The entire known world had been in panic.
They were all so busying plotting on how to take down Lord Voldemort, that they never noticed the preparation of the Others right behind their backs.
Most of the Night's Watch had been called back to help in the fight against Voldemort, leaving the Wall with only a skeleton crew to guard it.
It was the perfect time for the Others to strike.
Jon Snow had been having strange dreams.
He dreamed of a large giant made of ice and battling with a massive dragon composed of fire.
The dragon was beating back the giant, and even seemed to be on the cusp of victory.
The dragon bore down ready to slaughter the giant, when from behind a bolt of green light struck the dragon.
The dragon screeched and fell to the ground dead, smoke rising from its carcass.
Its killer was a tall skeletal figure twirling a stick between its fingers.
The figure removed its hood, and Jon could not help but gasp.
It was Ned Stark, his lord father.
"Wrong" said the figure chuckling.
Jon noticed the figure's red eyes for the first time and began to get pulled into them.
He felt himself burning inside, and heard the sound of screaming.
Jon was being shaken awake.
"Alright there, Lord Commander" said Samwell Tarly, "You were screaming for a good five minutes there".
"I'm fine" said Jon as he rolled out of bed and stood up.
Jon Snow had only been named Lord Commander, because there were pitifully few men left on the Night's Watch, and he was the best suited for the task.
He pulled on his furs and walked out grabbing Longclaw as he did so.
He climbed onto a lift, and waited as he was pulled up.
As the lift was being raised he began musing over the meaning of his strange dream.
The fire in his dream might be R'hllor, the ice giant was probably the Great Other.
He was interrupted from his thoughts when the lift reached the top.
Climbing out of the lift, he glance around the top of the Wall.
"'m the only one lef' Lord Commander" spoke the person who had lifted Jon up.
It was yet another reminder of the pitiful state the Night's Watch, one of the necessary costs to the Seven Kingdoms's preparations in the war against Voldemort.
Jon gazed into the wilderness beyond the Wall.
With noone to mantain it the trees had grown right up to the wall, fully obscuring the ground.
Not that it really mattered anymore.
For the past several weeks, there had been no sign of life North of the Wall whatsoever.
So naturally, Jon had just been expecting a routine survey of the lifeless lands of the far North.
Instead, he heard a huge rumbling sound coming from the horizon.
Then he felt the massive wave of pure frost blast him in the face nearly knocking him off the Wall.
The temperature seemed to drop a dozen degrees.
He saw the forest beginning to crumble in the face of what looked like a massive blizzard, but as it got closer he realized it was not a blizzard but a massive army of wights and other undead creatures.
Following behind them were tall men with pale skin and icy blue eyes, many who were riding large white spiders.
One of them raised a horn and blew on it, and suddenly the Wall shattered.
Robb Stark had secluded himself to the crypts, there was something he needed to find.
After many hours he had finally made his way to the lowest levels of the crypt, where he found a wall.
He had never gone this far before, but somehow he knew that this was not the end.
Words spilt from his lips unbidden, "Winter is coming", and with a mighty groan a small line appeared in the center of the wall, a line which grew as the wall split apart.
Robb walked through and found himself ina strange room.
The walls were the color of tarnished brown and there were small pools of water located throughout the room, no doubt due to the water that was dripping from the ceiling.
The hall was empty save for one statue that was framed by weirwood roots growing beside it along the wall.
The figure the statue represented was a tall man with broad shoulders and hard eyes.
He was gazing forward into the distance with a stony disposition, and Robb could imagine the words "Winter is coming" flowing from the man's lips.
In one hand he gripped a stone hammer, and in the other he held a sword.
Unlike the hammer, the sword was not composed of stone, it was a long sword made of a hard crimson material, that seemed to glow with a bright fire from within.
"Lightbringer" whispered a voice in Robb's mind.
"Lightbringer", thought Robb,"why does that name sound familiar?"
Then before he could control himself he found his hands wrapped around the hilt of the blade and was pulling it from the statue's dead fingers.
And then the scene shifted and blurred.
Robb was holding a sword, the sword that he had spent so much effort making.
It was not ready, he had tried everything, he had tried tempering it with his blood, a pig's blood, even his servant's, but nothing seemed to work.
Suddenly he knew what he had to do, but he couldn't bear the thought of it.
Steeling his will he called out, "Nyssa Nyssa"
His wife ran into the room, "Yes my lord" she asked.
"I love you" he whispered back as he plunged his sword into her chest.
Her blood spilt along the blade, and somehow he knew that this was what would finally work.
Robb found himself back in the room, but where there was once a statue, there was now a man.
"Who are you?" Robb gasped.
"I have many names, the Builder, Azor Ahai, the King in the North, the Night's King, but to most I am known as Brandon Stark" he replied.
Robb gasped, in front of him was Bran the Builder, the legendary founder of his line reborn.