S05.E08: Hardhome

[Conan Troutman]

I think it might end up that Arya is placed in a position where she has to choose between getting revence on Meryn Trant or completing her face-gaming mission, and that will prove whether or not she's ready to become no one.

 

Ah, maybe that's what the other girl and Jaquen were talking about in the whole "she's no ready" - "it's all the same" argument. Her: "What if she kills the other dude instead?". Jaquen: "Well, at least she's killing some asshole... our boss ain't that picky, you know."

 

The battle scene was crazy and tense and good but I did not understand why the 500-foot-tall wave of zombie mist somehow stopped at Hardhome's crappy wooden palisade. Unless it was, like, White Walkers Tasmanian Devilling their way through the Wildlings?

 

Maybe because the Wights slowed down a bit upon reaching the walls? Or they were just considerate enough to not ruin the scene, which would've sucked for us.

 

So, could this possibly be a major banding together of leaders to defeat the White Walkers and the Dead Army?  Dany and her dragons, John and anyone with Valaryian steel, and Stannis sailing back to his homeland, get as much dragon glass as possible, and arm as many as are still alive?   And Bran - who knows what may be doing -- maybe a lot of Dr Xavier stuff and looking around to find other wargs or something?  I dunno...

 

That would be too easy. I'm not sure how they could drag this out over at least two seasons without it getting boring. There needs to be more conflict. Which is one reason I'm optimistic Stannis will crush the Boltons: Dany needs a formidable foe once she sets foot on Westeros and Stannis is pretty much the only one left, aside from maybe LF. A Stannis vs Dany story could be a big part of next season / early season seven and provide the stepping stone towards the end game.

[bbolto]

Well the problem for me is that I can't see how I'd care about the North if the Boltons win, and especially if they win with Ramsay's stupid plan.* The Walkers can have it. It'd probably be mercy for Sansa anyway and who else exactly do we care about up there?

 

Besides, imagine a scenario where Stannis takes Winterfell and Littlefinger tromps in to take it back from him, while the White Walkers descend upon the place. Imagine Stannis trying to convince Littlefinger to fight the greater enemy for the common good. Interesting! Dicey! Now imagine Roose Bolton trying to do that. zzzzz.

 

*if Medieval Commando Raids are so effective why didn't Jaime Best-Sword-In-Westeros-At-The-Time Lannister do that to Robb Stark? It worries me though because the show has shown that sort of thing to work, or at least not result in horrible anticlimactic death, on multiple occasions: Daario vs. Dany, the Ironborn raid to free Theon (yes, a failure, and a comically stupid fight, but they lived to run away), and really, should Jon Snow have survived his solo visit to Mance Rayder? It wouldn't have surprised me to see his head on a pike.

[DarkRaichu]

Hi, this is fun you guys...

 

The battle scene was crazy and tense and good but I did not understand why the 500-foot-tall wave of zombie mist somehow stopped at Hardhome's crappy wooden palisade. Unless it was, like, White Walkers Tasmanian Devilling their way through the Wildlings? Well anyway it was very dramatic. Game of Thrones seems to me to like throwing all of its effort into a few particularly epic productions each season and kinda skimping on the rest. I guess this season more so than ever!

 

 

I thought they split up ? About 1/3 tried to get through the palisade and eventually knocked it down.  The rest went back up the hill and flooded the encampment from the back 

[DrSpaceman]

       Cersei not admitting to her crime reminded me of Star Trek TNG, when Picard is catpured by the Cardassians and held as a prisoner of war, or prisoner of non-war, which was part of the problem.  The Cardassian tries to get him to admit there are 4 lights instead of 3, or maybe vice versa, but the point being he tries to get him to admit to one small lie to break him and admit his domination of Picard, and Picard never does it, then screams when he is freed "There are 3 lights!!"

 

        Of course the obvious difference is, Cersei won't admit to the truth, its not a lie.

 

 

[Catherinewriter]

"Ian Glen is one of those weird instances where a guy gets hotter the more dirt they heap on him. Not enjoying his character as much since Emilia Clarke's interview saying he was always commenting on her tits during nude scenes. Go die of greyscale, Jorah, I no like you no more. Also, you're turning into a total stalker and no lady likes that."

 

Rozen, I'm so not happy to know this. One should never fall for people without knowing 
EVERYTHING about them. 

[paigow]

So your saying Tormund is into "bears?"

He would be - if this was Will & Grace: Escape from Westeros Fire Island

[paigow]

*if Medieval Commando Raids are so effective why didn't Jaime Best-Sword-In-Westeros-At-The-Time Lannister do that to Robb Stark?

That's how Jamie got captured - Robb sacrificed a bunch of guys as bait for Jamie to attack with a small Lannistermando team. 

[bbolto]

No that was a big military action! He sent what was it 5000 troops to engage Tywin and Tyrion's army and jumped Jaime's army with his other 15k or so troops, as I recall.

[RedheadZombie]

Thoughts/questions on re-watch:

 

When Dr. Frankenstein tells Cersei, "the work continues", he's referring to the Mountain, right?

 

Tyrion told Dany that Cersei unwillingly married Robert.  I thought she was happy to marry the king, but bitter he called her Lyanna on their wedding night.  Like Margaery, I see her willing to marry anyone/anything to be queen.

 

I like how Missandei seems to mimic Dany's posture when holding court.

 

 

Someone mentioned the detailing on the front of Dany's dress, it actually looks like dragon scaling and there are three dragon heads in the middle. There was a very nicely done exposition dump in Tyrion's first meeting with her. Now we know 1) why her sobriquet is "Stormborn" 2) that she and King Vis had to rely on others' opportunism to escape Westeros and survive in Essos after being orphaned and 3) that they also had to live as refugees on the run to avoid being assassinated.

 

He also suggested that Varys is the reason Dany wasn't murdered as a baby.

 

This reminds me of something that's really been bugging me... she is always referred to on the show as Cersei Lannister. By everyone. Shouldn't she still be Cersei Baratheon (even if she doesn't like it)? Or do widows get to take their former name back?

 

The Lannisters have always put themselves above everyone, even the king.  I just re-watched season one, episode one, and when the king's party arrives in Winterfell, it's the Lion sigil that leads the party.  I think Robert was too drunk to notice.

[paigow]

No that was a big military action! He sent what was it 5000 troops to engage Tywin and Tyrion's army and jumped Jaime's army with his other 15k or so troops, as I recall.

Thanks...I forgot that the Suicide Squad attacked Tywin instead of Jamie.  

[TV Anonymous]

I was saying to my TV, "Hit the head! Hit the head! That's to only way to kill them." Then I realized I was in the wrong show. Silly me...

[RedheadZombie]

I was saying to my TV, "Hit the head! Hit the head! That's to only way to kill them." Then I realized I was in the wrong show. Silly me...

 

I don't understand what does kill them.  The Thenn smashed one of their heads, and that worked, and the giant crushed a few.  Otherwise, they seemed kind of indestructible.  One guy kept going even though he had an arrow penetrating his head.

 

And did Karsi cross her arms and refuse to fight off those last wights because they were children, and/or she knew them?

[VCRTracking]

Fire kills wights but not Whitewalkers who seem to be able to control or push it back.

[Conan Troutman]

And did Karsi cross her arms and refuse to fight off those last wights because they were children, and/or she knew them?

 

Naw, she didn't know them, they were just kids. That's my only complaint about the episode, she deserved to go out in style, but that ending didn't do the character justice. Having her die because she couldn't fight children because she was a mom is not the level of writing quality I expect from this show.

[J----av]

Hi, this is fun you guys...

 

The battle scene was crazy and tense and good but I did not understand why the 500-foot-tall wave of zombie mist somehow stopped at Hardhome's crappy wooden palisade. Unless it was, like, White Walkers Tasmanian Devilling their way through the Wildlings? Well anyway it was very dramatic. Game of Thrones seems to me to like throwing all of its effort into a few particularly epic productions each season and kinda skimping on the rest. I guess this season more so than ever!

 

I also totally think Karsi would make a good protege for Lagertha, and I was also dumb enough to think she'd live through the episode. Whoops!

 

I feel like Dany, whether she thinks about this or not, has no choice but to "break the wheel" because she is probably infertile. That said she strikes me more as a "l'etat c'est moi" type than a democratic reformer...

 

I will be very mad if Ramsay's bullshit psycho killer bad guy plot armor holds up through his stupid, stupid plan – I think he's got to fall in the clutches of Melisandre who is going to be Sansa's agent of ginger revenge. I wonder if she can use his blood or uh whatever to make a Bolton-killing shadow baby? Sometimes though Game of Thrones applies arbitrary competence to its characters which is one of the show's more exasperating qualities. So I really have no idea what is going to happen.

 

 Whats his plan and why is it stupid?

Naw, she didn't know them, they were just kids. That's my only complaint about the episode, she deserved to go out in style, but that ending didn't do the character justice. Having her die because she couldn't fight children because she was a mom is not the level of writing quality I expect from this show.

 

 Seems like that scene was one of the better received parts of the episode. Don't see how its bad writing 

[Conan Troutman]

Seems like that scene was one of the better received parts of the episode. Don't see how its bad writing 

 

I doubt the death scene was specifically judged as one of the better parts. Please show me if I'm wrong. I found it okay, just average quality. I expect more from GoT.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I loved that when Qyburn told Cersei all the charges being brought against her, she dismisssed them as "all lies," and he just said, "Of course, Your Grace." Ha!

[terrymct]

Well the problem for me is that I can't see how I'd care about the North if the Boltons win, and especially if they win with Ramsay's stupid plan.* The Walkers can have it. It'd probably be mercy for Sansa anyway and who else exactly do we care about up there?

 

 

Bran is still under a stump with the wee fairy folk, or children of the forest, whatever they're called.  Rickon is somewhere in the north with the Wildling lady, parked until the plot might need him.

[paigow]

Naw, she didn't know them, they were just kids. That's my only complaint about the episode, she deserved to go out in style, but that ending didn't do the character justice. Having her die because she couldn't fight children because she was a mom is not the level of writing quality I expect from this show.

I thought she was going to cut her own head off with the crossed axes - instead of lying down and suffering.

[paigow]

 Whats his plan and why is it stupid?

Mola Ram never explained it to Daddy, hence stupidity score is unknown. Maybe he wants to start an avalanche / landslide on the road, then attack the food supply. Who would frontally attack thousands of soldiers with 20? Only Gerard Butler!

[RadiantAerynSun]

I initially thought it was just a huge avalanche coming down upon them (which would be pretty devastating in and of itself). So when the avalanche stopped at the palisade wall I just assumed it had come to a halt, stopped after sliding so far along the ground and maybe somewhat stopped by the fence. I think at that point snow from the avalanche had blanketed the camp outside and killed all the thousands of wildlings on the other side. Then a moment later... the wights that had started the avalanche came down upon them and started beating at the wall - and maybe some of the avalanche-killed dead raised up as well. It was a good strategy - kill off a large part of their army, thus adding them to your own army of the dead, without having to actually fight, by causing the avalanche. Just my take on it.

 

Re: the wildling woman Karsi, I also thought she was kick-ass and was sorry to see her go. I agree that having her "Unable to fight the dead children" was poor writing though. I don't like that they staged it as if she saw them and then just lost the will to fight. I could understand a moment of pause and then determination, only to be overcome (ironically) by children, but it looked like she just gave up. Lame.

[bbolto]

Mola Ram never explained it to Daddy, hence stupidity score is unknown. Maybe he wants to start an avalanche / landslide on the road, then attack the food supply. Who would frontally attack thousands of soldiers with 20? Only Gerard Butler!

 

I've never seen anybody do anything tactically elaborate on Game Of Thrones so I assume his plan is to somehow show up in the right place in the armed siege camp where all the named characters are and start chopping. Maybe there's a halfassed disguise involved. It sounds stupid and arbitrary. I sure hope that if it somehow works there's more of a plan than that.

 

I mean I guess he could go poison some wells, but he doesn't precisely need "good" men for that and why wouldn't Roose have had that done already. It sounds like a commando raid.

 

I initially thought it was just a huge avalanche coming down upon them (which would be pretty devastating in and of itself). So when the avalanche stopped at the palisade wall I just assumed it had come to a halt, stopped after sliding so far along the ground and maybe somewhat stopped by the fence. I think at that point snow from the avalanche had blanketed the camp outside and killed all the thousands of wildlings on the other side. Then a moment later... the wights that had started the avalanche came down upon them and started beating at the wall - and maybe some of the avalanche-killed dead raised up as well. It was a good strategy - kill off a large part of their army, thus adding them to your own army of the dead, without having to actually fight, by causing the avalanche. Just my take on it.

 

But everyone just went quiet, which made me think zombie mist – and there would have been a lot of snow & ice piled up on the wrong side of the wall which there wasn't. It did look ambiguously like an avalanche when I watched it a second time, though.

 

I don't really have a problem with it because it was dramatically effective in what was easily the best battle scene the show has shown us, but it does sort of make you think, "hey why don't the Walkers always use the zombie mist?"

[paigow]

I've never seen anybody do anything tactically elaborate on Game Of Thrones so I assume his plan is to somehow show up in the right place in the armed siege camp where all the named characters are and start chopping. Maybe there's a halfassed disguise involved. It sounds stupid and arbitrary. I sure hope that if it somehow works there's more of a plan than that.

Nut Boy does not seem like the type to sacrifice himself on a suicide mission. So he sends the other guys to infiltrate / assassinate - a one way ticket - then triggers an avalanche by "blowing that fucking horn" before running back to Winterfell.

[SHOgirl]

Nut Boy does not seem like the type to sacrifice himself on a suicide mission. So he sends the other guys to infiltrate / assassinate - a one way ticket - then triggers an avalanche by "blowing that fucking horn" before running back to Winterfell.

Who are you talking about?

[paigow]

Who are you talking about?

Ramses Bolton

[Macbeth]

I love that the even in the midst of a slaughter - the viewers were not denied Jon Snow's close-up, beauty shot.

 

People dying all around him.  He still looks up through the blowing wind and snow.  The hair perfectly tossled.  His standard resting, bitch face of "WTF is going on around here?" in full gear.

 

Always melts my heart. 

[Knuckles]

Ramsey's commando raid...20 men, and his killer dogs of course. Will he be taking his psycho harem along as well? Use Myranda and her pals as a lure, then have the dogs and his crossbow men start a melee? 

[Le Renard]

Ian Glen is one of those weird instances where a guy gets hotter the more dirt they heap on him. Not enjoying his character as much since Emilia Clarke's interview saying he was always commenting on her tits during nude scenes. Go die of greyscale, Jorah, I no like you no more. Also, you're turning into a total stalker and no lady likes that.

 

This is the interview in question for those that are curous:

http://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/features/a10832/emilia-clarke-0615/

 

"The crew was a few cliffs over," she continues, "so it's me, four or five extras, and Iain Glen [the loyal-to-a-fault Ser Jorah]. Iain does this thing where he lifts his head up and his face goes, 'Aahh, naked lady.' But because they were filming so far away, what he said was 'Great tits, love.' " She lets out a huge guffaw. "I'm like, 'The camera's not on you, can you stop commenting on how good you think these breasts are?' "

[dramachick]

This is the interview in question for those that are curous:

http://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/features/a10832/emilia-clarke-0615/

 

"The crew was a few cliffs over," she continues, "so it's me, four or five extras, and Iain Glen [the loyal-to-a-fault Ser Jorah]. Iain does this thing where he lifts his head up and his face goes, 'Aahh, naked lady.' But because they were filming so far away, what he said was 'Great tits, love.' " She lets out a huge guffaw. "I'm like, 'The camera's not on you, can you stop commenting on how good you think these breasts are?' "

 

Sounds like Emilia thought it was funny.  I can say without a smidgen of doubt that I would not be offended if Iain Glen told me I had great tits. 

[J----av]

I've never seen anybody do anything tactically elaborate on Game Of Thrones so I assume his plan is to somehow show up in the right place in the armed siege camp where all the named characters are and start chopping. Maybe there's a halfassed disguise involved. It sounds stupid and arbitrary. I sure hope that if it somehow works there's more of a plan than that.

 

I mean I guess he could go poison some wells, but he doesn't precisely need "good" men for that and why wouldn't Roose have had that done already. It sounds like a commando raid.

 

 I can pretty much guarantee it will go nothing like you predict. Maybe it will be a "stupid" plan, but calling something "stupid" without even having a clue what it is, is stupid. 

[wayne67]

 I can pretty much guarantee it will go nothing like you predict. Maybe it will be a "stupid" plan, but calling something "stupid" without even having a clue what it is, is stupid. 

 

Rob took Jamie Lannister with a pincer movement. Dany took one of those Essos city with 3 men trojan horsing inside the walls. Dario walked into her camp with orders to assassinate her.

 

For all we know Ramsay could be planning on using guerilla tactics to hit and run Stannis army pestering them in small engagements, he could want those men to slaughter them in their sleep, he could be planning to use them to infiltrate Stannis' camp, he could be trying to sneak in to assassinate Stannis, depriving the army of their purpose and paycheque.

 

Ramsay could be planning anything... and we won't know how stupid it is until he does it.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I thought she was going to cut her own head off with the crossed axes - instead of lying down and suffering.

And letting herself be turned into one of them! That seemed the stupidest part of all. It's one thing to give up and refuse to fight. It's another to do so knowing that you will be turned into something that your friends and family will have to fight.

Edited June 5, 2015 by ElectricBoogaloo

[Macbeth]

It's academic at this point.  But as the Wights are killed by fire - too bad Tyrion needed to use all of that wild fire at the Blackwater battle. 

 

May not kill those While Walkers a/k/a Zombie Wizards - but it would have been a nice defense for King's Landing as it  would have taken out a great deal of their troops.

 

Tyrion you used the nuclear option on the wrong enemy.

[aucp3]

I didn't find the wildling woman's (Karsi?) inability to fight bad, poor writing or stupid at all. To the contrary. I thought it was a pretty accurate reflection of the shock one would feel at seeing these children as zombies who you now must fight and kill, particularly as a mother. Everyone always talks about what they "would do" if this or that were to happen, but most experts in the field of human reaction to danger have wanted to add "freeze" to the fight or flight response because freeze is what a high percentage of humans do when faced with something shocking and fearful. Karsi is probably well accustomed to having to fight and kill grown men and women, but the sight of ten small children, some of whom she may even have known, really through her off her game. She froze. I think if she had a few more moments to compose herself and thoughts, she would've gotten it together, but she didn't have time to do that.

[Conan Troutman]

That's how they should've shot it, but they didn't - she made a conscious decision to just give up.

[Philbert]

 

Mola Ram never explained it to Daddy, hence stupidity score is unknown. Maybe he wants to start an avalanche / landslide on the road, then attack the food supply. Who would frontally attack thousands of soldiers with 20? Only Gerard Butler!

 

Well no, he didn't 'explain it to daddy' but that's hardly the point. People saying that this attack doesn't make sense are half correct. It doesn't make sense from Roose's point of view. When Ramsey is talking about proving something to the North, what he really means is HE is going to prove it...separating himself from his father's reputation. Roose has essentially put him on a time clock...and it's ticking down to when Walda gives Roose a 'spare heir.' Once that happens, Ramsey becomes potentially expendable. This is his way to build himself a reputation and a following on his own merit. Desperate yes...not stupid. If he manages to inconvenience Stannis, that's a win. If he kills or even captures him? Game, set and match.

Edited June 6, 2015 by Philbert

[bbolto]

I'm done fretting about it (either he will succeed or he won't or it'll be stupid or it won't) but I feel like in an obstensibly grim and gritty and "realistic" show if somebody says "I'm gonna stop this army just with me and a few good men" a perfectly reasonable baseline reaction is "lol no"

 

Now if were Xena: Warrior Princess I'd be like "oh yeah shit is about to go down"

[wayne67]

Don't forget Rob went swanning off with his mother in tow to lead armies with no real combat experience against Tywin Lannister a veteran commander and he did quite well before he was ambushed and killed.

 

His Direwolf did more for sorting out internal politics than he did.

 

At least Ramsay has shown previous experience at dealing with entrenched enemies in fortified positions eg the Ironborn.  He also has combat experience and flaying experience. I'd imagine he'll provide some entertainment.

 

I'm not sure why having a spare heir would be a major threat to Ramsay. The rugrat would have to live for 15 years first before he'd even have a chance at ruling anything. By that time his brother would be like 35 if he manages to survive all the other people who probably want his head NOW.

[RedheadZombie]

if Medieval Commando Raids are so effective why didn't Jaime Best-Sword-In-Westeros-At-The-Time Lannister do that to Robb Stark? It worries me though because the show has shown that sort of thing to work, or at least not result in horrible anticlimactic death, on multiple occasions: Daario vs. Dany, the Ironborn raid to free Theon (yes, a failure, and a comically stupid fight, but they lived to run away), and really, should Jon Snow have survived his solo visit to Mance Rayder? It wouldn't have surprised me to see his head on a pike.

 

I think Ramsey has an advantage because he doesn't follow the rules of combat that honorable men may adhere to.  For instance, negotiating terms of surrender with the ironborn at Moat Cailin, then turning around and flaying them all.  Honor means nothing to him.

[LuciaMia]

I forget, did Cersei send Jaimie off to bring back their daughter, before or after she gave the High Sparrow all this power? If the latter, not smart to be without the one ally she can depend on no matter what.

[Calamity Jane]

I forget, did Cersei send Jaimie off to bring back their daughter, before or after she gave the High Sparrow all this power? If the latter, not smart to be without the one ally she can depend on no matter what.

Not smart either way.  Don't give the HS all the power if your only ally is gone.  Don't give the HS all the power, period, of course, but Cersei just can't seem to think in more than one dimension. 

 

Late to the party here (fighting pneumonia all week), but wow, just WOW, that was quite an episode.  Can't wait for the next, which I will find somehow.  As God is my witness, I will never be HBO-less again!  Pinning my hopes on HBO Go. 

[CletusMusashi]

Ramsay's plan could be as simple as sneaking in, killing only the few people that see them, slaughtering all the horses, and leaving. But, being Ramsay, he might waste too much time setting up big Hannibal Lecter displays and end up getting fried by Melisandre.

[Katalina]

 

So, we now have 2 weapons to fight the walkers:  Dragonglass and Valerian Steel.  Both of which aren't terribly plentiful.

Well, there's also fire. So bring on the dragons!

 

I just gotta ask a silly question—wouldn't white walkers melt when they reach a more southern climate? So the whole of Westeros isn't really in danger. And it seems the wights have only been seen in cold climates also.

 

 

If I were Sansa, I would think long and hard about LittleFinger's role in all of this

I'm thinking LF is going to back Stannis to beat the Boltons. Then LF would probably plan to marry  Sansa, who by birth and by marriage is the inheritor of Winterfell.

 

 

It's only the babies that are converted into White Walkers as far as we know, right?

Silly question time: How long does it take a human baby to become a full-grown white walker? Leading to wondering what kind of parenting the white walkers provide during that time. Leading to (wait for it) – do baby-tot white walkers poop little ice cubes? Inquiring minds want to know...Oh wait, I think I can answer that last question myself—white walkers probably don't eat, so no prob there...Sorry if all this belonged on a white walker thread.

 

The dude Jon killed walked through fire without any problem. Is dragon fire special

Well, it melted the stone towers of Herrenhal.

[LuciaMia]

 

So, we now have 2 weapons to fight the walkers:  Dragonglass and Valerian Steel.  Both of which aren't terribly plentiful.

So far, the most White Walkers we've seen have been four or five. Maybe those are just the commanders and there might be more. Who knows?

[Le Renard]

Sounds like Emilia thought it was funny.  I can say without a smidgen of doubt that I would not be offended if Iain Glen told me I had great tits. 

Yep sounds like he was saying it in a joking matter, not in a creepy way. I love Ser Friendzone, I hope the grayscale doesn't kill him.

[proserpina65]

Finally actually watched the last 15 minutes, and while I'm not entirely sure I understand Karsi's decision, all I can say is: FREAKING ROTTING ZOMBIE CHILDREN!!!

[Rocket]

Would not be surprised it was old trope women can' t kill children but a lot of men especially fathers would have the same reaction. But I saw two reactions in Kari oh gods it's children and a realization of how many they were and that there was no way to survive a swarm.

 

I saw the wall stopping the mist as the mist was ground hugging. 

 

We had some conversation on the posting of scouts in past seasons. Medieval armies and later did have skirmishers who were used to fighting in a scattered fashion in woods and other areas. One to the jobs of skirmishers was stoping raids but commando style raids were attempted with various success. If the defenders were on their toes you wold lose the whole raid party. Bolton was fine with his withstand the siege idea but Rasmy's idea probably good a cold, snowed in enemy who does not know the area like they did makes a particularly good target for a raid. 

[Anela]

Why didn't they have the giant pull the boat?? He just stormed past them.

 

It would be nice if the dragons could just melt the white walkers. 

[oliverwendell]

 

So far, the most White Walkers we've seen have been four or five. Maybe those are just the commanders and there might be more. Who knows?

 

Didn't Craster say he'd fathered 99 sons?  That's 99 White Walkers right there.  Assuming that's what happened to those boys, which it sure seemed to be.

[CaptainE]

A pretty good episode but I can't help being disgusted with the obvious foreshadowing of the cute white Walker womans death. Very anvillicious just showing her face so many times and the way she showed her kids off you knew she was done for.

Also very low budget fight scene staging. You know it is not choreographed well when you cannot tell anything that is going on because of all the camera shaking.