Gendry knows who he is

[Ser Duncan of Flea Bottom]

He is clueless about his origin, he just want to be a smith

If he knew about his origin, he would at least tell Arya

No one from the BwB knows about his origin as well

[Real Heir of Bear Island]

I think everybody in their lives at some point or another fantasises about being special, being secrate royalty or finding out about a hiddent talent or power they have. I think expecially being so low born and having a monotonous job as he does would especially fuel these fantasies growing up. Somebody has mysteriously paid for your apprenticeship.Then all of a sudden you have a Hand of the King enquiring about you and then another. Suddenly, after the Kings and that second hand's death your are shipped to the wall for no apparent reason and on the way Queensmen are looking for you, not Yoren, not anybody else, just you.

We don't get inside Gendry's head much but you have to think he suspects something. There is Thoros who knew Robert very well around him and Brienne calls him Renly. He also decided to join a bunch of outlaws who call themselves Kingsmen, the King being Robert. In short if he doesn't know for sure, I think he has a pretty good idea that he's Robert's bastard.

[cuendillar]

He might suspect, but I doubt he'd dwell on it. Robert's dead anyway, so it's not as if he's ever going to meet his father even if the suspicions are correct. As the queen (or at least someone in the court) seems to have it in for him, he can't hope for any place there even had he wanted to - which he probably don't. As Robert both had children (twincest is not general knowledge, esp not outside the nobility), brothers and plenty other bastards, he's certainly not thinking of himself in the line of succession - bastards can't inherit and he grew up too low-born to even consider it.

Basically, if Robert is his father it would change absolutely nothing for him. So why bother speculating? I think he's far too practical for that.

[nara]

Even if Stannis is alive he dose not have a male hair so the only way the great house of Baratheon will continue is if one of Roberts bastards gets legitimised, Arya and Gendry getting married would finally unite houses Stark and Baratheon

Actually, Stannis could cast aside his wife or she could die mysteriously (with a little help from Mel) and he's still young enough to remarry and father children.

I've been toying with the idea that now that Jon is out of the picture and there's no one to ensure that people behave, Lady Selyse will not be long for this world...Sorry, that was a little off-topic.

[Snark_Tamer]

Ha! Finally the mirror point got hit--very true. There is a point made when a looking glass is brought, and it is relatively rare circumstances.

I think Gendry is sort of willfully ignoring evidence when young--you don't want to get your hopes up when nothing is probably going to come of it. And easier to have a thick armor, than get hopeful.

I LIKE the idea of an eventual Gendry/Arya pairing, but after the timeframe of the book (maybe mentioned in an epilogue)--he DOES know the real her, which most men either would not know or accept.

My thoughts though, are these: these books roughly parallel the War of the Roses, which lasted MANY years and a couple generations--the eventual man seated, Henry Tutor (VII, I think) was only a very distant relative to the former crown, through an ILLEGITIMATE branch of the ruling house...

I think it's highly possible before Dany gets there (or in response to Dany getting there) that perhaps Stannis dies and in the power vacuum, powerful people try to fight for rule on behalf of a few of Robert's bastards... that in fact the Starks may be pitted against each other (Arya has some alliegance to Gentry, Sansa maybe to Mya Stone)... that maybe there is ANOTHER war of five kings before things start to narrow back down again.

LOVE the idea of Gendry's path being like the origin of House Barathean with the bull sigil.

[the trees have eyes]

No he doesn't know who his father is. He barely remembers his mother and he has no knowledge of who his father was. Why would a bastard assume that his birth was anything other than as low and humble as he has been led to believe? People on the lowest rung of the ladder try to avoid attention from their betters because that exposes them to risk, they don't go looking for clues that they might be something special despite their humdrum life experience to date. It's a rigidly hierarchical society and Gendry is rock bottom, he isn't wondering about his parentage so mush as trying to forget it and deal with his low status.

[kraziness]

I had always assumed that things were juuuuust vague enough that Gendry hadn't picked up on it. I mean, as a reader it seems obvious but to him we are looking at a few chance occurances over the course of a lifetime.

But I hadn't considered the Thoros connection. Seeing each other day after day, sitting around and shooting the breeze, I find it very likely that it might have come up. Interesting.

I also hadn't thought about Stoneheart either. I wonder what her reaction might be like "uh... m'lady... Arya was JUST with us!"

[Snark_Tamer]

You know... I am rereading A Feast for Crows and just read the chapter where Brienne, Pod, and Hyle accompany the septon from Maidenpool back to the Saltpans and he talks of the seven. He asks which one Pod favors and Pod (of course) says the Warrior. The septon then explains that he's never knows a boy who didn't love the Warrior, but he is an old man, and so he favors the Smith.

He says something to the effect of the Warrior fights, but what is he defending? The cities that the Smith's build. He leaves the solid impression, compounded by the NATURE of King Robert, that 'a warrior' has his uses, but who better to rule in a time of peace than somebody who is more a Smith by nature... enter Gendry. Or such were my thoughts...

Renly made a similar point about Stannis (that a great warrior does not make a great ruler) (honestly, if you're asking me, I'd pick the wise crone, but never mind)...

So perhaps that is where the character of Gendry comes into play... our MCs will get their glory as warriors, but perhaps none of them was meant to RULE in a time of peace.

[kraziness]

I figured I'd also add that this is one of my biggest frustrations of the series... that through the first book or so Gendry was at the center of a huge myster/conspiracy, only to be relegated (seemingly) to a side note, with little to no significance in the major plot points. I mean seriously, who cares about Robert's bastards at this point? I guess Stannis would because he loses his claim, but Targ people won't care, while Tyrells and Lannisters would just see him as another usurper...

[Im no Ser]

I've always assumed Gendry knew.

Despite what many have said upthread he's not stupid. We spend a fair bit of time with him on the Kingsroad in the Arya POV's, and I'm hard pressed to think of any choices he made that were particularly poor or a reading of a person that was totally off. He's not as perceptive as Arya, but she's a particularly perceptive person.

His anger towards nobles - specifically expressed at least once towards Robert Baratheon - is because he knows that King Bob is his useless jerk of a father. His anger always seemed too personal for it to be a generalized anger at an unjust social system.

He knows that a boy from flea bottom doesn't get an apprenticeship with a master smith without a fee. He knows how weird it is that two hands of the king visit him and ask questions about his mother. He's aware he's being hunted on the Kingsroad. And I'm guessing that somebody besides Brienne mentioned his Baratheon looks at some point during the life he lived in the shadow of the Red Keep.

[unSonofStannis]

I hope he knows we need a Baratheon on the throne its theirs by rights and I think he will do something with it he may hate nobles and want a simple life but he's still human and being King of Westeros and having all those nobles he hates bow down to him will be too much for him to pass up.

[James Arryn]

I think people are assuming he should see connections because of the leaps. Like Brienne asks if he has seen the King. To us, knowing what we do of Robert and the rest, the connection seems obvious. To Gendry, the whole thing is confusing, so Brienne jumping from one subject to another wouldn't be any more confusing, and therefore wouldn't have the same connotation. Remember that part of his hatred of nobles is the arbitrary nature of their oppression of the less privileged. So to him all the crap he is getting from nobles might just be nobles being noble and arbitrarily attacking him, and not actually require a cognitive basis particular to him.

[BradOfTheBlackwater]

For those wishing that Gendry has a big role in future books, I'm with you, but I think the last episode of the show might mean that won't come to pass. GRRM apparently told the HBO producers which characters they could and couldn't deviate from the story with. Now with Gendry apparently replacing Edric in Melisandre's sorcery in the show, I'm not sure he's got much of a future in the books.

[Castellan]

Eh? I haven't seen the episode yet. But if she wants to burn him, doesn't that mean she knows he is of royal blood? Thats why she wanted Edric. It could just be accelerating Gendry knowing who he is. Edric is saved, after all. I'd say it means Edric is an expendable character, not Gendry.

Of course not having seen it I have probably just written a load of rubbish.

[Howie Reed]

His taking Edric place on the show so that Davos can free him and send him back doesn't mean he or Edric aren't important, only that both of them aren't.

[FuriousGeorge]

For those wishing that Gendry has a big role in future books, I'm with you, but I think the last episode of the show might mean that won't come to pass. GRRM apparently told the HBO producers which characters they could and couldn't deviate from the story with. Now with Gendry apparently replacing Edric in Melisandre's sorcery in the show, I'm not sure he's got much of a future in the books.

I think they probably have a more sophisticated way of deciding where they can deviate from the story than that. If D&D laid out an idea to GRRM and he believed that it could easily fit with his story then I'm sure he would consider it. Here all that needs to happen is that Gendry is back in Westeros by the time Brienne meets the BWB. If that doesn't happen then you can start worrying about Gendry.

[KOM]

He loathes his father for never caring about his mother or him, so in his mind, why should he care?

That. All the talk of "he should know or figure it out" have to deal with the fact that Gendry, in his own narrative hates his father and resents him.

That said, he *should* still be wondering what the Goldcloaks want him for (with Yoren and co). Do they want him for questioning? Did he witness anything? Idk, but it seems at least plausible that when the police come looking for you, it's for reasons other than you're the king's secret son.

So, he should be wondering why Hands and Gold Cloaks seem interested in him, but I'm not sure he'd put it together with his parentage. Maybe because he's a smith, and good smiths are hard to find?

[Son of a Harpy]

I am under the impression he has his suspicions but simply refuses to recognize them.

Of course, now that Mel wants to burn him in the show, it's possible he may come to terms with it more.

[AegonSnow]

I had always assumed that things were juuuuust vague enough that Gendry hadn't picked up on it. I mean, as a reader it seems obvious but to him we are looking at a few chance occurances over the course of a lifetime.

But I hadn't considered the Thoros connection. Seeing each other day after day, sitting around and shooting the breeze, I find it very likely that it might have come up. Interesting.

I also hadn't thought about Stoneheart either. I wonder what her reaction might be like "uh... m'lady... Arya was JUST with us!"

This actually is solved with the show. I think it fixes this little problem for the time being. And after Arya gets away from the BwB, we don't know much about them, until we find Gendry at the Crossroads with Brienne

I think in the books, he might very well, know at this point. (the Crossroads Inn)

[FuriousGeorge]

That. All the talk of "he should know or figure it out" have to deal with the fact that Gendry, in his own narrative hates his father and resents him.

That said, he *should* still be wondering what the Goldcloaks want him for (with Yoren and co). Do they want him for questioning? Did he witness anything? Idk, but it seems at least plausible that when the police come looking for you, it's for reasons other than you're the king's secret son.

So, he should be wondering why Hands and Gold Cloaks seem interested in him, but I'm not sure he'd put it together with his parentage. Maybe because he's a smith, and good smiths are hard to find?

This