One day, the Wall must come tumbling down. It’s a near certainty in A Song of Ice and Fire that the Wall’s days are numbered. Even though none of the characters in Game of Thrones know it, the foreshadowing of the Wall’s doom has been painted with a broad brush. The Night’s King is coming, and the Wall is the greatest defense against him…. Until it comes crashing down. It may play out differently in the show, where Bran could bring down the Wall by accident, but in the books, one candidate is most likely to make like a Mr. Gorbachev and tear down that Wall: Euron Greyjoy.
Winds of Winter Spoilers: Euron Greyjoy, Enemy Of Man
Euron Greyjoy is the locus of much attention in the seriously nerdy side of the Song of Ice and Fire community. Close-reading of his chapters—including preview chapters from Winds of Winter—has led some readers to theorize that Euron is far more nefarious than we initially thought. Sure, he employs Faceless Men and sorcerers and has acquired a dragonbinder horn, but that’s just the beginning. Spoilers ahead. Aeron’s visions in early chapters of Winds of Winter hint that Euron sees himself as a supernatural force, an agent of the Drowned God with his own purpose.
Some readers think Euron will, by choice, awaken an eldritch, Cthulhu-like horror beneath Oldtown, but that’s pretty out there. A far simpler explanation is likely: Euron Greyjoy will bring the Wall down, of his own free will. Here’s a few reasons why it all makes sense: First, the real Horn of Joramun is probably the plain horn the Night’s Watch found at the Fist of the First Men… a horn now in possession of Samwell Tarly in Oldtown. Euron is preparing to attack Oldtown, and there’s nothing that can really stop him.
The Crow’s Eye is deeply interested in magic, and when he finds the rare object in the Citadel—or takes it from Sam himself—trouble will quickly brew. Supposedly, you can even see the Wall from the top of the Hightower—a nice bit of exaggeration that will turn into terrible irony when Euron Greyjoy blows that horn. Euron Greyjoy even has reasons to bring the Wall down, although not very good ones. A devastating, nearly invincible invasion of the North by land surely helps the ironborn in their own raiding, at least in the short run. But it’s more interesting to think that he’ll blow the Horn of Joramun for more nefarious reasons—because he has become not just a player in the game of thrones, but an agent of evil, a force of destruction aligned against the Lord of Light. Mr. Crow’s Eye, tear down that Wall.
