Who paid for Gendry's aprentice fee?

[Lost Melnibonean]

On 8/22/2016 at 6:05 PM, cgrav said:

Wasn't it Varys who arranged for him to go with Yoren? that would be my first guess. The beard and hood are part of the disguise he wears on several occasions.

edit: it seems a bit pointless to analyze the garb, knowing it's meant to mislead.

 

On 8/22/2016 at 7:30 PM, Impbread said:

• My first thought was littlefinger and the mad mouse but his description didnt fit. Then thought of beric because of the red hair and the black and purple cloak but he was no motive that we know of. Varys in disguise is all ive got.
•  

  I always thought that Ned wanted him to take the black. The letter that he wrote in the dungeon had something to do with it (in my opinion). He already sent one royal bastard to the wall (jon). I think that Varys read the letter as he said he would and decided that it would be a good place for him to stay safe. At that point he still thought that Ned was going there too.

 

 

On 8/22/2016 at 8:53 PM, cgrav said:

The setting for that letter makes it seems way more important than pertaining to a character who ultimately just disappears from the story (so far). Ned requested to write the letter before knowing that Varys would read it, so he must have intended to write something that was not intended only for Varys. The big suspicion is, of course, that he wanted to write something about RLJ.

If we accept that Varys placed Gendry in Mott's shop to protect him, then I think we're fairly safe concluding that he could have sent Gendry north without Ned's instructions. 

On the literary level, Ned's POV is so short and packed with clues that I don't think such a mysterious situation would be "wasted"one a minor plot advancement, which could very easily have been achieved by another character (and in my opinion was). We already know that someone is pulling strings for Gendry, so I don't think we gain any real insight to the plot or characters if we discover that Ned helped him escape. Helping Gendry out of pure compassion is certainly within Ned's character, but we already know that, and getting re-confirmation of that later on doesn't change how we perceive Ned. To the contrary, it does add to Varys's character by demonstrating how thorough and complex his political influence is.
 

In Eddard XV, Game 58, no doubt after counseling Cersei, Varys visits Eddard in the black cells, and he brokers an agreement, to be ratified soon after “off-screen” by Cersei, that could end the nascent Stark-Lannister war. To force Eddard’s acquiescence, Cersei threatened to execute Sansa. Eddard agreed to confess to treason and to support Joffrey’s right to rule. In exchange for Eddard’s acquiescence, his daughter Sansa would remain in King’s Landing, but be treated gently. Rather than losing his head, Eddard was to join the Night’s Watch. Now, recall that Eddard thought of Gendry when he promised Robert to protect his children, and we can later surmise that Cersei agreed to send Gendry off with Eddard, but reneged after her son ordered Eddard’s death. 

[Frey family reunion]

On August 22, 2016 at 4:29 PM, Impbread said:

Im sure that this question has been asked before but i havent seen a thread on it lately.

“Who paid the boy’s apprentice fee?” he asked lightly.
Mott looked fretful. “You saw the boy. Such a strong boy. Those hands of his, those hands were made for hammers. He had such promise, I took him on without a fee.”
“The truth now,” Ned urged. “The streets are full of strong boys. The day you take on an apprentice without a fee will be the day the Wall comes down. Who paid for him?”
“A lord,” the master said reluctantly. “He gave no name, and wore no sigil on his coat. He paid in gold, twice the customary sum, and said he was paying once for the boy, and once for my silence.”
“Describe him.”
“He was stout, round of shoulder, not so tall as you. Brown beard, but there was a bit of red in it, I’ll swear. He wore a rich cloak, that I do remember, heavy purple velvet worked with silver threads, but the hood shadowed his face and I never did see him clear.”

Varys may have arranged it, but the noble who brought Gendry to Motts was Lord Belmore.

Quote

Six silver bells on purple, that was Belmore, pear-bellied and round of shoulder. His beard was a ginger-grey horror spouting from a multiplicity of chins....

Gained some weight, but his house colors are purple and silver, he is round of shoulder, and the dual colored beard, even though the brown probably turned grey over the years.

GRRM even sneaks in a sly clue that Belmore was the lord that brought Gendry to the Blacksmith:

Quote

Belmore was soon puffing like a bellows,

So, if Belmore did this for Varys, it makes me think that Belmore could still be Varys' agent.  Littlefinger believes of Belmore:

Quote

Belmore is corrupt and can be bought.

The only question is, who has Belmore in their back pocket?

[Neds Secret]

19 minutes ago, Frey family reunion said:

Varys may have arranged it, but the noble who brought Gendry to Motts was Lord Belmore.

Gained some weight, but his house colors are purple and silver, he is round of shoulder, and the dual colored beard, even though the brown probably turned grey over the years.

GRRM even sneaks in a sly clue that Belmore was the lord that brought Gendry to the Blacksmith:

So, if Belmore did this for Varys, it makes me think that Belmore could still be Varys' agent.  Littlefinger believes of Belmore:

The only question is, who has Belmore in their back pocket?

Great post

[Lost Melnibonean]

57 minutes ago, Frey family reunion said:

Varys may have arranged it, but the noble who brought Gendry to Motts was Lord Belmore.

Gained some weight, but his house colors are purple and silver, he is round of shoulder, and the dual colored beard, even though the brown probably turned grey over the years.

GRRM even sneaks in a sly clue that Belmore was the lord that brought Gendry to the Blacksmith:

So, if Belmore did this for Varys, it makes me think that Belmore could still be Varys' agent.  Littlefinger believes of Belmore:

The only question is, who has Belmore in their back pocket?

Hey, that's good. 

[Sensenmenn]

1 hour ago, Frey family reunion said:

Varys may have arranged it, but the noble who brought Gendry to Motts was Lord Belmore.

Gained some weight, but his house colors are purple and silver, he is round of shoulder, and the dual colored beard, even though the brown probably turned grey over the years.

GRRM even sneaks in a sly clue that Belmore was the lord that brought Gendry to the Blacksmith:

So, if Belmore did this for Varys, it makes me think that Belmore could still be Varys' agent.  Littlefinger believes of Belmore:

The only question is, who has Belmore in their back pocket?

I'm going to say littlefinger bought him because he both said the quote and has the  the money and littlefinger has been known to buy influence while varys uses littlebirds and manipulation to get what he wants.

[Impbread]

13 hours ago, Frey family reunion said:

Varys may have arranged it, but the noble who brought Gendry to Motts was Lord Belmore.

Gained some weight, but his house colors are purple and silver, he is round of shoulder, and the dual colored beard, even though the brown probably turned grey over the years.

GRRM even sneaks in a sly clue that Belmore was the lord that brought Gendry to the Blacksmith:

So, if Belmore did this for Varys, it makes me think that Belmore could still be Varys' agent.  Littlefinger believes of Belmore:

The only question is, who has Belmore in their back pocket?

Nice post. I think that is as close to an answer as we are going to get. Thanks