Unlike Game of Thrones, George Martin Might Just Have the Undead Army Win

Summary:

• In Game of Thrones, the White Walker threat was dealt with swiftly and in an underwhelming fashion.
• In A Song of Ice and Fire, the Others might win considering the state of Westeros and their power.
• Such a grim finale appears more than likely seeing how George Martin doesn’t downplay the risks.

The finale of Game of Thrones was underwhelming, which is an opinion shared by most fans of the show. The two primary storylines — the power struggle in Westeros and the Long Night — were butchered and concluded incoherently, with the most random guy getting the throne and the biggest threat ever stabbed with a knife.

We are certain that’s not how George Martin intends to finish his A Song of Ice and Fire book series; moreover, there’s a good chance that in the novels, the Others (known as the White Walkers in the HBO show) will defeat the living.

What’s the Main Difference Between GRRM and HBO?

Game of Thrones not only became an international phenomenon of its own but also launched George Martin and his novels right under the spotlight. While the show had the benefit of freeriding when it came to changing the author’s story, especially in the later seasons, there was one core difference between the books and the TV show that made them starkly contrasting.

In A Song of Ice and Fire, the Long Night and the inevitable attack of the Others are the real threats, and the political struggle of the Seven Kingdoms is just a distracting storyline that prevents the people from tackling the primary problem. The politics, plots, and power lust are secondary and are supposed to be treated as such.

In Game of Thrones, on the other hand, it’s vice versa: the Long Night and the White Walker threat are merely a distraction from the real deal which is, well, the game of thrones itself. Only naive fools like Jon and Daenerys care about the undead while every cool kid knows that politics are the most important thing in Westeros.

That’s why it somewhat makes sense that in the show, especially without GRRM’s source material to build upon, the decision to discard the White Walkers was made. They were never the main focus of Game of Thrones, and they were doomed from the start. But George Martin doesn’t share that point of view, not in the slightest.

Why the Others Can Win in GRRM’s Novels?

The Others are magical creatures with unmatched supernatural abilities, but for the sake of convenience, we will mostly talk about their two most battle-focused traits: the ability to rise and control huge armies of undead, people and animals alike, and their own superior fighting and magical skills that put to shame most living men.

Unless the wights the Others raise are destroyed with fire, they can be reanimated once again. Every fallen enemy of the Others will rise to serve them. Their soldiers outnumber any of the Westeros lords’ dramatically, and they don’t switch loyalties. The Others are a force of nature, deadly and seemingly undefeatable.

To withstand such a formidable foe’s attack, the entirety of the Seven Kingdoms must unite: all the armies must be sent to the North and act as one, and every soldier must be instructed and armed appropriately to fight the wights and the Others. From what we’ve seen so far, such unity is borderline impossible.

Seeing how the Others are a metaphor for real-world climate change that gets largely ignored in favor of internal bickering, there’s no reason why they shouldn’t win. They are more powerful than humans as they are nature, and without a decisive effort from every living soul in Westeros, they can not be stopped.

That would be quite a downer finale for A Song of Ice and Fire, but a believable one, which would also conclude the saga as the greatest cautionary tale of all time.