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on white walkers/others

Let's all be honest here, season 4 has disappointed all of us in many matters (the scene that shall not be named, Oberyn's characterization, and so on), and the last episode (4x04) gave us an uncalled for glimpse of the White Walkers. Now, while the change can be laughed upon (where does it come from??? why?? wtf??), let's think about it for a minute. I'm going to make 2 assumptions here: a) since D&D know the ending of the books (after all GRRM told them), let's not put aside every change they've made (just most of them) and so b) the show is becoming spoilery for the books (this is something that I've read in several articles).

Before I get to the point, I would like to say that this may be biased by the fact that I'm trying to have faith in the show because after all, until 4x02, the changes made were not too terrible. Second thing that I'd like to say is that I have not (yet) read the books but I know a hell lot about them and the events. If any book reader feels like what I'm about to say should be corrected, feel free to do so. Last: spoilers will be included, so read only if you know what happens in the books.

Under a read more because the post is quite long

What did we see? Craster's baby son being changed to a White Walker. While we can laugh about it because obviously, how are they going to take care of a baby, we can also think about the meaning behind. And that is a human (boy) was turned into a White Walker. Yes I am stressing this because it explains the humanoid appearance of the Others. But mostly, because it means that they were once humans. If we consider that most Others became White Walkers this way, we can say that Others aren't born but made. Now this is very different to every other creature/non humans we have met in ASOIAF (children of the forest, giants, hell even dragons). And this is one of the reasons that explains why they are so feared. If we take this to the next level and think about how humans (both on Earth and in the ASOIAF world) are the only ones who kill for killing, this side is surely incorporated into a White Walker when he becomes one. After all, ASOIAF is about how humans are grey, not white or black, and the Others having always been the most terrible threat, they have most probably inherited the black side of humans. Given that they are no longer humans, we can safely say that the white side disappear when they are turned.

Another point to be made is about Craster giving his sons to the Others. How did he come to know of this in the first place??? It is not wildling knowledge as he is the only one (we know of) who sacrifices his male children to the White Walkers so how on earth did he know that he could give his sons to them? Or does he believe that his sons are "only" sacrificed, meaning he has to leave them in the woods and their lives must be given away for other people to survive? We don't know what Craster knows but if he is aware of what is happening, then his part is huge, especially when Others are considered at the very least dead by most people.

In 4x04, when Craster's baby son appears, all Craster's wives who are (unfortunately) still there start saying "a gift to the gods". Craster most probably told them that this was what he was doing to the sons. But who are the gods? Which gods are they? The obvious answer would be the Others, but it can't be because we've already established that many of them were once humans, and by definition, a human, no matter if turned into something else, can't be a divinity because gods are not made, they already exist, that's the definition of a god. Now, if we think about how Craster's son was changed into a White Walker in the episode, we notice that he was brought by a White Walker and changed by another one who didn't look exactly the same. Is that one part of the "original Others" or another human changed a very very very long time ago? (after all when you have lived a long time, even if you're immortal or almost immortal, your body changes, just like Brynden Rivers). If it's an ex-human, this would be in sync with what Cersei said about gods "The gods have no mercy, that's why they're gods." By turning humans into Others, they're merciless and therefore can be viewed as gods. Yet, in the same time gods are not known for appearing in physical form, especially in ASOIAF. All gods mentioned never materialized (not even Azor Ahai who was a human hero) so why would the Others, if they're gods, appear?

Yet, gods can intervene indirectly. If we suppose this, the Others are puppets to the gods but they're not gods themselves. Therefore, we can assume that even the first White Walker was not born but made by some merciless divinity a long time ago. The first Other would probably have had the power to change humans into White Walkers, and therefore we enter into a circle: human turned Other changes another human into a White Walker etc. If we remember how humans are grey, we can even suppose that the first White Walker, when human, prayed to become something else and his prayers were answered but in a merciless way [becoming an Other].

Now that I've established the fact that Others aren't divinities in the narrow sense of the word, I repeat my question: which gods did Craster's wives mention? In the books, Gilly may have given us an answer: the sons are sacrificed to the "cold gods, the ones in the night, the white shadows". It seems obvious, maybe too obvious. What if it was a bigger threat? What if when she said "cold gods" she meant gods that are morally cold, but not physically? This links to the gods being merciless, because being merciless is cold. And "the white shadows" may confirm the fact that they are not gods, but were once humans, and that they only are the shadows of themselves (of what they could have been if they had stayed humans), the shadows of humans (given that shadows are dark and the Others are the black side of humans).

Undoubtedly, the gods mentioned are not the Old Gods. There is no evidence of Craster worshipping them (despite the Old Faith being the common religion beyond the Wall, he's one of the few to practice polygamy), in the show he says that he sacrifices his sons to the "real gods" (3x03). "Real" here means the gods that exist. But which gods "exist"/have proven their existence? A possible answer is R'hllor. R'hllor is the Lord of Light and his enemy is The Great Other (basically darkness and destruction). We don't have a lot of info about The Great Other, not even its name, so we have no idea how it operates (so maybe through Others?). R'hllor and his divine enemy interfering indirectly/through people makes more sense than the one of the Old Gods (or even the New Gods) as the religion of the Lord of Light has proven itself to be "active": Melisandre with her "powers" (including the shadow assassins), Beric Dondarrion who came back from the dead several times thanks to Thoros of Myr (a red priest), and even gave his life to bring back Catelyn (show, where are you going). Like Stannis said, we may not believe in R'hllor but we can't deny that he's somewhat real. If R'hllor exists, then his nemesis does too because without darkness there would be no light (and let's not forget that this religion is inspired by Zoroastrianism). It would be only logical for the divinity of darkness to create (and even control) the Others. After all, when the Others were defeated 8,000 years before the events of ASOIAF, they were vanquished thanks to Azor Ahai according to the faith of the Lord of Light. If Stannis is truly Azor Ahai, or at the very least an important pawn to R'hllor, then his coming to the Wall is only logical as he becomes a barrier to the White Walkers' advance (and so The Great Other's). And his leaving the Wall later in the books leaves way for tragic events to happen (Jon) given that the main representative of R'hllor is gone, and it only paves the way for the White Walkers (and The Great Other) to achieve their goal.

But if Craster has discovered a new religion, that no one has yet heard about, then the threat could even be greater than what we could imagine, because a religion about destruction is, well for the lack of a better word, destructive for humans as well as for itself given that a religion needs followers (humans) and without them, the religion is doomed, and the world too.

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