If Game of Thrones’ ending wouldn’t be easy, but there’s more to explore with Jon now that he’s back with the wildlings, heading beyond the Wall. And as well as exploring new areas, it could also benefit the White Walkers and their leader, the Night King.

Their defeat in Game of Thrones season 8 left behind a sour taste for many, not necessarily because of how they were defeated (though some disagreed with that), but more how quickly it happened after years of build-up. Ideally, there’d have been more time, more battles, and a lot more answers. Alas, we don’t live in an ideal world.

Game of Thrones season 9 happening is a long shot, but I don’t think it is impossible. Luke Skywalker came back, Buffy Summers is coming back, Jon Snow was going to come back…nothing is off the table in a Hollywood where IP is the one true king. And if it were to happen, it’d need to actually give more of those answers, and could detail the White Walkers without bringing them back.

Jon Snow Would Need A Game Of Thrones Season 9 Story That Avoids Westeros

Jon's Story In The Seven Kingdoms Is Over

Jon’s story has taken him away from the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros (or “Six Kingdoms,” not that such a description fully makes sense) and really, that’s a status quo I’d want to be upheld. His end was one of the show’s most fitting, and finding an excuse for him to go back to Winterfell or even King’s Landing, while doable, could feel forced, and if nothing else, removes him from where he belongs and where his focus should be.

His heart is of the true north, and seeing him more with the wildlings is what I’d want from his story if a ninth season were to happen. There is more to explore with Jon, and it relates back to Westeros - specifically, his trauma and guilt over what happened with Daenerys; the healing of the many figurative scars he has. It can do that with the wildlings, and find new ground to cover too. Literally.

Game Of Thrones Season 9 Could See Jon Lead The Wildlings On An Expedition To The Far North

This Could Be A Story Of Survival & Discovery

With the wildlings returning beyond the Wall, they will likely need to find new settlements, given it seems like they’re not just sticking around at Castle Black. Plenty of that land has been charted before, but there are vast swathes we’ve never seen on-screen, and that may have never been touched by human hands, at least not for thousands of years. Jon trying to lead the wildlings to a new place could allow for his story to become one of expedition, which could be an interesting turn for him.

"...It could go somewhere Game of Thrones never ventured: the farthest reaches of the North, The Land of Always Winter, where the White Walkers are said to have emerged from."

I’m thinking of this almost as a new frontier-type story, only instead of the Wild West, it’s the frozen north. Alongside Jon’s trauma and a bid to find a fresh start and sense of peace, we could have a journey of survival and discovery for him and the wildlings. And if doing that, it could go somewhere Game of Thrones never ventured: the farthest reaches of the North, The Land of Always Winter, where the White Walkers are said to have emerged from.

"And he looked past the Wall, past endless forests cloaked in snow, past the frozen shore and the great blue-white rivers of ice and the dead plains where nothing grew or lived, to the curtain of light at the end of the world, and then beyond that curtain. He looked deep into the heart of winter, and then he cried out, afraid, and the heat of his tears burned on his cheeks." - A dream of Bran Stark's in A Game of Thrones.

Martin has said his final A Song of Ice and Fire books will visit that area [via Smarter Travel], but the show never did. Looking back at how it handled the White Walkers, that’s a missed opportunity.

Jon Snow Could Uncover White Walker Mysteries In Season 9

Game Of Thrones Would Have A Chance To Reveal More About Them

If Jon Snow were to lead the wildlings to the Land of Always Winter then, naturally, it’d be a prime location to provide some reveals about the Night King and White Walkers. That’s not to say they’d return, and Jon would find a couple of White Walkers left behind, with no idea of what’s happened to their friends, but it could give us a unique glimpse into what their lives were actually like, because we know next to nothing about that.

Did they actually live in some kind of community? Could it give us a better sense of their numbers? Might we see more about those spiral patterns they created? Anything further about the babies the Night King turned into White Walkers? Those kinds of things could be further developed.

If [Children of the Forest] do remain, it’s possible Jon could encounter them, and get more answers about the White Walkers’ creation, and who the Night King really was.

Similarly, the Children of the Forest, while thought to be extinct, could return here. If any are lingering, then hiding out in the far reaches of the north, after all the White Walkers have marched south, isn’t a terrible idea, and it’s not like they haven’t shown an ability to secretly survive through the millennia. If some do remain, it’s possible Jon could encounter them, and get more answers about the White Walkers’ creation, and who the Night King really was.

It's Still Worth Explaining More About The White Walkers

They're Important To Westeros History, Not Just Game Of Thrones' Story

ittedly, because of how Game of Thrones ended and the Night King being killed, there may be a “who cares anymore?” problem here, which is understandable. Still, I’d love to learn more about the White Walkers. Not only were they an overarching threat, but it’s such a mysterious part of the lore, and yet one that defines much of Westeros. That’s true not only for the main show, but its entire history going back to the Age of Heroes and The Long Night.

A huge part of the appeal is the worldbuilding, and there’s more here than what applies to those eight seasons of TV as someone who loves the richness, detail and mythology of this universe. It’s why I’d have liked the canceled spinoff Bloodmoon to have happened, and why I think this would be a good direction for Jon’s story, whether that’s a ninth season or revisiting Kit Harington’s sequel show.

Having a greater understanding of the threat that appears in the very first scene, and lingers over everything else, is a good thing to me.

Of course, I think this would also make Game of Thrones better. There’s still a lot of value in rewatching the show, so much of which was in the journey. Having a greater understanding of the threat that appears in the very first scene, and lingers over everything else, is a good thing to me.

I’d even say that’s more the case for the TV version than the books, because of the Night King. He doesn’t exist in A Song of Ice and Fire, and so the Others being a more supernatural force of nature works better there. In Game of Thrones, we know they were created; we know the Night King was once human. But we know so little else, and that’s infuriating. A human (or former human) demands greater explanation and clearer motivation, which was lacking in the show, but is something that could - and should - be retroactively added.