Source
r/asoiaf•
nosox

(Spoilers Extended) Jon's plan isn't going to work because it's failed before.

EXTENDED

Back in season one Allister Thorne was sent to King's Landing with the hand of one of the wights that attacked Jeor Mormont. This happened in the books as well. Tyrion made Thorne wait upon arrival, causing the wight's hand to decompose to nothing but bone.

Jon's plan is to do the exact same thing, but with an entire skeleton. I can't imagine him getting it to King's Landing any faster than Thorne did and Throne didn't have to bring more than a hand from all the way north of The Wall. Maybe Jon will teleport around the world like he's been doing recently?

Posted Aug 15, 2017, 9:30 PM UTC

1121
holy_eru•

The wight would be 'alive', wouldn't that make the difference? Only the hand decomposed, maybe the entire thing survives

10
Cong0"A giant among us."•

Pretty sure the hand was still moving. I don't remember if it was or not but if it wasn't why would they even send it in the first place. Just a severed hand at that point.

2
GreyWardenCommander•

You're forgetting that Thorne brought the hand to King's Landing in the middle of summer when it was extremely hot and humid and this would have exacerbated the decomposing problem. Jon will be bringing the Wight south in much colder weather which means that it wouldn't decompose as fast.

9
nosoxOPPraise the sun!•

Assuming the entire thing doesn't rot due to the colder temperatures, why would it matter? We've seen animated skeletons in combat. Wouldn't the decomposed hand Allister had still be moving around? Why would the one Jon brings be any different?

2
GreyWardenCommander•

I don't know why the hand stopped moving around after it had decomposed. However considering it only stopped moving once it had fully decomposed it stands to reason that as long as the wight Jon brings south doesn't fully decompose then it will still be moving and therefore will be able to prove Jon's claims. This will be the case because the cold weather will stop it from decomposing therefore Jon's plan makes sense.

3
FlynnLevyEngage in Jolly Co-Operation!•

The problem of the Wight passing its expiration date won't be adressed, most likely, but I see your point. Despite the official start of Winter that was announced by the Citadel, it still looks to be nice and warm in King's Landing, judging not only the constant sunshine but also the clothes people are wearing.

Though it would be interesting the Wight decides to 'play dead', like the ones in aGoT/S1 did.

3
[deleted]•

[deleted]

1
Milka0204An apple a day keeps the doctor away!•

As I always understood it, the hand rotted
*1) because it was seperated from the entire body
*2) because Tyrion let Ser Alliser wait like weeks and weeks, bc he hated him.
And as others have said, it was summer. If they present that wight directly, it should be working I guess...

6
perhapsido•

it's a ridiculous plan because it requires going up against insurmountable odds, and then it requires Cersei to not be a murderous, bloodthirsty usurper queen with an 8 foot tall unbeatable undead guardian at her side.

this might be the reason the wall comes down, too.

5
KiloPopATC•

I'm sure some of the Dragons will be right there with Dany and Jon. The Mountain is no match for a dragon.

1
Lewis7796•

Unbeatable? No, Ser.

AIRHORNS

1
RagnarGreystarkOur tears are ice•

It's winter now. The wight won't rot as quickly and I assume that they rot slowly

3
Dawnshroud•

It's actually Tyrion's plan.

2
Calisto420•

Maybe he won't have to wait so long for an audience with the queen. IIRC Tyrion purposely made Allister Thorne wait for so long because he didn't like him.

2
erixvubui•

I actually think you pose a great point...

Also, its not just about summer or winter... It seems the NK brings the actual Night/darkness with him everywhere his horde goes.

Could it be that wights only can survive (weird usage of word I know) in the cold of winter and during a measure of darkness?

2
GnomeNotWasted the Dornishman's Life•

I don't get why she doubts in the first place with Zombie Gregor following her around everywhere.

1
perhapsido•

she doesn't care. that's the fundamental flaw in this grand plan. Cersei doesn't give a single fuck about anything except preserving her dynasty now, no matter who dies in the process. white walkers be damned. a wight is not going to convince her of something she basically already knows and doesn't care about, but it's a convenient way for her to trap her enemies into a truce while working behind the scenes to kill all of them.

1
Hans_Klopeks_Beard•

I think the kidnapping and exfiltration is simply a convenient pretext to get the magnificent seven north of the wall. Once there, that plan fails but something else important happens.

Wondering what will happen to the body is pointless as there won't be one.

1
HavD55•

My belief is that the weights were killed with fire and then the hand rotted on the trip to KL. If you take an undead wight, Not killed by fire down to KL in tact. Maybe it won't rot.

1
Samantha_CruzTavern Wench•

Why would cersei want to fight them? She wants the white walkers to come south and kill all her enemies.

1
thelazzyoneWhat do we say to the god of death?•

The crazy thing is that it isn't Jon's plan but Tyrion's. That is what shocked me. How in the world did Tyrion come up with this crazy plan. He knows Cercei better than anyone except Jamie.

1
N0R3M4C•

Benjen is a pretty fresh and less decomposed ;)

1