Um, Actually

Published April 26, 2019 · Updated July 6, 2022

Hey Guys,

This is in response to an email you read on the Small Council about what triggered the movement of the White Walkers. Someone emailed in to ask Why now? There’s speculation about Baby Sam and the birth of dragons. I’d like to rebut this theory, but all of this is speculation, though somewhat supported by things we’ve learned throughout the show.

The very first segment we see in the first episode is the gory remains of a wildling party, and the subsequent killing of two of the three rangers, so we know that they have been active. At this point, Baby Sam doesn’t exist and neither do the dragons. Later, we learn that Mance has been amassing this army for 20 or so years. Their objective has been to get south of the wall, where previously they were totally happy being free living north of the wall for thousands of years. They raided south, and on one or two occasions someone anointed himself King Beyond the Wall, but over 8000 years, that tells me they’ve been generally happy living up there with a grudge for having been cast off from the people south of the wall. What prompts them to suddenly give in to Mance and band together (including Thenns, who are the most hated) to try to get south of the wall now? I would infer that the White Walkers emerged to start amassing their own army around that same time. Perhaps Mance’s bid to unite the wildlings started as a way to stick it to the crows, but in the long run, they came together to escape the dead. Now, what happened (in show history) about that long ago? It was the birth of dragons, but not literal dragons. Both Dany and Jon were born. It seems that the Night King is also a greenseer, as Jojen and Bran both are/were. He has known, repeatedly where to go to attack people in this huge expanse of area north of the wall, especially Jon. How did he know that they were coming north of the wall last season? I think he’s been able to see certain things, and his laying in wait for thousands of years and his movements now have been strategic. He didn’t attack the wildling army because there were so many, but rather he waited for them to be decimated and attacked at a place like Hardhome to reap the rewards of hitting them when they were weakened and not mobilized. It also appears he knew that eventually he would get a dragon and that would allow him to take down the wall ( what happened to the magic that keeps them out?). In short, he had to wait out the humans to get what he needed. I really believe the fulfillment of the Prince That Was Promise prophecy was what stirred them.

I love that we see over and over on this show how people see flashes of the future or we have prophecies, but so much fault lies in how they’re interpreted. I hope that the Night King saw himself south of the wall and misinterpreted something in a major way. I’m wondering, though, over and over I’ve heard talk like the army in the north is going to take care of the dead, then they’ll ride south and take care of Cersei. Do you really think that will happen? Does it seem likely that even if they defeat the Night King, that they would have enough people remaining to go south and defeat Cersei, too? I feel like if Cersei doesn’t have to face the dead eventually, in some capacity, after lying and ignoring what’s happening, it’s just not satisfying at all. I know things on this show are not always about people getting what they deserve, but a lot of people have had some poetic justice to their deaths.

Finally, and I know this is a lot, but I want to point out the difference we are seeing in all these people, even now. You see the people like Jon, who have fought these things before, keeping their eyes on the prize and worrying about the dead. I think they are staying true to their roots having others, like Arya cavalierly say, “I look forward to seeing this one.” Also, Sansa continuing to play the political games and worry about the future at inopportune times. People have written off the White Walkers/wights all throughout the show, and to now have the people like them not getting what they’re about to face is really staying true to the show we love. We know that Arya, at least, will have an about-face from the trailer. Thanks for humoring me.

-D

P.S. Big D, I don’t think they woman was coming for your fathering skills or perhaps even you. You backtracked on your instant reaction to the Davos scene with the little girl. I think it was her calling out all the people who hated it.

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