Night's Watch: The Schemes of the Halfhand, Part 1

[@dream0504]

If only they had Gendry's speed and stamina. The wildlings would have not caught up to them and they would've made it back to the wall in no time.

[@supermonkey321]

LMAO!

[@Hugehugebighuge]

LMAO I didn't need a reminder of this. you just made me spit out my food laughing man good one haha

[@made-line7627]

I... I can't believe it. I just can't believe the audacity of it all, even after three or four years.

[@rainy7106]

Still so funny to me that the show runners had him row practically to nowhere for a bunch of seasons, having a long offscreen shaggy-dog story, just to have him be the FASTEST character to deliever crucial plot info when needed. Talk about not knowing what to do with a character LMAO

[@yahrnam9182]

i literally screamed out loud "yessssss" thank you preston

[@NewDrovack]

Yahrnam 918 haha so did I

[@rhaenyrareigns2200]

**raises hand** Guilty as charged.

[@RauchenWir]

Every damn time I see a theory video posted.

[@MattyWestSide71]

One of us. One of us.

[@MrWolf0451]

i think order of the greenhand got this part right, quorin saw the children of the forrest watching them. jon notices high up on a cliff over head a pair of eyes like harvest moon watching them and doesn't give much thought to it. shortly after that, quorin splits the group up and mentions the enemy has spotted us, jon thinks its the eagle, but it was the children of the forrest quorin was talking about. tell mormont that the trees have eyes again. why would he have included THAT as part of his message to Mormont? any thoughts??

[@DhDeadMan]

That is a great point actually

[@christopherjordan2890]

Damn I didn’t read this but basically said the same thing above lol

[@MrWolf0451]

**Qhorin** not quorin.... lord of light, forgive my stupidity

[@theM4R4T]

Ben Perow *mindblown*

[@ryancosgrove3104]

Ben Perow WOW, fuck that makes a lot of sense. Gonna reread now thanks!

[@martijnstuart95]

I find it quite likely that Qhorin knew about the Others. It is said he travelled further north than any other Night's Watchman. Maybe he wants to get the Wildlings to join them in fighting the Others. He needs Jon to work as a bridge between the Wildlings and Night's Watch.

[@DahLekKnight]

That’s the comment I just wrote! It makes perfect sense, doesn’t it? That is something worth dying for. Jon needs to see them as people also, and that, coupled with his Stark honor, might make him vouche for their safety in light of the Others and the greater war.

[@Hotline_101]

I do wonder if the others and the wights do have a part in some of his choices in the book. He wants to stay hidden from not only the wildlings, but also from any others that are around.

[@robbieolsen7205]

I find it cool (if true) that the parallel between two brothers is there. Jon was tricked into marrying the enemy, and Robb essentially went through the same thing.

[@conoranderson4720]

The music at the opening of this video reminds me of the "Giants" motive from "Der Ring des Nibelungen"

[@BackhandsAllDay]

My day always instantly gets better when Preston posts a new video

[@IsilionNELE]

Back in the days of season 3 I always found the part of Jon's mission north of the Wall the weakest and the hardest to understand. 1) Why would Qhorin take a green untested boy he doesn't know and who isn't even a ranger for this super important mission? 2) Why would he let Jon execute Ygritte instead of doing it himself? It wouldn't take more than 5 seconds to grab his weapon, slice her throat and make sure she's dead. 3) Why would they leave Jon behind to do that? The killing should have been fast, after having taken a couple of steps Qhorin should have turned around and asked why Ygritte's throat hadn't been cut yet. But no, not only do they give him a ridiculous amount of time, they even go far enough away for the the groups to get completely separated. 4) Regardless of Ygritte, why leave Jon behind anyway? He's a new guy and has never been in that part of the world. Who would leave such a novice in unknown enemy territory? There's no way Jon would have found his way around. Leaving him behind would have been a death sentence if he hadn't been captured. My conclusion back then was that it was sloppy writing which did't make any sense, which is why I found it the weakest part of season 3 and possibly even the entire show up until then. My answers were: 1) Because Jon is the main characters and thus always gets chosen for these kind of things, even if it makes no sense in-universe 2) Again, Jon is the main character, so he gets to be the active one, the character who does the things. 3) The plot required Jon to be taken captive, the whole capturing of Ygritte was only a means to and end. After all, Ygritte's role was fairly minimal in the grand scheme of things, she was just the social grease allowing Jon overcome wildling suspicion without too much friction. Once her role was fulfilled, she got booted out of the story. 4) Probaly because a real fight scene where they would get captured would be too expensive and by isolating Jon he and Ygritte get some alone time for bonding which will resonate well with the audience. These are all meta-reasons because I couldnt find any decent in-univers reasons

[@drqyburn]

The half hand is my brother and his son is Pod.

[@christopherjordan2890]

Dr. Qyburn M.D interesting

[@TheEldenwhite]

Halfhand+Mance=Jon CONFIRMED

[@allyriastark3508]

elden white the ship that was promised ♥

[@tylernelson4901]

The most probable explanation is that GRRM wrote this book in like 2 years and we’ve had 20 years to analyze it

[@newpgaston6891]

I heard about some of these (mostly if your own videos) but damn, that cliffhanger! Can't wait to hear the rest!

[@Likeitornot91]

Yo, the hype for this one has been real. Good to see it's just as great as I'd imagined.

[@EXOdagr8t]

Hot damn Jacob! Your ability to find threads and blow open whole new avenues of discussion never ceases to amaze me. Keep up the good work :)

[@jackbharucha1475]

It could just be that George needed an excuse to have Jon captured by the wildlings?

[@christiancristof491]

That's not how writing works, good one at least.

[@phantomjoker5]

Now this is the kind of analysis we need

[@LOTR478]

You sir just made my day 10x better

[@Hankshaw47]

The halfhands wits left him with his hand

[@swerveaholic]

Not to be that guy but I need part 2 ASAP!!! You are the man Preston your content never gets old!

[@theskycavedin]

"Magic of the Starks" is a perfectly good reason. You just don't understand the thought process of people who actually believe in the supernatural.

[@SophisticatedBanjo]

I buy some of this, but it seems unlikely to me that Qhorin would intentionally kill himself and two other experienced rangers in order to pass Jon off as a mole- was there really no better way to get Jon to join the wildlings? Perhaps it was his plan all along to somehow induct Jon into his wildlings, but perhaps his method of doing that changed as the situation progressed. I just find it very hard to believe that Qhorin would intend it to be a triple suicide mission from the outset.

[@utewbd]

Plus it also depends on Lord Commander Mormont dying, Jon Snow becoming commander after, the Wildings trusting Jon and the Night's Watch, and the Night's Watch going along with if not trusting Jon and the Wildlings. Also Mance Rayder not successfully breaching the wall and defeating the Night's Watch.

[@gavinmcweir]

I interpreted this much differently. GRRM added a torturer to add some darkness to the Night's watch (continuing theme, theme A: they aren't that different from the wildlings). Then he couldn't actually show the torture of a wildling in front of Jon without Jon reacting against it. It was a trap. Only way out was not to include Jon or to not use the torturer. .... Added Jon for a POV (ps: snow everywhere, a white direwolf on white snow doesn't seem so conspicuous, especially at night), and also so Jon can get to know the wildlings (see theme A). ... I think this was just a bit of sloppy detailing on an exciting development that connected two necessary plot arcs

[@gavinmcweir]

Also, I don't think Qhorin Halfhand knew that Jon was a warg. He might have suspected such things from stories beyond the wall, but after hearing Jon's dream, Ghost's injuries proved it to him. From the book: “Rattleshirt, the Weeping Man, and every other chief great and small,” he was saying. “They have wargs as well, and mammoths, and more strength than we would have dreamed. Or so he claimed. I will not swear as to the truth of it. Ebben believes the man was telling us tales to make his life last a little longer.” The mission was to confirm his intelligence: A) the wildlings were actually gathering in the Frost Fangs, B) there were tens of thousands of them, including wargs and giants (are they real?) and C) they were searching for something, but what?. A+B succeeded through Jon's dream... C) failed because the dream/injuries also show that an eagle had seen them and that wargs are real... they must flee. But from how many and what, they do not know. I don't recall any evidence that they knew about the dog's.

[@BjornCanute]

I'm not certain Qhorin was convinced Jon was a warg or that his vision was true one until they found Ghost and saw his injuries matched the vision. That was always how I interpreted the reason why Qhorin decided it was time to go.

[@kqwentin]

preston you tease, hope part 2 comes up soon!

[@trrebi981]

Yet another title based on the moves of podrick the sex God

[@DreamVikings]

Ahh the halfhand chapters bring back memories about back when I gave a fuck about ASOIF.

[@thomasleonardis711]

Or. And hear me out. Qhorin’s mysterious adventures into the Frostfang are because the Wildlings were disappearing and history told the Nights Watch that the Kings beyond the wall tend to form their armies in the mouth of the milkwater. Which is why a scouting force was sent. They weren’t tortured because their presence proved why the patrol was there. He got exact locations and tired to return. He left a man behind to block a pass but that eagle following them allowed to wildlings to counteract it. But Qhorin may know of Skinchanger and basic lore. It I bet he didn’t know Varamyr could take control of that eagle. Sk from his point of view that eagle was a dead Skinchanger chasing his killer.

[@northparkk5720]

We’ve waited so long best Wednesday everrrrrrr !!

[@wolfh9831]

These Videos are so addictive.

[@lukaslambs5780]

A bit late to the party, but happy I saw these videos (just finished the books, I wasn’t even born when AGOT was released)

[@thomasleonardis711]

Qhorin knew his reputation wouldn’t help him. He knew mance knew southern customs. So Jon showing up as a bastard with a Skinchanger abilities made him a believable and available turn cloak. He even knows his death way in advance. He knows Jon can’t kill Ygritte. And he sets that all up. Qhorin. Is a Skinchanger of some sort. Except Varamyr. Doesn’t find his “second life”. So Qhorin was. Skinchanger who played the part of a Night Watch to serve the purpose of giving Jon agency.

[@annumrafique467]

Thanks for the bday gift Preston!

[@CharmagnCody-mw6zr]

Ghost is no regular pet! He's Jon's warg for crying out loud. Not just that, think of all the stuff that he's found & all the times that he's protected John and others like Sam

[@MrGruzefix]

Gawd dammit Preston, I'm supposed to write my thesis over here... may the others take you :P

[@rhaenyrareigns2200]

You want the Others to take control over a powerful teke user...? May the Others take YOU! XP

[@MrGruzefix]

Meh. Without a moon door at hand he's mostly harmless.

[@striker8961]

GRRM seriously tryna convince us that wearing black is better camouflage than white in a frozen tundra.

[@fazediamond5671]

Wildlings don’t hunt at day

[@striker8961]

@@fazediamond5671 no ? Do they have eyes?

[@SunshineBeloved17]

Oh man I'd always thought Qhorin's entire mission was to get Jon in the wildlings, but I always thought it was to find info about the Horn of WInter. I never made the connection about Qhorin having a master torturer.....but if he already knew about it?...new theory is that Qhorin wants Jon to respect and connect with the free folk so Jon will let them past the Wall and help fight the Others!

[@royward1952]

I don't believe "elsewise" is part of the average wildings vernacular.

[@KittyN177]

Fantastic video

[@HawaiiBlueMermaid]

Awesome video.....as usual!

[@NewDrovack]

Way off topic, Preston Im curious if youve seen Lady Gwen`s theory that Raynald Westerling and Grey Wind both escaped the Red Wedding? Its an interesting read, GRRM never actually states either is dead and there seems to be evidence through Jamie chapters and Stark wolf dreams that suggest Raynald freed GW and both escaped. And Sansa mentions the "wind howling like a wolf" ect.

[@kingxerocole4616]

I think the real reason Qorin sent Jon to infiltrate the wildlings is because he knows Mance believes in the Old Gods and would want to meet a bastard with Stark blood (an outcast like him). The Night's Watch doesn't need the Horn of the Winter, they just need Mance dead. Jon was sent to get close to Mance, and then kill him.

[@The_Mothman66]

I assumed that when he said that there were two on watch he meant that there were two awake. If the group killed the two conscious ones quickly and quietly then anybody that's asleep is largely inconsequential.

[@canser4]

LOVE the night's watch videos, thank you preston.

[@GAP120GAP]

I neeed more

[@PhilbertDeZwart]

So mysterious force helping Jon? Don't we have a logical suspect already? I mean mr. Rivers and perhaps even Bran (not sure how the timelines overlap)

[@katherinederoet4114]

For. Fuck’s. Sake. FINALLY. Thanks Preston 😊

[@pwnzer33]

Qhorin really did plan it all!

[@TheBlackdracula]

Orells eagle seeing them isnt a problem at all. He can hardly communicate with the other wildlings and is focused more on his revenge than scouting.

[@Attilles]

I wonder where you're finding all of these standardised wildlings.

[@jjjjjjjjjj11ify]

Any chance we'll be getting that Telltale's Game of Thrones let's play?

[@rhaenyrareigns2200]

Unlikely. He does have a ban on playing all video games if I recall correctly.

[@aleksandarnikolov3182]

Why does he have a ban?!

[@unknownpr1124]

Alexander Nikolov because its addictive and he gets easily addicted

[@ice843]

I think it makes sense That the plan was for John to go over he’s a stark boy a warg and an old gods follower Ie likely to fit in with the wildlings My only qualm is he sacrificed himself and 3 of his brothers on the smallest of chances Perhaps he’d just had enough

[@jazaniac]

being able to take on 100 men is an exaggeration, and 14 men is just as impossible. not even the mountain would be able to delay 14 people all swinging at him at once.

[@sebastiankocz7925]

Ghost will now forever be known as "the conspicuous wolf."

[@sebastiankocz7925]

D. J. Yeah, it's kind of sketchy

[@ThereIsNoLord]

SPOILER ALERT: The Halfhand wants the Watch to make peace with the Freefolk. Isn't it obvious? (It is especially obvious if you've watched a million of these videos.)

[@mumbles2518]

Qoran is oswell whent. And he wants Jon to be by his uncle Arthur dayne (Mance rayder)

[@greenninjalol]

A bit late to the party, however wouldn't Quorin not want to toture Yggrette due to this being a clandestine scouting operation? The screams surely would give away their postion.

[@deamienblack8535]

can't wait

[@KaritKtana]

YAAAAAASSSS FINALLY!!!

[@Optionsaregood]

Yes ... they are playing out a much longer, much more important game.

[@rhidianchapman6881]

Savage cliffhanger

[@nietzschesmoustache3585]

This is my only problem with theory videos. We always assume that character _x_ did this action, either because their stupid, or because of a super complicated plan. It seems unreasonable to expect GRRM to _always_ be playing 4D underwater chess with every character. How do we know that the Halfhand didn't just make a mistake? Or underestimate the situation? Is it really reasonable to always assume the more convoluted explanation?

[@Szrama1123]

But in this(and many others) cases it's not just a few mistakes made by a characters. It's a chain of seemingly wrong decisions and lack of logical reasoning that would not be "achievable" to describe by mistake. As ridiculous as it may be, there are too many mistakes made by a characters for it to be an author's mistake.

[@FatPankakes101]

I just realized that all of Preston's videos can lead to one of two conclusions. Either (a) that George is a genius and he's planted the seeds for all these mysteries to be discovered by attentive readers, and he's going to reveal them in the coming books; or (b) George is really not all that careful and all these inconsistencies and mysteries are just author error, and thus the next two books are going to be really disappointing. Here's to hoping it's the former.

[@SophiaLilithUwU]

I heavily doubt GRRm is going to reveal even half of the riddles he intoduced. Man likes his mystery too much.

[@bel8122]

it's hard to say if George is a genius or not, but Preston definitely is

[@carlospacheco6215]

C) Preston is GRRM.

[@FatPankakes101]

Holy crap, man. That would be so amazing.

[@stephenpaccone8120]

Carlos Pacheco lmao nice

[@ericsterner9043]

Past week or so ive been binge watching your old videos. By far the best theory videos about asoiaf on KZbin.

[@Reuter951]

Eric Sterner gotta respectfully disagree Sir, the river land series takes the cake

[@rhaenyrareigns2200]

@Reuter951 - Didn't he meant all of them, thought?

[@Reuter951]

Rhaenyra Reigns ah thank you, a misread but still a great debate

[@shortstuff780]

Eric Sterner *best tin foil theorist on KZbin

[@christopherjordan2890]

Eric Sterner I have it between Preston and Order of the Green Hand - their videos are original ideas as well not just the same regurgitated nonsense that Red Team Review Carmine and the rest of these douches put out

[@ValentinGosu]

Prediction: Preston will not reveal the real reason Qhorin sent Jon over to the wildlings in Part 2, but in Part 3 or Part 4. I think he's learnt a few tricks from GRRM.

[@gwh3013]

To be fair he did complete the series though 😆

[@thebearontheroof]

5:30 This may be the only time Preston has ever been wrong about anything! The whole bit with the hornblower going for his horn instead of a knife isn't because he was unarmed: he was (bravely) trying to prioritize blowing his horn to warn the wildlings instead of defending himself. That's why the text says "Afterward Jon could admire the courage of the wildling who reached first for his horn instead of his blade."

[@dr4d1s]

Preston is often wrong about many things; not always, but often. I agree on horn part of your comment though.

[@codeallnight56514]

Sorry but he didn't say the wildling didn't go for his horn he said Stone snake should have killed him quickly and got to Ygritte first

[@made-line7627]

Jon brings plausible deniability to the mission; he knows nothing.

[@yidingliu8663]

gold

[@BLooDCoMPleX]

Finally, Qhorin was the most interesting character in the series and those last Jon chapters on ACoK are fucking great. Do you think Qhorin hoped Jon would somehow manage to establish peace between the wildlings and the Watch? Because that's practically what Jon tried to do, after he got to see how wildlings are just ordinary people with all their flaws, like the men south of the Wall. A wise man (who knows both sides of the war well) trying to end a thousands year old conflict would fit GRRMs anti-war attitude as well.

[@alecatnight1540]

_ah... sharp_

[@strongback6550]

There's no way to establish peace between the Watch and the Wildlings until they take a break from the raping, murdering, kidnapping and stealing. The Watch is friendly with some tribes, but how could you have peace with the tribes that seem to insist on crossing the wall and savaging southeners to steal women and well anything else they can carry?

[@BLooDCoMPleX]

Every population has its bad apples. It's probably naive to imagine a peace with the likes of Weeper, but from what we've seen, a majority of wildlings are just normal people who are shaped by the harsh conditions they lived in. The only major difference they seem to have compared to Westerosi is their obsessive levels of distaste for "kneeling", which is a good thing from a modern viewpoint, but a problematic one in a feudalist world. I'm actually curious how GRRM uses this fact when the push comes to shove. Even so, I don't think a peace is that unlikely. At the end of the day people just want their bellies to be full, and working together as a single people is the way to keep those bellies full, especially in the winter. On another note, carrying women away is how they marry. It's not a barbaric act to them, it's a sort of rite of passage to prove they're worthy of the marriage. These "cultural differences" (GRRM loves to ponder on this both with the wildlings and the Essos plot) can be smoothed out with time (lets not forget, some of the northerners still practice the First Night, they're not that civilized either). After all, wildlings and northerners are just one people that just happened to have their society evolved in different parts of the Wall over time.

[@Smackdrenaline]

There was never peace in asoiaf. The age of heroes was more war torn than GoT (which in my theory is a pre and post apoc circle that just never ended). The north has always fought wildlings, warden of the north's banners have constantly described battles with wildlings and even each other since the age of heroes too with bolton/stark houses being distant blood. Tywin kept the blueprints of war fresh and ongoing in GoT. Targs warred heavily. Ninepenny kings were evidence of that. Yea. There has literally been no peace in asoiaf and wont be. Imo

[@BLooDCoMPleX]

Same goes with our own human history. Yet, wise men still try to keep peace as best as they can.

[@bustercall5744]

Corn = Qhorin

[@sskspartan]

Buster Call My Gods...

[@sernoddicusthegallant6986]

By the Seven...

[@masonrockwood7732]

R'hllor keep us...

[@efjay3183]

The bottom of the lore iceberg...

[@nilen435]

I have a hard time getting that Ghost would stand out. A white wolf in a winter landscape. There is a reason why winter soldiers dress in white.

[@davidjones272]

Polar bears and artic foxes clearly evolved to be completely white because it makes them stand out in the snow.......... Hmm

[@fuzzydunlop7928]

It's the moonlight and the reflection off of the snow. Color isn't as important in camouflage as its ability to break up the outline of the wearer - that said if they're keeping to the shadows ghost gives them away - but if they forsake the shadows then ghost is more obscured and their black cloaks give them away. Depending on the terrain there'd be a way to compromise but unless we know the exact terrain I wont risk an assessment. It really isn't as simple as "white for white snow" - what matters is light and movement. A wild animal can wait, stationary, in ambush for food and be perfectly fine with their white coat or hide and remain stationary until a predator fucks off but an animal in movement is a harder prospect. Normally an animal would not move like that, it would be cautious and deliberate. That's the problem. If ghost were hunting he would be fine, but he was shackled to crows and the crows had a schedule to keep - camouflage is best utilized when stationary. Truthful statement in war as it is in the animal kingdom, but with the moon out in full force and all of that light reflecting off of the freshly-lain snow.... well we all obviously know how bright that can be, if you're moving you're in danger. Someone who's looking will see you coming.

[@fuzzydunlop7928]

It's shown repeatedly in the books (especially in ADwD) that torture at best produces mixed results. Wonder what major new fiasco was going on at the time Martin was writing the books.

[@yeahey5947]

Rip blue bard:’^(

[@DahLekKnight]

Beyond what Preston already said, I think he chose Jon because he knew Mance’s army was on the march and would indeed reach the wall. Halfhand maybe also sympathizes with the wildlings and may indeed want the wildlings to pass through the wall. As one of the most experienced rangers, he may know about the Others already and want the wildlings south of the Wall AND have the wall intact. With Jon defecting, he gives the wildlings a possible spokesperson. “I am the shield that guards the realms of men.” He is protecting the wildlings (whom he sees as men) and Westeros as a whole by denying the Others an even larger army of the dead, possibly an army to man the Wall and defend against the Others. THAT, is worth dying for.

[@christopherjordan2890]

DahLekKnight yess

[@ganykaliya7811]

Kidnapping being considered marriage amongst wildlings, kind of like Rhaegar kidnapping Lyanna?

[@PrestonJacobstheSweetrobin]

or Bael(ish) stealing Sansa. GRRM loves these parallels.

[@EncryptedBear8]

Preston Jacobs Also the whole Bael the Bard story does not only mirror Mance but also foreshadow R+L=J. Do you think George would make soo many fakeouts? I think R+L=D&J with Ned taking care of Jon and Ashara (aka Quaithe) taking care of Dany

[@christopherjordan2890]

J Lord agreed but that’s the story that is widely accepted so in the eyes of the people who follow the old gods like the wildlings he is marrying her by just taking her even if she went willingly

[@christopherjordan2890]

Gany Kaliya 🙄 duh lol

[@christiancristof491]

J Lord I agree. Rhaegar is still an immoral man. And he probably didn't care about Lyanna. It was all about the prophecy.

[@benediktgopel5248]

My god, I'm more excited for Preston's Nights Watch related videos than the release of WoW!

[@marianasala4115]

Benedikt Göpel good cause we're only going to get one of these two anyway

[@lifeisbutadreamm]

Mariana Sala LOL ACCURATE

[@rhaenyrareigns2200]

@Mariana Sala Too true... too true...

[@lorusb6126]

Well it's like saying " I am more excited to fuck my girlfriend than a model" because one of them will never happen...

[@rheeventures8144]

Benedikt Göpel 😂 I stopped playing when I got my notification ... WoW can wait time for Preston 😎

[@Burnthefirst]

my god Preston what an excruciating cliffhanger! please tell me the next part is already in the pipeline.

[@vexrav]

Why does Qhorin sacrifice so many experienced men for this mission? could't the mission have been accomplished with fewer, or less experienced (less valuable) men?

[@eraldylli]

Lesser? :\

[@adsm6464]

Old men would find it easier to sacrifice themselves if need be, if any of the men had refused, Quorin's plan would have been made much harder, thats the main reason I can think of anyway. If you frame it as "experienced" men then it seems wasteful but not if it's "Old" men

[@gerrytol]

The whole expedition to the fist was just one big sacrifice, in my opinion. Changes. Making way for the New night’s watch of wildings

[@DahLekKnight]

Did they all die? I don’t trust GRRM off-screen deaths.

[@christopherjordan2890]

Occassional Vibrations yea it’s more that he knew they would go so these old guys he trusted and Jon being honorable would not turn it DOwn either plus he has some unknown purpose to Qhorin.. I just hate that the show has Jon ask to go with Lord Qhorin instead of being chosen little things like that ruined the early seasons of the show and left them open to demolish it once they pass the books

[@theM4R4T]

Jeez, getting tired of all these people assuming George isn't thinking about the plot and all those mysteries are just mistakes or lead nowhere. Why are you watching theories? Why would George even put a line there, unless it's important? In an Q&A George even said that he cut some information on the lore about the Wonders of the World because it was slowing down the story. Why would he cut this, but not let's say the story of Bael the Bard? Obviously because it's important. The books would be really short. And everyone is like "Tinfoil." while everything we know so far screams "Pay attention!" As Syrio said, "Watching is not seeing."

[@kettlemagic]

I could not agree more! Why do people seem to want to dumb down George’s work? I’m more or less a full on Preston Truther.

[@swapnilbatle]

Chekhov's gun. Every element of the series has to mean something, Martin doesn't just make stuff up that does not have a role in the future. Why else would it take him 7 yrs to write 1 book?

[@rhaenyrareigns2200]

@Marat **cues Papa Roach's "Stop Looking Start Seeing"**

[@jamestaylor4511]

Ned was also tricked into marrying cat..for hoster tullys army..after he was already married to ashara dayne

[@Kay-kg6ny]

John is keeping up the family tradition.

[@cassesvultus43]

Based on the Varamyr chapters we know that animals that have already been warged, like Ghost, are easier to warg. It's also a popular theory that Bloodraven warged Ghost at the Fist of the First Men to lead him to the buried horn and dragon glass. If Qhorin was working with Bloodraven it might explain why having Ghost on the mission was important.

[@sploosh6433]

*How to recruit a wilding army*..... A wolf to find A flame to bind A dragon to hide In the mist of the wild

[@Tia-Marie]

Chad Summerchild is needed in every video ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ

[@brianachim2670]

Tia Marie I agree, the Queen of the North!

[@DissentingDogLevi]

Chad summerchild is game of thrones

[@christopherjordan2890]

No chad summerchild is only in game of thrones videos.. not ASOIAF videos.. just to show how stupid DnD are lmao

[@Trex12382]

He is probably over running his own youtube channel atm

[@sarche696]

Brian Achim you forgot the *tips fedora*

[@m.j.e.5245]

Preston always gets a thumbs up before the video even starts.

[@christopherjordan2890]

Michael Elbare agreed

[@lvd8122]

I just do that for videos who's topic I really like

[@malekiththeeternityking5433]

Maybe Greenhand are right that Qhorin wanted Jon to meet Mance

[@christopherjordan2890]

Hey Preston when Qhorin decides the party has to turn back doesn’t he say that they have been spotted not that the eagle has spotted them, pointing out to Jon two large yellow eyes looking back at them (referencing the Children of the Forest) and then sends a man back to the Old Bear saying the old powers are awakening or something to that affect.. I think it was his distrust of the children that makes him turn back insinuating that he has some knowledge of their desires or purpose with mankind, not the wildling skinchanged Eagle.. I believe I saw a video about this by another KZbinr but either way you do seem on point here Qhorin knew something that he isn’t letting on and we do not get to find out what.. I’m interested to hear part two .. don’t listen to these complainers just put out a monster video so we don’t have to wait for the next part

[@christopherjordan2890]

+Preston Jacobs @Preston Jacobs #PrestonJacobs

[@bloodoftheunicorns2621]

How is a white dire wolf easy to see in the snow at night?

[@CreepyHollow]

Qhorin and his crew are well equipped, capable and experienced, and Jon is able as well and they have a direwolf. While I was reading those chapters all that went trough my head is if they made a stand they would have absolutely slaughtered the Wildling party, and my line of thinking was confirmed when at the end we found out there's only 14 of them.

[@goku7090]

omg, I never would've caught this on my own. At least, not before I realized the story was so hidden beneath the text. This channel is beyond amazing.

[@graigdankmeyer9353]

At first I thought there was some connection because I was just rewatching your older series. Then I remember that I had been rewatching your older series for the past 5 days. So I guess it's not that surprising.

[@graigdankmeyer9353]

Unless you're telepathically creating a hunger in us to want your videos to be released...

[@rhaenyrareigns2200]

Was there ever any doubt about it...?

[@RYANOSAURUSrexxx]

I don't understand why prioritizing Ghost's well-being was the wrong move. He's a good boy, Preston - please explain

[@sadiomayonnaise5318]

Corn Halfham is my favorite character. He sounds so tasty

[@dirrdevil]

Another plot butchered in the show. Jon wants to come along and Qhorin reluctanctly agrees. Qhorin then dies. D&D are rather poor storytellers. They don't understand plot. If something begins with A and ends with Z, then that's all they understand. No sense of themes or what a journey means. It's the same way an AI would view stories.

[@alecatnight1540]

My lord THE NOTIFICATIOIN SQUAD IS *AT THE GATES*

[@armyofninjas9055]

A Direwolf isn't a pet... And no Northman would EVER see one that way....

[@BarryESchwartz]

I really enjoyed this Preston. I think there are dozens of characters who are privy to the higher mysteries. We either never get to meet them (Howland Reed, The Hightowers) or we just never get to read their point of view (Qhorin). I once read GRRM say that if we knew the Dayne house words it would ruin the series.

[@tiberivsgracchvs2393]

Ghost isn’t a pet it’s an amazing asset to have a warg with you sorry he isn’t the color you prefer

[@davidschofield8513]

Hey Preston, love your stuff. Just wanted to ask/bring up a few things. Ebben only mentions torturing men. While this seems trivial, he may not be comfortable torturing what is effectively a teenage girl. Also as ygritte was a spear wife, she may not have been intended to be on watch. And 2 wildlings may be the standard number for watches. I think she does mention something in her conversation with Jon about being recently "stolen" I'm likely wrong or misremembering this stuff, and once again I'd like to stress I do love your work

[@lordcanti4199]

David Schofield you are right that she essentially tells John you killed my boyfriend so now you my boyfriend. I remember that as well.

[@yunikage]

This is just inconsistent with the culture portrayed in the books. John's reluctance to hurt a woman is weird in ASoIaF, intended to make him more relatable to a modern audience. Think about the other torturers in the books. Would any of them have a problem with hurting a woman? So if Ebben shared Jon's unusual objection to violence against women, if that were Martin's intent, there would almost certainly be something in the text to indicate that. Especially if, as Preston believes, this whole adventure is meant to be scrutinized and taken apart to find the truth. But of course, this is just an example of Martin fucking up his character motivations because he wanted to make something happen in the plot. Literally every writer makes this mistake, it's almost impossible not to. "I need Jon to get stuck with the Wildlings so I can make that awesome tragic love story happen. Shit! How do I make this work? Uh, okay, so some legendary ranger that I'm just introducing now will take Jon ranging, fuck up massively, and sacrifice his own life to save Jon! Brilliant. Let's just hope nobody thinks too hard about this. Oh, what the hell, it's a fantasy novel." That's probably closer than you think. Take it from a writer.

[@GG89x]

+Yunikage Wow.

[@Realkeepa-et9vo]

HE ACCUALLY DID IT, THE ABSOLUTE MADMAN!

[@freyseagrove-nelson4726]

Preston seems to assume that torture always works and yields true information and that just not true.

[@Cbjames715]

When they are referring to "being seen", Qhorin means seen by the children, not the wildlings..

[@MrKn0w17A11]

Qhorin Halfhand, Jeor Mormont and Mance Rayder are all working together. They know that the battle for life, vs the others are coming. The need to gather the wildlings south of the wall, ready to take up arms when the real battle begins.

[@thisguy8106]

I just don't understand why he'd sacrifice himself and his men knowing how bad the Watch needs men like them right now.