Skip to main content

game of thrones - Why didn't the army Mance Rayder assembled sail south around The Wall?


According to this answer, Stannis' army sailed north around The Wall.



I've attached the image from the answer below.


Why didn't The Wildlings just sail south around The Wall the same way Stannis sailed north around it?


They lived in / amongst massive forests so they had no shortage of material to construct sips with.


Is it ever explained in canon?


enter image description here



Answer



The wildlings didn't exactly have much knowledge of what went on south of the wall. Whilst there were people like Mance who used to be a crow, he was very unlikely to be highborn, so wouldn't have much knowledge of the North's war capabilities.


They had no spies in enemy camps to be able to track troop movements, or any idea of the numbers of men other armies may have.


This means they have no idea what they would be sailing into. The northmen could have had fleets of ships to stop them before they got anywhere near land for all they knew. Remember, Jon managed to convince them that 1000 men manned Castle Black, when in reality it was less than 200.


So they would not have risked a small strike force (like the one that Ygritte and Jon were a part of) traveling that way, never mind a full army (hence why they went over the top of the wall).



This is besides the rest of the issues:




  • They had no skilled shipbuilders, sailors, harbour to build ships and get them south of the wall. They can probably build rafts and small vessels, but whilst the wood was lucrative, they wouldn't have had nearly the resources or expertise to make a fleet able to transport the number of troops they had.




  • If they had landed in the North or South in large numbers, the people living there would have fought back (rather than just the Night's Watch).




  • They were unorganized, any decent army could have flattened them in the field (as Stannis proved) and they could have not have laid siege to a castle for very long.





  • After capturing Castle Black, they would have had a half-decent fortification to defend themselves from anyone trying to send them back north of the wall, as well as control of the wall itself.




The only defensive strategy of the wildlings was their sheer numbers. They knew the Night's Watch were not an army, they were glorified guardsmen. Whilst they were more regimented than wildlings, they didn't have any chance of beating the wildlings in open combat.


The wildling's only hope was to oust the Night's Watch from Castle Black and take it for themselves. And it would have worked too, if it wasn't for that meddling Stannis.


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 - How could Expelliarmus beat Avada Kedavra?

I want to be very careful about how I ask this question – I am not asking How did Voldemort die? [CLOSED] Below the text is the relevant passages from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows if anyone wants to review them (I'm sorry for the amount of text). How did Expelliarmus beat Avada Kedavra and kill Voldemort? I feel the reason Harry's Expelliarmus overpowered Voldemort's Avada Kedavra curse has to do with who was master of the Elder Wand and how the Elder Wand works. I've always had trouble understanding fully how the Elder Wand works, though. How much did the fact that Voldemort never truly won or mastered the Elder Wand factor into how Expelliarmus reacted to Avada Kedavra and caused Avada Kedavra to rebound and kill Voldemort? An answer based in book canon would be especially welcome, but any canon source really is fine. Harry heard the high voice shriek as he, too, yelled his best hope to the heavens, pointing Draco’s wand: ‘ Avada Kedavra !’ ‘ Expelliarmus !...
Post a Comment
Read more

game of thrones - Is Syrio Forel dead?

In the episode 'The Pointy End' (Season 1 Episode 8) when Arya runs from the Lannister guards you hear the sound of a sword being dropped (around 4:56): [embedded content] After that neither Syrio or Ser Meryn Trant is never mentioned or seen in the show again, except when Arya mentions to the Hound that Ser Meryn Trant killed Syrio. Is there any mention in the books that Syrio actually dies?
Post a Comment
Read more

tolkiens legendarium - Difference between elves and dwarves blacksmithing in the Lord of the Rings

Both the elves and the dwarves were famous for their metal work in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but what is the difference between what they made, and which one had the better skill of making amours and swords? Answer James Christopher's answer sums up the second part of your question well, but as to the difference in what they made, a little more detail is needed. Once the Elves learned to forge with steel, the shape of the sword changed, now being able to take on the form of a great broadsword or a light and agile curved sword. Additionally, they took great pride in decorating their swords. As we see in the Lord of the Rings , some swords like Sting had magical properties such as glowing blue when orcs are near. As far as the use of Mithril, lotr.wikia has two contradictory passages: Thus, Elven blades became renowned as great weapons, capable of performing deeds beyond the skill of their handlers and were even more glorious when the use of Mithril was allowed to the Elves. ...
Post a Comment
Read more