Season 6 Episode 7 "The Broken Man" - "Non book readers"

nicki11

PressRun wrote: »

I suppose there is a possibility she might end up double crossing him. Though she looked a bit guilty about writing the letter, so I don't know if she has anything up her sleeve at all. It would be a bit frustrating if she hasn't learned anything at all about Baelish after all this time, and it's equally as frustrating that she is deliberately keeping Jon out of the loop and isn't informing him of her plans so they can work together. She doesn't seem to trust Jon at all, and it all seems to be part of a bigger play by Baelish to have control over her and push Jon out, which started when he reminded her that Jon is only her half-brother. But I don't know why she feels she can't trust Jon but can trust a man who handed her over to a rapist.

Yeah I don't see her being skilled enough to out play him, hes been manipulating everyone (in the open and behind the scenes) since the first season. She didn't even seem skilled enough to convince people to join her and then lashes out at Jon because he and Davos can. Shes known Jon nearly all her life and yet trusts littlefinger despite his actions. I think they are setting it up that she loves him. In which case I'm sorry for her but someone who loves you wouldn't marry to a sadistic, rapist and murderer.

Yester

tharmor wrote: »

Its not arya for sure.. she is walking thru the streets with out asking for help...who would not ask for help ? probably someone impersonating her...

I bet it's the actress from the theatre troup.

Grudaire

Zaph wrote: »

I was under the impression that Jeor Mormont gave the sword to Jon Snow as a personal gift, rather than as a symbol of the Lord Commander as it was the Mormont family sword.

Yeah, I felt that too.. Just thought there was a scene where the sword was given in the handover (or at least left behind with Ed)

PressRun

nicki11 wrote: »

Yeah I don't see her being skilled enough to out play him, hes been manipulating everyone (in the open and behind the scenes) since the first season. She didn't even seem skilled enough to convince people to join her and then lashes out at Jon because he and Davos can. Shes known Jon nearly all her life and yet trusts littlefinger despite his actions. I think they are setting it up that she loves him. In which case I'm sorry for her but someone who loves you wouldn't marry to a sadistic, rapist and murderer.

To be fair, I don't think Jon was up to much when trying to convince the northern houses to get on side either. I actually thought he came off as a bit weak. The fact that he is friendly with the wildlings is a liability as it makes him untrustworthy to the notherners and I think the bastard label seems to weigh on him a bit, and he didn't really do much to reassure the folk that they spoke to that he's a capable ally regardless. Jon still wants to march on Winterfell anyway even though they don't have the numbers and could well be marching to defeat, so Sansa is actually doing the right thing by trying to find more help. Her mistake is in not keeping Jon informed so that they can plan together, especially since it seems obvious that Baelish is actively trying to fuel distrust between her and Jon.

The bigger issue, however, is that Sansa isn't aware of the fact that the knights of the Vale are going to march on Winterfell anyway, whether Sansa asked for help or not, as we learned from Baelish's conversation with Robyn earlier in the season. Baelish had plans to swoop in at the last minute in the battle between Stannis and the Boltons in order to take Winterfell for himself, and those plans are probably still in place for this battle. I wouldn't be surprised if he makes a play for the north there and then and tries to get rid of Jon in the process. From Sansa's standpoint, it would clearly be wiser to keep Jon in the loop and to be on their guard together for such a move, given she should really know what Baelish is about at this stage. By secretly running to Baelish, she's doing exactly what he expected and playing into his hands. Unless, of course, she has other plans, but I think that she probably believes that Baelish owes her a favour and won't double cross her.

dawnfatuous

eeguy wrote: »

So the surprise wouldn't be ruined by Rory McCann's name in the titles

Do they have actors in the credits at the end? If you want to surprise people that'd make more sense than changing the format of the start of the show.

nicki11

PressRun wrote: »

To be fair, I don't think Jon was up to much when trying to convince the northern houses to get on side either. I actually thought he came off as a bit weak. The fact that he is friendly with the wildlings is a liability as it makes him untrustworthy to the notherners and I think the bastard label seems to weigh on him a bit, and he didn't really do much to reassure the folk that they spoke to that he's a capable ally regardless. Jon still wants to march on Winterfell anyway even though they don't have the numbers and could well be marching to defeat, so Sansa is actually doing the right thing by trying to find more help. Her mistake is in not keeping Jon informed so that they can plan together, especially since it seems obvious that Baelish is actively trying to fuel distrust between her and Jon.

The bigger issue, however, is that Sansa isn't aware of the fact that the knights of the Vale are going to march on Winterfell anyway, whether Sansa asked for help or not, as we learned from Baelish's conversation with Robyn earlier in the season. Baelish had plans to swoop in at the last minute in the battle between Stannis and the Boltons in order to take Winterfell for himself, and those plans are probably still in place for this battle. I wouldn't be surprised if he makes a play for the north there and then and tries to get rid of Jon in the process. From Sansa's standpoint, it would clearly be wiser to keep Jon in the loop and to be on their guard together for such a move, given she should really know what Baelish is about at this stage. By secretly running to Baelish, she's doing exactly what he expected and playing into his hands. Unless, of course, she has other plans, but I think that she probably believes that Baelish owes her a favour and won't double cross her.

Well Jon convinced people who obey no one to follow him while Sansa convinced no one, so he has an edge there and he is an experienced commander unlike Sansa and knows when to listen to advice. Sansa only has the ability to take back winterfell because he brought the wildlings and Davos, Littlefinger is a liability. Sansa wants some control but Littlefinger would burn her to ash if it helped him because he knows how to play her (as thats all hes ever done). Plus she is already lying to Jon about him and hows it going to look when he shows up. It will validate all Jons fears -hes a bastard so hes not good enough or trust worthy enough to help his family- and undermine her support because Jon only cares about family and honor so Petyr can't swing him so he will make Sansa get rid of him or make it look like an accident.

seligehgit

Yester wrote: »

I bet it's the actress from the theatre troup.

That's a great call,any chance it's Jaqen H'aghar testing the waif?

PressRun

nicki11 wrote: »

Well Jon convinced people who obey no one to follow him while Sansa convinced no one, so he has an edge there and he is an experienced commander unlike Sansa and knows when to listen to advice. Sansa only has the ability to take back winterfell because he brought the wildlings and Davos, Littlefinger is a liability. Sansa wants some control but Littlefinger would burn her to ash if it helped him because he knows how to play her (as thats all hes ever done). Plus she is already lying to Jon about him and hows it going to look when he shows up. It will validate all Jons fears -hes a bastard so hes not good enough or trust worthy enough to help his family- and undermine her support because Jon only cares about family and honor so Petyr can't swing him so he will make Sansa get rid of him or make it look like an accident.

Jon might have gotten the wildlings to follow him, but they do seem to be a liability in getting the north fully on side, which is the whole purpose of the exercise. The Umbers, who were supposed to be Stark loyalists, turned to the Boltons and handed over one of the only remaining Stark children because of the wildlings. A divided north is useless, as Davos said, and the wildlings are divisive. They won't take back Winterfell or unite the north with the wildlings alone, that much is clear. They simply don't have the numbers. And yet Jon wants to march anyway, which is clearly unwise. Baelish was going to swoop in anyway, with or without Sansa's letter. He already told Robyn that it was time to enter the fray.

It remains to be seen whether Sansa has learned anything and is capable of playing the game a bit more shrewdly. I think she's probably hoping he'll help her because he does owe her after what he did, but it's probably a mistake to expect him to help for nothing. What makes it more interesting is that Sansa seems to be a bit of a weakness for Baelish. He was obsessed with her mother and that seems to have transferred onto Sansa. She could have a bit of leverage there if she used it wisely. I think it will end up with Jon and Baelish perhaps clashing. Not necessarily physically, just because that doesn't seem entirely Baelish's way, but Baelish trying to get him out of the picture, even if by just undermining him and pushing him out. I really hope Sansa and Jon stick together though.

nicki11

PressRun wrote: »

Jon might have gotten the wildlings to follow him, but they do seem to be a liability in getting the north fully on side, which is the whole purpose of the exercise. The Umbers, who were supposed to be Stark loyalists, turned to the Boltons and handed over one of the only remaining Stark children because of the wildlings. A divided north is useless, as Davos said, and the wildlings are divisive. They won't take back Winterfell or unite the north with the wildlings alone, that much is clear. They simply don't have the numbers. And yet Jon wants to march anyway, which is clearly unwise. Baelish was going to swoop in anyway, with or without Sansa's letter. He already told Robyn that it was time to enter the fray.

It remains to be seen whether Sansa has learned anything and is capable of playing the game a bit more shrewdly. I think she's probably hoping he'll help her because he does owe her after what he did, but it's probably a mistake to expect him to help for nothing. What makes it more interesting is that Sansa seems to be a bit of a weakness for Baelish. He was obsessed with her mother and that seems to have transferred onto Sansa. She could have a bit of leverage there if she used it wisely. I think it will end up with Jon and Baelish perhaps clashing. Not necessarily physically, just because that doesn't seem entirely Baelish's way, but Baelish trying to get him out of the picture, even if by just undermining him and phasing him out. I really hope Sansa and Jon stick together though.

Yes but Jons worried about Rickon and the walkers he doesn't feel like he has time to waste and the Glovers and Mormonts reminded him hes a bastard and even if he wasn't his only army is undesirable and Rob burned them when Northeners were leading the charge all of this makes it a gamble many of them won't take. Sansa hasn't told him theres another option, they need Petyr but he will just use them.

PressRun

nicki11 wrote: »

Yes but Jons worried about Rickon and the walkers he doesn't feel like he has time to waste and the Glovers and Mormonts reminded him hes a bastard and even if he wasn't his only army is undesirable and Rob burned them when Northeners were leading the charge all of this makes it a gamble many of them won't take. Sansa hasn't told him theres another option, they need Petyr but he will just use them.

Jon might be worried about the above, but he won't be around to save Rickon (who is doomed regardless, imo) or fight the whitewalkers if he goes into battle with the numbers he has. It's not a wise move on his part, which Sansa recognises and which is why she is presumably sending for Baelish (even though he was going to arrive anyway). She should have told Jon about the Vale though, I agree, and there's more reason for them to stick together than anything else. Baelish is clearly not trustworthy, is playing on her complicated relationship with Jon, and wants the north for himself, imo. It would be great though if she was wise to him and has some plan to get one up. I think it will be difficult for her to really play this game properly without trying to play Baelish too. Like it or not, he has a very powerful army that would be fairly handy to have onside and the Starks could do with becoming a bit less politically naive at this point too.

The Blackfish is also still in the picture and it would be interesting to see what happens if he lands at Winterfell to lend a hand. I can't remember if he and Baelish know each other properly, but it would add another dimension to it if he does.

Paddy Cow

PressRun wrote: »

I think the people he was living with were of the same religion as those in King's Landing. But I agree that it's difficult to see how he would end up in King's Landing now to make himself available for the trial by combat or why he would even want to do such a thing. If he's going after anyone, it'll be the Brotherhood Without Banners, since it seems they were the ones who killed the village people. In any case, is it not more likely that the Faith will pick someone like Loras or Lancel to be their fighter in the trial by combat? At least those two have been involved in this story line for a while now and it would make more sense for it to be one of them rather than the Hound just dropping in at the last minute.

The villagers were from the Faith and seeing as how the Faith are now a bunch of armed fanatics going around punishing people for "sins" the BWB probably see them as a threat and kill them at any opportunity.

When the Hound was asked what kept him alive, he said "hate". I can't see him hating Arya that much for not giving him mercy so maybe he hates his brother so much he will jump at the chance to kill him. He's going after the BWB and we don't know how that will go down. He could find out from the BWB about Cersei going against the Faith and having a trial by combat with his brother as her champion. In the books they hid the mountains identity but in the show they always refer to him as clegane. The Hound is p!ssed that his new friends got slaughtered while he was chopping firewood, he hates his brother and he has no love for the Lannisters so it would make sense for him to want to fight his brother. He has nothing better to do with his life and he has always wanted revenge for his brother burning his face.

Anachrony

Paddy Cow wrote: »

PressRun wrote: »

I think the people he was living with were of the same religion as those in King's Landing. But I agree that it's difficult to see how he would end up in King's Landing now to make himself available for the trial by combat or why he would even want to do such a thing. If he's going after anyone, it'll be the Brotherhood Without Banners, since it seems they were the ones who killed the village people. In any case, is it not more likely that the Faith will pick someone like Loras or Lancel to be their fighter in the trial by combat? At least those two have been involved in this story line for a while now and it would make more sense for it to be one of them rather than the Hound just dropping in at the last minute.

The villagers were from the Faith and seeing as how the Faith are now a bunch of armed fanatics going around punishing people for "sins" the BWB probably see them as a threat and kill them at any opportunity.

Almost everyone in Westeros is from the Faith of the Seven, or at least most of those from the 5 largest Kingdoms are. That would include the Brotherhood until they were very recently converted away from it. The Sparrows are an extreme fundamentalist sect within the Faith. The villagers did not appear to be from that sect. Most believers are much more low key. Some only nominally pay it lip service, while some take it to extremes, much like real life.

The Brotherhood's new religion is a foreign one that is still a very, very small minority in Westeros. If they wanted to kill everyone with the majority faith it would basically be a genocide of everyone they ever come into contact with. They might get a decent body count before they're stopped, but they can't kill everyone, and it would be hard to justify how the commoners are the "armed fanatics" rather than the Brotherhood killing them all.

Vojera

Paddy Cow wrote: »

The villagers were from the Faith and seeing as how the Faith are now a bunch of armed fanatics going around punishing people for "sins" the BWB probably see them as a threat and kill them at any opportunity.

Pretty much all of Westeros follows the faith of the Seven; it's only the Faith Miltant that have gone nuts with their punishments. I think those BWB guys were just pricks.

Paddy Cow wrote: »

When the Hound was asked what kept him alive, he said "hate". I can't see him hating Arya that much for not giving him mercy

I like this interpretation (from Reddit) that when he says "hate" what he means is thinking of his time with Arya (not hating her) kept him going.

BoJack Horseman

Sansa letter to little finger




We know from the season trailer from a couple months ago that Jon's forces are on the verge of defeat at BastardBowl.



No doubt Littlefinger will ride in with his Knights of the Vale and save the day, thus leveraging him back into the restored House Starks eternal debt.

DeadHand

So...

Jon and Davos are perfectly happy to march upon 5000 well provisioned, battle hardened soldiers defending one of the strongest fortresses in Westeros with a 2400 strong army compromised mainly of lightly armoured Wildling skirmishers of dubious discipline...

Assault? I vaguely remember reading somewhere that in order to successfully assault a castle in a medieval setting the attackers would need to outnumber the defenders by at least 3 to 1. Even that seems conservative. Jon has less than half of what Ramsey has.

Starve them out? Roose already mentioned Winterfell has massive stockpiles of food in preparation for Stannis. Winterfell is warmed by natural springs. Jon's force, meanwhile, sits outside freezing and starving because a grand total of three impoverished Houses are supporting them and it's unlikely the Wildlings have miraculously developed a strong agricultural base in the few months they've come South of the Wall.

Draw him out and defeat him in the open field? Not happening, along with the overwhelming numerical advantage we know the Boltons have an abundance of cavalry. A much larger Wildling army was crushed in short order by Stannis' cavalry- being loose, individualistic fighters Wildlings are naturally weak against cavalry and have been shown to be on the show already.

Davos was preaching caution to Stannis after the mass desertions... Now he's a an insanely reckless commander all of a sudden? Jon has quite a bit of military training and experience, can he not see what madness that is? Sansa, the one with least experience, is the only one thinking.

The eagerness of Jon and especially Davos to make an attempt on Winterfell under these circumstances makes zero sense and is out of character.

seligehgit

DeadHand wrote: »

So...

Jon and Davos are perfectly happy to march upon 5000 well provisioned, battle hardened soldiers defending one of the strongest fortresses in Westeros with a 2400 strong army compromised mainly of lightly armoured Wildling skirmishers of dubious discipline...

I vaguely remember reading somewhere that in order to successfully assault a castle in a medieval setting the attackers would need to outnumber the defenders by at least 3 to 1. Even that seems conservative. Jon has less than half of what Ramsey has. Draw him out and defeat him in the open field? Not happening, along with the overwhelming numerical advantage we know the Boltons have an abundance of cavalry. A much larger Wildling army was crushed in short order by Stannis' cavalry- being loose, individualistic fighters Wildlings are naturally weak against cavalry and have been shown to be on the show already.

Davos was preaching caution to Stannis after the mass desertions... Now he's a an insanely reckless commander all of a sudden? Jon has quite a bit of military training and experience, can he not see what madness that is? Sansa, the one with least experience, is the only one thinking.

The eagerness of Jon and especially Davos to make an attempt on Winterfell under these circumstances makes zero sense and is out of character.

Where does that leave Jaime and his attempt to retake Riverrun for the crown?He has 8 thousand men and a disorganised motley crew of Frey soldiers.

The castle appears pretty impregnable,has Blackfish got sufficient men...2,666 plus?It hard to believe he was'nt bluffing about having sufficient food provisions to defend a siege of up to two years.

DeadHand

seligehgit wrote: »

Where does that leave Jaime and his attempt to retake Riverrun for the crown?He has 8 thousand men and a disorganised motley crew of Frey soldiers.

The castle appears pretty impregnable,has Blackfish got sufficient men...2,666 plus?It hard to believe he was'nt bluffing about having sufficient food provisions to defend a siege of up to two years.

Still has a much better chance than Jon. The Freys are a powerful house even if they have crap generals and their effort is concentrated on Riverrun- so Jaime has at least 10,000 in total and probably a good deal more.

Blackfish probably doesn't have anymore than a few hundred- It's hinted that he took Riverrun through stealth rather than brute force and they are coming to an end of a long, brutal war that was fought mainly on their land. There can't be too many Tullys left standing.

An assault makes a lot of sense in this situation.

Paddy Cow

Anachrony wrote: »

Almost everyone in Westeros is from the Faith of the Seven, or at least most of those from the 5 largest Kingdoms are. That would include the Brotherhood until they were very recently converted away from it. The Sparrows are an extreme fundamentalist sect within the Faith. The villagers did not appear to be from that sect. Most believers are much more low key. Some only nominally pay it lip service, while some take it to extremes, much like real life.

The Brotherhood's new religion is a foreign one that is still a very, very small minority in Westeros. If they wanted to kill everyone with the majority faith it would basically be a genocide of everyone they ever come into contact with. They might get a decent body count before they're stopped, but they can't kill everyone, and it would be hard to justify how the commoners are the "armed fanatics" rather than the Brotherhood killing them all.

From the opening scene it was obvious that the bunch of villagers were from the Faith. Their leader had the five star sigil around his neck and they were building a church with five points. I think this is important. If it wasn't, then the Hound could have been rescued by any bunch of innocent villagers.

The leader made a speech about how he is not a pious leader and doesn't profess to know the God's and for all he knows, all the Gods are the same but from his point of view, he wants to spend his life doing good works. This is at complete odds from the fanatic in Kings Landing who is having people locked up for their "sins". He is a person who has done some really bad sh!t in his time and now wants to make amends.

The BWB show up and it's obvious the villagers are poor, unarmed and not worth robbing but they come back and slaughter them all. This is not what the BWB were about. The last time we saw them they were all about saving the common people but this time I think it was because they were openly showing allegiance to the Faith and the BWB took that as a threat. I knew they were toast when the BWB made the reference to the Lord of the Light.

Bring on next week and the revenge of the Hound!

CMOTDibbler

Paddy Cow wrote: »

From the opening scene it was obvious that the bunch of villagers were from the Faith. Their leader had the five star sigil around his neck and they were building a church with five points. I think this is important. If it wasn't, then the Hound could have been rescued by any bunch of innocent villagers.

Ehhh... The medallion was a seven pointed star denoting the seven gods of Westeros.

Sleepy

Sansa's a pretty idiot. Had she told Jon and Davos about Littlefinger, she'd have had an answer when the Glovers asked who else was behind her: "The Knights of the Vale".

Not only would she have gained their army numerical superiority, she'd also have help in trying to avoid being manipulated by Baelish.

nhur

As usual - nothing really happened... but a load of things are *about* to happen... I was loving the episode until it ended without any move towards a conclusion for the series.

I'm getting increasingly sure that the ending is going to be disappointing... so I can't wait for the series to be over. Like a plaster - just rip it off

ziedth

Yea I really think Village/Faith link is a stretch. While I can certainly see the hound travel to fight the mountain in the trial by combat I don't think it will be anything to do with that.

It's one way to look at it though how Ian McShane said "the gods have a plan for you" (give or take) maybe the plan is for him to kill the mountain who is ungodly IE he dead/dying and brought back.

Would love to see a scene with him and Ayra again.

Avatar MIA

nhur wrote: »

so I can't wait for the series to be over. Like a plaster - just rip it off

Or just stop watching.

I'm enjoying it immensely.

OneOfThem Stumbled

DeadHand wrote: »

So...

Jon and Davos are perfectly happy to march upon 5000 well provisioned, battle hardened soldiers defending one of the strongest fortresses in Westeros with a 2400 strong army compromised mainly of lightly armoured Wildling skirmishers of dubious discipline...

Assault? I vaguely remember reading somewhere that in order to successfully assault a castle in a medieval setting the attackers would need to outnumber the defenders by at least 3 to 1. Even that seems conservative. Jon has less than half of what Ramsey has.

Starve them out? Roose already mentioned Winterfell has massive stockpiles of food in preparation for Stannis. Winterfell is warmed by natural springs. Jon's force, meanwhile, sits outside freezing and starving because a grand total of three impoverished Houses are supporting them and it's unlikely the Wildlings have miraculously developed a strong agricultural base in the few months they've come South of the Wall.

Draw him out and defeat him in the open field? Not happening, along with the overwhelming numerical advantage we know the Boltons have an abundance of cavalry. A much larger Wildling army was crushed in short order by Stannis' cavalry- being loose, individualistic fighters Wildlings are naturally weak against cavalry and have been shown to be on the show already.

Davos was preaching caution to Stannis after the mass desertions... Now he's a an insanely reckless commander all of a sudden? Jon has quite a bit of military training and experience, can he not see what madness that is? Sansa, the one with least experience, is the only one thinking.

The eagerness of Jon and especially Davos to make an attempt on Winterfell under these circumstances makes zero sense and is out of character.

Yeah, D&D aren't really very good with displaying military strategy, which is perhaps why they disliked Stannis so much.

With a force that small all you could do would be guerrila warfare: which would be far from out of the question for lightly armed and armoured infantry with a good knowledge of the landscape and well versed in wilderness survival.

Jon is supposed to be a realist, the idea of him deliberately slaughtering his own men by throwing them against Winterfell (which he would know only too well was well designed to withstand conventional sieges) was really silly. I was willing to forgive it as it was a throwaway line (I assume). I mean, surely that isn't *actually* the plan. Stannis did it because D&D were looking for a way to kill him off, but Jon is the protagonist.

Where is Melisandre by the way?

Butters1979

One thing that confused me. the girl of Bear Island called Sansa a Bolton (this I get) but then said "or are you a Lannister?" She never married an Lannister.

dinorebel

Butters1979 wrote: »

One thing that confused me. the girl of Bear Island called Sansa a Bolton (this I get) but then said "or are you a Lannister?" She never married an Lannister.

Did she not have a since annulled marriage to Tyrion?

Liam O

Butters1979 wrote: »

One thing that confused me. the girl of Bear Island called Sansa a Bolton (this I get) but then said "or are you a Lannister?" She never married an Lannister.

Yeah that time Tyrion and her said vows to each other in the Sept was just for fun .

Avatar MIA

dinorebel wrote: »

Did she not have a since annulled marriage to Tyrion?

Yip - remember with Joffrey took the stool away and Tyrion couldn't put his cloak around Sansa.

OneOfThem Stumbled

Paddy Cow wrote: »

From the opening scene it was obvious that the bunch of villagers were from the Faith. Their leader had the[...] sigil around his neck and they were building a church with five points. I think this is important. If it wasn't, then the Hound could have been rescued by any bunch of innocent villagers.
[...]

The BWB show up and it's obvious the villagers are poor, unarmed and not worth robbing but they come back and slaughter them all. This is not what the BWB were about. The last time we saw them they were all about saving the common people but this time I think it was because they were openly showing allegiance to the Faith and the BWB took that as a threat. I knew they were toast when the BWB made the reference to the Lord of the Light.

The fact that they were religious doesn't necessarily mean they have anything to do wit hthe Faith militant (I think it pretty unlikely in reality). Wearing the seven pointed sigil is the equivalent of a Christian wearing a cross: it's the dominant religion of Westeros, after all. And seeing that the setting is like medieval or Renaissance Europe, religion plays a pretty central role in most people's lives.

You're right that that wasn't the BWB's style. Perhaps those guys were renegades? Or perhaps we've all just jumped to the conclusion that it was they who did the massacre, incorrectly?

TCDStudent1

Love that bear island girl. She should become queen!

My take on why Jon is matching to winterfell so few men is that he expects the army to fall apart if he doesn't attack soon. Now is his best chance of success. We've already seen tensions highlighted between the wildlings and the northerners.