Cregan Stark told Jacaerys Velaryon about what is really beyond The Wall in House of the Dragon. He didn’t share anything about the actual White Walkers but said that “death” is what the Night’s Watch protects Westeros from.
So, this means that the Starks know something about the White Walkers. At some point, the knowledge of the White Walkers comes to an end, both for Targaryens and Starks. When is that the case?
Are Rhaenyra and Cregan the last of their families to know about White Walkers?
With the Dance of the Dragons promising to be bloody and deadly, it’s possible that the knowledge of the White Walkers ends with these two members of the families in House of the Dragon.
Let’s start by looking at Rhaenyra. Viserys didn’t tell anyone else in the family. Daemon, Aegon, nobody else knows about the creatures North of The Wall. They know nothing about the dagger that is needed to kill the Night King.
The Starks may have followed a similar method of passing the story on. What if only the heir to the Winterfell title is told about the White Walkers? As Rickon’s child to take over as Lord of Winterfell, Cregan got to learn the truth about what is on the other side of The Wall. He may only be supposed to tell whoever becomes his heir.
Yes, Cregan told Jace, but technically, Jace would be Rhaenyra’s heir. She could tell him at some point, but Cregan didn’t share everything. There’s just this fact that “death” is North of The Wall.
It could suggest that the two don’t have the time to pass the details on. If they both die in the Dance of the Dragons, the knowledge of the White Walkers could end with them.
Ned and Benjen seemed to know about the White Walkers in Game of Thrones
When we just to Game of Thrones, the Targaryens no longer know about the White Walkers. Littlefinger has the dagger needed, which would suggest that the dagger ends up in the wrong hands after whatever Rhaenyra goes through. Presuming she dies before she has a chance to tell an heir about the dagger and Aegon the Conqueror’s dream, it’s no wonder why the dagger would be passed on and the story forgotten about.
The same doesn’t seem to be as true in the North. The series starts with a Night’s Watch member running away. This abandoning of the oath is traitorous, and he is executed, but not before he shares that he saw the White Walkers on the other side of The Wall.
While a lot of people laugh, Ned doesn’t. When he and Benjen talk about what was said, they both seem to take the story seriously. It would make sense for Ned to learn about the White Walkers from his father. It would then make sense for him to tell Benjen since Benjen went to join the Night’s Watch. Or maybe there was talk of the White Walkers while at The Wall.
Had Jon Snow not gone to The Wall, the knowledge of the White Walkers may have died with Ned and Benjen. It doesn’t look like Ned ever told his brother Robb. But it does look like Ned at least knew the story and believed some if it. Why else would a 7,000ft wall be built?