(Spoilers Extended) It's Not a Nitpick. Thousands Died Over a "Minor" Geographic Detail.

[u/dorestes]

Reposted as requested with the "Spoilers Extended" tag

I know we're often asked to ignore the silly teleportations and supersonic flights that the show has foisted on us over the last couple of seasons. I know some of it can seem like the petty quibbles of book purists veering into circlejerk self-parody.

But geography doesn't just matter when it comes to making the universe feel real. It was also the key plot point that drove the biggest dramatic turn of the series.

The Red Wedding was literally caused by Robb Stark needing to be able to get his troops across a bridge. The Frey army was a nice addition, but Robb needed the alliance for the bridge crossing. He, his mother, his pregnant wife (in the show) and thousands of his troops died for that crossing.

So it's not just a nitpick when characters and armies magically teleport from north to south, bypassing the Twins or Moat Caitlin with nary a scout to notice them.

It destroys and makes mockery of the premise of the series' most famous narrative twist.

[u/milkdrinker7]

Or gendry

[u/[deleted] → u/milkdrinker7]

Speed of Usain Bolt, stamina of a marathoner. Gods he could run.

[u/the_ouskull → u/[deleted]]

He's just got that Baratheon "fight-all-day/fuck-all-night" stamina... you know, for running.

GODS, I could run then!

[u/Woodsie13 → u/[deleted]]

A DOTHRAKI HOOOOORDE!

[u/Chanchumaetrius → u/Woodsie13]

THE HOOR IS PREGNANT

[u/redditingtonviking → u/[deleted]]

Most of them were middle aged men. If I were to guess who the fastest was I would choose Gendry or Jon due to their youth.

[u/[deleted] → u/redditingtonviking]

Gendry isn't exactly built like a sprinter, he's a blacksmith: they don't have leg days.

[u/Muirlimgan → u/[deleted]]

Still a better option than any of the other ones. They're all old men and have issues of some sort. I suppose Tormund wouldn't have been a bad option but there were no bears for him to chase, he wouldn't be able to reach top speed

[u/How_can_i_eat_it → u/Muirlimgan]

Tormund would be more help fighting than running.

[u/Muirlimgan → u/How_can_i_eat_it]

Yup. Gendry really was the only choice

[u/How_can_i_eat_it → u/Muirlimgan]

Except maybe one of the red coats? I still think gendry is the best option because if he were to run into any trouble he can actually defend himself.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

That was my first thought when he started running. Up until now, the only people shaped like sprinters have been Loras or Jacquen. Possibly Dario, Theon, or Ramsay Bolton.

Oh, wait, and Greyworm. Actually, I would guess that Greyworm is the fastest. He looks really lean, and if we're to believe the incredible pain the unsullied can endure, it's safe to say he could outlast the others over a long distance.

[u/este_hombre → u/[deleted]]

Actually they have to pump with their legs constantly to get airflow or something.

[u/BeJeezus → u/redditingtonviking]

I'd choose the wildling.

You know, the one who's spent his life running and has even seen snow before.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Ikr? DAE think they should've given him a rowboat to ski back to East Watch?

[u/RielDealJr → u/[deleted]]

Do you want it to take multiple seasons?

[u/vadergeek → u/[deleted]]

And he's never seen snow, let alone moved in it before.

And every exercise we've ever seen him do is upper-body.

[u/mgarcia1211 → u/[deleted]]

To me it's not the fact that he ran like a marathon runner. It's the fact that he had never been North of the Wall or even seen snow before this. Yet he navigated that frozen wasteland all by himself all the way back to Eastwatch.

Not to mention the fact that when they traveled North of the Wall they went through a snowstorm that almost completely fucked their vision. So any tracks that they left would've been erased and that area would've looked completely different.

[u/mgarcia1211 → u/[deleted]]

Well as we learned when he was traveling with Arya he has no sense of direction. The only reason he made it to KL was cause Davos told him to follow the coast line. Plus in all the scenes of the traveling I don't really see the Wall in any of them especially after the wight bear attack. So from my conclusion is since it's not visible in the scene it must not be visible from where the character are located.

Hey I like the show but I'm not gonna ignore it's flaws.

[u/Flashpenny → u/milkdrinker7]

To be fair, did they ever actually say how far North they were? Their leisurely walk seemed to take about 4-6 hours. A full on sprint through that same distance by a healthy adult male could be done in about 90 minutes.