How did the Vale army get past Moat Cailin?

[TwiceBorn]

Deus ex machina.

A pity - they missed a good motivation for Ramsay to ride outside Winterfell - in hopes he will destroy Jon before Vale interferes.

[Rhollo]

They followed Briennes and Pod's tracks to go around it, obviously.

[Rise]

I simply think Ramsay wasn't scared of some Freys or Lannister and was focused to the north where Stark army will come.

[Chib]

12 minutes ago, Rise said:

I simply think Ramsay wasn't scared of some Freys or Lannister and was focused to the north where Stark army will come.

And Ramsay was stupid because Freys and Lannisters combined would be much worse. 

[Rise]

Just now, Chib said:

And Ramsay was stupid because Freys and Lannisters combined would be much worse. 

Well Ramsay doesn't think for long term consecuences. Its actually possible that they don't know whats happening north of the neck currently.

[Schwarze Sonne]

The screenwriter couldn't write a plot smarter than himself.

[grufolo]

The Reeds indeed. They would not stop the Vale if they knew their intentions

[Holymoly]

14 hours ago, Count Winter said:

Good question. Don't think the show wants us to think about those 'details'. Cannot believe GRRM gonna tell us the same story about the Vale army riding north. 

The Vale army did not "ride north". It used Littlefinger's underground rail network.

[Count Winter]

3 hours ago, TwiceBorn said:

Deus ex machina.

A pity - they missed a good motivation for Ramsay to ride outside Winterfell - in hopes he will destroy Jon before Vale interferes.

It was not in Ramsey's nature to sit inside the walls and wait. As the sadist he was, he wanted to inflict pain and humiliation on his enemies to show that he could do whatever he wanted to do...

[Camara]

The only logical explanation I can think of is that the Reeds were already sieging Moat Cailin and killing their ravens, using swamp poisonous/venomous stuff to weaken the garrison. Then the Vale arrived and together they finished off the minimal garrison while climbing with super swamp siege tech like self-grapping vines and the likes.

[Net-Viper X]

8 hours ago, jugdesh258 said:

I always say it is the Gold Chocobo.   Probably can only see krull on VHS.

Whatever, though.  why start complaining about miraculous feats of travel now.   Writers made this a staple when the rest of the script was passable.  

Krull is on DVD online, nice quality too, not so grainy as the vhs. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't so much complaining as just not passing up a chance to mention those fire mares. I love Krull.

[BulletTooth_Tony]

15 hours ago, Stannistician said:

If they are already at Moat Calin, then there would be no reason to take a boat to bypass Moat Calin.  And there would be no reason to take a boat from Vale to Moat Calin because it leaves you with the same problem.

I never said they bypassed it.  The question is how did Ramsay not know about it... and how did they "take" it since the assumption is that it was guarded and Baelish said the army was camped there.  Moat Cailin is defensable from the South, almost unbreakable.  From any other direction, it's a sitting duck, especially when surprised.  It's how Victarian took it in the books with a small group, and likely how the unnamed Iron Born party took it in the TV show.  From the east.  Also, from the show-watchers perspective, the Iron Born killed everyone inside it... and then Ramsay killed all the Iron Born, leaving it empty.  So they could very well have just walked in and had a place to call home for however long they needed it.

[ErasmusF]

21 hours ago, Lyin' Ned said:

I can think of at least 3 reasons:

• Walder Frey, whose granddaughter Ramsay fed to the dogs
• The Lannisters/Tyrells/Iron Throne, whose will Ramsay disrespected by marrying an enemy of the Crown
• Littlefinger, to whom Ramsay gave his word that he wasn't going to harm Sansa

No one in Kings Landing knows any of this stuff yet. They will find out when (1) someone from the South goes to visit the North and finds thins amiss, or (2) someone from the North defects. 

Even now I doubt JS or SS is real hot on sending a raven to KL to tell them they have retaken the North. Jaime has some idea but he DGAF. 

[Sigrid]

22 hours ago, WSmith84 said:

Problem is we know they were at Moat Cailin. Why go to Moat Cailin, only to turn around and go to Gulltown so you can cross the Neck by sea? And if you crossed by sea, you wouldn't cross to Moat Cailin.

None of this explains of course how no one sent word of a huge foreign army crossing Northern territory.

 

21 hours ago, TickTak7 said:

Does it really matter how they got past Moat Cailin, really? 

I think for the purposes of the show there really isn't supposed to an explanation.  They used Moat Cailin because it's a geographic point on the map that has been referenced before, and as with many other things, the show dispenses with the detail that the neck is very important strategic location (even though IIRC it has been brought up on the show in past seasons) for the purpose of just getting the Vale Army where it needs to be without a lot of extra info.

I can appreciate that they don't want to get into logistics for purposes of the expediency with the adaptation.  Sometimes I get frustrated with the show, because given the nature of the fan base and how we love to pick things just like this apart they could throw us a bone and take a few minutes of exposition to explain these kinds of things.

[Littlefinger of the Hand]

Easy... Little finger teleported the army. This why no-one in the seven kingdoms took notice of a huge army crossing half the continent.

[Red Tiger]

On 20-6-2016 at 10:43 PM, Future Null Infinity said:

Jetpacks, courtesy of Littelfinger Aerospace Industries 

This seems the most plausible.

[Rhollo]

8 hours ago, Sigrid said:

I think for the purposes of the show there really isn't supposed to an explanation.  They used Moat Cailin because it's a geographic point on the map that has been referenced before, and as with many other things, the show dispenses with the detail that the neck is very important strategic location (even though IIRC it has been brought up on the show in past seasons) for the purpose of just getting the Vale Army where it needs to be without a lot of extra info.

I can appreciate that they don't want to get into logistics for purposes of the expediency with the adaptation.  Sometimes I get frustrated with the show, because given the nature of the fan base and how we love to pick things just like this apart they could throw us a bone and take a few minutes of exposition to explain these kinds of things.

Personally, I wouldn't mind if they entirely skipped logistics and tactics when it comes to moving troops for the sake of simplicity. The problem (as often) is consistency.

It was a MAJOR plot point throughout the first three seasons that Robb had to form (and later broke) an alliance with the Freys just so he could cross their bridge.

And tgen again in S5 when the problems of moving an army (supply lines were mentioned) through the north in winter were a main reason for Stannis' defeat.

But now, people can suddenly move their troops around and into the north like it's no big deal, because battle has to happen in episode 9.

[House Cambodia]

2 hours ago, Rhollo said:

Personally, I wouldn't mind if they entirely skipped logistics and tactics when it comes to moving troops for the sake of simplicity. The problem (as often) is consistency.

It was a MAJOR plot point throughout the first three seasons that Robb had to form (and later broke) an alliance with the Freys just so he could cross their bridge.

And tgen again in S5 when the problems of moving an army (supply lines were mentioned) through the north in winter were a main reason for Stannis' defeat.

But now, people can suddenly move their troops around and into the north like it's no big deal, because battle has to happen in episode 9.

I agree with your points, but your first paragraph basically means skipping explanations for the sake of simplicity, which is fine (just about). What you refer to as inconsistency is more illogicality. The biggest army in Westeros basically couldn't have arrived on the battlefield unannounced without huge shifts in political dynamics that the showrunners simply haven't considered.

[1000th Lord Commander]

I assumed White Harbour. It's in the direction of the Vale, and they could even sail most of the way up the White Knife and spare the horses. Also, if I was Littlefinger, I may have already had the army moving before getting Sansa's letter

[Nerevanin]

Plot hole as big as Russia. Ever since LF said that they were camping in Moat Cailin, I wondered "HOW?!". So they are six posibilities imo:

1) They found Moat Cailin empty and moved in. That would stupid af from Ramsay's side because Moat Cailin is supposed to be the best defense of the North.

2) They were camping south of Moat Cailin, too south to be seen from there. They were lucky that no one noticed them. After that they bypassed Moat Cailin by sea.

3) They were on ships the whole time, once again too far from the coast to be seen.

4) They were camping in Moat Cailin, acting as Ramsay's friends. In that case Ramsay is stupid af that he didn't call them in the battle.

5) Littlefinger lied and they were somewhere else.

6) Valyrian teleporter. This seems as the most probably option because I personally can't imagine the whole army of the Vale making all the way from the Vale to the North unnoticed, by land or by sea.