference to their society, which recognizes no political authority and no claim of ownership over the land. The people of the Seven Kingdoms refer to the Free Folk derogatorily as wildlings.

The term "wildlings" is sometimes also employed to refer to the members of the hill tribes of the Vale that defy the rule of House Arryn, but out of context the term is usually understood to refer to the peoples living beyond the Wall.

The Free Folk consist of a wide variety of many fractious tribes and village-dwellers, some reasonably refined, others savage and hostile. Different wildling factions have very different cultures and practices, and may speak different languages. They spend much of their time fighting one another over petty squabbles, aside from the times when they are unified by a "King-Beyond-the-Wall".

The Free Folk worship the Old Gods of the Forest, like their distant cousins in the North. Even in the lands of House Stark, there are some followers of the Faith of the Seven, often southern noblewomen who come to the North to secure marriage alliances. Beyond the Wall, however, the Old Gods are the only gods that are worshipped.

Women also partake in raids south of the Wall along with their male counterparts. These women warriors are known as spearwives.

A major difference between the Free Folk and the feudal society of the Seven Kingdoms south of the Wall is that they do not recognize a class of hereditary nobility in their society. They take great pride in their "free" status, and only follow leaders who they choose to lead them. While in certain times the clans will unite behind a "King-Beyond-the-Wall", the title and position are not hereditary, as the Free Folk will follow no man simply because of who his father was. The Free Folk will follow a King-Beyond-the-Wall into battle, but they do not perform ceremonies of submission such as kneeling in front of him or referring to him as "your Grace". They call the people of the feudal Seven Kingdoms "kneelers", because they physically kneel to men who they didn't choose to rule over them. There is no social stratification between high-born lords and low-born smallfolk among the Free Folk.

The other side of this is that without established lords, the wildlings are so "free" that they don't really have established and enforced laws. A man keeps what he can take, and continues to hold what he can defend. This is somewhat more brutal and chaotic than the feudal society of the Seven Kingdoms, but in some respects their society is more politically egalitarian.

The wildlings do not bury their dead, but burn them. This has nothing to do with religion - it is simply done to prevent the White Walkers from resurrecting the deceased as wights. If no fire is available, they will at least try to decapitate or dismember the corpse so it won't make a very useful wight.

White Walkers/The Others

The White Walkers are a mythological race mentioned in ancient legends and stories from the time of the First Men and the Children of the Forest. Eight thousand years before Robert's Rebellion, a winter known as the Long Night lasted a generation. In the darkness and cold of the Long Night, the White Walkers descended upon Westeros from the farthest north, the polar regions of the Lands of Always Winter. None knew why they came, but they killed all in their path, reanimating the dead as wights to kill the living at their command. Eventually the peoples of Westeros rallied and in a conflict known as the War for the Dawn, and the White Walkers were defeated and driven back into the uttermost north, with the Wall raised to bar their return.

In the present day, most believe they never existed and are just myths, spoken of in the same breath as ghosts, goblins, grumpkins, or snarks. Even the few who believe they did once exist think they went extinct thousands of years ago. Certainly, none was seen for thousands of years after the Long Night.

Just before the outbreak of the War of the Five Kings, however, disturbing reports began to reach the Night's Watch from the wildlings who live beyond the Wall that the White Walkers had returned. Having enjoyed a decade-long summer Westeros seemed due for an equally long winter, and the White Walkers seem to be spreading with it. With the Seven Kingdoms embroiled in a petty civil war, the dwindling and under-supported Night's Watch realizes that they are all that guards the realms of men against the return of these legendary demons of ice and death.

While having an overall humanoid appearance, White Walkers differ greatly from humans. They are taller than humans and have long wispy white hair. They have pale grey-white skin which is wrinkly but stretched taut across their frames, giving them a somewhat gaunt and mummified appearance despite their overall bulky size. Their most notable trait, however, are their glowing blue eyes.

A second type of White Walker is revealed, ostensibly believed to be the ruling caste of the White Walkers. Their number is unknown, and they are immediately distinguishable from their cohorts by the black armor they wear. Also they are revealed to further differ in appearance from the other White Walkers in that the skin is of a paler, less mummified appearance and the head is adorned by a crown of horns. One of these White Walker is speculated to be their master, possesses the ability to change humans into White Walkers. Whether or not this ability extends to only this White Walker, all of the White Walkers amongst his caste, or all White Walkers in general remains to be seen.

White Walkers possess the magical powers related to ice and cold. Their arrival is usually accompanied by blizzards and the dropping of temperatures. They can also freeze anything they touch. White Walkers also have superhuman strength. They wield swords and spears made from unique ice crystals.

However, one of their most deadly abilities is to reanimate the dead as their servants, known as Wights. They are actually capable of reviving any dead animals as wights, as a few White Walkers have been seen riding undead horses. When revived, their eyes turn an icy blue, similar to the White Walkers' own eyes. Wights can only be killed by fire and serve the Walkers without question.

According to legend, the White Walkers speak a language known in myth as "Skroth".

The only known weakness that the White Walkers have shown thus far is the ability to be killed instantly when struck with weapons made of dragonglass. Upon being stabbed by dragonglass, a White Walker's body will begin to freeze into ice from the point at which it is was stabbed, causing the Walker great pain. Finally, it will begin to fall apart, as its now icy body shatters until there is nothing left but powder.