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Do wights rot eventually?


Mithras

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Corpses can rot a while before becoming wights (the bear on the Fist), but once are actual wights, they stop rotting or decomposing. Once they are not just killed but dismembered, and brought beyond the range of the Wall, their parts start to rot (Alliser's hand).

I think this means that they are Wights only as long as they are within a certain range of the Others, and once out of this range they are no longer Wights and decomposition sets in... probably at an accelerated rate. So it's a continual and active state magic spell by the Others, rather than a kind of resurrection event that's a "fire and forget" type thing.

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Earlier in the same chapter the Night's watch men also discuss a lack of "corpse stink" which to me denotes a lack of bacterial decomposition. Initially all animals have an aversion to wights. Wolves are more intelligent than worms, and food is scarce beyond the wall. It makes sense that a wolf would overcome its instinctual aversion to the wights to exploit an available food source. I'm not certain if worms or bacteria are capable of making that type of decision. Like you said: they aren't prone to do much thinking.

Fair point. So it's either because of the cold or some unseen link with their Other masters which preserves them.

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I dont know, because if that was true, then regions like Dorne and Oldtown dont have to worry about much, and that could take away from the whole "dangerous mysterious enemy" vibe they give off.

That would be quite a sight though.

I wondered this too since GRRM stated that Dorne and Oldtown hardly ever get snow, and therefore it's likely that parts of Essos don't either. But I'd agree with the post below:

Sam mentions in AFfC: The Others come when it is cold, most of the tales agree. Or else it gets cold when they come. Since wights are thralls of the Others the same should apply. Wherever they show up, it will be cold already.

Maybe the snows and cold could made it as far as Dorne if the Others and Wights travel that far south? With the Long Night being 8,000 years ago, maybe they just lost that piece of knowledge over time.

About the hand Alistair Thorne brought to Kings Landing, it might not just have been the lack of cold in King's Landing; What if the distance is too far for the Other's to control it anymore and that's why it lost the ability to move and started rotting?

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I remembered the hand Ser Alliser Thorne brought to KL. The hand was rotten and did not look well. We also saw parts of the wights remain "alive" even if they are dismembered. They were moving as the wolves eat them. One may think that magic leaves the flesh slowly and they rot, or magic never leaves but heat and sun make them rot.

Agreed, though I think the cold is required to preserve their "minions" (not magic), thus why the Others only come out when the cold is coming, or if you subscribe to the theory that they bring the cold with them, when they have enough power to drive the cold to the South. The magic of "zombifying" the whites appears to affect the flesh, and to preserve the flesh requires cold.

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Earlier in the same chapter the Night's watch men also discuss a lack of "corpse stink" which to me denotes a lack of bacterial decomposition. Initially all animals have an aversion to wights. Wolves are more intelligent than worms, and food is scarce beyond the wall. It makes sense that a wolf would overcome its instinctual aversion to the wights to exploit an available food source. I'm not certain if worms or bacteria are capable of making that type of decision. Like you said: they aren't prone to do much thinking.

Good catch. Thinking about this though, don't the worms and bacteria that produces the stink primarily happen because dead things lay stagnant, allowing worms to crawl through them, flies to lay eggs, and bacteria to multiply? Isn't this the reason we put frozen meat into freezers? Frozen meat doesn't just break down by itself and get worms and maggots by themselves. As long as it remains too cold for the bacteria to thrive, it's not going to start to stink.

If these bodies are up walking around, the chances of them getting worms and other de-composers are reduced naturally are they not? Perhaps they even find shelter during the days to keep from "warming up" too much to speed up the decaying process.

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I wondered this too since GRRM stated that Dorne and Oldtown hardly ever get snow, and therefore it's likely that parts of Essos don't either. But I'd agree with the post below:

Maybe the snows and cold could made it as far as Dorne if the Others and Wights travel that far south? With the Long Night being 8,000 years ago, maybe they just lost that piece of knowledge over time.

About the hand Alistair Thorne brought to Kings Landing, it might not just have been the lack of cold in King's Landing; What if the distance is too far for the Other's to control it anymore and that's why it lost the ability to move and started rotting?

I think by the end of the series, the cold will in fact reach the outskirts of Dorne. I think the Others bring the cold with them. Just like Dragons are Fire made Flesh, I think the Others (or some of their companions like Ice Spiders) are Ice made flesh.

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We've had wights go as far as the wall. Any evidence of them crossing it further than Castle Black? Does that mean the Others were close by the wall? What would this magical range be, I wonder?

There doesn't appear to be a range. The hand that Thorne had was wriggling around until the point that all of the flesh rotted away, and he's a LONG way from the wall.

It appears to be an equivalent to the breath of life from the followers of R'hllor, but it animates only the body, and not the mind. I do wonder how the mechanism of control works, though. The "play dead" act that the two wight's pulled on the Lord Commander was too sophisticated for a mindless zombie to pull off.

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Corpses can rot a while before becoming wights (the bear on the Fist), but once are actual wights, they stop rotting or decomposing. Once they are not just killed but dismembered, and brought beyond the range of the Wall, their parts start to rot (Alliser's hand).

I think this means that they are Wights only as long as they are within a certain range of the Others, and once out of this range they are no longer Wights and decomposition sets in... probably at an accelerated rate. So it's a continual and active state magic spell by the Others, rather than a kind of resurrection event that's a "fire and forget" type thing.

I disagree. I think it actually is a type of ressurection, though either the mind is not resurrected, or it also includes some sort of mind-control aspect (thus the bright blue eyes?).

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There doesn't appear to be a range. The hand that Thorne had was wriggling around until the point that all of the flesh rotted away, and he's a LONG way from the wall.

It appears to be an equivalent to the breath of life from the followers of R'hllor, but it animates only the body, and not the mind. I do wonder how the mechanism of control works, though. The "play dead" act that the two wight's pulled on the Lord Commander was too sophisticated for a mindless zombie to pull off.

Also it appears they retain some memory of their lives as stated when the dead guy Jon burned knew where the Lord Commander's rooms were and went right for them. I don't know that the Others are omnipresent and know the layout of Castle Black all too well, but hey, you never know in these books. :dunno:

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Also it appears they retain some memory of their lives as stated when the dead guy Jon burned knew where the Lord Commander's rooms were and went right for them. I don't know that the Others are omnipresent and know the layout of Castle Black all too well, but hey, you never know in these books. :dunno:

Agreed, so it does seem to be some sort of mind control. Almost like they are resurrecting/preserving the dead body, and somehow "warging" it even though it's dead with a consciousness that is friendly to their cause. Of course, that would imply that these wights are much more intelligent, though I think there is some basis for that based on the tactics I described in the previous post.\

There is a large percentage of water in the human body, and ice is just frozen water... Perhaps they are controlling the body by animating the water/ice within it?

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It would be interesting if somehow a white walker and a wight were captured and taken somewhere far south or to the free cities. Would a small winter storm follow the other wherever it went? That seems kind of funny, like the storm cloud over a characters head in an old cartoon.

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It would be interesting if somehow a white walker and a wight were captured and taken somewhere far south or to the free cities. Would a small winter storm follow the other wherever it went? That seems kind of funny, like the storm cloud over a characters head in an old cartoon.

Hmmm, I don't think a single Other could bring an entire storm with him, probably just the area around him would be cooler. I'm definitely looking forward to more information about the Others and their powers. It's possible that there is some "Great Other" that's controlling the weather in some manner to make the environment more hospitable to the Others and their zombie wights.

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Not sure if CH follows the same wight rules of body preservation, but I'll go ahead and assume he does. If CH has been dead since "long ago", and is not rotted, then I am guessing the wights cam go a long time before falling apart.

The direwolf did not like the way that Coldhands smelled. Dead meat, dry blood, a faint whiff of rot. And cold. Cold over all.

It sounds like Coldhands can rot, although perhaps he is rotting very slowly. This may be relevant to wights if Coldhands is indeed one of their number.

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It sounds like Coldhands can rot, although perhaps he is rotting very slowly. This may be relevant to wights if Coldhands is indeed one of their number.

This is basically what happens to frozen meat. It will continue to decay, but at a much slower rate (so slow as to be nearly undetectable if it's cold enough), and I think that's what is happening to the wights.

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