How relevant will the direwolves be against the Others, if at all?

[BKev]

Title, pretty much. Do you foresee any direct fighting between the direwolves and the Others? I mean, as powerful and nasty as they may be, they are beasts and the Others kind of seem above that. However, a lot of people (including I) think that the direwolves are an incarnation or the Old Gods, or at least perhaps their "agents", so maybe there is more to them that raw bestial strength.

I personally think the direwolves will end up playing a big role in the upcoming conflict against the others (the most obvious one being Summer), but never in direct contact with them Others themselves. Much like how Ghost was able to sense the wights on the move when they were about to kill the Old Bear, and how he dug up the cache of dragonglass.

[Rose of Ice]

Interesting idea - not one that has occurred to me.

I think Ghost smelt the cloak that the cache of dragonglass was wrapped in moreso than the actual dragonglass; could that cloak have been Benjen's? The direwolves do seem to have some extra-sensory perceptions, so I like the idea that they are an 'alarm' when wights are near. Was there any instance where a direwolf was alerted to the presence of an Other? I can't think of one - but my guess is that they would sense them. What are your thoughts on what their 'big role in the upcoming conflict against the others" might be?

[BKev]

Well, Ghost found the dragonglass - now one can wonder about whether he found the dragonglass itself or the Night's Watch cloak in which it was wrapped - but the ability to find weapons which can kill Others is definitely a way to have a huge impact on the story. Perhaps Ghost or the other direwolves could find more dragonglass beyond the wall.

The thing about the wights is more complex. A simple answer could be that Ghost simply smelled death, but as far as I recall there is no mention of him freaking out when they brought the corpses in to begin with. He was the one who found the corpses beyond the Wall, but he was calm, whereas when Jon was confined to quarters Ghost was losing his temper and acting all wild. The difference is the corpses were moving, but how could he tell? It's unlikely they smelled any different and it's unlikely he heard them moving and was able to identify that in particular using his hearing or sense of smell amongst all the other people moving on the Wall, watchmen and what have you. The only explanation is some sort of supernatural sense., to my mind at least.

I am fairly convinced the wolves will play a subtle part with a significant impact, now whether that is finding more weapons or maybe proving to be extremely useful against the wights, I don't know yet.

[evita mgfs]

I have lots of imagined plans for the direwolves in upcoming novels, and I truly think that the direwolves have played a far greater role in the Stark children's story arcs than they are given credit. I actually have an entire thesis that demonstrates how the direwolves empower the Stark children in specific instances after which the wolves have tasted blood from a kill or a victim. This begins in AGoT, and I have traced this pattern through the first novel: even Sansa experiences a wolf dream shortly after Lady's death which evidences that Sansa has the same powers within her as her siblings, they are merely retarded since she loses her conduit. There is also no instance where Lady tastes blood as do her littermates. Anyways, I ultimately think we will learn what role the direwolves played when they fought along side the Kings of Winter - and I do think that those Stark graves will open to yield up the dead spirits of warriors and beasts, I am just unsure who the dead will battle. The first target may be the usurping Boltons!