[Wildlings — Lore]
Jon is perplexed when he learns that Craster incestuously marries his own daughters, but apparently has no sons. He takes an instant dislike to Craster when they meet with him. Craster reveals to Jeor that he has not seen Benjen, and that the wildlings are gathering with their leader, King-Beyond-the-Wall Mance Rayder . Jeor reprimands Jon for failing to follow his lead with Craster - the man disgusts him as well, but unfortunately, he's one of the few wildlings who is willing to give them shelter and supplies which mean the difference between life and death for many black brothers in the wild.
Jon is led into the tent of the King-Beyond-the-Wall, Mance Rayder, where the Lord of Bones explains that he is Ned Stark's bastard son to a large man with a heavy beard who is eating chicken by the fire. He says he doesn't care, but his interest is piqued on hearing that Jon killed Qhorin Halfhand. As they talk Jon kneels before the man, whom he assumes to be Mance Rayder, and calls him "your Grace." This causes all of the wildlings to burst out laughing. As it turns out this isn't Mance, but his lieutenant Tormund Giantsbane . The real Mance is an unassuming man sitting in a corner, who then introduces himself and tells Jon to stand, as no man kneels before another among the Free Folk, since they do not recognize a class of nobility in their culture.
Jon then marches south with the Free Folk army. Mance explains that his army is a diverse force, formed of about ninety different groups or clans of wildlings, who speak seven different languages, and have numerous internal rivalries. However, he managed to unite them all by telling them the truth: that they will all die if they remain north of the Wall. Mance brings Jon to one of his scouts, Orell . He is sitting silently with his eyes rolled back as an eagle circles above him. Mance says that he is a " warg ."
It turns out that Sam had been sent to retrieve Jon, who has been summoned to testify before a panel of five sworn brothers, including Maester Aemon, acting Lord Commander Alliser Thorne, and Janos Slynt (who was exiled to the Wall by Tyrion). At the hearing, Jon admits to killing Qhorin, living amongst the wildlings, and sleeping with one. He also states that Mance intends to attack and gives intel on his plans and strength. Both Slynt and Thorne are openly hostile to Jon, disbelieving much of what he says and call for his execution. Aemon, however, realizes that Jon is speaking the truth, and the hearing ends with Jon being allowed to keep his head.
Jon and Grenn are training the new recruits, one of which is Locke, to fight wildlings. The training session is interrupted by Thorne who continues to talk down to Jon and reminds him that he is a steward. Locke approaches Jon and they get acquainted, with Jon unaware of Locke's true purpose. Jon and Sam are talking about Bran going beyond the Wall. Jon is worried for Bran and once he realizes that he could be at Craster's Keep, Locke comes in to tell him that Thorne has summoned him. Thorne gives him permission to attack Craster's Keep, but only with volunteers; Slynt convinced Thorne that Jon questioning his decisions is a problem, and if Jon gets himself killed on a dangerous mission he volunteered for (knowing the risks), it will both remove him and be his own fault; alternatively, if he succeeds and returns alive, so much the better.
Jon quickly dispatches many wildlings with Longclaw, catching the attention of Styr , Magnar of the Thenns , and so the two meet in single combat. Styr eventually gets the upper hand by knocking Longclaw away, then Jon disarms Styr of his axe using some chains, and the fighting goes hand to hand. Styr brutally smashes his face into an anvil and tosses him into the blacksmith's forge. However, when Styr picks Jon up and begins to strangle him, Jon spits blood in Styr's face, distracting him long enough for him to grab the blacksmith's hammer lying next to him and bury it into Styr's skull.
Jon reaffirms that he is a sworn brother of the Night's Watch. Davos states that his loyalty to the Watch is considered dubious because of his time spent with the wildlings. Nevertheless, Stannis wants Jon to retake the North with the help of the wildlings, stating that he will pardon them and declare them citizens of the realm once the war is won. Stannis will give the wildlings their lives and freedom if Mance bends the knee and swears his loyalty. He gives Jon until nightfall to convince Mance, or the King-Beyond-the-Wall will be burned as a sacrifice to the Lord of Light .
Jon does his best to convince Mance to save his life as well as all the wildlings, but fails: the wildlings only follow him because he kneels to no one, so if he did kneel to Stannis, they would lose all respect for him and ignore his commands anyway, so he might as well die with his honor intact by refusing. As Mance is led to the pyre, Stannis gives him one last chance to save his life. Mance politely refuses and is led to the stake and Melisandre lights the pyre. Unable to watch Mance suffer, Jon storms off. Just as the fire begins to fully consume Mance, he is mercifully shot through the heart with an arrow by Jon.
Later on, Jon consults Aemon for advice on a hard decision he is about to make, noting that half the men in the Night's Watch despise him for his sympathy for the wildlings, but Aemon tells him to "Kill the boy, and let the man be born," in other words, just make the hard choice and do what he believes is best. Indeed, Jon's plan is to allow the wildlings to pass the Wall and settle in the North as subjects of the Seven Kingdoms or even let them join the Watch. Jon's idea is met with harsh criticism, even from his closest friends such as Edd and Olly, but Jon's goal is actually to keep the wildlings from falling into the hands of the coming White Walker army. Jon points out that every single wildling left on the north side of the Wall will be killed, then resurrected and added to the White Walkers ever-growing army of the undead.
Jon reaches Hardhome with his companions. After Tormund kills the Lord of Bones for challenging him, he and Jon go inside a hut to speak with the leaders of the clans. Though the wildlings are prepared to kill Jon for murdering Mance, Tormund stands up for him and reveals that Jon killed Mance out of mercy. Jon offers to share the dragonglass weapons with the wildlings and allow them to settle on land south of the Wall if they promise to aid the Night's Watch in the coming battle against the White Walkers: even if they and all the men of the Seven Kingdoms are not enough to stop them, they can at least die fighting. Five thousand wildlings agree while the rest decide to stay, though Tormund hopes more will come around with time.
That night while reading messages, Olly comes to Jon and tells him one of the wildlings knows of the whereabouts of his uncle Benjen, who has been missing since before the great ranging. Jon quickly follows Thorne to a gathering of his Watch brothers, only to find a sign marked "Traitor." Thorne, Yarwyck, Marsh and two other black brothers proceed to stab Jon while uttering, "For the Watch." As the wounded Jon kneels, gasping for breath, Olly tearfully comes forward and after a few moments of pause, stabs Jon in the heart and declares, "For the Watch." Jon collapses and dies from his wounds before the mutineers leave him out in the cold to bleed out.
With help from Tormund, Jon speaks with the wildlings and asks for their help in the coming battle against Ramsay. Though Tormund stands by Jon, Dalba is skeptical, citing that they were allowed into the North to help fight against the White Walkers, not the Boltons. Jon agrees this isn't their fight and he shouldn't be asking for their help but points out that if Ramsay wins, he will wipe them all out anyway. Tormund speaks up for Jon, saying he died for the wildlings' well-being and if they don't help him, they are "cowards." The wildlings agree after Wun Wun stands up and says "Snow", confirming his allegiance. Jon, Sansa, and Davos later appeal to Lyanna Mormont, who previously refused to aid Stannis. Jon tells Lyanna of his friendship and service under her uncle, Jeor Mormont, while he was in the Night's Watch, though Lyanna initially refuses them, citing that Jon is a bastard and Sansa has been married into House Lannister and House Bolton. Jon reveals that Ramsay is holding Rickon hostage, and Davos manages to convince her that they need to defeat Ramsay in order to unite the North against the coming White Walkers. Lyanna agrees and supplies them with sixty-two men, the remaining force of House Mormont, promising that each will fight with the worth of ten men.
One of the goals that Jon intends to achieve as the new Lord Commander of the Watch is to restore and garrison as many of the sixteen abandoned castles as possible, by both members of the Watch and wildlings. So far, most of those castles have been garrisoned, but are badly undermanned.
Jon arranges a mission to Hardhome to rescue the remaining wildlings there; unlike in the show, he does not join the mission himself, but instead sends Cotter Pyke there. Some time later, Jon receives desperate reports by messenger-raven that they are under siege by wights.
In the books, Daenerys does not appear to be "fireproof." Martin has stated that her ability to survive Drogo's funeral pyre was a special circumstance, a bloodmagic ritual involving "fire and blood" - only life can pay for a life, so burning Mirri Maz Duur in the funeral pyre was enough to awaken the life in the dormant dragon eggs. Under normal circumstances, Daenerys is no more immune to fire than any other human. Her brother Viserys once claimed in the novels that Targaryens were a race above other men, immune to both fire and illness - this was blatantly wrong, given that multiple Targaryens in the past are well-known for having burned to death, and many have succumbed to common illnesses over the years (including greyscale ). Viserys's comment just highlights how little he knew about Targaryen history (or anything else). It does appear that Targaryens seem to have a slightly higher heat tolerance than average, though: at Illyrio's mansion Daenerys takes a bath in near-scalding hot water, despite the protests of her maidservant, but in the novels, she thinks to herself how pleasant the heat feels (this also happened in the first episode of the TV series). Still, this is nothing outside the normal human range - i.e. any more than centuries of history have shaped the Dornish to be more comfortable in the dry desert heat, or shaped the wildlings to be more accustomed to a cold climate. In fact, when Daenerys rides Drogon out of the Great Pit of Meereen, she is stated to have burns and blisters on her hands from the flames.
Beyond the Wall, Jon reveals to the wildling Ygritte who he is, that Ned Stark is his father, and his family has the blood of the First Men in their veins like Ygritte and the other wildlings do as the Starks and wildlings are both descendants of the First Men.
While taking Bran outside the castle to test his new saddle, Robb and Theon are talking about Robb's future plans, when they realize that Bran has wandered off. Bran has been taken hostage by a band of wildlings , but they are found by Robb who advances on them with a sword. One of the wildlings Stiv holds a knife to Bran's throat and makes Robb drop the sword. Theon kills Stiv with an arrow, which angers Robb as Bran could have been injured. Only one of the wildlings, Osha , is taken prisoner. Osha says that the greatest danger lies north of the Wall, from the White Walkers , not from the Lannisters in the south, but Robb disregards her warning.
After having another dream about the Three-Eyed Raven, Bran tries out his new saddle on a ride in the godswood and is thrilled to find that it works. While riding, he is attacked by wildlings led by Stiv . He tells them he is unable to get off the saddle due to the design of the straps, allowing them to see his crippled status. During the ambush, he is cut by Wallen on his upper left leg, allowing him to discover that he is immune to pain as well as immobile. Robb and Theon Greyjoy defend Bran, killing Stiv and the other wildlings apart from Osha , who surrenders.
Tensions rise at camp between Osha and Meera Reed before Bran diffuses the situation. Jojen Reed experiences a seizure while sleeping, and Meera explains they are caused by his visions. Jojen then tells Bran that in his vision he saw Jon with the wildlings.
After seeking shelter in a derelict windmill during a rainstorm, the group notices a band of wildlings chasing down an old man . The sounds of thunder terrify Hodor, who shouts out in panic. Fearing discovery, Jojen tells Bran to silence Hodor, who keeps panicking. Bran unintentionally uses his Warg powers to render Hodor unconscious. With the wildlings still outside, Jojen convinces Bran to skinchange through Summer and Shaggydog outside, who then mauls some of the wildlings to death.
Sam is part of Lord Commander Jeor Mormont 's great ranging beyond the Wall . After traveling for months and passing several abandoned wildling villages they reach Craster's Keep . Craster is an unsavory ally of the Watch who marries his daughters and apparently has no sons. Craster tells them that the wildlings are gathering under King-Beyond-the-Wall Mance Rayder .
Meanwhile, Sam is caught reading a book about wildlings by Maester Aemon . Aemon correctly guesses that Sam is reading the book because he wants to know what kind of fate might have befallen Gilly if she fell into wildling hands during the sack of Mole's Town . He also surmises that Sam has shown such a keen interest in her fate because he is in love with her, despite Sam's protests to the contrary. Aemon muses about the girl he once loved, stating that he can still picture her as clear as day and that she is more real than Sam is.
Samwell reunites with Jon, who is despondent, saying that the mission was a disaster and they only managed to save a small fraction of the wildlings at Hardhome, where the Night King , the leader of the White Walkers has revealed himself to the participants of the battle, and tens of thousands of wildlings have been raided as wights. Sam points to different wildlings passing by and notes that each of them would have died if he had done nothing at all, so it wasn't a complete failure.
After landing in Oldtown, Samwell, Gilly, and Little Sam are transported to Horn Hill by station coach. Knowing his father's hatred for Wildlings, Sam tells Gilly that he had told his father's retainers that Gilly is a Northern woman he had bedded in Mole's Town and that Little Sam is their son. Upon arriving at Horn Hill, Sam is greeted by his mother Melessa and sister Talla Tarly , who are delighted to see Sam and his "family." Sam quickly learns that his father Randyll and brother Dickon Tarly are out hunting. Talla dresses Gilly in an ornate dress in traditional Reach fashion, astounding Sam with her beauty.
On the day after the battle for the Wall , Stannis arrives with his army to fight the wildlings. His attack interrupts Jon 's meeting with Mance Rayder and actually saves his life. Mance's forces surrender to the Baratheon army, and Stannis is introduced as the true King of the Seven Kingdoms. Mance points out that they are outside the Seven Kingdoms. Stannis also demands that Mance and his forces kneel, as it is customary to kneel when surrendering to a King. Mance refuses, saying that Free Folk do not kneel, knowing that Stannis will kill him if he does not.
Jon tells Tormund he will talk to King Stannis about lending him his fleet to rescue the wildlings at Hardhome . Stannis is present in the common room of Castle Black when Jon Snow informs them of his plan to rescue the wildlings at Hardhome, correcting Othell Yarwyck 's grammar. Later, Stannis finds Samwell Tarly and Gilly in the library. Stannis voices his surprise at Samwell‘s appearance, having known his father to be a fine soldier as he defeated Robert at the Battle of Ashford . He asks him how he killed a White Walker and Samwell tells him he killed it with a Dragonglass dagger. Stannis is aware of this material, stating he has Obsidian on Dragonstone. Stannis recognizes the threat of the White Walkers and commands Samwell to keep reading, before departing the room. Stannis informs Davos that it is time to march, but Davos objects and asks him if it is not better to wait for Jon Snow to return from his mission with the wildlings, as they could have thousands more men in their army. Stannis states that they have to move now, before winter arrives in earnest. Selyse and Shireen will join them, as Stannis does not think they will be safe at Castle Black.
Stannis's victory over the wildlings does not impress the people of the North. Much to his frustration, his summoning letters are rejected by Lyanna Mormont and other houses (similarly to what happened in the beginning of the second novel). Only Arnolf Karstark, the castellan of Karhold, agrees to support Stannis, but he turns to be a traitor: he secretly collaborates with the Boltons.
Ygritte believed that because wildlings and Northerners both claim descent from the First Men , there is no need for them to be fighting, and that only the geographical divide of the Wall separates them. As with other wildlings, Ygritte understood that the real threat lies with the impending invasion of the White Walkers .
Ygritte was captured by Jon Snow and Qhorin as the sole survivor of their assault on her watchpost. She instructed her captors to burn the bodies of her companions, but Qhorin questioned her motives, thinking that she wanted a fire to attract more wildlings. He then instructs Jon to execute her, telling him to catch up to him after the deed is done. Jon prepares to do so, but cannot bring himself to kill her.
In A Song of Ice and Fire , Ygritte is described as skinny but well-muscled, with a round face, crooked teeth, blue-grey eyes that are too far apart, and a slightly upturned nose. She does not have the flawless features of noblewomen in courts south of the Wall, but Jon thinks that she is still quite beautiful in her own way, with a smile that lights up her face. Her most distinctive feature is her hair, fiery red and "a tangle of curls." The wildlings consider redheads to be "kissed by fire", a sign of special significance and luck.
When a wildling man wants a wife (wildling or non-wildling), it is custom that he must capture her while risking severe injury, or even death, by the woman and her relatives and the woman must fight back. As a rule, the wildlings do not capture married women. As Ygritte explains to Jon - who is unaware of this custom - when a man succeeds, it shows that he is strong, brave and cunning, and this is what wildling women seek in men. If the man turns out to be an abusive husband, the wife can always slit his throat.
Jeor Mormont and Maester Aemon of the Watch ask Tyrion to persuade his sister to send them reinforcements. They claim there is something other than the wildlings beyond the Wall and it's been growing in influence for some time. With winter coming they fear this unseen enemy will make its move.
Following the defeat of the wildling army and the execution of Mance Rayder, the Night's Watch elects Jon as its new Lord Commander, who attempts to rebuild the Watch and pay more attention to the growing threat of the White Walkers. Jon was able to convince a few minor houses to send more men to the Wall and opts to make peace between the Night's Watch and the wildlings to save them from dying and becoming part of the White Walker army, having come to feel sympathy for them as they are men, women, and children who were born on the other side of the Wall and are also fleeing the White Walkers. Jon, Edd , other Watchmen, and Tormund go on a rescue mission to Hardhome to save the wildlings but the Night King attacks Hardhome. Jon and his party return with the surviving wildlings and bring them south of the Wall. This decision is met with harsh criticism by many of the black brothers, including Alliser Thorne, Othell Yarwyck and Bowen Marsh . Jon is later stabbed by his own brothers in a mutiny and left for dead.