52 replies to this topic

[playXray]

I'm having trouble working out the difference between the 'Others' and the returning 'wights. Are the ones in the prologue of the Game of Thrones TV series Others or wights? Do they both look the same, or is there some way to tell them apart?

[Crown]

I'm having the same problem and I'm already in A Dance With Dragons. Would be nice if someone could elaborate.

[Ser Leo Targaryen]

Ok, I may be really stupid, but I always thought they were the same... just a different way of saying it!

[playXray]

No, I'm pretty certain they're two distinct beings. I think this is most explicitly referenced when talking about their weaknesses - I believe the wights are vunerable to fire, whereas the Others are specifically vunerable to obsidian. Or perhaps it's the other way around, I'm not sure. Either way, I'm pretty certain they're two distinct types of being.

[Hear Me Roar!]

Um, it's pretty obvious:

Wights= Zombies, humans killed by Others and brought back to life, controlled by them

White Walkers/Others= The true threat, mysterious beings wielding razor thin swords and armor, can only be killed with dragonglass weapons.

In the prologue of the TV series, you see a Wight. It's a little girl with blue eyes. She is essentially a zombie. Then, we see a man beheaded by an Other/White Walker. They are shadowy and we can barely make out what they look like as the scene fades to black.

[tjmarsh]

The Wights are the Zombie things with the blue eyes and cold hands. They are the ones that went after Lord Commander Mormont.

As for the Others, I think, they ar the ones that bring the wights back from the dead. Sam killed one of them with the dragonglass. They use thin crystal swords

[playXray]

I understand what a wight is, I just don't know how they look different to the Others. Do we get a decent description of Others in any of the books so far? Are the Others 'cold' like the wights?

[tjmarsh]

http://awoiaf.wester...ndex.php/Others

Be careful on the site though it can spoil things.

[playXray]

tjmarsh, on 07 February 2012 - 11:36 AM, said:

http://awoiaf.wester...ndex.php/Others

Be careful on the site though it can spoil things.

Thanks for the heads up - I don't want to look there yet though, as I would be really sad if I did spoil something for myself. I'm not getting ADWD until March so I can't even start reading yet!

[tjmarsh]

On that one page there is no spoil worries that I see. It has everything your asking for in your question about the Others Vs Wight

[playXray]

Thanks for that link tjmarsh, I've just had a look. It gives the following description:

"The Others appear in the prologue to AGoT as tall and gaunt with flesh pale as milk and blue eyes, deeper and bluer than human eyes, burning like ice"

How does that differ from a wight? Is the only way of telling them apart by recognising someone you knew before they turned?

[Hear Me Roar!]

playXray, on 07 February 2012 - 11:59 AM, said:

Thanks for that link tjmarsh, I've just had a look. It gives the following description:

"The Others appear in the prologue to AGoT as tall and gaunt with flesh pale as milk and blue eyes, deeper and bluer than human eyes, burning like ice"

How does that differ from a wight? Is the only way of telling them apart by recognising someone you knew before they turned?

No... Others are supernatural, inhuman beings. They are not human beings, even if they are humanOID.

Wights are just humans that are undead.

Here is a Wight: http://bestfantasyst...te-Walkers2.jpg

Here is an Other: http://s3-ec.buzzfed...07771995-14.jpg

That looks like an ape or something, so I don't necessarily agree with the show's interpretation of what they look like, but you can see...it doesn't look much like a human being.

Here is a concept art of an Other: http://www.foreverge...-The-Others.jpg

That's how I always pictured then. Sort of like a human but almost spectral, elegant and deadly. Certainly not to be mistaken for a Wight.

Edited by Hear Me Roar!, 07 February 2012 - 12:17 PM.

[playXray]

OMG that Other (from the show?) looks terrifying! I guess the concept art looks a bit closer to how I imagine them, but either way I guess you'd be able to tell the difference pretty easily.

Where's that Other from the show taken from? Is that just a snapshot of a really brief clip of footage? I certainly don't remember seeing that!

Thanks for the info anyway, it's really interesting.

[Crown]

playXray, on 07 February 2012 - 12:24 PM, said:

OMG that Other (from the show?) looks terrifying! I guess the concept art looks a bit closer to how I imagine them, but either way I guess you'd be able to tell the difference pretty easily.

Where's that Other from the show taken from? Is that just a snapshot of a really brief clip of footage? I certainly don't remember seeing that!

Thanks for the info anyway, it's really interesting.

Can't remember seeing the Other in the series. Going to re-watch the first 10 minutes now.

Edited by Crown, 07 February 2012 - 01:12 PM.

[Crown]

Just watched it, and it's awkward that I never noticed the difference between the girl (wight) and the White Walker. Eventhough they look completely different. Anyway: wights can be killed by fire, only. And White Walkers by dragonglass only?

[playXray]

Yeah basically, though that site goes on to say "Though they can be stopped by total dismemberment, their limbs will continue to move if detached from their bodies.". So yes, burn those bad boys to the ground.

Damn, the wait until ADWD is going to be even harder now! Then again, a month is a bit easier than the 5+ years that everyone else had to wait

Edited by playXray, 07 February 2012 - 12:40 PM.

[Hear Me Roar!]

playXray, on 07 February 2012 - 12:24 PM, said:

OMG that Other (from the show?) looks terrifying! I guess the concept art looks a bit closer to how I imagine them, but either way I guess you'd be able to tell the difference pretty easily.

Where's that Other from the show taken from? Is that just a snapshot of a really brief clip of footage? I certainly don't remember seeing that!

Thanks for the info anyway, it's really interesting.

Yeah, it is from the show.

I think it's a zoomed up shot that has been cleaned up a bit. I'm not sure the producers intended for the viewer to see them so clearly in the prologue.

[Ser Leo Targaryen]

I feel really stupid now! Really!
I've read 4 books considering them to be the same. My world has changed now!

[lostinwesteros]

I, too, have been wondering whether they were the same or different -- and I've gotten through all five books.  I do know, though, that I've just been flying through them because I couldn't wait to see what happened.  I've got a lot of re-reading to do.

[Ser Barristan BadAss]

Isn't it true that in the last book when the wights attacked the fist of the first men, that there were bears who were wights as well? Shadowcats can be turned into wights too right? Not just humans.