Summary

• Benjen Stark's mysterious appearances on Game of Thrones left fans with more questions than answers.
• The Children of the Forest saved Benjen from becoming a White Walker, using dragonglass to prevent the transformation, begging the question of why they didn't do this to save more lives.
• Benjen's unconfirmed death in the series leaves open the possibility that he may still be alive in the Game of Thrones universe.

Despite being such a small part of the show, Benjen Stark left a lot of unanswered questions following his time on Game of Thrones, feeling like more of a mystery than an actual character. Benjen was introduced in the very first episode as the younger brother of Ned Stark and First Ranger in the Night's Watch. He soon went missing beyond the Wall, only to reappear in season 6 as a man who is half-human and half-Walker. He then disappears once again, but pops back up in season 7 before he quickly dies.

Appearing in a total of six episodes in Game of Thrones, Benjen managed to make a mark. After his exit from the show in season 1, fans held onto the staunch belief that he would return. While that turned out to be true, he seemed to leave more questions than answers. There is also little known about Benjen from the books with him similarly disappearing from the story early on. While more may be revealed if George R. R. Martin completes the series, for now, Benjen Stark has left a lot of fans scratching their heads.

Why Did The White Walkers Leave Him?

They Possibly Didn't See Benjen As A Threat After Stabbing Him

When Bran Stark meets up with his uncle again beyond the Wall, Benjen explains what happened to him since he was last seen in season 1. He says he and the other of the Night's Watch were attacked by White Walkers. He was stabbed by one of them and left for dead. Later, the Children of the Forest found him and saved him. While that's lucky for Benjen, it's a bit odd for the White Walkers just to leave him there.

It seems like a needless risk even for an undead ice zombie

With the White Walkers being so powerful, it could be that they simply didn't see Benjen as a big enough threat to worry about. There is some precedent for this, as the White Walker didn't kill Sam when he had the chance in Game of Thrones season 2. However, it feels quite convenient for Benjen that the White Walkers would kill all of the men he was with, stab him, but then leave before confirming that he was dead. It seems like a needless risk even for an undead ice zombie.

Why Didn't He Become A White Walker?

The Same Procedure That Saved Benjen Created The Night King

In detailing his near-death run-in with the White Walker, Benjen also explains that he could have been turned into a Walker. However, when the Children of the Forest found him, they were able to use their own magic to stop the transformation. This was achieved by them sticking a dragonglass dagger into Benjen's chest. While many could just accept this as one of the magic elements of the show that is never fully explained, the show did depict such a procedure in the past with a much different result.

While learning the powers of the Three-Eyed Raven and looking back on the history of Westeros, Bran sees the origins of the Night King. This flashback shows that the Children of the Forest plunged a piece of dragonglass into a man's chest, and thus the Night King was born. Bran and Benjen both acknowledge that this is the same procedure but give no explanation as to why it has the opposite effect. Dragonglass was shown to be a powerful weapon in the series, but this is the extent to which Game of Thrones examines the magic of these artifacts.

Why Did The Children Of The Forest Choose Him?

The Children Of The Forest Could Have Saved Many People

From how he explained it to Bran and how it was depicted in the Children of the Forest's flashback, the ritual to save Benjen wasn't all that complicated. Not only did it save his life and prevent one more soldier from being added to the Night King's army, but it also helped to create someone who could survive Beyond the Wall without becoming a Walker. Given how valuable that kind of person would be in fighting the Night King's army, it is a wonder why the Children of the Forest didn't do that more often.

From the myriad Night's Watch brothers who were seen to have been killed Beyond the Wall to the wildlings who were often targeted, the Children of the Forest surely must have come across others who were left for dead. It suggests that there might have been something special about Benjen, but that is hard to figure out given how little he does after being brought back from the brink of death.

What Was Benjen Doing That Whole Time?

Benjen's Missing Time Is Never Explained

There are a number of Game of Thrones characters in ing roles who were introduced only to disappear for seasons at a time and suddenly reappear. However, it is more noticeable with Benjen considering how he really should have been more involved. Midway through the first season, some of the Night's Watchmen who were with Benjen reappear at the Wall as dead men. Therefore, Benjen was attacked sometime in early season 1 but is not seen again until season 6.

Plenty of characters had been Beyond the Wall during that time, but none of them saw any sign of Benjen and he didn't appear to try making with any of them. There is a lot to explore Beyond the Wall so he might have been out investigating the activities of the White Walkers. However, he also knew that a lot of the action would be happening around the Wall with his Night's Watch brothers often needing help. Instead, he seemed to simply wander around on his own.

Why Didn't The Wildlings Know About Him?

Benjen Could Have Helped Them As Well

While it might be reasonable to assume that Jon Snow or Bran Stark wouldn't run into their long-lost uncle out in the vast land Beyond the Wall, it's hard to believe that the wildlings didn't know about him. Mance Rayder had collected the world's largest army made up of the various wildling tribes, so it's safe to assume there were a lot of people out there in the frozen wilderness. News of Ned Stark's brother being half-dead Beyond the Wall would probably be pretty big news.

It is true that the wildlings and the Night's Watch do not get along, but with Benjen encountering the White Walker and the Children of the Forest, while also being made aware of the Three-Eyed Raven, it seems likely that he would begin to see the bigger picture and try to help the wildlings escape the White Walkers' wrath.

How Does Benjen Know How To Find Everyone?

Benjen Is Able To Cover A Lot Of Ground In The Massive World Beyond The Wall

Benjen may have been missing for several seasons without anyone else ever seeing him, but when he wanted to find someone, he didn't have any trouble with it. Again, Beyond the Wall is not a small place. Once the wildlings went south, it would be nearly impossible to find anyone out there. Somehow, Benjen was able to find Bran and Jon on two separate occasions just in time to save them from the White Walkers.

There is likely no answer for this beyond Game of Thrones' penchant for making characters appear whenever and wherever they are needed without logic really playing into it. This became a common criticism among fans the longer the show went on. However, while it is frustrating to see the show ignore the reality of Westeros' vast mamp, it is even worse when considering Benjen's travels in the unending wasteland Beyond the Wall.

Where Did Benjen Get Those Weapons?

Benjen's Weaponry Seems Specially Made

When Benjen does show up to save the day and finally show off his fighting skills, he is able to take out the dead soldiers of the White Walkers with ease. When saving both Bran and Jon, Benjen is about to go up against a considerable number of the soldiers, dispensing them with some seemingly magic weapons.

Benjen did presumably go Beyond the Wall with his standard Night's Watch weapons, but the arsenal he possesses later contain weaponry not seen on the show before. They look designed to fight the Walkers specifically, utilizing fire, which is known to be a weakness of theirs. With the weapon seeming to ignite on its own, similar to Beric Dondarrion's sword, it suggests it is not a mortal weapon. However, if it was something given to him by the Children of the Forest, they might have considered similarly arming the Night's Watch.

Why Didn't He Go With Jon?

Benjen's Sacrifice Seemed Unnecessary

Game of Thrones season 7 is one of the most controversial storylines of the show. From the illogical plan of capturing a dead soldier to bring back as proof to the continued indifference to making sense of travel times, the episode was seen as an early sign of Game of Thrones' decline. It also featured the surprise return of Benjen Stark, which proved laughably short and somewhat unneeded.

After Jon is left behind, Benjen shows up to save him, giving him his horse and staying behind to fight the dead army. Most viewers were quick to point out that Benjen could have easily shared the horse with Jon and ridden to safety. It was a jarring moment to have the mysterious character return only to die almost immediately. It felt as if it was the show trying to tie up a loose end as quickly as possible.

Why Didn't He Help The Night's Watch Before?

Benjen's Old Friends Could Have Used His Help

It's especially strange to consider why Benjen is not seen for so long given how much his fellow Night's Watch brothers could have used his help. Between fighting the wildlings and fighting the White Walkers, someone with Benjen's skills would have been a real asset. In season 2, the majority of the Night's Watch goes Beyond the Wall to find Mance Rayder and the long-lost Benjen. They are quickly and almost completely wiped out by the White Walkers.

A little help from him in these situations would have gone a long way

Lord Commander Mormont is later killed in a mutiny and the mutineers proceed to capture Craster's wives and even Bran Stark. Benjen had his tendency to show up miraculously when needed, so a little help from him in these situations would have gone a long way. Even in his final appearance, he showed up only to save Jon at the last minute when his knowledge of White Walkers and the area Beyond the Wall would have been invaluable to Jon's hunting party.

Is Benjen Stark Really Dead?

The Unconfirmed Death Could Mean Benjen Is Still Out There

While there are a lot of deaths in Game of Thrones, many fans don't consider a character to be killed unless they are actually seen dying. With characters like Stannis Baratheon and Maester Luwin, the show's uncharacteristic restraint in not depicting a gory on-screen death led to many fans holding onto the possibility that they were still alive. Likewise, Benjen is not actually seen dying in Game of Thrones.

Benjen is last seen when he saves Jon and proceeds to take on the massive army of the dead by himself. Granted, it seems pretty impossible that anyone could survive a fight like that and there is no real reason to keep him alive in the story, nor any hint in the rest of the series that he was alive.

However, with the lack of a proper death scene and given his magic powers, there's always the possibility that Benjen survived. It seems like only a matter of time before there is a Game of Thrones spinoff taking place after the events of the series, and Benjen's survival could be saved for them.