Wights are undead humans reanimated by creatures called Others through necromancy. They obey every wish of their masters and act zombie-like. Not much is known about them by the people of Westeros. However, after Robert’s rise to the Iron Throne, the Others seemingly awaken as years later, some brothers of the Night’s Watch encounter the reanimated corpses of some slain wildlings beyond the Wall.
Appearance and Characteristics
Wights have varying physical appearances that depend on the condition of their corpses and the manner of their death. Those who got reanimated immediately after death look lifelike and fresh. However, the ones resurrected a while after their death have rotting flesh. The reanimation process stops body decay, leaving the wight in biological limbo.
Most wights are known for their bright blue eyes and black and swollen hands and feet lumped with blood. They feel no pain and continuously fight no matter how injured they are. Even after decapitating some of their parts, they continue moving, and the removed body part moves on its own.
Wights are slow and haggard. They emanate an eerily cold scent that riles up living creatures around them. Though dead, they retain some memories of their past lives. They can remain dormant before acting on their masters’ orders.
Unlike Others that are vulnerable to dragonglass, wights are not fire resistant. The Free Folk burn their corpses to prevent Others from reanimating the dead. Once a wight dies, the brightness in its eyes disappears.
History
According to history, the Others led an army of the dead during the Long Night. Hating every warm-blooded creature, they plundered and killed all living things. However, the Last Hero arose and sought the help of the Children of the Forest. During the Battle for Dawn, giant ice spiders and the undead hunted the Last Hero. However, the living won and pushed the Others back to the Land of Always Winter.
Relevance in A Song of Ice and Fire Novels
A Game of Thrones
While in the Haunted Forest, Ser Waymar Royce gets killed by Others, and his reanimated corpse kills Will. Gared escapes the scene and later gets arrested and executed by Lord Eddard Stark of Winterfell.
Othor and Jafer Flowers’s bodies get found beyond the Wall and brought to Castle Black. Their corpses awaken and attack some brothers of the Night’s Watch, killing five, including Ser Jaremy Rykker. Jafer almost kills Lord Commander Jeor Mormont. However, Jon Snow and his direwolf, Ghost, come to the rescue. Lord Mormont later deduces that the wight knew where he stayed because it must have retained some of its memories from its past life.
At Winterfell, Old Nan tells Bran Stark the story of the Last Hero, who led brave men to find the Children of the Forest in the war against the Others. She tells Bran how the creatures fed living children to the wights and how they got defeated.
A Clash of Kings
Upon realizing the new threat beyond the Wall, Lord Mormont sends Ser Alliser Thorne to meet King Joffrey I Baratheon in King’s Landing with Othor’s moving hands. On getting to the capital, Tyrion Lannister, the new acting Hand of the King, keeps Alliser waiting so long that Othor’s hand decomposes to bones. With no evidence for wights, Alliser’s pleas get discarded.
A Storm of Swords
Lord Mormont takes the men of the Night’s Watch beyond the Wall. They stop at Craster’s Keep, and Samwell Tarly meets Gilly. Ghost discovers a cache of dragonglass weapons when the Brothers of the Night’s Watch reach the Fist of the First Men, and Jon gives it to Sam before leaving with Qhorin. The Black Brothers then get attacked by an army of wights. They mostly get killed, and the survivors march back to Craster’s Keep.
On getting to Craster’s Keep, the remaining survivors from the battle at the Fist mutiny against Lord Mormont, killing him and Craster. Sam escapes the scene with Gilly and her infant son, but he gets attacked by the reanimated corpse of Small Paul. Sam tries stabbing Paul with his dragonglass dagger, but it does not work. In desperation, he hits Paul with a burning wood, and the undead Black Brother dies. Coldhands comes to the group’s rescue.
A Dance with Dragons
Torwynd gets killed by cold some days after the battle beneath the Wall. His father, Tormund, gets forced to kill him after he resurrects as a wight. Beyond the Wall, the skinchanger, Varamyr Sixskins, watches as Thistle’s wight recognizes him.
On reaching the three-eyed crow’s cave, Bran and his group get attacked by wights. However, Leaf, one of the Children of the Forest, burns them. Meanwhile, Ser Davos Seaworth realizes no sailors are discussing giants, wildlings, and wights like the men at Eastwatch-by-the-Sea.
On the Wall, Lord Commander Jon Snow sends some wildling corpses to the ice cells of Castle Black, hoping they can resurrect and get studied. The dead men fail to awaken, and Jon considers burning them. He then sends Cotter Pyke to Hardhome to rescue the wildlings from Others and prevent them from becoming wights.
Relevance in Adaptation
In HBO’s TV series Game of Thrones, the ice creatures resurrected the dead and caused havoc on humanity. Before the Battle of Winterfell, Daenerys Targaryen’s dragon, Viserion, gets killed by the Night King.
Bran Stark and his friends beyond the Wall get attacked by White Walkers when they reach the three-eyed raven’s cave. Hodor and Jojen Reed die in the battle, and Meera returns with Bran, who becomes the new three-eyed raven.
During the Battle of Winterfell, humans fight the undead and White Walkers. Arya Stark kills the Night King with a Valyrian steel dagger. However, many people lost their lives in the battle, including Ser Jorah Mormont.
Wights: The Icy Dead
Wights represent pure evil in A Song of Ice and Fire. They are just foul, unlike human characters, who are a shade of good and evil. However, their existence is sad, as they become the worst version of a living thing.
FAQs
Did Benjen Stark become a wight?
No. There is no evidence of Benjen becoming a wight. He is still missing, and there is no evidence of his death. Though many people have stated he may be Coldhands, there is not much source material to say he is.
Does Cersei and Jaime know about the wights in the books?
No. the Iron Throne is oblivious to the threat beyond the Wall. Jaime traveled to the Riverlands to resolve the siege of Riverrun while Cersei got arrested for adultery.
Are wights the same as White Walkers?
No. Wights are dead people resurrected by the Others, while the White Walkers are the Cold Gods or Others. Both have different characteristics and weaknesses.
Are wights stronger than humans?
Yes. Wights have many advantages over humans. First, they do not feel pain and can continue fighting even after multiple stabs and lacerations. Secondly, they continue fighting even after losing a limb. The only time wights die is when a person uses fire.
What happened to the wights in Game of Thrones?
While flying on Drogon, Daenerys falls and gets surrounded by wights. However, Jorah comes to her aid and dies protecting her. The undead continue fighting until the Night King gets killed by Arya.
