Calm down , Eddard , calm the hell down . So what do I know to be true , Magic exists , that is the only thing I can be sure of , do Others exist ? They sure as fuck existed eight thousand years ago , and they were so terrifying my ancestor built a fucking seven hundred feet tall wall to keep them out , so do the Others exist now ? That is the million gold dragons question , There is a chance they exist now , it may be a small chance , but still a chance , however small it may be , can I , can the House Stark , can the North , can Westeros and can the whole fucking World take that chance and ignore it ? FUCK NO .
I cannot leave it upto chance , the priority for this mission has shifted , yes ,he will still survey the Nights Watch for Ironwood venture , but he will survey whether Nights Watch is upto the monumental task of fighting Others , if they invaded in next few years , because they are the first line of defence against a threat so terrifying Brandon the fucking Builder , built a seven hundred fucking feet tall wall .
Once again , Eddard , calm down , here the horns are blown at Castle Black as his party is sighted , he is on a mission given to him by his Lord Father , he has to be calm to accomplish it . But that doesn't mean Eddard will ignore the thoughts on Others , he will dig for knowledge , survey Nights Watch , research every legend he can find and present Lord Father with his thoughts , as with Ironwood venture Lord Father will take it seriously into consideration and he and Lord Father will think of means to protect the North from this hypothetical ( at the moment ) threat .
Now keep your face still and act the part of House Stark's representative , the gates are opening .
Everything will be fine . ( He prayed to gods that this is true ) .