theory is that the same reason they could enter the tree cave will allow them to pass through The Wall when Bran (accidentally?) goes through
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Main non-Hodor takeaway from tonight's Game of Thrones: All Westerosi distances seem to be collapsing into a few days' ride.</p>— Ross Douthat (@DouthatNYT) <a href="https://twitter.com/DouthatNYT/status/734565613448744960" data-datetime="2016-05-23T02:04:24+00:00">May 23, 2016</a></blockquote> <script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>"Your uncle has an army at Riverrun." "Perfect, I'll send Brienne." (Nobody mentions that it's a thousand miles away.)</p>— Ross Douthat (@DouthatNYT) <a href="https://twitter.com/DouthatNYT/status/734565941539917825" data-datetime="2016-05-23T02:05:42+00:00">May 23, 2016</a></blockquote> <script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>"How did you get here?" "I rallied an army for you at Moat Cailin." (Moat Cailin is 800 miles away.)</p>— Ross Douthat (@DouthatNYT) <a href="https://twitter.com/DouthatNYT/status/734566186059366400" data-datetime="2016-05-23T02:06:40+00:00">May 23, 2016</a></blockquote> <script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>"Make me king, and I'll make you build me a thousand ships on your tree-less islands and sail them to Daenerys!" (She's 4000 miles away.)</p>— Ross Douthat (@DouthatNYT) <a href="https://twitter.com/DouthatNYT/status/734566618005680128" data-datetime="2016-05-23T02:08:23+00:00">May 23, 2016</a></blockquote> <script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
I'm going to spoiler this but it's mostly my own speculation. Spoiler So in the Inside the Episode bit, I gained an insight from the producers. They said that after the 3-eyed raven knew that the White Walkers were coming, he had to teach Bran as much as possible before the end. So the last thing Bran sees is "Hodor". Why is this lesson so important? It is to show Bran that time is related, what happens in the future can affect the past and vice versa. This calls into question all of the things happened in the past. For instance if we accept R+L=J and all of strangeness around Rhaegar in the last days, we now have to think that it was planned. A message was given to Rhaegar that told him his son would be the Prince who was promised and that he needed to throw away the Targaryen dynasty for the survival of mankind. Think about it, if Rhaegar had become king, the 7 Kingdoms would have remained stable, he probably would have been a great king, but without a Jon Snow, a Daenarys Mother of Dragons, and Bran going north of the Wall, humanity might have fallen to the White Walkers in this cycle. So they had to cause nearly 20 years of constant war, untold suffering, for a chance to stop the White Walkers this time. This is ultimately the story GRRM is trying to tell. They just gave us the key to the story.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Don't do drugs <a href="https://t.co/hmoRHqeOxe" title="http://twitter.com/DepressedDarth/status/734572510109388800/photo/1" data-extended="["http://pbs.twimg.com/media/CjG5vWaWkAAc8iG.jpg","http://pbs.twimg.com/media/CjG5vWsW0AAwfcN.jpg"]">pic.twitter.com/hmoRHqeOxe</a></p>— Darth Vader (@DepressedDarth) <a href="https://twitter.com/DepressedDarth/status/734572510109388800" data-datetime="2016-05-23T02:31:48+00:00">May 23, 2016</a></blockquote> <script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Couple things I loved about this episode... The red priestess' words to Varys pretty much formed the theme for the whole episode, especially Bran and Hodor's story/backstory. Another slight nod to John Snow's potential lineage when Sansa slippingly reaffirmed he is not a true Stark. ---- I'm also enjoying Theon's path toward redemption. Tormund crushing on Brienne.
it's always tricky integrating backstory without it seeming like an info dump (and this show has had trouble), but they've done a great job this season
There is a big reason why Jagen sent Arya to scope out a group of actors telling the story of her families demise. Then twice in the episode the waif and Jagen mention again that she's a Stark, and she's the only faceless man whose come from royalty. There is no doubt they have motives and her stark lineage is a big part of it. Also keep in mind that Jagen was likely sending himself to the wall in season 2 when he was in the cart going to castle black to take the black. It's obvious that he was doing that on purpose and that reason was likely an assassination mission. What did he want or want to kill at the wall or north of the wall? It's anyone's guess. Before I would have guessed he wanted to range north of the wall and kill Bloodraven. But how is it that meeting Arya changed everything? How is she important to his mission or the mission of the faceless men. I have a feeling there is a pretty big revelation coming towards the end of this season with the Arya faceless men plot that makes the buildup of that story totally worth it.
Totally agree. Would show watchers really want to wait episodes apon episodes to move the plot forward? I enjoy our characters interacting and that plot moving forward... Not an entire season dedicated to Littlefingers journey from the Vale to Molestown.
I hope so. On one hand, it will be a shame to me if she truly becomes a faceless person, on the other, she can't just leave them without no consequences. I can't see where this is going.
Some big time drama queening by Sansa to Littlefinger. Then the overly smug know it all attitude toward Davos. Reminded me how much I hate Sansa. And these nerds whining about distance in the show is silly. No one watching the show knows where and how far any of these places are relative to each other... because it's all made up!
For real...why doesn't he just read a history book if he wants non-fiction? Are the producers suppose to waste a few episodes showing Little Finger and Sansa riding through the woods and snow or something? This is a show of dragons and witches and iced up zombies and he is worried about the distance between two places.
Cersei employing FM to take care of Sansa ? Littlefinger emphasised "half brother" to Sansa as did the Faceless girl to Arya in a previous episode. Something going on there?
Question: If the three-eyed raven told Bran to flee why did he start green-seeing with Bran again when he knew the Night King was coming? Unless the Raven wanted Bran to mess up Hodor. Question: Did Hodor know he was supposed to hold the door all this time or did Bran just screw him up with the warging and green-seeing?
