Warning: Spoilers for Game of Thrones ahead!
HBOThis week’s episode of Game of Thrones, ‘Beyond The Wall’, seems to prove that Jon Snow is just about invincible.
The guy is preposterously good, almost unbelievable, at killing White Walkers. But even this week’s attack from the army of the dead nearly proved too much for Jon.
His chances weren’t looking good, it looked like he was ready to die, but wait… no… who’s that flinging that lantern about? …it’s Uncle Benjen!
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In the most convenient plot twist ever, Benjen turned up to save Jon and killed precisely four Wights before being taken down, giving Jon time to escape.
Anyway, as you probably know, Benjen was the brother of Ned Stark, and was a volunteer at The Night’s Watch before he had a bit of a bad time of it and turned into an undead nomad up North.
When he turned back up in season 6 to save Bran and Meera, Benjen told Bran that he could not follow them south of the wall, as the magic that prevented the White Walkers from getting through the wall also stopped Benjen from passing.
HBOThis, if taken to a logical conclusion, actually means that all the shit that went down in Beyond The Wall was for nothing.
Think about it, Jon and his merry men journeyed beyond the Wall to get a Wight so they could convince Cersei to join their struggle and fight the good fight.
But what if the Wight died the minute they got to the Wall, or something else happened that meant that they couldn’t bring it any further.
HBOWell, that would sure mean Benjen’s death was for nothing.
But what if Benjen isn’t actually dead?
Benjen is already undead, it seems a bit silly to assume that a couple of hits from a Wight is going to knock him into the grave.
HBOWe know he classifies as undead because he can’t pass beyond the Wall, so would a simple sword kill him? It seems unlikely considering that doesn’t even kill an ordinary Wight.
Not to mention that Benjen is arguably more like the Night King than your average Wight: he was created under essentially the same circumstances.
So a petty little scrap with some skeletal shits isn’t enough to knock Benjen out for the count.
HBOThere’s also the interesting use of the name ‘Coldhands’ that showrunners Benioff and Weiss have taken to when refering to Benjen.
Coldhands is a character from the books, who is thought to be an old Stark who, after betraying The Night’s Watch, dedicated his undead life to protecting his family.
Now, that’s not entirely what happened with Benjen in Game of Thrones, but there are definite parallels, no?
HBOThis all comes full circle when you think about what he said to Bran when he rescued him.
He said:
The great war is coming and I still fight for the living. I’ll do what I can as long as I can.
HBOHe wouldn’t give up as easily with those swinging lantern things.
Add all this with the fact that his death would be tragically underplayed if this was his way out of Game of Thrones, and we probably haven’t seen the end of Benjen.
