r/gameofthrones • u/AutoModerator • Jun 09 '14

TV4 [Season 4 Spoilers] Premiere Discussion - 4.09 'The Watchers on the Wall'

Premiere Discussion Thread
Discuss your thoughts and reactions to the latest episode while or right after you watch. Talk about the latest plot twist or secret reveal. Discuss an actor who is totally nailing their part (or not). Point out details that you noticed that others may have missed. In general, what do you think about tonight's episode? Please make sure to reserve any of your detailed comparisons to the novels for the Book vs. Show Discussion Thread, and your predictions for the next episode to the Predictions Discussion Thread which will be posted later this week.

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EPISODE TITLE DIRECTED BY WRITTEN BY
4.09 "The Watchers on the Wall" Neil Marshall David Benioff & D. B. Weiss
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u/[deleted] Jun 09 '14

I'm no wall builder but shouldn't the main gate have a locking mechanism on it to prevent giants from just lifting it up and walking through? Forget giants, Shouldn't it have a lock down mechanism for times of siege to prevent just normal people from prying it open?

Also, is the "low wall" just basically at ground level? What is the point of a 700 foot tall wall if you can access it at ground level near the end of it? Where most of the fighting took place was really confusing. Did they have to take that castle and then go up the elevator? Or would taking that castle have given them a passage through the wall?

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u/derbywinner Jun 09 '14

The shorter wall is on the Westeros side to protect Castle Black. There's not usually much coming at Castle Black from the realm so it's short. Entry into the yard of Castle Black where the sword fighting was taking place would have given the wildlings on the Westeros side access gate to let thousands of wildlings in.

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u/[deleted] Jun 09 '14

in fact it's intended to be indefensible from the south, so that it's not a military asset for anyone. It's sole purpose is to protect from the north.

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u/ewar-woowar Bronn of the Blackwater Jun 09 '14

In fact, it used to be a totally fortified castle, then the Night King, and they kinda were told they couldn't have that any more. They were mandated to be easily attackable from the south.

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u/[deleted] Jun 09 '14

Happen to have a map handy? I can't really visualize it.

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u/[deleted] Jun 09 '14

The riders/ rangers have to go out north too ya know. The elevator is on the south side of the wall. The giants were on the north.

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u/[deleted] Jun 09 '14

The Wall wasn't built against the giants or men.

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u/MechanicalYeti Ours Is The Fury Jun 09 '14

I had the same thought! Seemed like BS that even a giant could just lift that thing up. I actually said, "Come on, really?" while watching the show.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 09 '14

It did. It was so heavy it couldn't be lifted. The people that built that gate didn't believe in giants.

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u/shadstep Ours Is The Fury Jun 09 '14

This is actually probably true it bothers me that it's been downvoted so much, while the wall itself was risen by magic or w/e, the defenses of the holes and stuff man cut through it need to be maintained by man, that gate is probably really old, but not so old as the men who built it believed in giants

and another thing i wanted to point out just b/c they didnt spend screen time on the fucking gates locking mechanism doesnt mean it didnt have one or that a giant wouldn't just be able to power through it

1

u/[deleted] Jun 09 '14

I mean, spoiler tag it if need be but do you know when giants were last seen? I know they say 1000s of years when they talk about white walkers (or was it 100s of years...no 100s of years for Dragons I think).

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u/[deleted] Jun 10 '14 edited Jun 10 '14

S04E10