I don't know why the notion that the Night King "installed" the Black Gate is so funny to me. Sounds like he ordered it from Lowes.

Ned Stark- and then the guy was like "I got attacked by ice demons. Please don't chop my head off." And then I chopped his head off. True story.

I think you're right that Ned mistook Gared for crazy, it parallels when he blows off Arya when she tells him about seeing Varys and Illyrio in the Red Keep tunnels.

Something tells me that only a brother that has taken his vow before a weirwood can use the Black Gate.

Maybe the ones who have "activated" the gate have also been the ones to give their vows to the Nights Watch in front of the Weir on the other side of the wall. Maybe that ritual allows those watchmen ability to open the Black Gate because they are recognized by the Weir network. Could also show how large the underground weir network is. And, Sam has, at that point, been following those vows. Gotta be true to your scene. This video is fantastic. Bravo

Everyone needs to watch this. People seem to hate the idea because they hold a torch for Ben is Coldhands. It's an extremely odd coincidence that Gared just pops up at exactly the right time to get Ned on the road to go past the pups. I don't see how it could bot have been Coldhands that grabbed Gared and told him what to do. You need Ned to walk by that road on that day. There is one other person that potentially has passed through the Black Gate thanks to Coldhands. That would be the Hooded Man that Theon meets. The general description of the man is reasonably similar to Benjen. This explains why Ben suddenly disappeared. If you assume BR needs Bran to come north of the Wall and there must always be a Stark in Winterfell, and there is a real purpose forgotten in belief, he needs someone there. It explains Theon's reaction to the man and why the man calls him a Kinslayer. Only someone who considered Theon an adopted Stark would think of him as one. Ben has likely been hiding deep in the crypts waiting for a real Stark to return. It also makes it possible Ben wrote the Pink Letter. Ben would know Mance on sight and may recognize the spearwives. It's a hard theory to prove, but it makes a certain sense in the context of what people believe in the story.

I don’t think it was sealed. It’s a Weirwood face and the gate itself is the mouth that opens. And it only opens when you say the nights watch vow. I don’t think that many people would be wandering around saying the vow over and over down in the depths of the night fort especially as the Faith of the Seven spread, though I do wonder if the fact the vows can be spoken in front of Weirwood trees like Jon and Sam did might be leftover from the night gate itself. Honestly the people in the night fort later in history may just have thought it was a weirwood face in the basement, not a gate at all.

really enjoying these early morning videos oh and i loved the stream with david yesterday. so many great theories

I’ve always been interested in the difference between the oath said at the gate and the oath the modern brothers say upon initiation. There are slight differences which just screams importance.

Perhaps the Starks were ashamed that The Night King was a Stark and hid all knowledge of the black gate being there? Over time, and the more unsavory brothers filled the watch, they just forgot.

Yes, I love that idea that the deserting Night's watchman and the direwolf got through the wall by using the black gate. It's the only logical way we're given that they could've w/o being seen by other Night's watchmen. I think you're right on that! And it does seem Bloodraven sent the wolf for the Starks.

Leaf: "for two hundred years I walked the world of men" ...interesting that's around the time of Alysanne's visit and the closing of the Nightfort. Correlation or coincidence?

I've always been of the opinion that the Wall is made out of the same "Living Ice" that the Others are made of. The weirwoods inside the wall acting like Other Bones and providing the structure and means for the melted ice to flow back up. My personal head cannon is that the Wall is made of Other corpse puddles collected by the first men and warged to create the structure. This could be tied to the winter fell crypts and the singular cold puddle by the heart tree. Do you think we will see Ice Dragons in the upcoming books? I feel like they don't get talked about enough.

I'm loving this channel, thank you algorithm gods! And also the creator of the videos 😉

I’m starting to rethink The North Remembers😮seems like they all do a fair share of well not remembering 😬

Michael, what do you think Bran hears at the bottom of the well in the Night Fort? It's quite a creepy moment that stayed in my head. The only thing I can think of is maybe one of those pale blind fish observed in Bloodraven's cave .

The dire wolf couldn't have been warged thru the black gate. The connection would snap as soon as it went through as do Ghost's and Hodor's connections. That might get it through the wall if it panicked and went rogue but to appear again dead at the right place is questionable at best. Even considering that there is a direct line between Bloodraven's cave and Winterfell, there isn't one to the opposite side of the Night Fort. A slightly better connection would be that the deserter himself was secretly a warg and as he went through the wall so did the dire wolf. They could travel together towards Winterfell when the wolf is killed by the stag which puts him into a further crazed state. The wolf and the deserter weren't that far from each other but the wall definitely is. Also the guy was the tracker of the group. Perhaps this was because he had the wolf doing most of the tracking for him. Maybe he didn't discover the wildling camp and return, but the wolf did and he knew about it that way. If Coldhands is involved he could have told the deserter to take the wolf and the pups to Winterfell as a tribute to the Stark sigil. That with the dire wolf Ned would listen to him. Either way, when it dies he loses his gifts and his credibility, but turns himself in anyway. There is little to no discussion about how the deserter was captured. Maybe he wasn't captured and submitted willingly.

Love these Saturday videos

Did Sam ever mention the Black Gate to anyone at the Night's Watch or Oldtown? You would think it would have come up in conversation.

I love these videos about the nightfort, I find it the most interesting thing in a song of ice and fire. 🙏🙏

I was under the impression that the black gate only leads from the night fort side out. I can't say for sure, but I feel it was mentioned in the books. On the other hand, part of the opening ritual is saying the oath to the weirwood face - are there weirwoods with the faces on both sides of the tree? As for the Night's Watch, it could be that the knowledge is passed on whenever the head crow is changed or about to be changed. Old Man Mormont just died before passing the knowledge to Jon who was being, in lack of a better word, groomed for the position.

"Bloodraven playing Minecraft at the Nightfort"

Thanks for all the content! My favorite part about this channel is thetheories either feel spot on or completely off target 😂 would be funny if the ones i disagree with end up being true.

Makes a lot of sense. I love how pick up stuff that no one thought about and filling in the gaps with very plausible scenarios

4:30 there IS at least one wildling who knows about it: Gilly!

Bro blessed us this morning with another video

Great points! When I teach English Lit, I like to focus on what characters know in order to understand their motivations

Bengin could use the gate to go south without being seen if he deserted the knights watch.

It was nice seeing you and David do a collaboration! What a treat 🎉❤

discovered you from LML’s stream, love the channel and creative theories

A more secretive place is either Bloodraven's cave which is only ever known by a handful and at least two of them "die" off page. Or the many tunnels beneath the Red Keep which are only known by Varys and possibly his little birds only to be more widely discovered later.

That would make sense as to why coldhands brought Sam and gilly to the black gate, he's really old and probably used the gate in the past himself

Once again, great video! Do you think the Black Gate is where the 'hodoring' will occur? The Heart of Winter could be the next secret/magical location that we will see Awesome stream yesterday with LML

I think the Stark Family Secret died in Kings Landing with Neds Dad and his Brother... There's a reason why GRRM choose to kill them both suddenly and why Ned was the middle child ...He couldn't be next in line cuz he would know the secret and not the youngest cuz he needed to "Rescue" his bad ass lil brother and sister

I don’t think Mance and the wildlings going through the Gate works anyway. It seems like it can only be used by faithful Night’s Watch and it seems to know the difference.

This is really good. Oh, and the live with David Lightbringer was a banger!

i think the wolf came thru when the nights watch survivor of the opening attack passed thru. coldhands very likely was the one who sent him thru as he did with sam BUT coldhands doesnt let deserters go later in the book but the later deserters were mutineers n i could be bloodraven telling him to go and get the this guy thru and get the events rolling

Have not read the books. A Wall that tall and ancient may have its discreet cut throughs. I do believe Martin made scattered references of various figures burrowing through the Wall.

I think this was where the first white walker was created. The children of the forest sacrificed the human knight king on this tree which transferred the tree's soul into his making him the undead Night King. I think towards the end of ASOIAF we will find out he wants this gate/tree destroyed so he it can release his soul and he can finally pass on. Or maybe the whole weirwood tree system needs to be destroyed since they are kind of a hive mind undead trees representing the hive mind undead army.

idk to me the deserter just went back to Castle Black, as the last ranger from his party to come back alive he would have probably been welcomed back to be debriefed and stuff and then deserted later on, and if he never came back to castle black or another of the manned castles then it would probably have been assumed that he was dead like the others

The wildlings do not seem to know that the caves go all the way through to the other side of the wall - fi they do - I am guessing they are part of a Westeros wide network of underground spaces created by the Children and the Trees, some parts might be more or less passable for humans. People forget things.

The deserter could've just returned to Castle Black, fleeing south before being briefed.

So first I think perhaps the magisters or specifically just the watch magister could have records. Second I had always thought that the deserter got back to the nights watch castle and then deserted.

I disagree about the deserter going through the black gate. He probably just went to Castle Black, reported what he saw, got called crazy, and fled in the night just like Jon does in book 1, except he didn't have any friends to stop him. That "we're doomed, get as far south as possible" mentality.

I wonder if the weirwood in the well is the same tree leif created the nk on, could be why nan kept telling stories about the rat cook? Could bran have possibly told her in the pass to tell him about it

Well,the crypts at WF had a "collapsed" wall in the older area...is there a comparable black gate situation down THERE? Did Bael the Bard know of a secret way to get in and out of there than the regular doorway? Could Sam use the black gate because he took his oath at a heart tree before the old gods? Anyone brought with him are assumed to be sacrifices?

Maybe the Night's Watchman dude who took the direwolf through the wall got brain melted because he was warged by Coldhands or Bloodraven or something like Bran does Hodor

I’d say the most secret location on the wall would be the fucking talking wierwood door under it, but yours works too.

If Benjen is indeed cold hands in the books, he wasn’t cold hands at the time of the deserter though right? He hadn’t gone missing yet, same as the show. It’s been a while since I read the books, maybe I’m wrong

At The time of the deserter Benjin was not cold hands yet. So it makes no sense

That damn raven knows

If Stannis knows about the Black Gate, is there a possibility that Mel could end up burning the gate and the tree that it's part of, and if the wall is constructed as you've theorised then that could create a big old hole right in the middle of it which could be interesting!! It would require a bit of an abstract view that Mel might be the horn, but Mel burning the old Gods is definitely a theme running through

I like that it’s so secret and magical. What if when cold hands was a ranger he found it?

2 things, dragon dont go beyond the wall and danys dragons bring back the magic of the world

It may be that Nights Watchmen have to take their vows in front of a weirwood tree for the gate to work. Do we know if Mance swore to a weirwood tree or in a sept?

Coldhands couldn’t have been uncle Benjen then, cause he should have been still alive at that point, right? Hmmi

If the dire wolf was warged to go into the black gate, they magic would have been cut off right when they entered though

How do you think the Long Night would happen in the books? The one that happened in the show was kinda dumb because the white walkers wouldn’t have crossed the wall in the first place if Jon didn’t come up with the wight kidnapping mission that end up losing Viserion. But what about in the book? Will Euron turn into the Night King by doing the same thing as the Bloodstone emperor?

The nights watch definitely have to know about it. While writing this comment I had a thought as well as to the forgotten reason all deserters caught get executed. Once a man swears his vows breaking one's oaths likely doesn't stop your ability to open the gate. Which is why they must remain true because they can open that door alone for anything perhapse an other even. Cold hands tells Sam he wouldn't be able to. That is probably not true. Definitely less suspicious, or if true it could be because he is dead or something. Why else would you kill the person you thought went mad. Ned even says he believes the guy believes what he says. But deserting even with a good reason snick. Also that watchmen ned kills likely came through the gate with the direwolve behind him. It never says how u close it or once open how long it can stay open. Jon tells the wildlings that The Old bear would send small squads to travel and spend a week or two at a different castle. I know if I was stuck somewhere for a week I would definitely explore. I find some steps leading down what appears to be a well with a weirwood growing from below that would be tempting to see to anyone staying there for a while. I am walking down to see why. I think its interesting that Sam finds a book cataloging and depicting the face of each weirwood tree. Is it so they could tell if the face changes or is scene again somewhere else. Now this is seperate topic. But I believe that Chett is the one who buried the dragonglass dager cache along with the horn. The evidence is pretty hard to notice because of the huge gap in the books. But chett begins to panic that the snow is going to ruin everything. It's going to bury the landmarks and make uncovering there supplies impossible. What are the chances of Chett and his crew bury supplies all around the the fist around the same time Jon uncovers a freshly buried cache around the same area. It's also wrapped in a still black untarnished nights watch coat. One that's made very well. Chett was also Maester Amens personal servant before replaced by Sam. It would not suprise me if Amen had these items or mentioned them. Chet decides to take them securing good will with wildlings. If you have the horn of joramun or some other potential magic horn. Weapons that can kill the others they don't have usful bargaining chips enough you might think you could kill craster and pretend to be a lord over anyone around. It has also bothered me that just a few days ride away from winterfell , Ben runs into Yorren and his new recruits. It seems to me that Yorren brought the Lense box to winterfell or possibly even Ben or mance himself being given it to bring with him into winterfell. Little finger sent it men from the fingers happen to with Yoren days outside winterfell Lysa had fled after Jon's death Perhapse in company with Yorren. I am pretty sure he claims to have last been in white harbor though I could be wrong. But Ben or Mance probably brought it. Mance could climb in a window and leave it. Ben could walk in Un noticed. There is no logical reason for a bunch of men picked up at the fingers to be stumbled upon by Jon's party if it was not coordinated they also would travel faster not being burdened with all the crap Jon's party is taking with them. There is definitely a group of nights watchmen working with the wildlings on a much larger scale then let on. In my opionion. I still cannot place my finger on it but that crew of wildlings also hanging around winterfell that get killed by the wolves. Seems so strange to me that Osha thinks that taking him to Mance is ideal. They could really only get him there through the nightfort. They have a deserter of the watch with them which makes sense if he can get through the gate. Again this probably why they have such a stiff penalty for desertion. Once those words are sworn I cannot imagine that breaking your oath disables your use of the door. Ben gets worried when Jon goes off that he thought he could have been taken! Why would he think this ? A few books later a stark ends up being taken and it sounds like something mance would do alot for. Since we see what he does to bind Jon to the wildlings along with the halfhand. Mance himself supposedly was at winterfell as well. This is just to coincidental for all these groups to not be aware of one another. Especially with what gets said and done later by these same groups. Also where the F is Benjin. Why is he such a POS as well. All the long term rangers know of things we never hear anything about. Just like with craster they all know he gives babies to the others. No says or does anything. Also no Other actually kills the a guest of crasters at least of the first rangers. Royce son refuses guest right. He when turned into a white kills one of the rangers but the other is allowed to run. Is it due to guest right or because they need that door open for the direwolf to come through. Also there is no other reason to allow a brother of the watch to join you if he did not have a value that out weighs the risk that he's been planted by the watch like Jon is.

in that still frame of mance ik its not proven and i dont even really beleive it personally i think dayne died to a howland reed poison dart when dayne was about to kill ned thats what i BELIEVE but i swear if u just envision a golden kingsguard helm on Mances head it does resemble the brief glimpses we saw in brans visions

The obvious counter argument to the wolf is that you can’t warg through the wall

how did you know bloodraven plays minecraft

The most common location would be your mom's bed

Wait why would you think Mance/Wildlings could use thr Black Gate if they knew about it? Isn't it only available to men of the Night's Watch? Which Mance no longer is. Would they capture a crow and coerce him? This doesn't change your theory I'm just wondering why you think they'd so easily be able to use it.

You said "The Night King"... Are you referring to the Night King that appeared in the show or are you referring to the Night's King from the books?? The show clearly did got another path than the books. In my opinion, it's bad to analyse the show's plot part or secret details through the lens of the books. Some people do this and it sounds stupid in some cases. Night's King is a damn different character than with what we've ended up in the show. At some point in time, maybe I believe it was meant to be the same character, but to appease the normies and people that are not into fantasy, they changed the character so much.

I think the Old Grove may be more secret of a location.

Why don’t the children help the free folk? Or have they?

ai getting crazy

Hypeee

🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤

I don't understand how you still believe R+L=J when Jon has a direwolf. he can't be a targeryen

The wildings are NOT a different "race". Tolkien screwed up when he used the word "race", because he used it incorrectly. In Tolkien, elves are not a different "race" than men, they're a different SPECIES. SPECIES is the word that Tolkien should have been using instead of "race". "Race" is not a scientific term, it'd be like us calling two differently colored black labs different "races" which is ridiculous because they're still the same exact species

If Gared and the direwolf came through the Black Gate at the same time… Wouldn’t that be convenient if you needed blood sacrifice for a consciousness meld binding the Stark children to their pups. 🤔🫢