Game Of Thrones Season 7: Did The Night King Really Trap Jon And Dany?
5. Why Would Water Stop The Wights?
The exceptional, tense sequence that sees the raiders trapped on the rocky island surrounded and protected by cracked ice and grimly cold water was a thing of heart-pounding beauty, but it was also hampered by something of a plot-hole. Or at least an inconsistency.
The cracked ice leads to the wights stopping, as if terrified of water or at least inconvenienced by it enough to not just swim across and continue the assault. But since when was water a problem for them? Not half an hour later, a group of them are able to drag Jon into the water to drown him, so it can't be that debilitating. And if it's because it's cold, that's just stupid.
On top of that in a Dance Of Dragons, Cotter Pyke's letter to Jon about Hardhome says that there are "dead things in the woods and the water". Water is not a problem, so it shouldn't be here.
Also, the ice would have been frozen a long time before The Hound accidentally discovered it, so it's particularly odd that the wights at no point tested to see. They are the definition of expendable to the White Walkers, so having them periodically test the ice would be a no-brainer, and yet the Walkers keep their pets back as if they have some sort of affection for them and fear for their well-being. That's a little ridiculous, frankly.
It's far more likely that they were waiting for Dany, and were merely making it seem like they were stuck by the water.