Perhaps he thought he would have some sympathy from the acting commander of the nights watch who we know hates John Snow. Combine that with the fact that Locke was on a mission from the new "Lord of the North" Roose Bolton he most likely would have allowed him to pass. Remember also, the Starks are all considered "enemies of the crown". Giving aid to the enemy would be a big no-no for anyone loyal to the crown. And its also possible he was planning to take Bran to the coast and sail south around the wall.
It was a story line created by the show writers, and they knew he was going to die so they didn't bother thinking any of the rest of the details of his plot out, including how he would get over the wall with Bran, or how he would leave the Night's Watch to collect his reward without being branded a deserter.
why would he care if he was labeled a deserter? The NW doesn't send out trackers to go find deserters.
I thought they did? And to the poster who made mention of the crown, the NW isn't "loyal" to the crown in the sense of the word. They are going to let a sworn brother march through Castle Black and then leave with a crippled boy on his back because he says he was ordered to do so by Bolton? If this story was in Walking Dead people would have gone nuts.
Think the details just show that it was kind of slapped together to fill up some of Bran's slower moments in the book but didn't Sam and Gilly get to the other side of the wall without actually scaling the wall?
I think they do, but probably wouldn't with their low numbers and an army on the way to attack them. Yeah, there's a way under the wall. It's also how Bran got to the other side.
I'm not sure if the NW sends out trackers. We saw deserters being captured and then executed by Ned in the first episode, but I'm not sure the NW had anything to do with it (aside from supporting the act). If the NW saw what was happening, I'm sure they'd try to stop Locke, but if he managed to slip by and they though he just deserted them (and know nothing about Bran), I don't think they have the manpower at this point to send anyone after him. Not when they know that Mance Rayder is marching on the Wall.
Yeah but Sam said he read about the other door in an old book in the show and Bran found it on accident by running into Sam. In the books it's an ancient forgotten magic gate that only members of the watch can open and Sam has a guide that has so far been cut from the show that shows him where it is and how to open it. Then when Sam runs into Bran he opens it for him and the guide helps Bran north. Locke just joined the Night's Watch so there is no reason to think he would know about it. Obviously if there was an unguarded door that everyone knew about then the wildlings would have gone there instead of climbing the wall with Jon. If he took Bran back the way he came thru Castle Black, he couldn't very easily get thru and leave with him because you can't just leave when you want even if Bolton would pardon/ignore his desertion. It was a scene invented by the show writers, and since they knew Locke was going to die, they didn't bother thinking any of the details of how he might proceed if Hodor hadn't killed him and didn't expect most of their viewers too either.
Locke knows Bran go to the other side, and I think it's reasonable to assume Locke knows that he didn't go through Castle Black. Locke can then reasonably assume Bran got there by other means, means that he would make Bran share. Just my rationalization.
I don't blame the show so much as the medium. Movies and TV shows hit you over the head. The format doesn't allow the audience to go slow and long and see all the detail. Books have a luxury for this that film does not.
Maybe Locke was playing it by ear, i mean he didn't know Bran was north of the wall until he got to Castle Black, and we never saw him take his vows, did we? He just said they should if that was what it took to get men who can fight to go along to Craster's. Even if he did say them, I'm guessing he figured he'd find a way out of it once he found tha real "KING O' THA NORTH." And besides, it's TV, some are trying to hard to find the snags. I thought Locke's death was surprising (good) given how eerily close he was to his goals and a means to the end. Abrupt, yes, but that's been the style all along.... "Surely they aren't about to.... HOLY $#@!"
Hodor carried Bran on a transport of sorts with help to hunt for them and stuff. Was Locke going to carry him on his back?? You can't just sneak back to the other side through Castle Black because someone has to open that gate for you so that was out. I'm not really bothered by it all that much, but I still say that if this show was named Walking Dead people would be in here saying "I can't believe I watch this garbage."
Usually the show is really good about getting points in. I mean after reading the books, almost every sentence/reaction/background in the show had some meaning to it. There's that much detail in the books. This whole Locke plotline seemed to be totally pointless. Without spoiling anything, I understand they needed something to give Bran, but I just don't think this one paid off.
How did Osha and the wildlings get past the wall in Season 1 when they tried to kidnap Bran? The wall must have some serious gaps if that motley crew got through.
It's not out of the question that Locke could have had a raven ready to send to the Dreadfort notifying Bolton that he had found Bran, and now needed a way back over the wall. Wouldn't surprise me at all if Bolton himself wouldn't have led a force to the wall to ensure Locke and Bran got back through. Like everyone else has said, I just don't think they thought it through very far, but at least there ARE ways it could have been explained
We saw last season how the Wildlings scale an unpatrolled section of the Wall when Jon was with them. There aren't any gaps. The Night's Watch just doesn't have the manpower to patrol all of it. There are something like 19 towers on the wall, but only 3 are manned. So the wildlings just climb an unpatrolled part of it. Up and over. How did you think Jon, Ygritte, and the others ended up south of the Wall?
What's so hard to understand about the current acting Lord Commander Ser Alliser Thorne (who HATES all things Stark especially John Snow) letting Locke pass through the wall with the Stark kid? Why would he have any problem with that once he understood that it would greatly upset John Snow who he has nothing but contempt for?
