DVD Josh

One thing about Benjen I don't think we've talked about yet is that as between alive and dead, he cannot travel past the wall, right? That may explain why he did not go with Jon (to some tiny degree at least.)

DaveyJoe

Giantrobo

Yes. I believe he told Bran than when he saved him a while back.

jfoobar

True, but he traveled with Bran all the way to the wall. As presented, he basically seemed to sacrifice himself for no need. The men he was fighting were not mounted and even a horse slowed by two passengers could have outrun them. Sure, I can use my imagination. Maybe he thought some of the mounted Night King lieutenants were nearby and he thought they'd be too slow together. Who knows? It is the telewriters job to give the scene more of an air of plausibility and they didn't do so, leaving the impression that Benjen just sacrificed himself with no need.

Plus, had he traveled with Jon, he could have gotten him to a safe distance and built a fire to warm him up, removing another complaint about this episode, which is that there is simply no way Jon would have survived the horse ride back to the wall. Without some dry blankets and a fire or perhaps Han Solo and a dead tauntaun sleeping bag, he was dead meat.

DaveyJoe

We have to remember that Jon Snow was raised from the dead. He might be a bit more tenacious than the average person. Do we even know if Jon is a heart-beating, breathing, blood pumping organism or is he simply re-animated? But you're right, Jon Snow is literally dead meat.

Giantrobo

HEROES. Heroic, often illogical shit is what they do.

Just like Jon stayed behind to allow an escape...so did Benjen. I don't think Benjen meant to die...but he was WILLING to die..er uh, die for real this time.

Josh-da-man

"Winter is coming" is the motto of House Stark. It means they are vigilant and prepared. But it also has a second meaning within the context of the narrative, in that another long winter is coming in the near future.

mewmartigan

I just assumed Benjen didn't go with him because two full grown men would put too much strain on the horse and Jon needed to get back fast before he froze to death (which he already should have but that's another story).

Noonan

Nah, having him come along would have meant that the story writers would of had to flesh out back story for him and all that's happened while he was gone. I doubt that was story that Martin ever considered or outlined. Much easier this way.

DaveyJoe

Remember when Melisandre was at the Wall and she didn't need a coat because "The Lord of Light keeps me warm." Why are we so sure that Jon would freeze to death after his resurrection when another character kissed by fire seemed impervious or at least not as affected by the cold?

slop101

You know what would've been so much better than those stupid fucking chains?

If the Night King would've stared into the hole in the ice where the dragon fell, raised a hand, and zombie ice dragon comes flying out of the ice. Credits.

davidh777

JackoOnHisBacko

Thoros of Myr was also a priest of the Lord of Light, and he pretty much froze to death in his sleep.

rw2516

I'm saving my complaints for when the statue of liberty is found half buried in the snow north of the wall.

jfoobar

Beric Dondarrion has been killed and resurrected via the same method six times now, so he is obviously still quite mortal. There is no reason to think that Jon isn't also still quite mortal. Admittedly, we don't have any reason to believe that Beric ever froze to death, but there is not anything in the show to indicate that Jon is somehow impervious to the cold. I'll stick with my "it's just shitty writing" theory for now.

Bill Needle

The only thing left separating the show from the Hobbit movies is that Thorin didn't say "c*nt" every other sentence.

Well, that and despite its recent and glaring flaws I'm still greatly enjoying Game of Thrones.

johnnysd

The sad thing about this episode is that they had the perfect Deus Ex Machina in place to get around the travel silliness in this episode.

BRAN

So Jon leaves, then you have a scene of Bran having a vision of the fight and says "I need to send a Raven"

Dany gets message from Bran and says I have to go rescue Jon.

Tyrion says something like "but Jon won't even be to the wall for another day at least"

To which Dany says " It will take 3 days for Drogon to get to the wall. I may be out of time already"

All issues solved.

Decker

Great shot, questionable shot selection: the J.R. Smith of White Walkers pic.twitter.com/olW9awCk45

— Ben Lindbergh (@BenLindbergh) August 22, 2017

<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

kefrank

FWIW, I think the implication was that he died from his wounds, not from the cold. His body was cold because he was dead, not the other way around.

DJariya

If Alan Taylor (the director) added little title cards saying....

"3 days later" or "900 miles later" would that have helped with all this time traveling bickering?

DVD Josh

That only works on Billions.

DaveyJoe

He bled out after the bear attack.

slop101

The reason they don't do this is because they flat out can't. As it would make all this even more difficult for them, as they're already playing fast and loose with timelines and distances.

DaveyJoe

Not according to George Martin:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/moviepi...bshell/4319757

Giantrobo

Or why not have Drogon turn his head and blast the Knight King and his Frozen Posse? Threat DONE, go fight Cersi, Aunt and Nephew fuck, have little Jons and Danys. CREDIT ROLL