Game of Thrones Theorycraft: The Fall of the Wall and the Battle of the Bastards

WARNING: THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR A DANCE WITH DRAGONS, AND SPECULATION (LOTS OF IT) FOR GAME OF THRONES SEASON 6

Welcome back, my Lords and Ladies, to another edition of Game of Thrones Theorycraft. Today we are going to be discussing an event that I believe we will see in Season 6, something that will turn an already large battle between two noble Northern factions into a massive and chaotic mess.

We start with the Wall, and why it must fall. To understand the power of the magic used to build the Wall, one need look no further than Bran’s first chapter in A Dance with Dragons, where he realizes that Coldhands—his guide beyond the Wall—is in fact a dead person.

"He’s some dead thing. The monsters cannot pass so long as the Wall stands and the men of the Night’s Watch stay true, that’s what Old Nan used to say. He came to meet us at the Wall, but he could not pass."

Assuming Old Nan is right, let’s ride that train of thought to its natural conclusion: the Night’s King and his minions cannot pass through the Wall as long as the men of the Night’s Watch stay true. However, the men of the Night’s Watch forsook their vows and became false brothers when they decided to murder their Lord Commander. Jon Snow had not broken any laws of the Night’s Watch’s laws (even being with Ygritte wasn’t technically a violation, as he didn’t marry her or father any children with her), yet his men—led by Alliser Thorne—conspired to murder him because they hated that he wanted to protect the wildlings.

When using this line of logic, two questions always arise:

1. Think back to the first season, when the bodies of Benjen Stark’s fellow rangers were dragged through the tunnel in the Wall and rose again as wights at Castle Black. How could they pass under the Wall if it had magical protection against “monsters,” a term that certainly applies to wights?
2. Why didn’t the Wall’s defenses start to weaken when Lord Commander Mormont was murdered by the mutineers at Craster’s Keep? Were they not as guilty as the Night’s Watchmen who killed Jon Snow?

I believe the answer to the first question is simple: the two dead rangers had not been reanimated by the Night’s King (or whatever force reanimates dead bodies on this show)…yet. And, when night fell, the leader of the White Walkers/Others commanded the men to rise, thus turning them into wights. They were trojan horses, so to speak. They were not monsters when they were dragged through the Wall, but became monsters shortly thereafter.

The answer to the second question is just as simple. First, the Old Bear (Lord Commander Mormont) was killed north of the Wall. Second, the men who killed him had already turned their cloaks at the Fist of the First Men, and were no longer men of the Night’s Watch…not in their hearts. Therefore, Mormont was murdered by former brothers of the Watch, while others like Sam tried to defend him, and even save him after he had been stabbed. When Alliser Thorne and his fellow conspirators decided to betray Jon Snow, it was inside the confines of Castle Black, behind the protection of the Wall, and as they stabbed him, each man uttered “For the Watch,” thus using the ancient order as an excuse to hide their cowardly act.

So, how does this all play into Season 6? I believe that Season 6 will open right where Season 5 left off…panning over Jon Snow’s body. But, as the camera tilts up, we will know somehow that the Wall has lost its magical protection. Maybe it will begin to shake, or weep and melt, or perhaps we will see large chunks of ice and sections of the Wall itself begin to break away and fall to the ground. The men of the Night’s Watch are false, and now the Night’s King and his undead horde can and will pass through the Wall…but we’ll come back to this in a moment.

When considering how much content we know is going to be crammed into Season 6, I don’t think that executive producers David Benioff and Dan Weiss will stretch out resurrecting Jon Snow…there is just too much story to get through to hold that event off until Episode 5 or 6. Make no mistake: Melisandre was shown arriving at the Wall the very same night Jon was killed for a reason. Let’s take a step back to understand the Red Priestess’ role in Jon’s resurrection more clearly.

In Season 3’s “The Climb,”, Melisandre meets the Brotherhood without Banners, and more importantly, Thoros the Red Priest. She learns that he has dedicated himself to the Lord of Light and can now bring the dead back to life. Melisandre is fascinated by his tale, and speaks to Beric Dondarrion, who Thoros had resurrected six times before. The showrunners did not show us this scene by accident—I believe they knew Jon Snow’s turn at resurrection would come in Season 6.

So, with Melisandre at the Wall, I believe she will give Jon the Kiss of Life and resurrect him. But, once alive, what will Jon do, and where will he go? The on-set photos we’ve seen over the past few months provide clues. Jon will end Season 6 by participating in what many are referring to as the Battle of the Bastards.

Basically, the info available tells us that Jon will face off against Ramsay Bolton, with various factions lending their support to one side or the other. To understand why Jon goes into battle, one need look to A Dance with Dragons, and the infamous Pink Letter. In the books, before Jon is betrayed by his men, he receives a letter supposedly written by Ramsay Snow Bolton. Jon never got this letter in Game of Thrones Season 5, but I believe that he will get it in Season 6, after he has been resurrected, and that this will be what drives him to lead an army into battle against the Boltons.

Check out the text of the letter, from A Dance with Dragons:

"Your false king is dead, bastard. He and all his host were smashed in seven days of battle. I have his magic sword. Tell his red whore.Your false king’s friends are dead. Their heads upon the walls of Winterfell. Come see them, bastard. Your false king lied, and so did you. You told the world you burned the King-Beyond-the-Wall. Instead you sent him to Winterfell to steal my bride from me.I will have my bride back. If you want Mance Rayder back, come and get him. I have him in a cage for all the north to see, proof of your lies. The cage is cold, but I have made him a warm cloak from the skins of the six whores who came with him to Winterfell.I want my bride back. I want the false king’s queen. I want his daughter and his red witch. I want this wildling princess. I want his little prince, the wildling babe. And I want my Reek. Send them to me, bastard, and I will not trouble you or your black crows. Keep them from me, and I will cut out your bastard’s heart and eat it.Ramsay Bolton, Trueborn Lord of Winterfell."

Now, on the show, Mance actually was burned to death in The Wars to Come, and in the penultimate episode of the season, Shireen was sacrificed to the Red God, as well. This prompted Selyse to hang herself in the Season 5 finale, so we know for a fact that Ramsay does not have them…and since Melisandre was there when all this went down, she would know it to be a lie. So we can assume those parts of the letter won’t be included.

Now, we know that Stannis was killed by Brienne, and if Ramsay and his men scout the area, they would find his body and recover his “magic sword.” So, if the Pink Letter is used to lure Jon into open battle, then we could say that part would be true. (I feel I need to add an aside here: if Ramsay is going to put the bodies of someone recognizable on his Bolton crosses and burn them during or before the Battle of the Bastards, would Stannis and his wife not make the perfect pair? This sounds like something that fits perfectly in Ramsay Bolton’s sick little wheelhouse of horrors. Food for thought.)

We also know that Sansa and Theon (Reek) escaped Winterfell in the Season 5 finale. We’re not entirely sure where they’ll go, but it would make sense for Sansa to head for the Wall and try to reunite with her half-brother (remember, she has no way of knowing Jon was murdered). Ramsay could come to that conclusion as well, and send a raven to Castle Black demanding his bride and his Reek be returned.

So, skip to the end of the season, and we have Jon and his army meeting the Bolton army on the field of battle. From the photos of the war dead we’ve seen, I’m starting to get the feeling that Jon’s side wins the day….I mean, they do have a Wun Wun. But, this is Game of Thrones, so any victory is likely to be bittersweet. Just ask Jaime Lannister how he felt after having a tender father-uncle/daughter moment with Myrcella right before she died in his arms. There are no truly happy endings on this show.

So, what would be the perfect bittersweet ending to the Battle of the Bastards?

Well, let’s say that Jon and Ramsay do eventually meet in the midst of battle. Jon, being an expert swordsman, is more than up to the challenge of killing the Bastard of Bolton—I firmly believe this season will finally be the one where Ramsay gets his comeuppance. But, as Jon slays Ramsay, a white mist begins to blow, the snows begin to swirl, soldiers from both sides stop and turn their heads to the north as the Night’s King and his lieutenants arrive astride their undead steeds, heralding the arrival of death in the form of hundreds of thousands of wights, charging into the chaos of the Battle of the Bastards.

And there, my friends, is your bittersweet Game of Thrones ending. The hopelessness we felt as Jon watched the Night’s King raise the dead at Hardhome has now engulfed Westeros in terror. The Wall has fallen or been breached, and the dead are scouring the land.

Jon Snow may turn out to be a Targaryen, or he may claim the Stark name, but until the Night’s King and his horde of wights have been ended once and for all, or at the very least, banished back to the Lands of Always Winter, then neither Jon nor his remaining siblings will ever be able to reclaim their home.

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