Sunday, August 8, 2021

Kisah AKU n The Grey Wolf - The Long Night

Assalamualaikum,

For those yang missed the first episode untuk my alternative miniseries ni can check on below links.

  1. Ep 1 : The Grey Wolf - Black Brothers
  2. Ep 2 : The Grey Wolf - For The Watch

305AC - After the end of Alliser's mutiny, there's a lot works to do by Night's Watch leadership including Fredrik. The previous War of Five Kingdoms has affected Westeros in many areas, especially its population. Many young men died in the war. Those who survived were either deformed or living in despair, begging for money and food. Captives were sent to work at the iron and gold mine, rather than being sent to the Wall in order to boost the mining industries. 

Fredrik, with permission from Lord Snow visited his family at Bear Island. According to Lady Dacey, a coalition of Stark's loyalist led by Lord Wyman Manderly is planning to rebel against Lord Paramount Ramsay Bolton and restore the late Eddard Stark's daughter, Sansa as the rightful ruler of the North. She asked his husband to support the war effort as the coalition direly need a proven battle commander who can challenge the might of House Bolton. But, Fredrik is already a sworn member of the Night's Watch and it would be impossible to him to release his oath as the brotherhood did not interfere in Westeros politics. In addition, the ancient  military order is in a grim state after the mutiny which reduced half of its forces.

He returned to Castle Black immediately to deliver the message to Lord Snow. As expected, there's nothing much they can do as they are bound on their sacred duty to protect the realm from even larger threat, the Night King's invasion. Instead, Lord Snow gave instruction to Fredrik for an assignment Beyond the Wall to escort the final Wildlings convoy from Hardhome. Around 2,000 Night's Watch march northward to receive around 20,000 Wildlings refugee.

After a long two weeks of steady march, the convoy finally arrived at Castle Black which made a total of 50,000 Wildlings refugees mostly elders, women and children safely made its way to the Wall. From this number, 5,000 are consisted of Wildlings' warriors led by Tormund Giantsbane. Upon reaching the headquarter, Fredrik was shocked with the news of Jon Snow's assassination by his steward, Olly. Two days later, Jon Snow was miraculously resurrected by Red Priestess, Melisandre. He later named Fredrik to become the new Lord Commander of the Night's Watch as the oath ended with his temporary death. Lord Snow, together with his advisor Ser Davos Seaworth and 3,000 Wildlings warrior left Castle Black and regroup with the Stark's loyalist in their attempt to reclaim the North in the name of House Stark.


Fredrik perform his new duty diligently starting with a reform of the Night's Watch forces with the appointment of Jaremy Rykker as the new commander for Shadow Tower and Eddison Tollet who retained his duty as commander of Eastwatch. He also begin to repopulate a numbers of abandoned villages within Brandon's Gift to the Wildlings and bolster his network of fort with Wildlings warriors properly trained with the art of war on battle formation, tactics and most importantly, discipline. 

One month later, he received a messenger from Winterfell. The coalition of Stark's loyalist managed to destroyed Bolton's army and recaptured the capital with Jon Stark proclaimed as the new King in the North. In the Battle of Winterfell, the outnumbered loyalist was nearly defeated but the table turned as the Greystark's contingent under the command of Lady Sharra appeared from Bolton's rear and smashed Ramsay's army. A proud Fredrik sent raven to his sister to congratulate the Greystark for their contribution, while alerting her on the incoming threat Beyond the Wall. 

A tons of obsidian were being transported via Eastwatch port from Dragonstone in order to equipped the Night's Watch with a dragon-glass weapon such as axe, sword, spear and even arrow. According to Maester Samwell, the Wight can only be killed with dragon-glass and fire. Valyrian sword is a perfect weapon to kill the White Walker but it's a rare material and only a few old Westerosi house possessed this unique weapon. Luckily for Fredrik, House Greystark owned a Valyrian sword named Greywind and currently inherited by him.


The invasion has begun. Wights army led by the Night King attacked Thenn which saw the massacre of the entire population there. These were the group of stubborn Wildlings who rejected cooperation with the Night's Watch. Luckily by initiative of Lord Snow, most of the Wildlings at Frostfangs, Fist of the First Men and Hardhome already evacuated and now safe behind the Wall. 


With his necromancy power to resurrect dead people, the Night King's army is now numbered around 50,000! In contrast, Fredrik are left with only 5,000 Night's Watch and 2,000 Wildlings warriors as no reinforcement received from kingdoms in Westeros.


As expected, the invasion forces emerged from the Haunted Forest. Fredrik concentrated his Night's Watch at Castle Black rather than splitting his forces into three. Castle Black is the only section of the Wall which have tunnel access and thus, became a possible attacking point from invader from Beyond the Wall. The other part of the Wall is deemed impregnable and impossible to attack with its stunning 700 feet height. Scaling it might be pointless, especially with the addition of giant sycthe, a numbers of ballista as well as wooden pillboxes for Night's Watch rangers.


The Night King launched his first attack against the Wall by sending 10,000 Wights supported by a number of giants straightly towards the tunnel gate. The giants were the first to arrive and slam the outer gate to destroy it. The Night's Watch missile units continues to shower fire and obsidian arrow from the top of the Wall. Another group of ranger manning the ballista, trying to target the advancing giants. 


At the bottom of the Wall, Fredrik ready his infantry at the entrance of inner gate while locking their obsidian spear wall. Some 3,000 Night's Watch infantry and 2,000 Wildlings warrior are about to face their true enemy. The outer gate was unable to stand the might of giant and later collapsed. A thousands of Wights swarming the tunnel and made their way to the inner gate. Fredrik gave instruction to Commander Eddison to maintain his missile unit at the top of the Wall and continue to fire at the advancing Wights. With the fall of inner gate, the Wights army begin to attack Castle Black's inner compound. 


The obsidian spear wall formation formed by the Night's Watch and Wildlings managed to inflicted heavy casualties to the undead. After a long three hours of battle and despite their valiant resistance, the sheer number and stamina of the Wights proven too much for the exhausted infantry. Fredrik ordered the first line to fall back while instructing Bronson to release fire arrow to the oil drain dug to light a "fire-wall" in their effort to delay the Wights. The survivor, some 3,000 men safely retreated to the second line and forming yet another spear wall to fend-off the undead.


The Night King sent another 10,000 Wights into the fray, most of them were being killed by a hail of fire and obsidian arrow released by the Night's Watch ranger led by Commander Eddison. The ballista unit also performed well and managed to killed some of the giants brought into the battle. Heavy fighting raged in the battlement between the living and the dead. 


As for Fredrik, he knew they need to at least survive until sunrise before the Night King's army retreating for a while. According to inscription written in the cave he found last year, the Wights is a nocturnal species. They hunt at night while sleep during daytime. Only White Walker can remained in their form when the sun hit the ground, however this only numbered around 1,000 and made up a small percent in the Night King's army.


Luckily for Fredrik, his tactics managed to buy time. The sun starts to presence in the horizon and the Night King recalled his army back to the Haunted Forest, bidding another night to storm the Wall. During the first attack, Fredrik suffered 3,000 casualties mostly from his infantry and Wildlings' warrior. This left him with less than 5,000 soldiers. The Night King lost around 20,000 Wights in the first attack, including 90 giants. However, he still have around 30,000 Wights at his disposal waiting to launch another offensive against the ill-defended Night's Watch.


Fredrik ordered the burning of the corpses in order to prevent them to be reanimate by the Night King later. The smoke and ashes from the fire can be seen as far as the castle of Last Hearth. While tending to his wound, he received a raven from Winterfell - a message from King Jon Stark who acknowledged the threat and informed him on his early preparation. A massive oil-pit has been dug within Winterfell. Most of the North's population especially those who live near the Gift such as Last Hearth and Karhold already en route to Winterfell to take shelter behind its great wall. 


From the letter, Fredrik knew there will be no incoming reinforcement from the South. It is now the time for Night's Watch to fulfill their sacred duty - to sacrifice themselves in order to ensure safety of the realm. He is about to unleash his last card in this ultimate battle. Fredrik ordered his builder to repair the outer gate, and sealed the tunnel with a ton of oily timbers and obsidian's booby trap. He knew, the Night King is left with less than ten giants now, if he can stop their advance at the outer gate. The living army might have chance to survive and defeat the invasion.


The Night King commenced his attack against the Wall. However, most of the giants were being shot to death upon reaching the firing radius from Eddison's missile units. This left many Wights stranded at the outer gate and easily being killed by arrows, and even fire-stones. The last two giants successfully damaged the gate before dying, thus allowing 15,000 Wights to swarm the tunnel. Just before they reach the inner gate, Bronson shot a fire arrow straightly to the oily timber and later caused a massive fire inside the tunnel which killed a thousands of advancing Wights. At the same time, Commander Eddison ordered his ranger to pour hot oil to the Wight corpses below and light it with fire to prevent the Night King to resurrect them.


Realizing his desperate situation, the Night King led his final reserve, around 14,000 Wights and 1,000 White Walkers to attack Fredrik's meager forces. His 4,000 men are about to face the wrath of the Night King. Deploying the spear wall formation, the Night's Watch and Wildlings warrior locking their shield together in their last attempt to push the invader out from the Wall, once for all. 


A bitter fighting within Castle Black's compound as the undead continues to press the attack. Fredrik ordered Eddison to reinforce his failing left flank. Around 1,000 Night's Watch ranger joined the battle and deliver a deadly obsidian's arrow volley to the Wights from its rear. The Wights attack slowly declining after most of the White Walker killed in the battle after the surprise flanking attack by Eddison's ranger.


Seeing the opportunity, Fredrik ride his stallion and charged towards the Night King. This is his last chance to end the Long Night. If the inscription is true - the entire Wights army will vanish if the Night King died. Armed with his Valyrian sword and obsidian knife, a fearless Fredrik faced the undead leader. An intense duel happened between the two commander. One representing light and hope, while the other stand for dark and terror. 


Taking advantage of his fast stallion, Fredrik managed to punch through the enemy line and reached the Night King. A skillful swordsman, he succeed to decapitate the Night King's hand and followed by a sword thrust directly through his heart. A moment later, the entire Wight's army including the White Walker vanished instantly. 


The survivor cheering merrily with a joyful tear. They have won the great battle as the Night King's invasion has been destroyed at the very gate of the frontier. Thanks to Lord Commander Fredrik Greystark who brilliantly planned the defensive operation of the Wall, and his valour in killing the Night King during the battle. 


In the aftermath of the Long Night, the Night's Watch order lost 4,000 men while the Wildlings left with only 500 warriors. Despite that, the Wights is no longer a threat to the realm.


The Lord Commander sent raven to King Jon Stark informing him on the victory. Two days later, a messenger from Winterfell arrived at Castle Black bearing a seal letter from King Jon. Since there were no longer threat Beyond the Wall with the destruction of Night King's army and Wildlings is now assimilating with the North's custom and way of life. With his royal decree as the King in the North, the Night's Watch order shall be dissolve and the members are free to break their oath and choose to return to their family. Fredrik gathered his men and informed them on the news - most of its member decided to return to the normal life, while some of them who does not have any family left, chose to remain in Castle Black and starting new life with the Wildlings.


As for Fredrik himself, he finally decided to returned to his family. With the dissolution of the order, he was technically the last Lord Commander of the Night Watch. Wearing back his Northern armor, Fredrik sailed to Bear Island to reunite with his wife and son. Shortly after the ascension of Lady Lyanna Mormont as the new Lady of Bear Island, the family traveled together to Greystark's castle of Wolf's Den. 


His sister, Sharra gladly returned the lordship of House Greystark to Fredrik upon his arrival. Eventhough he did not participate in the struggle against the Bolton, but his bravery in protecting the Wall and destroyed the Night King's army were above all and more than enough to redeem himself. Should the Night's Watch fallen and defeated, the Wight's army will destroy everything who stands against them. The brave son of Greystark has done a great service to the realm and now pledged a never ending fealty to his new liege lord, King Jon Stark as the rightful ruler of the North. 

P/S: Haa, yang ni hero tak mati. Sambungan, takde dah. Aku nak fokus satu review untuk mod A Clash of Kings pulak. Review je, takde mini-series. Hihi

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