The first episode of Game of Thrones, the hit HBO fantasy series based on George R. R. Martin's epic A Song of Ice and Fire novels, instantly captivated audiences. The very first scene introduces the concept of the Night's Watch, the brotherhood of sworn protectors of the realm, and the icy, undead threat of the white walkers and wights. Then, the show hits the ground running, immediately showcasing some of the series' main protagonists, the Stark family.
When Will (Bronson Webb), a man of the Night's Watch, deserts his post after escaping the clutches of the undead forces, the Starks' men find him. Then, House patriarch Eddard "Ned" Stark (Sean Bean) must perform his duty and behead Will, while his sons Robb (Richard Madden) and Bran (Isaac Hempstead-Wright), his bastard Jon Snow (Kit Harrington), and his ward Theon Greyjoy (Alfie Allen) watch on.
On their way back to Winterfell, the Starks encounter six direwolf pups, having fled south of the wall, near the corpse of their mother. With the direwolf being the sigil of the house, and the number of baby wolves matching the number of Stark children, the family decides to adopt the wolves. Each Stark names and raises their wolf pup, with Robb naming his Grey Wind, Ned's eldest daughter Sansa (Sophie Turner) calling hers Lady, Ned's second daughter Arya (Maisie Williams) pulling out the name "Nymeria" from a history book, Bran styling his wolf Summer, and the youngest Stark child, Rickon (Art Parkinson), simply referring to his pup as Shaggydog. Additionally, Jon Snow ends up bonding with an albino direwolf pup, who he names Ghost.
In many ways, the discovery of these direwolves kicks off the Starks' story, even before the series' main inciting incident, the arrival of King Robert Baratheon (Mark Addy) at Winterfell. However, as the series progresses, the direwolves themselves become less and less prevalent.
Game of Thrones' direwolf dilemma
Sadly, many of the Starks' direwolves don't make it very far into the series. By the end of the show's second episode, "The Kingsroad," two of the pups are already gone. After Nymeria protects Arya and her lowborn friend Mycah (Rhodri Hosking) by attacking the vicious Prince Joffrey Baratheon (Jack Gleason), Joffrey's mother, Queen Cersei, orders the wolf put down. However, Arya helps Nymeria escape back into the wild, leading to Lady's execution instead.
In Season 3, Grey Wind meets his end at the infamous Red Wedding, in which, after being lulled into a false sense of security, Robb, his mother Catelyn (Michelle Fairley), his wife Talisa (Oona Chaplin), and several key Stark bannermen are murdered at the celebration. Grey wind's severed head is then horrifyingly sewn onto Robb's corpse.
While the first three direwolf departures are given some serious weight, the latter half of the series downplays their demises. In season 6, Shaggydog is killed off screen, and Summer's death feels glossed aside in favor of bigger deaths during Bran's escape from a white walker attack, including the Three-Eyed Raven (Max Von Sydow), Leaf (Kae Alexander), and, of course, Hodor (Kristian Narin).
As the series progressed, it became clear that the adaptation grew less interested in the direwolves than the original source material. In addition to skimming past the wolves' deaths in season 6, the Stark children's' warging abilities and spiritual connection to their direwolves was mostly cut from the show, Nymeria's grand return in season 7 takes place only in one quick, self-contained scene, and Jon doesn't even pet Ghost goodbye in season 8 before heading off to war, leading to some fan outrage at the time.
Despite their initial importance to the Starks' story, Game of Thrones, grew less and less focused on the direwolves. The deaths of Lady and Grey Wind in the earlier seasons are given far more gravity than those of Shaggydog and Summer, even though Grey Wind's murder takes place in a similarly bloody episode to Summer's. Ultimately, this change is indicative of a key difference between Game of Thrones and A Song of Ice and Fire.
What does the downplaying of direwolves say about Game of Thrones?
Game of Thrones giving the direwolves such little prominence illustrates a major departure from the original source material. While A Song of Ice and Fire places heavy emphasis on its fantasy elements, Game of Thrones is consistently more interested in the political implications.
Direwolves are magical, non-existant animals from a fictional frigid climate that can psychically bond with members of one particular family. They add to the fantastical ambiance created by A Song of Ice and Fire, but clash with the tone Game of Thrones, a series which mostly limited its magical elements to dragons, white walkers, and the occasional demon shadow baby, had developed. Had Game of Thrones included warging, placed a larger emphasis on the direwolves, and further developed their bonds with the Stark children, it would have, for better or worse, felt like a very different series.
For more from the world of Westeros, make sure to stream season 1 of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms on HBO Max.