10 Magical Game Of Thrones Details Explained With Science

6. Are The White Walkers Terraforming?

Okay, first of all, the White Walkers do really seem to be the product of magic rather than science. Which is fine, it's a fantasy series and I'm not a dick.

We do have some real-world examples of animals that are able to survive being frozen, but they usually do this by shutting down their metabolic processes. There are also some that can remain metabolically active at subzero temperatures by maintaining high salt levels in their tissues - because, as we all know, saltwater is liquid at lower temperatures.

So, unless they're a particularly salty race, the White Walkers are magical, but that doesn't mean they can't have a stab at some science too.

Given that they probably wouldn't do too well in the sunny climate of King's Landing, Westeros is going to have to get distinctly icier in order for them to survive. Could it be that, rather than lying in wait for a winter to strike in order to move south, that the Walkers are actually the cause of Westeros' winters in the first place.

Terraforming is a hypothetical (but still "real") process of adapting a hostile environment to make it livable. In our universe, for example, many scientists think that we might one day be able to terraform Mars by warming its atmosphere and melting its ice caps, thus creating Earth 2.0.

The White Walkers are an intelligent race with language, social structure, magical powers and a military of sorts, it could be that, rather than the winter bringing Walkers, the Walkers bring Winter.