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Winterfell and the end of the Long Night


Lord Vance II

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This is probably an amalgamation of a bunch of old theories, but I haven't been able to get past it. 

I think the name "Winterfell" has a double meaning. I think it is the site where the Last Hero made allies of the Children of the Forest, making it where the Others and their winter without end fell. But I also think it's where winter "fell", like a hammer fall, the epicenter of some ice magic that sustained the Long Night for so long and made conditions ripe for the Others to attack. (this isn't random, but I'll get to it). 

I think the castle, or at least the ancient core of it, is part of a magic placed on top of this ice magic epicenter. 

The World book says the oldest tower of Winterfell can't be more than 2,000 years old because of it's Andal-inspired shape, but I don't buy it, especially with how long the Starks are credited with ruling. It also curiously has gargoyles, if I remember correctly the only other place in Westeros with gargoyles is Dragonstone. 

Another part could be the warm water springs. They don't make any sense to be at an ice magic hotspot, but I think they are a result of the CotF magic, forming a shield of warmth that suppresses the cold. 

And I think the final factor is the Starks themselves. 

The evidence is in aDwD. Right now, no Stark are in Winterfell. I'm sure the saying about their always being a Stark in Winterfell is probably more practical of a ruler than anything, but perhaps it dates way, way back when people remembered it is part of the shield against the Long Night and Others. 

With no Stark in Winterfell, the entire region is being hit by a massive, apparently stationary, blizzard. Even northerners say this is a doozie of a snowstorm, bringing most everything to a halt. A storm like this would be expected to have come rolling out of the north, but POV at the Wall don't make note of any severe weather. 

If the spell to contain the ice magic is three-pronged, and one (Stark blood) is removed, ice magic could be seeping out, forming the intense snowstorm. I think if Winterfell was torn down (not that I think it will) it would get to Long Night proportions. If a Stark was to ride back into Winterfell, I think the current blizzard would break. 

I don't think it's necessarily tied to the Others attack now, but it sure can't help. 

Thoughts?

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I definitely agree that Winterfell and the Starks are integrally linked to the War against the Others and the Long Night. I don't have a problem with all of the buildings being much younger than 8000 years, since we know Winterfell has been burned down at least twice during the course of history - by the Boltons. Most likely it has faced other ruinous event as well, that we have no record of.

What is core to it is most likely its ancient inner Wall - infused with magical spells - and its godswood. In Bran's visions we see that the tree predates the castle itself. And despite the hot springs, a very curious feature is the ice cold black pool at the centre of the godswood. An interesting parallel to Martin's old Children's Book, the Ice Dragon, where the Ice Dragon died after battling against and killing the Fire Dragons, and afterwards all that was left of it was an ice cold pool of water.

Seems a very interesting coincidence to me. Especially with the name of the castle - the place where Winter fell.

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22 minutes ago, Lord Vance II said:

The evidence is in aDwD. Right now, no Stark are in Winterfell. I'm sure the saying about their always being a Stark in Winterfell is probably more practical of a ruler than anything, but perhaps it dates way, way back when people remembered it is part of the shield against the Long Night and Others. 

With no Stark in Winterfell, the entire region is being hit by a massive, apparently stationary, blizzard. Even northerners say this is a doozie of a snowstorm, bringing most everything to a halt. A storm like this would be expected to have come rolling out of the north, but POV at the Wall don't make note of any severe weather. 

If the spell to contain the ice magic is three-pronged, and one (Stark blood) is removed, ice magic could be seeping out, forming the intense snowstorm. I think if Winterfell was torn down (not that I think it will) it would get to Long Night proportions. If a Stark was to ride back into Winterfell, I think the current blizzard would break. 

I think this is very unlikely. There hasn't been a Stark in Winterfell since late ACOK, and the storm only begins in mid ADWD. Furthermore the clansmen in Stannis' army don't think it's particularly special, given they laugh it off and consider it only a (relatively) minor autumn storm. 

Later, when Ser Corliss Penny wondered aloud whether an entire army had ever frozen to death in a winter storm, the wolves laughed. "This is no winter," declared Big Bucket Wull. "Up in the hills we say that autumn kisses you, but winter fucks you hard. This is only autumn's kiss."

The castle might be magical, but I don't see any reason to think it's responsible.

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