My theory about the others after rereading the books and The World of Ice and Fire.

[Varys BrightBlackflayrme]

Fire (Valyrians) Vs Water (Rhoynishes) = Fire Wins.

Montage of Water in training. Think Rocky IV.

Water learns MMA gets harder and colder to defeat Fire = ICE

ICE Vs Fire= ICE Wins. But ICE melts back to Water.

Water Magic is back baby! Old ones return and kill everything.

The end.

*EnBolded

[WhitewolfStark]

There seems to be a lot of talk about oaths and vows as well that makes me think the white walkers might be the biblical flood type solution to a people who have lost their way. I'm not putting this forward as gospel just looking for a bit of open-minded discussion

In traditional archetypes, flood imagery comes two-fold. One with waters, and the other being buried deep in snow.

[T]he myth of the birth of the hero ... is often associated with a flood, the regular symbol of the beginning and end of a cycle. The infant hero is often placed in an ark or a chest floating on the sea... from there he drifts to land ... or is rescued from among the reeds and bulrushes on a river bank.

...

Psychologically, this image is related to the embryo in the womb, the world of the unborn often being thought of as liquid; anthropologically, it is related to the image of seeds of new life buried in a dead world of snow or swamp.

...

The theme of the calumniated girl ordered out of the house with her child by a cruel father, generally into the snow, still drew tears from audiences of Victorian melodramas. (Frye 198 - 199)

Thus deep snow is just another variation of flood imagery and the potential of the Others "breaking the dam" that is the Wall most certainly would continue the traditional archetypal association.

[walkingWITHcersei]

In traditional archetypes, flood imagery comes two-fold. One with waters, and the other being buried deep in snow.

Thus deep snow is just another variation of flood imagery and the potential of the Others "breaking the dam" that is the Wall most certainly would continue the traditional archetypal association.

I like ur line of thinking. I've been toying with the idea lately of a possible connection between the underwater beings so often alluded to and the WW's. I mean ice is made from water so it's not impossible. What really got me thinking about the possibility was a line in tWoiaF about Cannibal Bay. It spoke of two dangers found in the far far north. The first was killer mists that seem to float over the water and kill. The other was of creatures that come out of the water to drag sailors to their death. Could they be connected? Your point about floods coming in the form of snow fits with the concept I propose.