Can't the Night King just wait them out? Confused

[Ice Queen]

29 minutes ago, House Cambodia said:

Right, but IF that interview by the actor playing the NK is on the button, with Maester Aemon gone, who, other than Melissandra is still alive from that time (and I'm sure it ain't her!)?

The Ghost of High Heart, who is almost certainly CotF and a beloved friend of Jenny of Oldstones. And Rhaegar was born there the very day of the tragedy. 

This is purely speculation, of course, and we're never going to get the answer in the show. We don't know exactly what happened at Summerhall. We don't know exactly when the WW woke up because Westeros ignored the warnings until the last minute, and the Maesters always treated the stories with disdain, because of course the WW were mythological and never really existed in the first place. It could have been many, many years. But Summerhall was a very serious attempt to create new dragons. and House Targaryen nearly wiped themselves out trying.

I was wondering if it was related to the death of the last dragons--that the dragons die and then it's the WW turn, but that doesn't make sense. The WW existed long before the first dragons. 

I was just discussing this with a friend a little bit ago and they brought up the fall of the Hapsburgs. Duncan's removal of himself from the line of succession to marry Jenny led to a regime change, a change in the line of descent. Instead of Duncan's line inheriting the throne, it fell to Jaehaerys and his descendants, including Rhaegar and Jon/Aegon. It ultimately led to war and the overthrow of the Targaryens, just like the murder-suicide of Prince Rudolf led to his brother Archduke Karl and HIS son Archduke Ferdinand inheriting...leading directly to WWI.  

There can only be 2 people the NK could be after: Bran, because he's the Three Eyed Raven; or Jon, because he is of Rhaegar's line, a direct descendant. Rhaegar thought the PtwP was himself, then changed his mind. 

I wish we knew what prophecy Rhaegar got his information from. Wouldn't that be nice? LOL

Edit: You were looking for a birth. What about Rhaegar?

[House Cambodia]

3 minutes ago, Ice Queen said:

I wish we knew what prophecy Rhaegar got his information from. Wouldn't that be nice?

Actually, Melissandra probably knows. She knows her prophecies alright, she just misinterprets them all the time!

 

Of course, maybe the NK just wants his baby back - Little Sam ;-)

[Corvinus85]

1 hour ago, House Cambodia said:

^ That is very interesting indeed; however, in another interview GRRM has said the show ending will adhere closely to his books. Now, in the books it strongly suggests that the Undead began to arise some time ago. It COULD be the moment was the birth of Jon or Dany, but it seemed to me when I read them it preceded those events by some time, so maybe someone older with an unknown parentage - Tyrion? King Aerys allegedly fancied Joanna and liked his 'First Night' dibs - has it ever been suggested that the blond twins Cercei&Jamie might be half-Targaryan? Wouldn't it be brilliant is the ultimate cause of all this is Cercei?!

I think this means that a lot of people will die, and it will be a very bittersweet ending. The Night King isn't even an active character in the books, unclear if there will even be one. So the part about the NK having a specific target may be show only. 

So is there a specific event in the books that triggered the Others returning? I don't know that there is, but maybe Summerhall could be it. Bloodraven became a greenseer because he saw what was coming, but was this before or after Summerhall? Bloodraven went to the Wall when Egg became king.

Ygritte's words to Jon about Mance digging for the Horn of Joramun and releasing all those shades in the world suggest that the wildlings may be complicit, though that's a more recent period. Maybe there's a series of events that had a role. Something's been brewing in the heart of winter for some time, but other more recent events accelerated matters.

[House Cambodia]

^ Yeh, this is going to be brilliant in WoW but the damn show has cut out so much of the deeper background stuff that viable links between the NKs motives and what's come up in the show so far are limited.

[Ice Queen]

6 minutes ago, Corvinus said:

I think this means that a lot of people will die, and it will be a very bittersweet ending. The Night King isn't even an active character in the books, unclear if there will even be one. So the part about the NK having a specific target may be show only. 

So is there a specific event in the books that triggered the Others returning? I don't know that there is, but maybe Summerhall could be it. Bloodraven became a greenseer because he saw what was coming, but was this before or after Summerhall? Bloodraven went to the Wall when Egg became king.

Ygritte's words to Jon about Mance digging for the Horn of Joramun and releasing all those shades in the world suggest that the wildlings may be complicit, though that's a more recent period. Maybe there's a series of events that had a role. Something's been brewing in the heart of winter for some time, but other more recent events accelerated matters.

I've wondered for a long time if the Night's Watch isn't complicit, too. Their very oath is suspicious if you ask me. 

[legba11]

7 hours ago, LadyNoOne said:

This could be a good theory if referring to Cersei...  Remember the witch?  She was told she would have three children, not four.  Previously, I had assumed she might miscarry due to her age, but it could be likely that this baby becomes another WW, 

If referring to Dany, there is no evidence she is (or can become) pregnant again with a human child.

Cersei has already had four children,  Robert's child who died of fever as an infant.  They changed this from the book without bothering to change the prophecy.

[LadyNoOne]

3 hours ago, legba11 said:

Cersei has already had four children,  Robert's child who died of fever as an infant.  They changed this from the book without bothering to change the prophecy.

Right, and I meant children who reached a certain age... Obviously, Robert's child did not, sadly.

[legba11]

Does their age have anything to do with the prophecy?  Whether she has four or five children, the prophecy wasn't accurate.

 

Maybe I don't understand what you mean.  

[Guest]

44 minutes ago, legba11 said:

Does their age have anything to do with the prophecy?  Whether she has four or five children, the prophecy wasn't accurate.

 

Maybe I don't understand what you mean.  

The show added Cersei's "first child" that died in infancy. That wasn't part of the books, but they failed to account for the extra kid when they made the valonquar prophecy part of the show's canon.