[ADWD Spoilers] Wights, White Walkers and "souls"

[Black Crow]

Its what it says, and the Last Hero points to the same.

[Alpehue]

I find it really odd that do many seem to think the WW are at all like the CoF. We KNOW that WW are hostile to life for traditional animals and presumably plants (cannot grow in ice) The CoF ARE life - they are connected to all living things.

Absolutely NO similarity. The closest thing is Mel's shadow babies and even then not close.

I favour an alien explanation - yes seriously - a life form that is not compatible with life as we know it. This does NOT mean they are evil, just a competing species.

Well they could be the same race originally, practising magic, 1 went for light (earth) 1 went for dark (Ice). I dont think its the case as it would be to "seen before". But we know next to nothing about them, so we cant really rule anything out.

[Ser Endrew Tarth]

Here’s part of Maester Luwin’s history lesson from AGoT:

The Pact began four thousand years of friendship between men and children…The signing of the Pact ended the Dawn Age, and began the Age of Heroes.

So long as the kingdoms of the First Men held sway, the Pact endured, all through the Age of Heroes and the Long Night and the birth of the Seven Kingdoms…

Thus we have the Dawn Age up to the signing of the Pact, followed by the Age of Heroes, which ends with the Long Night, hence the Last Hero, and that in turn is followed by the birth of the Seven Kingdoms out of the ruins of the 100 kingdoms which existed during the Age of Heroes, and before the Others turned up for the first time during the Long Night.

Yeah I looked it up on wiki of ice and fire and you seem to be right here. While researching it I realized then logically that Bran the Builder is also the Last Hero...

He built the wall and WF after the Long Night to become the first King in the North according to the histories. If he is a hero from the age of heroes (as the wiki states he is) and is still alive after the long night for these projects, then he is either "the last hero" or there is no such thing, as we know the histories could be totally false.

[bent branch]

One thing that occurred to me while reading everyone's interesting speculations, is that Varymyr did not see his own corpse among the dead things. Does this mean if a person's spirit has fled the body it can't be reanimated?

[Black Crow]

Yes indeed, that's precisely the point about all these theories that Mel will raise Jon's body and that he'll slip back into it out of Ghost. The Varamyr prologue is pretty clear that once it has gone into the familiar after death, the spirit can't escape by warging into another body. Conversely as re-animation by ice or fire requires the reawakening of the spirit within the body, its not going to work if nobody's home.

[armidil0]

http://asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/topic/76616-bran-the-winged-wolf/#entry3803066

My two cents on warging, greenseering, and "souls".

[bent branch]

Yes indeed, that's precisely the point about all these theories that Mel will raise Jon's body and that he'll slip back into it out of Ghost. The Varamyr prologue is pretty clear that once it has gone into the familiar after death, the spirit can't escape by warging into another body. Conversely as re-animation by ice or fire requires the reawakening of the spirit within the body, its not going to work if nobody's home.

Thanks for your response. What you say makes sense. I have some ideas about what I think is going on with the wightification, but I'm going to have to re-evaluate them with this new information.