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What Really Happened to Benjen Stark? | In Deep Geek | YouTubeToText
YouTube Transcript: What Really Happened to Benjen Stark?
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Summary
Core Theme
The disappearance of Benjen Stark north of the Wall is a significant mystery in "A Song of Ice and Fire," with the content exploring plausible theories about his fate, ranging from death and reanimation to survival and continued exploration.
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what happened to benjin Stark it was one
of the big mysteries of book one and we
still haven't had an answer he went
ranging north of the wall and never
returned is he dead alive or something
else hi everyone this is Robert welcome
to indeep geek your home for insight
into the worlds of A Song of Ice and
Fire the Lord of the Rings The Witcher
and more if you're new here
welcome The Disappearance of benjin
Stark while ranging north of the wall is
one of the biggest mysteries of the
opening chapters of A Song of Ice and
Fire and it has never been fully
explained he had set off with half a
dozen men to search for wear Rey the
noble knights Watchman we met in the
prologue benjin set off heading north
and west we're told and Jor Mormont
started getting concerned when after a
few months he hadn't returned or sent a
message so Mormont sent out three search
parties we read that sir Jeremy rker had
led two sweeps and Corin halfhand had
gone forth from the shadow Tower but
they'd found nothing aside from a few
blazes in the trees that his uncle had
left to mark his way in the Stony
Highlands to the Northwest the marks
stopped abruptly and all trace of Ben Stark
Stark
vanished so we know something of where
benjin went Northwest from Castle black
roughly along the route that the great
ranging led by Jor Mormont followed
sometime later when searching for him
roughly ped White tree craster's keep
and the Fist of the first men unlike the
great ranging though benjin didn't stop
by cr's keep at least that's what crter
said when Jor asked him we shouldn't
necessarily believe everything crter
says but I don't think this is a
particular mystery neither curin
halfhand nor Jeremy rker bothered to
check with crter when searching for
benjin so it's not as if either of those
experienced Knights Watchman thought it
likely he went there if benjin had been
tracking wear Roy and the other two
night watch which is what he set off to
do he would have been able to track them
up to craster's keep and then see that
they left it again afterwards he
actually had no need to stop by and if
you can avoid stopping by crter you
probably would in any event the marks
Benin left carried on until the Stony
Highlands well past cras and I think we
can say a bit more with some certainty
because Benin was an expert Ranger the
most senior Ranger there was in fact and
took with him other experienced Rangers
they were experts at following tracks
and given that Rangers clearly left
marks for other rangers to follow I
think it's a reasonable assumption that
benjin and his group managed to follow
wear and his group's trail to where we
saw them in the prologue to book one and
then tried to piece together what had
happened there to remind you wear gared
and will had headed up to ca's keep and
from there carried on ranging into the
haunted forest until eventually finding
the camp of dead wildlings about 8 or
nine days ride north of the wall benjin
would have tracked them that far surely
and he would have found the abandoned
wling Village signs of a struggle
perhaps some shards of wayar Roy's
shattered sword on the ground but benjin
will have seen no bodies he will surely
have been as disconcerted by this as
will was and he will have known that
gared that veteran Knights Watchman had
fled the scene and headed as far south
as he could not even wanting to stop at
the wall just to get a away from
whatever he saw here so scared was he
that weeks later when captured he was
incoherent and apparently unable to even
understand what Ned said to him
seemingly driven mad by
fear so what was benjin to do then he
could have turned back but from
everything we know of him is that the
kind of man he was he didn't really have
any more firm information than before
abandoned Villages experienced Knights
Watchmen scared to death of something no
benjin will have carried on and there
will have been at least two different
sets of trails to follow the first would
be gads heading south but he knew where
that went and what happened to him the
second will have been the villagers will
and wear Royce as ice whites the others
themselves may or may not have left much
of a trace we simply don't know enough
about them yet in the books to be sure
but eight villagers plus two knights
Watchmen as shambling ice whites yes
that would leave a trail and where did
they go well the next time we come
across a large force of the army of the
Dead is at the Fist of the first men
further to the Northwest they seem to
have been amassing somewhere beyond
there so perhaps that's where they went
it's certainly where benjin and his six
companions went Northwest out of the
other side of the haunted forest and
into the Stony
Highlands at which point the marks
benjin left stopped abruptly perhaps
perap he simply ran out of trees to Mark
in the frosty landscape or perhaps
something happened what well our next
clue happens back at the wall 6 months
after benjin set out two of his
companions turn up near the Grove of
weirwood trees that John and Sam kneel
before to make their Night's Watch vows
oor and jaer flowers both were dead and
as we discover in the next chapter ice
whites Sam had a quick look at the
bodies and deduced that they hadn't died
where they lay in fact they had died
quite some time earlier and had somehow
made their way to where they were found
there's a hint also that jaer had been
killed by oor his wounds matched the
kind of axe that oor carried so it seems
that benjin followed the trail of the
Whit's Northwest up into the Stony
Highlands and then found them or they
found him oor was killed first then was
raised as a white and killed jafer the
two of them as ice whites then marched
down to near the war wall where they
were discovered by ghost they were
brought back to Castle black oor
attacked J Mormont and we know what
happened there why the others wanted
these two to go back to the wall is a
very intriguing question with some
fascinating possible answers but for
another video the question here is what
happened to benjin and the other four
nights Watchmen with him the physical
Trail does run a bit cold here Jon does
try asking the wildlings if they know
anything but he doesn't get an answer
but I think the evidence in the book
suggests three broad possibilities the
first sadly is that benjin may be dead
and like the other two reanimated as an
ice white this certainly explains why he
hasn't returned to the wall or sent a
message by the end of the time of the
dance of the dragons two years or so
have passed which is quite a while with
no contact even the most diard of
benjin's friends at the wall now believe
that he has gone and mormont's Raven
seems to suggest as much at the Fist of
the first
men the old bear smiled through the gray
of his beard on this hill our fires
ought to be visible as far off as the
foothills of the frost fangs if Ben
Stark is alive and free he will come to
us I have no
doubt yes said JN but what if he's dead
Mormont asked not unkindly John nodded
reluctantly dad The Raven said Dad
dead he may come to us anyway the old
bear said as oor did and Ja for flowers
I dread that as much as you John but we
must admit the possibility dead his
Raven called ruffling its wings its
voice grew louder and more shrill
dead mormont's raven is not just any old
Raven and his repetition of the word
dead is not just a bird copying human
speech there's evidence throughout the
books that blood Raven is probably
wogging into it spying on the knight's
watch and trying to give advice so on
face value This Could Be Blood Raven
trying to tell them that benjin is
indeed dead but in the wider context of
that chapter it may be simply that the
Raven was just letting them know that
the army of the Dead was drawing near
which it was so maybe benjin is dead
presumably killed in that same attack
that took out oor and jaer we just
haven't seen benjin the ice
yet the second option is that benjin is
still alive he survived the attack and
thought that having come so far he might
as well carry on and try to find out
exactly what is going on and why he's
capable competent and experienced so why
not it also ties in with something
George R Martin has promised us for the
Winds of Winter that we will go further
north Beyond the Wall than ever before
this presumably won't be directly with
one of our Northern PV characters
they're mostly focused on Winterfell and
the wall at the moment though perhaps
bran will see further north through his
new tree magic powers and when bran does
see through the weirwood network he
seems to first see people he has
connected with his father benjin and
leaner children probably a young old man
might he now see benjin ranging to the
lands of always winter or might benjin
finally return to the wall don't rule it
out and on a very practical plot driven
Point George Aram Martin wouldn't have
wanted to bring benjin back until now
anyway he's very probably one of the few
people who knows Jon's true parentage
and that reveal is surely waiting until
a dream of spring but the third option
is that benan is not dead or alive but
something in between Saved By The Magic
of the children of the forest it sounds
like a bit of a long shot but this is
what happened on the show he was
attacked by the others left for dead but
the children found him and saved him by
shoving a piece of dragon glass into him
leaving him in a kind of half Undead
State this isn't a complete invention
from the show they effectively merged
benjin's character with that of cold
hands a mysterious book only character
who roams north of the wall on an elk is
apparently a former member of the
knight's watch working with blood Raven
and the children of the forest and seems
to be dead or Undead or something he
doesn't breathe anyway in the books it's
pretty clear that cold hands isn't
benjam not least because bran would have
recognized him if he were and well we've
actually seen a rare note from George
Aram Martin to his editor where he
confirmed it to be the case but if the
children of the forest or blood Raven or
someone like that could use magic to
preserve cold hands Beyond Death might
they not also do it to Benin for those
who like foreshadowing there's also a
line in book one where bran says
confidently to Old Nan that wherever
benjin is the children of the forest
will help him of course this would
explain why he hasn't headed back to the
wall like cold hands he wouldn't be able
to pass its magical defenses but it
doesn't explain why he didn't even send
a message so this is possible but we
have to accept that it's an argument
largely from Silence we haven't seen any
evidence yet to show that it is the case
whatever possibility is right I do think
we will get some kind of closure on what
happened to benjin his disappearance was
one of the big Mysteries driving the
plot in books one and two and JN and
bran both still think about it
frequently so surely they will get some
kind of
resolution and for what it's worth this
is my current best guess as to what
happened to start with benjin headed
Northwest with his companions tracking
wayar Roy gared and will to where they
encountered the others benjin could have
turned back then but didn't instead
following the the tracks of the whites
further Northwest towards where they
joined up with the rest of the army of
the dead but when benjin reached the
Stony Highlands his party was attacked
othor was killed then raised by the
others and then he attacked ja for
flowers killing him perhaps it's just my
sentimental heart but I hope benjin
wasn't killed and turned into a white
then perhaps the children of the forest
saved him or perhaps he just made a
Quick Escape either way he will now have
seen the dead walking and need to make a
CH Choice head south and warn his
brothers or keep going north and get to
the heart of what's going on see whether
old man stories were really true he was
also raised on Old Man stories remember
but if he did head south from there he
didn't make it it's been 2 years so if
he isn't dead he very probably went
North leaving no markings because he
didn't want anyone following him further
north than we have yet been in this
story perhaps even into the heart of
Winter and when he returns if he returns
he will bring knowledge with him that
might just help turn the tide against
the army of the dead but what do you
think is benjin still alive or did
something happen to him let me know in
the comments below I'd love to hear what
you think if you'd like to see more of
Song of Ice and Fire videos please click
on the link on the left of your screen
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screen that's all for this time thanks
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