Remember Old Nan’s words?
“They swept through cities and kingdoms, riding their dead horses, hunting with their packs of pale spiders big as hounds…”
That’s from the creepy bedtime tale Bran was told during the first season of Game of Thrones, as Old Nan regaled him with stories of The Long Night, when the White Walkers last descended upon Westeros.
The ice spiders have never been seen in the HBO show, but author George R.R. Martin unveiled an illustration Thursday of the 2020 Song of Ice and Fire calendar that shows the arachnoid terrors:
That’s a bit bigger than hounds!
It’s unclear if the HBO drama will include the spiders during its climactic confrontation between the living and the Army of the Dead in the upcoming final season, which gets underway in April, but it seems pretty certain wights, White Walkers, the Night King and an ice dragon will be involved.
And before you say it, yes, Martin is working on finishing the book — he vowed to fans earlier this week that he will complete The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring.
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