Sam and Jon
sit on the wall, gazing over, waiting for what they know is coming. Sam asks
what it was like. Jon tells him that she had red hair, but that isn’t what Sam
meant. Sam wants to know what it was like to love someone, since that’s the closest
he’s going to get with them dying soon and all. Jon asks if he ever had relations
with Gilly but he didn’t. Sam points out that there are many parts of their
vows, but lying with a woman is not one of them, but it doesn’t matter because they
didn’t actually do anything. Jon tries ineloquently to describe what it was like
being with Ygritte and fails miserably. He sends Sam down to get some sleep,
taking the watch all to himself.
A owl flies
to the top of the wall. The Warg is watching them. Tormound tells a tale around
the fire about sleeping with a bear. Ygritte doesn’t want to think about the
bear he didn’t sleep with. She’s more concerned with her arrows, and her anger
towards a certain crow. Styr taunts that she may have killed many, but she didn’t
kill her crow. Ygritte isn’t so sure, but if he is alive, she plans to rectify
that, and kill anyone who stands in her way.
Sam spends
his time reading, when the Maester startles him. The blind man knew it was him,
no one else would waste a candle to read. He has thousands of books now, but no
eyes to read them. Sam was researching the wildlings. There are plenty of tall
tales, but the Maester points out that he’s sure that they have plenty of
stories about him as well. He’s been reading tales, and worrying about the girl
that he loves the Maester knows. Sam claims to not love Gilly, but he does. The
Maester wasn’t always an old man, he met many girls in his time, and one caught
him, became his wife. He could describe her every feature, her being more real
than Sam, but the Maester sends him off to bed rather than telling tales of
lost loves. Sam hears Gilly’s voice at the gate. He orders Pip to open the
gates, and Pip jumps at Sam’s curse. Gilly begs Sam to not send her away again.
He vows wherever she goes he will go too. It’s a sweet moment, or would be if
the horns weren’t sounded right then. War is upon them.
The warg
sees that it is time. The wildling group looks to the wall. It’s time.
Jon looks
ove the wall, and has a little oh shit moment. It looks like a wall of fire is
heading his way. The Wildlings are coming, the wildlings are coming. The crows
try to prepare for their arrival, scrambling in their preparation. All of the
oil is loaded, and its not much. A hundred thousand are coming, and although
Jon has a moment to say I told you so, he doesn’t. It’s too late to seal the
tunnel. If the crows do their jobs they can survive, and then he can go on
hating his commander, and his commander can do on wishing his wildling whore
had done her job.
Sam takes
Gilly below to safety. Gilly doesn’t want Sam to go, her memories of the Molestown
slaughter still too fresh. She thinks he will back a bigger impact by her side,
but he’s a man of the night’s watch, and he cannot abandon his brothers. They
share a kiss, and then its off to war for Sam.
Pip is
worried about the upcoming war, but Sam thinks that this is the perfect place
to be, with all the weapons. Pip doesn’t think that Sam is afraid but he is.
Wildlings are nothing compared to Whitewalkers Pip says. But Sam admits that he
had no clue he would be able to kill the Whitewalker, but he had to do
something to protect Gilly and the baby. He wasn’t Sam Tarly then, only
instinct.
Ygritte
brings news that the crows have thinned on their side in preparation for the
upcoming onslaught. Styr gives the battle cry, and theyr’re off to kill some
crows. The forces come from both sides. It’s like lord of the rings down there
with the giants, and the mammoths. The wildlings definitely brought their A
game.
Grenn drops
one of the precious oil barrels when it was to be raised, and is scolded. The
brothers hear the smaller band of wildlings coming from behind. The commander
heads down to assist the southern gate, and so the battle begins. The groups
shoot flaming arrows at eachother.
Pip is a
horrible shot, he misses, as Sam reloads for him. Pip thinks that they’re going
to die, and Sam tells him that they might if he keeps missing.
The
commander rallies his troops. Castle Black will stand he says, the brothers
will stand. The wildlings make it over the wall, and its sword to sword
fighting. Pip runs for it, and Sam is close behind as Tormound goes into beast
mode killing all in his path.
The
wildlings attack the gates, and the brothers stand watch. Jon wants action to
be done. They can’t just sit there and watch
as the giants move to tear it all down. Grenn tells the man left in
charge that the commander is asking for him below. With him gone Jon can
finally take charge. Jon orders the men to action. Brothers are slung over the
sides and they begin to fire down onto the climbing wildlings. The giants fire
back, and they enormous arrows hit their marks.
It’s an ugly
scene in Castle Black. Styr is slicing crows all over. The kitchen is holding
their own. The former wall commander runs for cover. Hiding out in one of the
rooms below, when he comes face to face with Gilly.
Pip finally
hits his target. He kills one. When he goes to shoot another, Ygritte shoots
him through the neck. Sam wants to go get help, but Pip stops him as he bleeds
in his arms.
Jon throws
some barrels from above. It takes out some of the wildlings, but it doesn’t stop
the Giants. It pisses them off. The giants and the Mammoths begin to pry open
the outer gate. Jon knows that the outer gate will not hold, but he plans to
hold the inner gate. He sends five men down lead by Grenn to hold the gate.
The
commander orders the gate to be held, and comes up against Tormound. It’s a
spectabular sword fight, but he’s stabbed and thrown from the second level.
Even as he’s carried away, he yells for the gates to be held.
With his
friend dead, Sam runs through the fray. A wildling spots him, and charges. Sam
gets an arrow loaded just in time to shoot him. Sam sees Grenn and his men, but
they need more. There aren’t any more coming. Sam needs to get to Gilly. He travels
up the lift to the top of the wall.
The Oil
barrels are lit, and they take out the biggest threat to the wall, all but one
and he’s pissed. Sam tells Jon that the Castle is about to fall, and Jon puts
Ed in charge. He gives him a little advice before he goes off to save the day.
Grenn and
his brothers prepare for their last battle. A giant has made it through the
outer gates, and it charges towards them. United, saying their vow, they
prepare to die.
Jon enters
the fray. The wildlings are making a mess of the crows. There are screams of
death everywhere. A huge continuous shot of the battle, and Sam makes it to
Ghost. Ghost is let loose, and he rips apart a few wildlings in his path. Styr
takes on Jon, and it is brutal. Ygritte sees Jon for the first time, and
although she gets him in her sights she watches the battle between the two of
them. Jon gets tossed around by Styr, but Jon manages to brain him. He spots
Ygritte, who is still holding him at arrow point. She can’t take her shot.
Ollie shoots her. Jon runs to her, and she tells him that they should have
stayed in their cave. He promises her that they can go back, but she dies in
his arms.
The
wildlings are nearly to the top, Ed orders the wall to be dropped, and a giant
anchor breaks off the top layer, killing all of the climbers. The Wildlings
have had enough for tonight, but they still outnumber them by a thousand.
Tormound is
caught. The crows prepare to throw him from the top of the wall. Tormound
shouts that he wildlings should throw him from the wall, and he agrees he
should. Poor Jon.
Sam goes to
Gilly. She and the baby are fine. Jon is prepared to leave to find Mance. Mance
united all the warring tribes, and if he can find him, kill him then the war
may be ended.
The inner
gate was ruined but not destroyed. Grenn and his men gave their lives, but they
stopped the giant. Jon tells Sam to raise the outer gate. He gives Sam his
sword, he swore he would never lose it again. Sam tells Jon to come back. The
gate is raised, and Jon heads out.
