Prologue Beyond the Wall

Three rangers of the Night's Watch—Will, Gared, and Ser Waymar Royce—ride north of the Wall in search of wildlings. They find a campsite with eight dead bodies, but the corpses vanish. That night, the Others attack. Ser Waymar fights bravely but is killed by an Other's pale sword, which shatters his blade. Will watches from a tree, horrified, as the Others butcher the young knight. Later, Will climbs down and finds Ser Waymar's body, but the dead knight rises as a wight with burning blue eyes and kills Will. This event establishes the supernatural threat of the Others and the wights, setting a tone of dread for the entire novel.