Always the Artists [book spoilers]

[LordStoneheart]

So I loved the scene where Mance, Jon, and co. find the severed horse bodies arranged in some sort of spirally design. I don't remember if that correlates to the book Others. I doubt it, but I did like the scene for one reason.

I've had the problem with the series since episode one that they don't do enough to differentiate the Others/White Walkers and wights. I feel like Game of Thrones gets the zombie genre label because of it. I personally hate zombies, but even if you're a zombie fan I feel like it should be made clear that the White Walkers are more than zombies.

I'm not sure if any zombies in other media ever arranged bodies in an artful way, but I'd doubt that too.

Thoughts on the corpse art?

[greensleeves]

I thought the corpse art was beautiful and disturbing. I really liked it. I agree that it does show that the others have something more than 'pure evil' to them. They've also got a sense of aesthetics! (and some very dark humor). ... but seriously props to the white walkers for their artistic talents!

[Stannis the Wight]

It was a great scene that's for sure. Ever since the very first scene of the series I think the point being driven home has been that these aren't zombies these are an entirely alien race... who can raise zombie armies

[Lady Hornwood]

I personally hate zombies, but even if you're a zombie fan I feel like it should be made clear that the White Walkers are more than zombies.

As a crazy zombie fan I hate it when anybody calls the wights zombies. Zombies eat people. That's what's awesome about them. Wights don't eat people. It's pretty simple.

[Runaway Penguin]

Not all zombies eat people, some just infect them ;)

[Pinkie Baelish]

I assumed it was the Others that did it, and not the wights. I liked it. It seemed very ritualistic, like it was part of a completely foreign and unknown culture...

[Hoo]

Cool scene. We had nuggets of this in previous episodes.

[Nezzer]

I like that scene because it gives the Others a characterization instead of them being just evil monsters whose only purpose is kill everyone and everything. This scene shows that an Other can have his own personality.

[greensleeves]

Not all zombies eat people, some just infect them ;)

True, and in the most traditional sense zombies are just enslaved, reanimated corpses. In this case, wights are certainly zombies.

I thought Craster's conversation with the Night's Watch also provided some interesting insights into the white walkers. I can't remember if those were in the books.

[aFeastForDragons]

I loved it. In the first scene of the show they also decorated the bodies around the village.

[Tadco26]

I thought it was kind of silly to be honest. These white walker overlords are stopping their attack to dismount and carefully place horse parts in a pattern for no apparent reason? Not that it ruined the show or anything, but it didn't improve it for me either.

[Sharpes]

Reminds me of that parody of the first episode :P

http://youtu.be/ajMzpiyZ4GA?t=2m58

[aFeastForDragons]

I thought it was kind of silly to be honest. These white walker overlords are stopping their attack to dismount and carefully place horse parts in a pattern for no apparent reason? Not that it ruined the show or anything, but it didn't improve it for me either.

If they white walkers were attacking they would have sent an enormous force against the wall. In the books they are only herding up all the wildlings so they smash themselves on the wall hence why they attack to the Fist so they can march unopposed all the way to Castle Black.

[Warhawk137]

TBH I think that the "no apparent reason" bit actually enhances the creepiness, in the sense that sometimes things are made scarier via difficulty to comprehend their motivations and actions.

So next time you think to yourself "that's silly, why would they waste time creating that pattern," really think about the question you're asking. I think it's a bit creepy that the WWs would do things we simply have no rational explanation for, because it reinforces (forgive the pun) the "otherness" about them - they're not us.

It really does serve to distinguish wildlings from white walkers (btw, I just personally prefer "white walkers" to "others", just my own opinion), because at the same time that we see instances of the wildlings being not so different than those from south of the wall, we see contrasting examples of how the white walkers are completely and utterly different.

[Cas Stark]

This doesn't really bother me, I see it as a visual way to tell the audience that The Others are not your regular zombie, there is an intelligence at work, and they are to be differentiated from the wights.

[aFeastForDragons]

Another gruesome scene like Harrenhall wouldn't have the same effect.

When you see this you think how alien the white walkers are. Was this some sort of ritual to raise the dead back as Wights

[Ferrum Aeternum]

I liked it. Cool and mysterious, plus it hearkens back to (and I suppose mirrors) the series premiere when Will from the Night's Watch found the wildling corpses arrayed in a strange pattern in the snow.

[Tadco26]

If they white walkers were attacking they would have sent an enormous force against the wall. In the books they are only herding up all the wildlings so they smash themselves on the wall hence why they attack to the Fist so they can march unopposed all the way to Castle Black.

They were attacking the fist, and let Night's Watch members escape while they made horse art in the snow. Which is why I said "These white walker overlords are stopping their attack to dismount and carefully place horse parts in a pattern for no apparent reason?" I don't know that it really makes white walkers more distinct from wights for non-readers since we don't see them do it. If the viewer thought they were the same before this scene he probably still does.

[Boy and Girl Wadish]

I thought the corpse art was beautiful and disturbing. I really liked it. I agree that it does show that the others have something more than 'pure evil' to them. They've also got a sense of aesthetics! (and some very dark humor). ... but seriously props to the white walkers for their artistic talents!

It makes me think that the White Walkers, when they were still human, were always interested in art and now they're finally able to pursue their dreamz and make a statement lol but it still is kind of scary. What if that symbol has a meaning?

[Igziabeher]

It has to have some ritualistic meaning for them. I doubt they'd waste their time creating dead art. Also liked Craster's talk of being right with the gods. Clearly they are superhuman entities.