Runes of Power

The 24 Runes of Power are composed of 12 Elder Runes and 12 Counter Runes. These runes are paired against one another to amplify the power of each rune. E.g. It takes great fire to evaporate great water and strict law to squelch the truth.

Elder Runes are the source of fire, light, and war. Counter runes produce cold, darkness, and death. The table below shows cascades displaying the effects of runes as they progress upward in scope and power:

Elder runes appear first followed by their paired counter rune. Eight of the counter runes stop at circle eight which has led good creatures to share a common warning with each other, “Chaos comes in eights.” On Westeros, that chaos would come from the runes of death and darkness in the form of white walkers, “Winter is coming.”