How the Wall Comes Down [Spoilers Published]
The fake leaks from last week have me thinking a little bit about The Wall coming down. The faker had a bit of an anti-climatic take, where the army of the dead assault The Wall and break through a small hole rather than something like the Horn of Winter or an ice dragon taking it down.
Narratively, I think The Wall has to fail because the Night's Watch fails to defend it. We have five books of the Watch warning the realm that they need supplies and men. The Watch used to be flush with both, but they were down to only hundreds to defend a huge stretch. Add on Jon's betrayal and things look even more dire.
If some Deus Ex Machina magic brings down The Wall, then all of this narrative was for nothing. Euron blowing a horn or an ice dragon would succeed even if every great house sent a thousand men. No payoff.
I also think that this failure has to happen soon. Jon can't come back to life, peace out and immediately see it fail because of his lack of leadership. I think the dead have to attack relatively early in TWOW and start to break through, kill all of the traitors, and the survivors retreat toward Winterfell. Right now would be the best time - Stannis' men are gone, the Watch are in chaos, the wildlings are probably fighting with everyone else. Or maybe The Watch just ceases to be as a result of the chaos, so the magic of The Wall no longer holds the dead back.
Maybe Stannis burns Shireen in response to the dead breaking through. Castle Black is under assault. Melisandre does some magic to push them back after Shireen, accidentally resurrects Jon. Something something smoke from the burning castle fulfills the prophecy.