Randyll Tarly

[Drowsey Dragon]

Tarly is definitely one of the more hardcore "traditionalists" who are all for martial prowess and he snorts and claims a "woman's battle is in the birthing bed", so he clearly sees women as broodmares only, with potential harmful effects if men are subjected to their influence too long (as evidenced by his own son).

Which makes me really want to have a POV who runs into his wife, just to see how on earth that marriage is working out for them.

Tarly is competent to be sure, and a very good commander. He also seems to be regarded as quite honourable, but also very harsh, sort of like Stannis, but with less interest in judging the justice meted out. I think Stannis' sense of justice is up the shitter, but at least he tries to be fair according to his own moral compass when he decides whether to cut people's fingers off, or to hang them. Tarly seems more likely to just punish people with whatever if they are guilty, so sure, he's for law and order and technically a "force for what's right", but his methods are definitely brutal.

So he's definitely no Gregor Clegane who actually indulges in torturing people, but he's also no Ned, or even Stannis. Although out of the three, I'd say he's more like Stannis than he is the other two.

I agree he is most like Stannis, but does not act out of a sense of honor that Stannis does. Both hand out sentences of justice, and I think what Stannis decides may be harsh, but is done fairly, at least in his mind. His interactions with the Onion Knight also show he is able to listen and to forgive. I could see myself serving under Stannis and being very loyal to his type of leadership.

Tarly on the other hand is a cruel man. His sentences are meant to be cruel and to punish, not to redeem or in any way follow an honor code similar to Stannis. I would never want to serve under such a man or have him as my father.

[Silvannister]

Tarly is definitely one of the more hardcore "traditionalists" who are all for martial prowess and he snorts and claims a "woman's battle is in the birthing bed", so he clearly sees women as broodmares only, with potential harmful effects if men are subjected to their influence too long (as evidenced by his own son).

Which makes me really want to have a POV who runs into his wife, just to see how on earth that marriage is working out for them.

Tarly is competent to be sure, and a very good commander. He also seems to be regarded as quite honourable, but also very harsh, sort of like Stannis, but with less interest in judging the justice meted out. I think Stannis' sense of justice is up the shitter, but at least he tries to be fair according to his own moral compass when he decides whether to cut people's fingers off, or to hang them. Tarly seems more likely to just punish people with whatever if they are guilty, so sure, he's for law and order and technically a "force for what's right", but his methods are definitely brutal.

So he's definitely no Gregor Clegane who actually indulges in torturing people, but he's also no Ned, or even Stannis. Although out of the three, I'd say he's more like Stannis than he is the other two.

I agree; it would be really interesting to see his interactions with his wife. And I also agree on your point that he's most similar to Stannis of the three, but he's also got a lot of the Mountain in him. I find him and Ned to be opposite ends of the same pole. While their code is based on what they deem to be "honor", they have completely different definitions of what it means.

[olaf haraldson]

He is a controlling abusive prick with little honor, who instead of allowing his son to be trained as a maester and so serve his House and the realm, threatened to kill him if he didn't take the black. He's a douche.

[redqueen]

I hate him for now allowing Sam to become a Maester and abusing him. No one should tell their child to leave or they will kill him. Then, there saying that Brienne should be raped. No one should ever wish anyone raped. Rape is not amusing. No one should wish rape on anyone. How could anyone respect a man that believes a woman should be raped?

[FacelessDude]

I think Randyll Tarly is an asshole. I dlislike him, but I don't hate him. Just because Sam wasn't warrior material and a 'suitable' heir didn't mean Randyll Tarly had to send him off to the Wall. He also threatened Sam with death if he didn't leave willingly.

Randyll could've easily made Dickon his heir without sending Sam off to the Wall. He could've sent Sam to Oldtown to become a maester while Dickon, his second born was groomed to become the head of Horn Hill. Sam then could've traveled back home to become the maester of Horn Hill.

But I hope Sam confronts Randyll and shows him what he's become and made of himself. I would be glad to see Sam put his asshole father to shame.

Edit: actually, I do hate Randyll Tarly. He thinks Brienne would be to blame if she was raped while at Renly's camp. He may be a good military strategist and warrior, but he doesn't seem to be a very good person.

[Lord Yarwyck]

Personally, I think he is best described as a cross between Stannis Baratheon and Tywin Lannister.

[FacelessDude]

I just finished the Brienne chapter where she returns to Maidenpool and runs back into Randyll Tarly. What an assbag he is. He is a sexist prick. When Ser Hyle Hunt told Randyll that Brienne killed the 3 Bloody Mummers on her own he didn't even give her credit and told her to dress like a "lady".

He also declined her stay under Mootons roof, which was wrong. I wouldn't mind seeing him get raped by 3 dudes, because hey, it was his fault for being raped. Because the 3 guys were attracted to him. Lol.

[Batman]

Good rulers are often bad human beings, I think this is the case with Randall Tarly. Upon hearing about his sons desire to be a septon, he chained the boy up for days as punishment. This is despicable by almost any parents standards, except Tywin's.

He is cruel, cold, sexiest and a terrible father; on the other hand he is a great war time leader and a strong lord

[998]

I think somebody else already came up with this, but you can put ned, stannis, and randyll all on a sliding scale. while all are good lords and more or less fair, ned is the kindest, and randyll the cruelest. stannis is in the middle. just my opinion.

[ckal]

Randyll Tarly is definitely a douche. A hardass douche.

Not everything he does I disagree with, though.

[StannisandDaeny]

He's a good and enjoyable character, but a bastard nevertheless. His 'justice' is medieval even by medieval terms, but it was funny to read. His treatment of Sam is atrocious but at the same time hilarious, like that story where Sam recalls his father 'threw him into a pond to learn to swim.' and Sam was most likely splashing around like a retarded whale x') He should've looked at himself and the faults in his manner of education more instead of blaming everything on Sam (I know this would be hard with Sam but he's still your son and going as far as killing him if he doesn't obey is just waaay too far) and my main gripe is his treatment of Brienne. 'You deserve to be raped 'cos you're a female knight.' Wha?

[LampreyPie]

Perhaps there is a certain charm about him, or something, but that doesn't mean he's not an evil sonofabitch. Sometimes people who are abusive assholes can have appealing attributes of their personality as well. It doesn't redeem them.

Why didn't Lord Randyll let Sam become a maester? It would have gotten Sam out of the way, while letting him do what he wanted to do. I know, he thought it beneath the Tarlys to be in a servile role, but taking the black as a steward is pretty servile, too. He wasn't just coldly efficient. He acted out of a deep hatred for Sam; he wanted to hurt him. He wished for Sam to either be dead or unhappy.

It just occurred to me that Sam and Tyrion have an awful lot in common. They should spend some time together.

[Jolene Brown]

I was just thinking about Randyll Tarly today - did he think that Brienne deserved to be raped, or was he using harsh words trying to get her to take the danger she faced as a woman surrounded by men seriously? He intervened in the bet over her maidenhood, so he didn't just leave her to learn a "harsh lesson" the way Tywin might have. But he did make it clear that he believed that the bet could have led to rape, as could pursuing the Hound. I think he is a sexist, and I don't like him, but I don't necessarily think Hyle Hunt's characterization of him should be trusted 100% - it is Hyle Hunt who says that Lord Tarly believes Brienne could benefit from a good raping, but Hyle Hunt is bitter about being dismissed from Lord Tarly's service.

I don't know, there is a character in A Dance with Dragons (no spoilers, just making a comparison, but I will spoiler bar it just in case)

who is a female sellsword who has been really abused by the men around her/fighting against her,

and I wonder if Randyll Tarly, however awfully, was trying to prevent Brienne from letting her naievete lead her to an unpleasant fate/

[Pope Killdragon]

He did what he had to do to keep house Tarly strong. He could've let Sam be a maester but hey that's tough love. But he cleared the land of outlaws and set Maiden Town to rights and seems to be a just man.

[LampreyPie]

He did what he had to do to keep house Tarly strong. He could've let Sam be a maester but hey that's tough love. But he cleared the land of outlaws and set Maiden Town to rights and seems to be a just man.

Did you miss the part where he chained Sam up for days upon hearing he wanted to be a maester? Or the part where he made it very clear he'd kill his son if he didn't go to the wall? I think that's a bit beyond tough love, even by the standards of these characters.

[Pope Killdragon]

Yes, he's a harsh, even cruel man. But he has qualities that make up for that I think. He's not like Cersei who is totally unredeemable and incompetent in my eyes.

[JimWolf]

I would want Randyll to be an ally. But he does not exhibit the attitude I would find acceptable in a bannerman. He's very set in his opinion of the roles for men and women. He would not react favorably to Lyanna or Arya as a daughter and would probably have smothered Bran in his bed after his accident.

[Pope Killdragon]

All I need of a bannerman is to be effective on the battlefield, pay his taxes and stay loyal. Tarly doesn't seem to be the scheming treacherous type and is said to be the kingdom's best soldier. What he does with his children is none of my concern.

[LampreyPie]

All I need of a bannerman is to be effective on the battlefield, pay his taxes and stay loyal. Tarly doesn't seem to be the scheming treacherous type and is said to be the kingdom's best soldier. What he does with his children is none of my concern.

Of course that's all you want in a bannerman, I was speaking to the "tough love" and "just man" comments; you know, what most people would want in a human.

[JimWolf]

I think he was replying to my comment.

Your bannermen and how you handle them are a reflection of your own house. House Stark put an end to the Boltons flaying their victims, punished the Karstarks for murdering captives, and would not tolerate the Mormonts selling men into slavery. House Lannister completely annihilated House Tarbeck and House Reyne when they defied their liege lord.

I think that neither Stark nor Lannister would have taken any action against House Tarly for what Randyll did to Sam, but Stark would trust him less and Lannister would trust him more. Not that any of that matters.