Skip to main content

game of thrones - How did Sansa and Theon survive the jump?


We could see that Theon Greyjoy helped Sansa Stark escape from Winterfell which was under Ramsay's control by jumping off the wall. The outer wall is said to be about 80 feet high. How did both of them survive jumping from that height? It is highly unlikely to survive that jump even if there was snow.



Answer



TL;DR: Characters survive their falls from heights due to plot armour.



Looking back over the scene it isn't clear at all how they actually survive the jump. The snow at the bottom of the wall doesn't actually look that deep and you never see them land. The following image is of the look down the wall to the ground before they jump:


View from the top of the wall


The snow also looks quite compact. The two could have injuries but ignore them due to adrenaline taking over. Here's the scene for reference:






Note that in the above scene Theon pushes Myranda from the wall that is less high and has no snow and she is killed on impact. Though she doesn't land feet first but on her side/back.


We next see them in Season 6 Episode 1 with them both still hurriedly running through the snow and it doesn't look much more than ankle deep at best.


Sansa and Theon in the snow


Obviously they are further away from Winterfell so the snow won't be exactly the same but they're still hurrying and looking worried so they can't be too far away.


Here's the scene of them running through the forests:






The snow at Winterfell below the walls will be deeper as snow collects at walls so should help soften the impact.


So it appears they could survive the fall with the snow cushioning it but the amount of snow needed doesn't seem to tally up with what we see on screen.


All the way back in Season 1 Episode 1 we see Bran fall from a tower, of taller height, straight onto his back after being pushed by Jaime.





He is paralysed and put into a coma by this fall but does survive it. So it appears it is possible. Credit to @Flater for this point.


Another character that dies from his fall is Tommen Baratheon though he appears to fall from a much taller height.







From the books the perspective is a little differently. Though in the show the snow doesn't appear to be forty feet high at all.



"I saved her." The outer wall of Winterfell was eighty feet high, but beneath the spot where he had jumped the snows had piled up to a depth of more than forty. A cold white pillow.
Winds of Winter - Theon I



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.
Post a Comment
Read more

harry potter - Did Dolores Umbridge Have Any Association with Voldemort (or Death Eaters) before His Return?

I noticed that Dolores Umbridge was born during the first Wizarding War, so it's very likely she wasn't a Death Eater then (but she is pretty evil -- who knows?). After that Voldemort was not around in a way that could affect many people, and most wouldn't know he was planning to rise again. During that time, and up through Voldemort's return (in Goblet of Fire ), did Umbridge have any connection with the Death Eaters or with Voldemort? Was she doing what she did on her own, or was it because of an association with Voldemort or his allies? Answer Dolores Umbridge was definitely not a good person. However, as Sirius points out, "the world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters". Remember that he also says that he doesn't believe Umbridge to be a Death Eater, but that she's evil enough (or something like that). I think there are two strong reasons to believe that: Umbridge was proud to do everything according to the law, except when she trie...
Post a Comment
Read more

aliens - Interstellar Zoo story

I vaguely remember this story from my childhood: it was about an interstellar zoo that came to Earth with lots of bizarre and unusual species, and humans would file through and gape at all the crazy looking creatures from other planets. The twist came at the end when the perspective shifted to the other side of the bars and we discovered that the "creatures" were traveling through space on a kind of safari. They thought they were the visitors and we were the animals. Neither side knew that the other side thought they were the zoo creatures. Answer Got it. Zoo, by Edward D. Hoch. Published in 1958. Link to Publication History Link to PDF
Post a Comment
Read more

Could one of Voldemort's Death Eaters have killed or harmed Harry at Privet Drive?

In Order of the Phoenix , Dumbledore explains to Harry the protection that the Dursleys' home provides: While you can still call home the place where your mother's blood dwells, there you cannot be touched or harmed by Voldemort. He shed her blood, but it lives on in you and her sister. Her blood became your refuge. You need return there only once a year, but as long as you can still call it home, there he cannot hurt you. Your aunt knows this. I explained what I had done in the letter I left, with you, on her doorstep. She knows that allowing you houseroom may well have kept you alive for the past fifteen years. Dumbledore says that he cannot be "touched or harmed by Voldemort". Does this mean that he could have sent a Death Eater to just bust down the door and kill Harry, assuming that Voldemort would allow them to? And even if he didn't want them to kill him, could they have harmed him in some other way (e.g. the Cruciatus Curse)? Answer No. Harry was protect...
Post a Comment
Read more