The Others on Essos?

[Davjos]

I know AA and the WW have been talked to death by the forum greats like LmL and ravenous. However, I'd like to 'raise this topic from the dead(by starting with a shitty joke). 

 

In the World of Ice and Fire we're told about the mythical 'history' of the Long Night on Essos. As I don't own the books right now I wont provide quotes, sorry, but this is generally accepted information that's on the wiki. I'll quickly summize what 'happened' according to all the legends.

- the Rhoynar: the river disappeared and froze over and a darkness fell over the land. A hero united the people and with a song they brought back the day. 

- Yi Ti: the great Blood Betrayel brought in the lifetime of darkness of the Lion of the Night until a hero brought back the light. 

- Asshai/Rhollor: Azor Ahai was that hero who ended the Long Night with Lightbringer and his allies.  

-Wall/Westeros: In the Long Night the Others came with Winter and they were defeated by the Last Hero with the Children and the First Men as the first Night's Watch.

 

So eventhough according to the legenfs over all of Essos the effects of the Long Night were felt. And most of these legends contain winter, frozen rivers and a generation of darkness. And most of these legends contain combat, a sword etc. However only in Westeros there's a mention of wights and the Others. I feel this could point to a few things. 

Firstly, the Others did not reach Essos. Although the Long Arm of Dorne was probably still intact(It were the First Men and not the Andals) they did not appear on Essos. This would mean the combat orientated legends make no sense, but more importantly that the Others don't being winter, since it did reach Essos, but only follow Winter. Could also be possible that the Arm was broken and they can't cross ocean. This also means the Others don't bring Winter. 

 

However, the Others do bring cold and Mel is convinced Azor Ahai needs to fight the Others. So did they reach Essos. And if they did, why is there no mention of them in Essosi legends. 

 

So what do you guys think? Did they reach Essos. It could explain the combat orientated Legends and the possible Winter. However, it could be also possible that they didn't reach Essos. This would have the far reaching consequense that the Others don't cause the Long Night, they just march south when it happens.

 

[Tai Pan]

I doubt they bring the cold.  More like, they follow the cold.  The change in climate to cold allows them to go where it was formerly too warm for them.

[leonardof]

42 minutes ago, Ethelarion said:

[...]

Firstly, the Others did not reach Essos. Although the Long Arm of Dorne was probably still intact(It were the First Men and not the Andals) they did not appear on Essos. This would mean the combat orientated legends make no sense, but more importantly that the Others don't being winter, since it did reach Essos, but only follow Winter. Could also be possible that the Arm was broken and they can't cross ocean. This also means the Others don't bring Winter.

[...]

The Arm of Done was broken by the Children of the Forest during the invasion of Westeros by the First Men. The Andals came later, by ship.

One explanation I read somewhere (Sam? Yandel?) was that Westeros reaches a more northern latitude, and thus is more easily targeted by the Others. But then, they could (easily?) freeze the sea north of Essos as use it as a bridge.

I don't think we'll ever have a clear answer for that.

Maybethe reason is that the closest people to the Heart of Winter (the North Pole?) are in Westeros, and the Others hate living people, so they start north of the Wall and just continue hunting the nearest people.

Off-universe, my best explanation is the the story is centered in Westeros, and so are the Others.

[leonardof]

8 minutes ago, Ian Dunross said:

I doubt they bring the cold.  More like, they follow the cold.  The change in climate to cold allows them to go where it was formerly too warm for them.

We can't be sure before the last book is done, but I bet it is George Martin's intention to leave that open for interpretation.

[Davjos]

@leonardof Thanks for the correction on the arm of Dorne. 

 

The main issue I have is that defeating the Others ended the Long Night, but the Others weren't on Essos. So how did they end the LN on Essos?

[Muttering Ed]

1 hour ago, Ethelarion said:

@leonardof Thanks for the correction on the arm of Dorne. 

 

The main issue I have is that defeating the Others ended the Long Night, but the Others weren't on Essos. So how did they end the LN on Essos?

Or... perhaps the end of the Long Night is what defeated the Others. But men (being men) decided it must have been their own heroic efforts that won the day. The survivors get to write the history and tell the legendary stories to make themselves look good.

[leonardof]

The Others seem to come by night with cold. Maybe if their crossing of the Wall is associated with an endless night / solar eclipse + winter over all of Planetos?

[khal drogon]

Maybe Others came from the east of Essos. They don't need 700 foot walls on the east against human enemies.

[Texas Hold Em]

The Others represent ice.  You can no more defeat them than you can defeat fire.  They balance nature.  The environment changed 8000 years ago and caused the Others to retreat farther north.  Man did not defeat them.

[hiemal]

On 4/19/2017 at 8:54 PM, Ethelarion said:

So what do you guys think? Did they reach Essos. It could explain the combat orientated Legends and the possible Winter. However, it could be also possible that they didn't reach Essos. This would have the far reaching consequense that the Others don't cause the Long Night, they just march south when it happens.

 

The Five Forts wew built to repel someone or something. It could have been Others. Or it could be that they are remnants from an earlier catastrophe cycle, perhaps one from K'Dath instead of the Land of Always Winter and Azor Ahai and company had to schlep over to Westeros for the Battle for the Dawn.