The Night King in Game of Thrones Image via HBO By David Caballero Published Jul 7, 2026, 11:26 PM EDT David is a Senior Editor at Collider focused primarily on Lists. His professional journey began in the mid-2010s as a Marketing specialist before embarking on his writing career in the 2020s. At Collider, David started as a Senior Writer in late 2022 and has been a Senior Editor since mid-2023. He is in charge of ideating compelling and engaging List articles by working closely with writers, both Senior and Junior, as well as other editors. Occasionally, David also reviews movies and TV shows and writes episode recaps. Currently, David is also writing his second novel, a psychological horror satire that will, hopefully, be picked up for publication sometime next year. Sign in to your Collider account Add Us On follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Thread Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap The current season of House of the Dragon is in full swing, sucking everyone back into the bloody politics of Westeros. The show is so good that it has almost made up for the stinker that was the Game of Thrones finale — almost . Indeed, the now-infamous Season 8 of what used to be the biggest show on Earth was so disastrous that it threatened to ruin the franchise's legacy completely. Of course, A Song of Ice and Fire has endured, but many of us still feel frustrated at how mishandled the show's finale was, especially everything concerning the White Walkers and the Night King.
Seven years later, the Long Night and its poor execution are still a sore subject for Thrones fans , who wish they could've experienced the threat of the White Walkers in all its icy glory. As it turns out, maybe they still can. The Harry Potter saga addressed one of its biggest shortcomings — a lack of worldbuilding beyond the main story — with the video game Hogwarts Legacy , a massive commercial and critical success that revitalized interest in the series and finally gave us a glimpse at the Wizarding World of the past. Game of Thrones could follow the same route, using a video game to explore the White Walkers' history and finally do justice to these incredible villains .
Four White Walkers sit on decaying horses in Game of Thrones Image via HBO It's not an overstatement to say Game of Thrones completely butchered the White Walkers' story . Season 8 tried to rush through the two main stories — the White Walkers and Daenerys' ( Emilia Clarke ) Mad Queen arc — in just six episodes. In the process, it ruined both narratives, completely assassinating Dany's character and delivering a Long Night that was incredibly underwhelming and poorly lit and staged . And it was such a shame, because the show did a great job setting up the White Walker threat for six seasons, only to drop the ball at the last minute.
It's not like HBO doesn't know how badly the show messed up with the White Walkers. In fact, the network even tried to make a show about the first Long Night, tentatively titled Bloodmoon . A Pilot was made, with big names like Oscar nominees Naomi Watts and Miranda Richardson in leading roles and a premise said to be set during the Age of Heroes. The plot hinted at revealing more about the secrets behind the White Walkers, with the suggestion that we'd actually get to see the first Long Night as an entire generation of Westeros in darkness, instead of th…