Gendry?

[The_Maltese_Wolf]

Ok gonna try re-ignite this thread a bit - why do u guys think GRRM built up Gendry and made sure we all knew he was Robert's bastard son if he wasnt going to utilize this fact at all? Also, if Robert did indeed have 12 bastard kids (or however many hes said to have), why make such a big deal about one in particular?

Gendry HAS TO have a bigger role considering the amount of focus made on him being Robert's bastard son - I wrote a few pages back that I thought he might be the son of Robert and Cersei making him the true heir to the Iron Throne (which I think makes sense given the focus on him).

[3CityApache]

Gendry HAS TO have a bigger role considering the amount of focus made on him being Robert's bastard son - I wrote a few pages back that I thought he might be the son of Robert and Cersei making him the true heir to the Iron Throne (which I think makes sense given the focus on him).

It's an interesting thought at first, but not very realistic, I'm afraid. It was explicitly said in Cersei's or Jaime's POV in one of the books, that Robert indeed succeeded once or twice in planting his seed in Cersei's womb, but Jaime always 'took care' of it. It's kinda unrealistic to think, that Cersei might have given birth to another child but her three legitimate children, and nobody knew about it.

And besides, Robert did know about Gendry, and did care about him in a way, just like he did care about his other bastards. Why on Earth would he treated him like a bastard if he wasn't?

[Errant Bard]

why do u guys think GRRM built up Gendry and made sure we all knew he was Robert's bastard son if he wasnt going to utilize this fact at all?

He used that fact. As a motive for a learned, strong boy to flee KL and be rescued by Varys. It develops Varys' motivations, adds a real reason to ride alongside Arya, that kind of things.

He doesn't have to use him more than he'll use Mya Stone or Edric Storm. Having background characters in some specific position for a consistent, good reason is good enough.

[dreamcatcher]

He used that fact. As a motive for a learned, strong boy to flee KL and be rescued by Varys. It develops Varys' motivations, adds a real reason to ride alongside Arya, that kind of things.

He doesn't have to use him more than he'll use Mya Stone or Edric Storm. Having background characters in some specific position for a consistent, good reason is good enough.

Why make him an excellent smith?

[The Sleeper]

That's why there are two sort of people in Westeros: hose who think she died (in KL or Saltpans, whatever), and those who think she married Ramsay Bolton. The former tend to be the heroes and prominent actors of the story, the latter are the followers and other supporting lords, who don't matter that much for the story direction (but they're still important for story inertia, if you see what I mean)

I think that if it becomes significant, it will be more about the Northern lords rebellion, and little about Arya or the BwB and the Riverlands.

That would make sense if Jon and Stannis were not included in the former.

[Errant Bard]

Why make him an excellent smith?

Why make Hot Pie an excellent baker?

[GreenHand]

Why make him an excellent smith?

Answer: Character & hidden Friends in high places.

Gendry is a good smith because of this character. He is determined and stubborn and he accepts whatever task the Master smith lays on him. That is how he came to be a good smith.

And because Varys (presumably) is looking out for his interests ensuring him an apprenticeship (with the double the apprentice fee) to perhaps the best armourers in King's Landing.

[ghost the direwolf]

I believe Gendry will meet umCat and her people ( If he has'nt already cannot remember) . I am sure one of Uncat people will tell him who she is and he will link it to Arya.. That is how cat will learn that her girl is alive.

[Gillio]

or at least WAS alive

[Errant Bard]

I believe Gendry will meet umCat and her people ( If he has'nt already cannot remember)

He already has. Gendry is part of the BwB ever since the beginning of ASOS. The orphanage is BwB run, even some orphans, like long Jeyne, know Catelyn. And there is a reason why he doesn't eat with Brienne, and it's not that he's not hungry.

But really, Gendry can not tell Catelyn anything more that anyone in the BwB can: she was with them, they planned to send her to Riverrun, then Sandor captured her. The latest info the BwB can have with a measure a certainty is eyewitness accounts of the fight between gregor's men and Sandor+Arya. Possibly they pushed to Saltpans and got the Elder Brother testimony about Arya leaving Sandor and going to Saltpans, but it doesn't change much of anything: they know she went for Saltpan, they know the Bloody Mummers destroyed the town shortly after... So they hunt bloody mummers and gather children of Arya's age they can find in the vicinity. And Gendry takes care of them.

Of course, the search is rather futile: they would need to interrogate the Braavosi sailors of Titan's daughter to have any lead, and then those would need to talk about a faceless man recruit to strangers... highly unlikely.

[The Sleeper]

The orphan inn is as much refuge as it is a trap.

[Errant Bard]

How so?

[The Sleeper]

I don't remember the exact text but it is implied that some of those hanged by the BwB under Catelyn protested that they were guests.

[dreamcatcher]

Why make Hot Pie an excellent baker?

Comical relief. The difference between Hot Pie and Gendry is clear, just knowing his way around literature one can see that Gendry will have a role in the future.

[Errant Bard]

Comical relief. The difference between Hot Pie and Gendry is clear, just knowing his way around literature one can see that Gendry will have a role in the future.

Accusing others of not seeing the obvious and not knowing literature is not doing your argument any favour.

Also, let me guess, you were among the ones who believed Ned wouldn't die, right?

[Howlin' Howland Reed]

Accusing others of not seeing the obvious and not knowing literature is not doing your argument any favour.

Agreed.

Also, let me guess, you were among the ones who believed Ned wouldn't die, right?

Are you saying that, since Ned was presented as some sort of main character and then killed off, the fact that Gendry has been given a lot of screen time and interaction with a number of arguably important characters must surely mean that he has no further role to play in the grand scheme of things? You know, a subtly mocking assumption is not doing your argument any favor.

But really, I agree, though. Gendry might play a large role in the coming books, but at this point we cannot take it for granted. As EB pointed out earlier, his role may have been to flesh out Varys a bit, and a supporting character with a familiar face in Arya's story in ACoK. Both of these things may also come into play later in the series, even though Gendry himself firmly remains the supporting character.

[ghost the direwolf]

He already has. Gendry is part of the BwB ever since the beginning of ASOS. The orphanage is BwB run, even some orphans, like long Jeyne, know Catelyn. And there is a reason why he doesn't eat with Brienne, and it's not that he's not hungry.

But really, Gendry can not tell Catelyn anything more that anyone in the BwB can: she was with them, they planned to send her to Riverrun, then Sandor captured her. The latest info the BwB can have with a measure a certainty is eyewitness accounts of the fight between gregor's men and Sandor+Arya. Possibly they pushed to Saltpans and got the Elder Brother testimony about Arya leaving Sandor and going to Saltpans, but it doesn't change much of anything: they know she went for Saltpan, they know the Bloody Mummers destroyed the town shortly after... So they hunt bloody mummers and gather children of Arya's age they can find in the vicinity. And Gendry takes care of them.

Of course, the search is rather futile: they would need to interrogate the Braavosi sailors of Titan's daughter to have any lead, and then those would need to talk about a faceless man recruit to strangers... highly unlikely.

Thanks , i really need to re-read the book as I did skip some parts in the brienne chapters.

[Errant Bard]

Are you saying that, since Ned was presented as some sort of main character and then killed off, the fact that Gendry has been given a lot of screen time and interaction with a number of arguably important characters must surely mean that he has no further role to play in the grand scheme of things?

"Surely mean"? No. I'm saying that it does not surely mean anything. As Ned's example show, "people who know they way around literature"'s expectations are in no way a certain reflections of what happens in the books. (Even if I agreed that Gendry's characterisation was any special compared to a myriad other characters. Hence the Hot Pie comparison.)

Thanks , i really need to re-read the book as I did skip some parts in the brienne chapters.

You're welcome. And the Brienne chapters are some of the best chapters of AFFC, for both details and theme exploration.

Of course, Gendry did enter the BwB in an Arya chapter, so it's not only Brienne chapters that are the problem.

[Brucolac]

Who said Gendry is a great smith?

This is a companion character only. Arya's chapters would have been pretty vanilla with her wondering around with nobody to talk to. Brienne encounters him with the band, but he will vanish again when there is not a POV that is around him. I hope he has no role going forward. Who knows, maybe Brienne will want to take him with her because he looks like Renly, but at this point in the series, I would like to see side threads get cut off and main plot advanced.

[The Undead Martyr]

I say he reforges Ice; otherwise, he's just a "what might have been" character development/exploration wrt Arya. IE a parallel between Lyanna/Robert and (possibly) an Edric-Arya pairing, as some have suggested. That, plus entertaining dialogue during the Riverlands travels.

In short, his "purpose" has largely been fulfilled, but his future role (as a quasi-redshirt? to be killed off with at least some emotional attachment) seems limited to the BwB and possibly the (re)forging of Ice.