Why did the White Walkers not kill Sam in season 2

Now, it may very well have been just your good old fashioned MacGuffin, HOWEVER on closer inspection of the scene at the end.

You never actually see Sam or the mounted White Walker make eye contact. It is cleverly implied. Sam clearly hears the hooves padding through the snow and hears the rattling chains and the White Walker looks off to the left and then shrieks an order/battlecry.

BUUUUUUUUUUUUT, when the pan out begins, we see: The large rock is IN FRONT of the mounted white walker.

The only other rock in the entire pan out is tiny and there is no shallow on the other side.

And Sam is clearly seen getting behind a rock with a shallow which, when he sits down, gives about a foot of cover above

Therefore

• The walkers never actually saw him
• He pressed his back against the rock and waited until he thought they had all gone past
• He then legged it!

The council for the defense rests m'lud, although I would like to say at this point. This whole bit feels like it was just rammed in for a cliffhanger, and is actually full of gaffs!

This article is about a specific character. For other uses see White Walker

"It was going to kill Gilly and take the baby." ―Samwell Tarly[src]

A White Walker was a member of the race of White Walkers.

Biography

Background

This White Walker and others of his race lead an army of wights Beyond the Wall.

Game of Thrones: Season 2

The White Walker spots Sam.

While Edd, Grenn and Sam gather moose chips in the snow as fuel for their fires, they hear three horn blasts. Edd and Grenn run back to the Fist of the First Men and Sam is left behind. Sam hides behind a stone, and sees the White Walker on horseback. He looks at Sam and then ignores him, leading the army of Wights towards the Fist.[1]

Game of Thrones: Season 3

The White Walker turns into ice after being stabbed by Sam.

As Gilly and Sam are making their way to the Wall, the White Walker approaches them in order to take Gilly's baby. Sam confronts him but the White Walker freezes and shatters his sword by holding it and punches him aside, focusing his attention on Gilly and her unnamed son. The White Walker is then stabbed in the left scapula by Sam with his dragonglass dagger. Unable to reach the blade, the White Walker then desiccates, turns into ice and shatters.[2]

Game of Thrones: Season 4

When Sam returns to Castle Black, some of his brothers do not believe he killed the White Walker and mockingly call him "Sam the Slayer."[3]

Appearances

* Bran's vision

Behind the scenes

• The White Walker appearing in "Second Sons" was visually identical to the one that appeared in "Valar Morghulis", who was also played by Ross Mullan. It is assumed by this wiki that they are intended to be the same White Walker.

In the books

In the A Song of Ice and Fire books, Sam slays a White Walker that attacks him after he falls back from the main column during the march to Craster's Keep. Sam gains the nickname of "Sam the Slayer" both in admiration by those who believe him and in mockery by those who don't. After the murders of Craster and Lord Commander Mormont, Sam and Gilly take refuge at a village that Sam believes to be White Tree, in which they are attacked by the wight of Small Paul, who had been killed by the White Walker.

See also

• 
  Others on A Wiki of Ice and Fire

References

1. ↑ "Valar Morghulis"
2. ↑ "Second Sons"
3. ↑ "Breaker of Chains"

Essentially, the White Walkers could have wanted Sam to travel back to the Wall and inform the Night's Watch of what was coming. ... The lone survivor was considered a Night's Watch deserter but it was likely he was spared to act as a messenger for what existed north of the Wall.

Does Sam ever become a Maester?

Samwell, born Samwell Tarly, and often called Sam, is Jon Snow's closest friend, the eldest son of Lord Randyll Tarly and Lady Melessa Tarly of Horn Hill, and the older brother of Dickon and Talla Tarly. Eventually he becomes the new Grand Maester.

Is Little Sam Sam's son?

Samwell, better known as Sam and affectionately as Little Sam, is the son of Craster, a wildling who married his daughters, and Gilly, one of his many daughters-wives, hence making Sam a product of incest. He was named after Samwell Tarly, who saved the lives of Gilly and her son.

Why didn't the Wights kill Sam?

Why didn't it kill Sam? The most straightforwad answer is that the WWs needed a dragon to get through the Wall. For the plan to work they were forced to let some go so they would tell the tale of what a threat WWs are. They killed and killed men until men did the obvious thing and threw a few dragons at them.

Does Sam know Jon died?

Sam knows Jon really well. He knows his heart is in the right place. He knows he does things for the right reasons. ... Sam always has had a habit of manipulating Jon.

Why does Randyll Tarly hate Sam?

Randyll Tarly has never been a good father to Samwell, because of Sam's predilections towards things that are not high on the list of things Randyll wants his son to do. This is the reason why Randyll forced Sam into taking the Black, because he wanted his younger son Dickon to succeed him as Lord of Horn Hill.

Why did the White Walkers not kill Samwell Tarly?

• The White Walkers surprisingly spared Sam's life in the Game of Thrones season 2 finale and there are a number of explanations as to why. One of the biggest questions that carried throughout Game of Thrones was the reasoning behind the White Walkers' decision to spare Samwell Tarly in season 2.

What did Sam have to do with the White Walkers?

• Sam having dragon glass deterred them from aggression. The one I like the most.. White walkers don't kill frightened people. Like the first deserter that they show, who survived and was later beheaded by Ned Stark. A: Sam had the obsidian/dragon glass OR B: Maybe Sam being a virgin has something to do with it.

How did Sam kill the White Walker in Game of Thrones?

• Sam manages to kill the White Walker with a dragonglass dagger. The three of them then flee into the night. Sam arrives at the Wall with Gilly and Samwell. Following their encounter with the White Walker, Sam's mother Gilly and her protector Samwell continue their journey to Castle Black, the headquarters of the Night's Watch.

Why does the Night King want Little Sam?

• The central precept of this theory is that the Night King is coming to get what was promised to him: the last surviving son of Craster. For years, Craster has been giving up his sons, and the Night King has been making them into White Walkers. This means that the White Walker line is "pure," and Little Sam is the only one of them to ever get away.