Mabel and Dipper were pulling Stewie through the snow on the sled, but they were clearly getting tired. Stewie was in a state of shock. "Hodor's dead," he kept saying.
"Maybe he's not dead," said Mabel. "We didn't actually see him die, did we?"
"He was surrounded by wights," Stewie said. "The last I saw, they were scratching and clawing at him through the door. Nobody could get out of that situation alive. He's dead, and it's all my fault. And it's my fault he couldn't say anything but Hodor either! By warging into him in the past, I destroyed his mind."
"You can't blame yourself for that," Dipper said. "You didn't do it on purpose."
"And Bran," Stewie went on. "He's dead too. He died too soon. I didn't have the chance to learn everything I needed to learn from him."
Just then, Mabel stumbled and fell on her face in the snow. Dipper let go of his end of the sled and ran over to her and shook her. "Come on, Mabel, you gotta get up! The dead don't rest!"
"Right. I know. Gotta keep going…" she mumbled. But when she tried to stand up, she just slumped back down again. She was too exhausted to continue.
"Oh man, this is bad," Dipper moaned. He was feeling exhausted himself. "We can't stay here. Sooner or later, Bill is going to find us and zap us!"
"What's the use?" said Stewie. "Bill can teleport, remember? What good is it, running from a creature who can appear in front of you whenever he wants?"
Right when everything seemed hopeless, a mysterious figure appeared riding an elk. He wore a dark cloak that covered his face and body but it was not like the cloaks the Night's Watch wore. "Stewie Griffin?" he said. "Dipper Pines? Mabel Pines? I'm here to help you."
"Are you my Uncle Thaddeus?" Stewie asked.
"No," the man said, getting off his elk. "I'll explain who I am later. Right now, we need to get you to safety."
He picked Stewie up from the sled and lifted him onto the elk. His hands were cold as ice. He picked up Mabel and set her on the elk's back behind Stewie. He did the same to Dipper. Then he climbed on himself and the elk took off running south.
Despite the strangeness of this man, Stewie felt he could trust him. He was finally starting to relax. As he slumped forward against the elk's neck, he let blissful sleep overtake him at last.
When he woke up, the first thing he saw was the Wall, looming in front of him. He recognized the outer gate that the wildlings had destroyed in the battle.
The hooded man climbed down from the elk's back. Dipper and Mabel got off too. "Castle Black is just on the other side," he said. "Once you get through, you'll be safe. Bill's laser eye doesn't work south of the Wall… yet."
"Aren't you coming with us?" Dipper asked.
The man shook his head. "I can't."
"But aren't you worried Bill and his White Walkers will kill you?" Mabel asked.
"The White Walkers killed me long ago," he said, "but the children of the forest rescued me and stopped the magic that would have turned me into a wight. But the Wall still keeps me out, as it keeps out all undead things."
"Just who are you, anyway?" Stewie asked.
The man threw back his hood for the first time, revealing his face. It was a familiar face.
"Hey, you look just like our great-uncle, Stan Pines!" Dipper cried.
"Yes, I'm his brother," the man said sadly. "My name is Ford Pines."
"Can we call you Grunkle Ford then?" Mabel asked.
Ford smiled. "I don't see why not."
"What are you doing up here?" Stewie asked. "Did you used to be in the Night's Watch?"
"No," said Ford. "I went beyond the Wall on my own. Well, not entirely alone. I had a friend, Fiddleford McGucket, who went with me. You see, I've always been a curious man. From an early age, I wanted to know everything about how the world worked."
"Just like me!" Dipper exclaimed.
"I wrote down everything I observed in a journal," Ford said.
Dipper pulled the journal out of his backpack. "Was it this journal?"
"Yes!" Ford exclaimed. "After I felt I had learned everything I could about Westeros, I set myself to the task of discovering what was north of Westeros. Fiddleford and I made many secret trips beyond the Wall."
"So, was it you who discovered that singing in three-part harmony could kill wights?" Dipper asked. "How did you find that out? Were you singing with two other people?"
Ford shook his head. "No, I learned it one time when I had a portable radio with me and I heard a barbershop quartet singing."
"But wouldn't a quartet be four-part harmony?" Stewie said.
"Well, they weren't very good," said Ford. "Anyway, Fiddleford and I learned many other things up here. Terrible things. Fiddleford was driven mad by the things we saw, and in the end, he lost all his wits. The last I heard of 'im, he had become Stannis Baratheon's court jester. He didn't accompany me on my final expedition, the one where I died."
"So, do you know Bill's ultimate goal?" Stewie asked.
"Yes," said Ford. "He wants to bring down the Wall."
"Oh no!" said Mabel. "If the Wall comes down, the White Walkers will be free to attack Westeros!"
"Yes, and Bill will be able to fully tap into his magical powers," Ford agreed. "But there's more to it than that. The Wall is more than just a wall, and it's keeping out worse things than the White Walkers."
Stewie's voice trembled. "What do you mean?"
Ford explained, "Both Bill and the White Walkers come from a terrible place, a dimension of darkness. But there are other creatures there who are even more terrifying. Centuries ago, the First Men and the children of the forest built the Wall to seal a rift between dimensions. If the Wall comes down, the rift will open up, and they'll all come bursting out to wreak havoc on this world. Bill is searching for something called the Horn of Joramun. It looks like an ordinary hunting horn, but if you blow into it, the Wall will be destroyed!"
"Well, that doesn't sound good," said Stewie. "I'll have to let Brian know about this."
"When you get the chance, you need to travel to Dragonstone," Ford told him. "My friend Fiddleford McGucket lives there. He's insane now, but maybe you can find a way to reawaken his mind. He has the one weapon that can defeat Bill."
"What about you, Grunkle Ford?" Dipper asked. "What are you gonna do?"
"I plan to do whatever I can to prepare for the coming war," he said. "The war between this world and Bill's world." He picked Stewie up off the elk's back.
"Here, give him to me," said Mabel. "I'll carry you inside, Stewie. I'm not as strong as Hodor was, but I can carry you that far."
Ford waved goodbye to the children as he climbed onto his elk and rode away. Dipper and Mabel pointed their boots in the direction of the broken gate, with Mabel carrying Stewie.
As they approached the tunnel, Stewie caught a glimpse of a nearby heart tree. He remembered Bran had told him he could access more visions by pressing his hand against the face on the tree. But Bran had also pointed out that heart trees grew all over Westeros, and right now, Stewie was in a hurry to get inside so he could see Brian again. There would be time for visions later.
They stepped through the hole where the smashed outer gate had been. They walked through the tunnel until they reached the inner gate at the other end. Dipper knocked on the door.
