For thousands of years, the Rangers had been the Night's Watch's main fighting force. They not only defended The Wall, but also scouted and patrolled the Haunted Forest north of it, fighting Wildlings Beyond the Wall. The two Ranger teams Ser Jaime had taken with him had been the best of the best.
Yet upon their return, only these five remained before Gryn.
"They're all dead, every one of them. I couldn't even bring back their bodies—"
"Your Grace, they aren't afraid of swords. Only fire and Dragonglass can destroy them."
"My brothers of the Night's Watch—my brothers who died in battle—they came back. They want to kill us—"
"He didn't recognize me anymore. I screamed my lungs out, I called his name, but he wasn't him at all! His eyes weren't ice-blue. He wasn't my brother! He wasn't him!"
"The White Walkers defiled the souls of our Ranger brothers and turned them into monsters!"
"We drank together, patrolled together, swore together to defend The Wall, but now, I had to kill him with my own hands—"
Hoarse wails and frenzied sobs—
The five surviving Rangers were weather-beaten, their cheekbones jutting high. The fear and grief on their faces told of the horrors they had endured Beyond the Wall.
In the past, serving at The Wall had been considered a symbol of honor and selfless devotion to duty. Men of standing, knights and nobles alike, had willingly Taken the Black, winning supreme glory for themselves and their families.
But time's passing had gradually tarnished that honor—
Joining the Night's Watch had gradually become a way to escape punishment. Most brothers were recruited from the Dungeons; disgraced and fallen nobles, as well as bastards who had lost favor, would all be "encouraged" to Take the Black.
Only the Rangers' strict selection