This 'Game Of Thrones' Night King & Jon Snow Theory Has A MAJOR Connection To The Vietnam War

Game Of Thrones is a work of fiction, but one fan thinks the HBO show's final twist will actually stem from something you should have learned about in history class. A new GOT Season 8 theory about The Night King might be connected to the Vietnam War. It's safe to say if this theory is true, it will definitely have fans looking at Jon Snow in a totally new light. Why you ask? Well, it turns out, Jon Snow might not be the hero of this story after all.

The Redditor MrSilenceT believes that the Night King and his White Walkers are actually the misunderstood heroes of Game Of Thrones. And it's based on "the event that has most shaped George R.R. Martin as a young adult." On an episode of the Canadian talk show, George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight, Martin said:

“Before researching the Vietnam War, I just thought that we were in another war and we were helping poor people defend themselves against evil communist aggression. And then I actually researched the war, […] suddenly, it did not look at all so clear cut to me.”

Martin's realization that it's not always so easy to define who is good and who is bad was something he took to heart when writing Song Of Ice and Fire. As this Redditor points out, Martin said in a 2018 interview about A Dream Of Spring, the seventh volume in the The Song Of Ice & Fire series that he's "attracted to gray characters."

"I think the battle of good and evil is a terrific subject for fiction," Martin says in the clip. "But I don't think it's fought between really good looking guys in white cloaks on white horses and really ugly guys in black armor, who smell bad, as in too much fantasy. I think it's fought within the individual human heart."

The point being that Martin's characters are not one thing or the other or both, which is a clue that anyone can be the hero or the villain in his stories. In that same interview he says, “If everybody thinks your character is a hero or if everybody thinks your character is a villain, then you are writing cardboards.”

Throughout the show, we've been led to believe that the Night King was the bad guy who's trying to kill all humanity and that Jon Snow, Daenerys Targaryen, and the others on their team are the good guys. But, when you listen to Martin it's hard not to wonder if he's setting us up for a twist, one that he's been cluing fans into all along.

MrSilenceT points out that many of the battles on Game Of Thrones are fought by two sides that think they are fighting for what's right. The Redditor uses the Battle of Castle Black between the Night's Watch and Mance Rayder's wildling army in Season 4 as an example. MrSilenceT writes:

"Our heroes, Jon, Sam & Co. need to protect Westeros and their lands from Northern invaders while the ever likable and charismatic Mance needs to fight the Night’s watch in order to go south or all wildlings will die by the hands of the Whitewalkers. Hard to root for any specific side in a battle between these too, isn’t it?"

Why wouldn't the final battle of the series be any different? Even if the Night King isn't the hero, there's a good chance that he's not the villain he's been made out to be. Instead, he also has his motives, which could be revealed in Season 8 and just like history has taught Martin, there's a chance they aren't so villainous.

For many, it's going to be hard to believe that after all this time, the Night King was really the one we should have been rooting for. It might feel like a bait and switch, but it would be one heck of a twist that could be inspired by history. That being said, Reddit might not be able to handle it if this theory is right.