(SPOILER) Why do the Children of the Forest protect Bran?

[ummester]

6 minutes ago, xjlxking said:

Sometimes you realize that to win a war, you might have to become something you are not. They pretty much turned a war into a nuclear one. I'm assuming, they realize the cost of winning would be a desolate world where it is only cold and no living thing exists. 

And they never won the war anyway, even with their nuclear ice mages. They never stopped the advance of humanity and most of the wierwoods were cut down - so it's all rather pointless, isn't it? To beat humans they made something so dangerous they had to turn it off - so they couldn't beat humans.

But what is the real threat to Westeros here? I'm sure it's the humans. WWs would have been created if it wasn't for humans invading. Surely, the real message of ASoIaF, is that our species breeding like fucking rabbits and always expanding their borders is no good for any life form.

[Sam with Hooters]

On 5/23/2016 at 10:38 PM, dooog said:

How did the children ever have trouble with humans in the first place, they have grenades

Only on TV.  Yes, they have magic en masse, though it surely has a price.  They also have a small population, low reproductive rate, and relatively primitive weapons.

Also, the humans were chopping down weirwoods, and trees can't run, hide, or fight back!

[SerJeremiahLouistark]

On May 23, 2016 at 9:10 PM, sunstonekey said:

If they created the White Walkers to destroy the humans then why do they want Bran to live?

Guilt.  They know they created a monster. Also I believe the Children and the First Men are ancestors to the Starks, the Starks are in my opinion a combination of the 2.  At some point the children and men mated.  Which is why men can be greenseers and wargs.  

[SerJeremiahLouistark]

7 minutes ago, Sam with Hooters said:

Only on TV.  Yes, they have magic en masse, though it surely has a price.  They also have a small population, low reproductive rate, and relatively primitive weapons.

Also, the humans were chopping down weirwoods, and trees can't run, hide, or fight back!

They could also control beasts and change the land, I read a really good article today let me try to find it and link it.  

 

 

http://www.vulture.com/2016/05/game-of-thrones-children-of-the-forest.html

[JonSnowed]

Isn't this like a lot other things in ASOIF that morally good characters are capable of doing bad things when necessary?

[SerJeremiahLouistark]

Just now, JonSnowed said:

Isn't this like a lot other things in ASOIF that morally good characters are capable of doing bad things when necessary?

It reminds me more of Cersei using the High Septon to enforce her will and it completely backfiring on her.  The monster she created had her on the dinner menu. 

[LePezzy66]

How did Meera even kill a White Walker?

[SerJeremiahLouistark]

1 minute ago, LePezzy66 said:

How did Meera even kill a White Walker?

Obsidian spear tip, that poor white Walker, he seems to be the only one that ever dies.  

[ssls6]

So many thoughts on this...

1) 12000 years ago the FM came to Westeros and fought with the CoTF

2) Sometime between 12k & 10k the CoTF make the WW to help with the battle (controlled by a Greenseer).  The WW could freeze out crops like burning fields to weaken the enemy.

3) 10000 years ago a truce is signed

4) Sometime between 10k & 8k the WW learn how to make more, they get out of control

5) 8000 years ago the long night, big battle, the kill down of the WWs (plural), wall is built, winterfell is built, the night's watch is formed, the whole of planetos is involved somehow (dragons?).  A greenseer is placed with the CoTF to keep the WW dormant north of the wall.

6) The last dragon dies or the 3ER has become weak ...they wake again and start making more like before

7) The 3ER seeks and finally finds Bran to become him so they can keep them in check but that went sideways and there is a new war to come

Like many of you my brain is a jumble trying to make sense of all I saw last Sunday night.

[The Imp slap]

All this magic and the COTF still can't fix Bran's spine...

[JonSnowed]

1 minute ago, ssls6 said:

So many thoughts on this...

1) 12000 years ago the FM came to Westeros and fought with the CoTF

2) Sometime between 12k & 10k the CoTF make the WW to help with the battle (controlled by a Greenseer).  The WW could freeze out crops like burning fields to weaken the enemy.

3) 10000 years ago a truce is signed

4) Sometime between 10k & 8k the WW learn how to make more, they get out of control

5) 8000 years ago the long night, big battle, the kill down of the WWs (plural), wall is built, winterfell is built, the night's watch is formed, the whole of planetos is involved somehow (dragons?).  A greenseer is placed with the CoTF to keep the WW dormant north of the wall.

6) The last dragon dies or the 3ER has become weak ...they wake again and start making more like before

7) The 3ER seeks and finally finds Bran to become him so they can keep them in check but that went sideways and there is a new war to come

Like many of you my brain is a jumble trying to make sense of all I saw last Sunday night.

I'm not yet convinced the white walkers are pure evil even if D&D did hint at this during the inside the episode. I prefer to look at it that we know where they came from and why but we still don't understand their current motives.

[Pile-O-Starks]

1 minute ago, JonSnowed said:

I'm not yet convinced the white walkers are pure evil even if D&D did hint at this during the inside the episode. I prefer to look at it that we know where they came from and why but we still don't understand their current motives.

Many people have used the analogy of the atomic bomb for the white walkers. Like the bomb, maybe they just do what they were created to do: destroy mankind. Their motivation is inherent in their existence.

[ssls6]

1 minute ago, JonSnowed said:

I'm not yet convinced the white walkers are pure evil even if D&D did hint at this during the inside the episode. I prefer to look at it that we know where they came from and why but we still don't understand their current motives.

I would not call "learning to make more" as pure evil.  They could be fighting to survive which has the downside of a world of ice.  I also want to know their motives (if any).

[SerJeremiahLouistark]

So, I mentioned this earlier, ever notice that the same WW keeps getting killed?  Sam killed him, then Jon, then Meera.  It's the same dude everytime.  

[SerJeremiahLouistark]

6 minutes ago, JonSnowed said:

I'm not yet convinced the white walkers are pure evil even if D&D did hint at this during the inside the episode. I prefer to look at it that we know where they came from and why but we still don't understand their current motives.

They were made to kill men.  This is their motivation.  It's their mission and that mission won't end as long as they are still out there.  

[Pile-O-Starks]

2 minutes ago, SerJeremiahLouistark said:

They were made to kill men.  This is their motivation.  It's their mission and that mission won't end as long as they are still out there.  

Correct (I think). But to take it even a step further: it isn't just their motivation; it's the entire reason they exist. I'd argue they don't want anything; they're basically just doing what they were programmed to do. And they either need Bran or need to kill Bran (not sure which) to make that happen.

[SerJeremiahLouistark]

Just now, Pile-O-Starks said:

Correct (I think). But to take it even a step further: it isn't just their motivation; it's the entire reason they exist. I'd argue they don't want anything; they're basically just doing what they were programmed to do. And they either need Bran or need to kill Bran (not sure which) to make that happen.

Yeah I agree you said it better than I did.

[FacelessManOf TheShire]

On 23/05/2016 at 3:29 AM, kg1982 said:

The White Walkers were like the atomic bomb.  The Children of the Forest created them to defend against men, but could not control what they created.

They need to discuss a White-Walker non-proliferation treaty.

[Lightice]

7 minutes ago, Pile-O-Starks said:

Correct (I think). But to take it even a step further: it isn't just their motivation; it's the entire reason they exist. I'd argue they don't want anything; they're basically just doing what they were programmed to do. And they either need Bran or need to kill Bran (not sure which) to make that happen.

Exactly. The White Walkers aren't really people, or at least whatever degree of self-identity they have isn't enough to supersede their "programming". They are like the magic brooms in Sorcerer's Apprentice, infinitely multiplying, mindlessly performing their task until it's impossible to continue, and no amount of new input from their creators can make them stop.

Actually, now that I think of it, I wouldn't be surprised if their hatred of the Children of the Forest wasn't the only autonomous concept they've developed in all this time; maybe they want to destroy their creators because they understand that they're responsible for turning them into monsters.

[WingedShadow]

23 minutes ago, SerJeremiahLouistark said:

So, I mentioned this earlier, ever notice that the same WW keeps getting killed?  Sam killed him, then Jon, then Meera.  It's the same dude everytime.  

They look similar, but they're not the exact same. Probably because they're Craster's sons.