justanotheruser Posted February 2, 2018 Share Posted February 2, 2018 In order to secure the realm from what lies beyond the wall, wouldn't it be easier to just seal off every passage with ice, rock and snow and leave it at that? Sure it would mean the death of thousands of wildlings, but nothing would pass the wall no matter how many wights and Others, the south of the wall would be safe. Why even bother with rangings and scoutings? If I were lord commander i'd close the damn wall for good! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Suburbs Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 On 2/2/2018 at 2:51 AM, justanotheruser said: In order to secure the realm from what lies beyond the wall, wouldn't it be easier to just seal off every passage with ice, rock and snow and leave it at that? Sure it would mean the death of thousands of wildlings, but nothing would pass the wall no matter how many wights and Others, the south of the wall would be safe. Why even bother with rangings and scoutings? If I were lord commander i'd close the damn wall for good! Because the wildlings do not go through the wall to raid, they go over or around it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The hairy bear Posted February 7, 2018 Share Posted February 7, 2018 You are assuming that the Others' only way of crossing the Wall is through the passages that cross the Wall, but there are many other options. They could climb it, they could build tunnels under it, or they could even have the means to tear it down. As Jon wisely saw, given the Watch's meager numbers, it's wiser to keep the passages open in order to allow more and more wildlings to come to safety. If you are able to make them join your ranks, then you'll have enough men to defend the passage and still be able to improve significantly the rest of your defenses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
divica Posted February 7, 2018 Share Posted February 7, 2018 1 hour ago, The hairy bear said: You are assuming that the Others' only way of crossing the Wall is through the passages that cross the Wall, but there are many other options. They could climb it, they could build tunnels under it, or they could even have the means to tear it down. As Jon wisely saw, given the Watch's meager numbers, it's wiser to keep the passages open in order to allow more and more wildlings to come to safety. If you are able to make them join your ranks, then you'll have enough men to defend the passage and still be able to improve significantly the rest of your defenses. Jon's idea isn t exactly that. First he wants scouts to know where the enemy will atack and second he doesn t know all passages though the wall. So he could think he blocled them all and still be some unblocked passage that would fuck things up. On the whole, given the size of the wall it is insane to think it is possible to defend it withouth scouts to inform th NW early of where the enemy will attack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Varys Posted February 9, 2018 Share Posted February 9, 2018 A significant problem with the conventional tunnels the Watch cut through the ice is that they are weak spots. Mance's people damaged the defenses of Castle Black, making it easier for the Others to attack those weak spots. And if it turned out that the wights and the Others could actually walk through those tunnels because the lack of the ice also means lack of magic, then the good guys might be pretty much fucked. There is likely a reason that there is a magical weirwood gate beneath the Nightfort. That would have been the only way the Watch would have originally crossed the Wall. A gate that allows only black brothers to pass. Later on they decided to add those conventional passages. A viable/better alternative to the tunnels would be mobile ladders or even another cage, allowing people to descend the Wall on the northern side. But it would take time and considerable resources to build such things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lordsteve666 Posted February 15, 2018 Share Posted February 15, 2018 Important thing about any defense, even a massive wall this big is that you always need a means to get to the other side for whatever reasons occur. Build a defense so good the enemy can't get in and you also build one so good you cannot get out, should the need arise! There's numerous reasons why gateways would be required; repairs, clearing the forest to have a clear "kill-zone" around the base, gathering of resources/food etc. In fact its specifically mentioned that the watch used to clear the trees away from the wall but that has now fallen by the wayside due to lack of numbers. So their view of the base is supposed to be open and clear. As to the ranging, well i'd say that its important because you know there is "something" out there you are defending against and you don't wanna be in the dark about what that something is up to. In the books we are in the dark as much as the watch is really, there's not been any actual proper big threat from the Others as of yet to really give any idea what the danger really looks like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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