I walk down the stairs with Jon and Sam. "We held them off." Sam says. "For one night." I say. "This is a great victory." Sam says. "A great victory?" Jon asks. "Mance was testing our defenses." I say. "He almost made it through." "And he has more giants and he has more mammoths." Jon adds. "He has 1,000 times as many men." He says. "They'll hit us again tonight." I say. "Maybe we can hold them off for a day or two but we'll never beat them." Jon says. "Where are we going?" "Going to find Mance." Jon says. "You can't do that!" Sam says. "No one gave you any orders." "Who's left to give orders?" Jon asks. "The wildling army's only an army because of Mance." I say. "He United 100 warring tribes. Without Mance they lose their leader. They lose their purpose. They go back to fighting each other. Scatter back to their homes." "Without Mance? You're going to kill him?" Sam asks. "I'm gonna try." "They'll never let you within 100 yards of him. And even if you did even if you manage to kill him..." "They'll kill me? If I don't go they'll kill me anyway. They'll kill the rest of us too." "They won't just kill you, they'll boil you, flay you, make it last days." "You're right. It's a bad plan." Jon says. "What's your plan?" Sam doesn't answer. We keep walking and we come across the bodies of the six men that held the gate. "They held the gate." Jon says. "Get some men to help you. We need to burn the bodies." "Raise the outer gate... and lower it as soon as we get out." He says. He gives his sword to Sam. "In case I don't come back." The gate raises. "Jon." Sam says. "Come back." We walk out of the gate. And out beyond the wall.
