The Targaryens have no connection to the White Walkers or the Children of the Forest that we’re aware of… but that doesn’t mean they don’t have an appreciation for the circle as a symbol. People are born, people live, and people die–all while making the same mistakes over and over again. Game of Thrones co-showrunner David Benioff said as much in the post-episode explainer for Season 6’s “The Door.”Ĭircles and spirals can represent many things, including the cyclical nature of existence. But it’s worth mentioning that both spirals and circles are important symbols for very many cultures on our own Earth and presumably in Westeros as well. What does that symbol mean exactly? It’s unclear. The symbol comes directly from the White Walkers’ creators: the Children of the Forest. In fact, it has nothing to do with humanity in general. So in reality, the Night King’s symbol has nothing to do with the Targaryen family (who hail from Valyria in Essos and then Dragonstone when Valyria fell). The site of the weirwood tree is dotted with stones that make up a spiral like so: It’s at this ritual that we first see the mysterious pattern that the White Walkers come to be obsessed with. They capture a man and through a ritual involving a dragonglass blade, they transform him into the world’s first White Walker–a creature they hope will help them defeat the First Men once and for all. In Game of Thrones Season 6, Episode 5 “The Door,” Bran Stark sees via flashback how the Children attempt to defeat the First Men. As things often work out in this universe, the First Men and the Children went to war. While in the North, the First Men came across the sentient woodland species they called the Children of the Forest. The First Men made their way north and eventually settled in the country now known as The North.

Fist of the first man