The wight stuff

[Light a wight tonight]

We know that human corpses are somehow reanimated to become Wights, but just how much can that corpse deteriorate before it's useless? If it's down to bone, with all the muscle tissue gone is it still usable? If there's an expiration date or some such that could limit the number of fresh wights as the current ones get killed permanently.

And on that note, do they have a shelf life? Do they stay fresh longer north of the Wall, where the cold acts as a preservative? If they were in a warm area and flies laid eggs in them, would the maggots consume enough of them to render them useless?

This may play a big part in the battle with the Others and Wights that's upcoming.

[Lady Blizzardborn]

I was thinking of starting a thread devoted to the art and science of wights/wighting. Mine would cover different ground though so I'll hold off for a while.

I'm laughing at the idea of an expiration date stamped somewhere on everybody, maybe the sole of the foot. The Others take off the corpse's boots and socks and "Sorry Joe, this one's too far gone. Try the blonde over there."

Maester Aemon said "ice preserves" so I think you've got the right idea that north of the Wall the cold would slow down, if not completely stop, the decomposition.

If you look at LS (I know it's not wighting but it does deal with the dead becoming undead) she was only dead a few days and came back very different from herself. I imagine once the body's broken down the bones are pretty much useless except for maybe glamouring or some flimsy blood magic. So if you're not up where it's cold, the longer you're dead, the more useless you would be to the Others.

Not sure about maggots. I suppose it depends on how long they are exposed to flies before burial/entombment.

One thing is for sure, we won't see any Targaryens as servants of The Great Other. They cremate their dead.

[Lady Woodland]

We know that human corpses are somehow reanimated to become Wights, but just how much can that corpse deteriorate before it's useless? If it's down to bone, with all the muscle tissue gone is it still usable? If there's an expiration date or some such that could limit the number of fresh wights as the current ones get killed permanently.

And on that note, do they have a shelf life? Do they stay fresh longer north of the Wall, where the cold acts as a preservative? If they were in a warm area and flies laid eggs in them, would the maggots consume enough of them to render them useless?

This may play a big part in the battle with the Others and Wights that's upcoming.

Well absolutely "cold preserves, If a wight had his arms hacked of he probably isn't very useful though, no head - how does the know which direction he's going for one, no other "senses" (as we know them) would survive either. Tissue, as in skin, muscle & tendon is what hold the body together the skeleton is just interior framework. I'm not a physician but I don't expect to see any "Jason & the Argonaut's type battles"

[Bright Blue Eyes]

In my opinion, the Others create an ...let's call it an aura, stretching a mile or two around them. Everybody who dies in that aura rises again and is now a fully functioning wight.

The best hint for that theory is Tormund's son, dying in the middle of his father's camp with no way to get at the corpse directly - but with the Others trailing them.

Furthermore, in my opinion, the effectiveness of wights is limited to what the human corpse could achieve themselves. The magic only replaces the electric signals in the nerves and stuff like that. That limits the injuries and cell damage the wights can "live" through before they are useless. Exactly the reason why fire works well against them - grand scale cell damage.

Before anybody talks about superhuman strength, (healthy) humans never go to their limits. There is a subconcious limit to prevent injuring oneself. Sometimes it's overridden by drugs or stuff and that's the reason why there are police reports of half-starved, 50kg junkies throwing fit 100kg cops around like ragdolls (and sometimes ripping of their own muscles). A wight wouldn't be limited by that.

[The Sleeper]

Well, they don't appear to rot normally. Sam notices this when they find Othor's and Jaffer Flower's corpses after they have sworn their vows. Then again the hand tha Thorne took down with him rotted away eventually. I suppose they keep as long as they are in a cold enough climate. They should eventually be rendered useless by normal wear and tear.

On the other hand Beric and UnCat, seem to be in a state of suspended quasi life. They don't rot either but neither do they require sustenance and they can be killed as any human can.

[Queen Alienor]

In my opinion, the Others create an ...let's call it an aura, stretching a mile or two around them. Everybody who dies in that aura rises again and is now a fully functioning wight.

The best hint for that theory is Tormund's son, dying in the middle of his father's camp with no way to get at the corpse directly - but with the Others trailing them.

Furthermore, in my opinion, the effectiveness of wights is limited to what the human corpse could achieve themselves. The magic only replaces the electric signals in the nerves and stuff like that. That limits the injuries and cell damage the wights can "live" through before they are useless. Exactly the reason why fire works well against them - grand scale cell damage.

Before anybody talks about superhuman strength, (healthy) humans never go to their limits. There is a subconcious limit to prevent injuring oneself. Sometimes it's overridden by drugs or stuff and that's the reason why there are police reports of half-starved, 50kg junkies throwing fit 100kg cops around like ragdolls (and sometimes ripping of their own muscles). A wight wouldn't be limited by that.

:agree: I'm not even sure wether the wights are something the Others actively try to get or if they are just some sort of a side effect. We have yet to understand fully wether they have any mental capabiltiy themselves. Othor wanted to kill the LC, but we don't know wether he himself thought about that, the Others told him to do so or I don't know, Bloodraven warged him. Those experiments Jon wanted to conduct with wights would be so interesting...

I think wights can be resurrected at any time, safe for the corpses being ash, but their usefullness expires quite a bit after a while.

[Lady Blizzardborn]

Well, they don't appear to rot normally. Sam notices this when they find Othor's and Jaffer Flower's corpses after they have sworn their vows. Then again the hand tha Thorne took down with him rotted away eventually. I suppose they keep as long as they are in a cold enough climate. They should eventually be rendered useless by normal wear and tear.

On the other hand Beric and UnCat, seem to be in a state of suspended quasi life. They don't rot either but neither do they require sustenance and they can be killed as any human can.

I don't remember how long it took Thorne to reach KL, but it seems to me that hand should have lasted longer. I wonder if part of the magic that causes the wighting speeds up the decomp the further you get from a cold location.

[Bright Blue Eyes]

I don't remember how long it took Thorne to reach KL, but it seems to me that hand should have lasted longer. I wonder if part of the magic that causes the wighting speeds up the decomp the further you get from a cold location.

Try three months at least. Add the time Tyrion kept him waiting and we're talking about half a year in warm climate, perfect for rot.

[Lady Blizzardborn]

Try three months at least. Add the time Tyrion kept him waiting and we're talking about half a year in warm climate, perfect for rot.

Guess I'm not up on body part decomp rates. Good thing I don't write murder mysteries.