Mormont then asks Tyrion how many winters he has seen. When Tyrion replies with nine, Mormont adds that they have all been short. The long summer is ending and portents say a long winter is coming. When Tyrion suggest the fabled endless summer may have come, Mormont insists the days are already growing shorter. Mormont then confides to Tyrion that the [[wildlings]] are massing and moving south, running scared from something worse than just the cold. Tyrion, bored by Mormont’s dark words, reiterates his promises and leaves.
Outside it is bitter cold. As he walks the castle ground, Tyrion is taken by a whim to climb the Wall one last time. His legs are cramping too much to climb the stairs, so Tyrion takes the winch cage up. At the top he meets [[Jon Snow]] with [[GhostFantasma]]. As they walk, Tyrion asks how the recruits are doing under Jon’s instruction. Jon tells him that they are getting better.
Tyrion offers to carry any messages that Jon might have south to Winterfell and is rewarded with a torrent of requests. Most of all Jon wants Tyrion to help his crippled brother [[Bran Stark|Bran]]. At first, Tyrion denies that has anything to offer Bran, but Jon insists that words will be enough. When Tyrion agrees, Jon thanks him from the heart and calls him “friend.” Tyrion, deeply moved by the gesture, quips that while many of his kin are bastards, Jon is the first that he could call a friend, and they shake hands.