Game of Thrones season 7 hinged on Jon Snow’s plan to prove to Queen Cersei Lannister that White Walkers exist, yet he should have doubted whether it would actually work. In the final season of HBO’s hit series, everyone knows the White Walkers are indeed real. But earlier in the series, proving the ice zombies exist to most of the people in Westeros was a daunting task, one the Night’s Watch already tried in vain.

Throughout Game of Thrones, Jon and the Night’s Watch fought the White Walkers several times and barely survived - and Jon has twice come face-to-face with their fearsome leader the Night King - but it’s easy to forget that until Games of Thrones season 7, most of the people in Westeros still thought the ice zombies were a myth. After all, the Night’s Watch was, at best, an afterthought and, at worst, a joke to the high lords. Far from an elite fighting force, the Night’s Watch’s dwindling numbers were comprised of criminals and other undesirables banished to the Wall; they fought the Wildings but otherwise, most people in Westeros mocked the idea that magical monsters lived beyond the Wall.

As Game of Thrones heads into its final season, it can no longer be denied that Winter has Come. The White Walkers have broken through the Wall, thanks to the Night King’s ice dragon Viserion, and are spreading into Westeros. But this threat was something the Night’s Watch had been fruitlessly warning the Iron Throne about long before Game of Thrones season 7.

  • This Page: The Two Times The Iron Throne Was Warned About The White Walkers Page 2: The Night’s Watch’s Plan Is A Game of Thrones Plot Gap

Jon Snow’s Plan To Capture A Wight To Show Cersei

In season 7, Jon Snow originally came to Dragonstone to ask Daenerys Targaryen for the rights to mine dragonglass to use as weapons against the White Walkers. The Dragon Queen didn’t believe the King in the North that the threat was real, but circumstances (and Jon and Daenerys’ mutual attraction, despite unknowingly being aunt and nephew) drew Dany to Jon’s side. At the time, Cersei had gotten the best of Daenerys and her Hand, Tyrion Lannister, who lost their fleet and key allies like Olenna Tyrell, Ellaria Sand, and Yara Greyjoy. Meanwhile, Jon found drawings left by the Children of the Forest in the mines of Dragonstone, which convinced Daenerys that Jon was right about the White Walkers. They agreed that fighting the war in the North was more pressing than the war with Cersei, but they needed an armistice - and hopefully, an alliance to fight the Night King - with the Iron Throne.

But to forge an armistice, Jon and Daenerys needed to prove to Cersei that White Walkers were real, which is where Jon’s foolhardy plan to go beyond the Wall and capture a Wight came to play. Jon led a team comprised of “The Hound” Sandor Clegane, Thoros of Myr, Beric Dondarrion, Tormund Giantsbane, Gendry, and Jorah Mormont into White Walker territory. They captured a Wight, but Thoros was killed and the group needed to be rescued by Daenerys and her three dragons - which led to the Night King killing Viserion and resurrecting him as his own ice dragon.

Cersei agreed to meet with her enemies at King’s Landing, which is when Daenerys and Jon showed the Lannister Queen their captured zombie. Their plan worked, in a way. Cersei couldn’t deny that the White Walkers were real, though she still ended up only serving her own interests. Still, this convoluted gambit worked better than the previous attempt by the Night’s Watch to prove the existence of ice zombies - which fans never even got to see on the show.

The Night’s Watch Already Tried The Same Plan - And Failed

In Game of Thrones season 1, Lord Commander Joer Mormont actually sent Ser Allister Thorne to King’s Landing to prove that the White Walkers are real - a plan which apparently failed. At that time, Jon Snow was a new recruit to the Night’s Watch and he immediately made enemies with the cruel and rigid master-at-arms Ser Allister, who mockingly dubbed the bastard of Winterfell “Lord Snow”. Towards the end of the season, Jon’s direwolf Ghost found the corpses of two Night’s Watch rangers. They brought the body of Othor into Castle Black but the ranger reanimated into a Wight and attacked; Jon saved Mormont’s life and cut Othor’s arm off before burning and killing him.

Later, after Mormont gifted his own family’s Valyrian steel sword, Longclaw, to Jon, the Lord Commander explained that he sent Snow’s nemesis Ser Alliser to King’s Landing with Othor’s severed arm. Mormont told Thorne to throw the arm “at the boy king’s [Joffrey’s] feet”, which he hoped would prove his case that the White Walkers were real and get the Night’s Watch the resources they need. But fans never actually saw this happen on Game of Thrones… but they do know it failed.

Page 2 of 2: The Night’s Watch’s Plan Is A Game of Thrones Plot Gap

The Night’s Watch’s Plan Is A Game of Thrones Plot Gap

Game of Thrones season 2, which adapted the second of George R.R. Martin’s novels, A Clash of Kings, never depicted the arrival of Ser Alliser Thorne at King’s Landing or what happened with the Wight’s severed hand. Ser Alliser simply disappeared for a couple of seasons and returned to Castle Black from his travels in season 4, when he became Acting Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch and resumed being a thorn at Jon Snow’s side. The reason for this plot gap is simply that Owen Teale, the actor who portrayed Ser Alliser, wasn’t available during season 2.

Fans would have to read A Clash of Kings to fill this in: in the novel, just like in Game of Thrones season 2, Tyrion Lannister was enjoying himself in his new role as acting Hand of the King. Ser Alliser did arrive at King’s Landing with the severed hand but Tyrion refused to see the Night’s Watchman because he just didn’t like Ser Alliser:

Tyrion had met Thorne when he visited the Wall in season 1 and disliked the Crow so he kept Alliser waiting out of spite. When Tyrion did see Ser Alliser, the severed hand had rotted and was no longer animate, so Tyrion took the occasion to mock Thorne and nothing was accomplished to fulfill the Night’s Watch needs.

“Come to think on it, I don’t believe I care to see Ser Alliser just now. Find him a snug cell where no one has changed the rushes in a year, and let his hand rot a little more.”

In Game of Thrones season 7, Jon Snow did mention this prior attempt to prove the reality of White Walkers to the Iron Throne but he obviously felt his own gambit to capture a complete Wight had a better chance of succeeding. Tyrion made no mention of Ser Alliser, since they did not meet in King’s Landing in season 2 (or if they did, it was off camera). Regardless, Tyrion liked and trusted Jon Snow’s word far more than he ever could Ser Alliser Thorne’s.

How Both Plans To Prove The Threat Of The White Walkers Failed

Even if fans saw Alliser Thorne meet with Tyrion, Lord Commander Mormont’s plan would have still failed. As depicted in the novel, Tyrion would have thrown the Crow in a black cell and kept him waiting too long; the Wight’s hand would have rotted and Tyrion would have mocked Ser Alliser and sent him packing. And that’s Tyrion, who is the most reasonable Lannister - Cersei or King Joffrey might have ordered an even worse fate for Ser Alliser if they’d met with him. The Lannisters simply couldn’t care less about the Night’s Watch or what they face north of the Wall, and they never believed the White Walkers were real. Frankly, even an animated hand of a so-called zombie wouldn’t have convinced the Lannisters.

In season 7, at least Jon Snow’s plan succeeded at finally convincing Cersei that ice zombies do exist. After all, even the wicked Queen couldn’t deny the ferocious monster charging at and stopping just inches from her. And yet, Snow’s overall scheme still failed because they underestimated the depth of Cersei’s self-interest, which even disgusted her twin brother Jaime Lannister. Cersei made a show out of wanting the King in the North to swear fealty, which Jon refused because he’d already bent the knee to Daenerys. But even if Jon had sworn an oath to Cersei, she still would likely have betrayed them as her self-preservation is her only true concern, not that of the realm and the people she rules.

Ultimately, Jon Snow never would have convinced Cersei to fight alongside the army of the living and that was the true failure of his plan in Game of Thrones season 7.

Next: Every Game of Thrones Character Death Teased In The New Trailer

Game of Thrones season 8 premieres Sunday, April 14 @ 9pm on HBO.