Gendry knows who he is

[Ravenhair]

Gendry is not stupid, stubborn maybe, but not stupid. I do not believe he knows he is the son of the King, and even if he did, his feelings about his father wouldn't change.

I always thought the reason he rejects the prostitute at the inn is that he has a crush on Arya. Isn't this the same time that Lady Smallwood has dressed her in her daughter's clothes and cleaned her?

[a free shadow]

Gendry is not stupid, stubborn maybe, but not stupid. I do not believe he knows he is the son of the King, and even if he did, his feelings about his father wouldn't change.

I always thought the reason he rejects the prostitute at the inn is that he has a crush on Arya. Isn't this the same time that Lady Smallwood has dressed her in her daughter's clothes and cleaned her?

Well, he either is stupid or he knows by now.

I do not think he has/had "a crush", but I think it was in relation to her, yes.

[ARYa_Nym]

Very true. :)

I hope we haven't seen the last of Gendry. Someone brought up the play fighting scene between him and Arya and really think it was nice, carefree and just something happy in the middle of all the misery. It also really seemed like Gendry and Arya got along really well, and that he did take to her almost like a younger sister, both protecting her from that leech in the inn, but also with the teasing.

Gendry is also really doing good deeds as he's helping out the orphans at the inn, so he's got purpose in life. He seems like a good smith and an overall pretty good guy and at least not dumber than your average Westerosi dude, despite being old Bob's offspring.

If Arya doesn't reconnect with him, I hope he somehow can be tied to Brienne since it would make a nice parallel to her devotion for Renly. Gendry might look quite like Renly, but personalitywise, he seems very far removed from his uncle.

I could see her being attracted to him but I don't see him reciprocating it considering the way he reacted to her when she spoke to him.

[Lord Ben]

I heard from a few people I look like John Elway, it doesn't mean I think we're related. It's perfectly possible he thinks people commenting on the likeness are just being polite if he's a bit thick and unimaginative. It works best for the plot that he doesn't suspect (or isn't public about it) therefore he doesn't catch on just yet. Talking about whether or not he realistically does or doesn't know it is kind of beside the point.

[SerNotAppearingInTheSeries]

I've always believed that the thought has crossed his mind, but he won't take it seriously. Every orphan/bastard boy in Westeros has probably wished they're secretly spawned by a noble, let alone a king. He doesn't know it, per se. It's just that, if someone tells him or proved that he's Robert's son he wouldn't have reason to be surprised.

[Raist86]

First off, let me say hello (I'm brand spanking new here).

As to this Gendry discussion:

I don't think Gendry is stupid at all. With all the interest several people have shown in him/his appearance, and the Gold Cloaks being sent after him, he has to have at least a suspicion who he might be. But more importantly, I don't think it's in Gendry to care much about the fact Robert is his father (if he does suspect). As has been stated before, he doesn't seem to hold the upper class in much esteem. With Gendry, I think nobility of character matters more than the status of nobility, which is what I like about him.

For me, he is the echo of Robert's heroic side. He could just slip away into anonymity and mind his own business, but instead chooses to become part of the BwB, and try to help the people anyway he can. If GRRM is merciful enough to allow the Baratheons to have an heir, I would hope it would be Gendry (despite the fact his mother was a barmaid). Unlike Edric, he has never been entitled to anythng. Instead, he's worked most of his life and lived closer to the common people. Wouldn't a leader who understands the common people be better suited to rule than one who has no familiarity with them at all?

[Raist86]

Gendry is not stupid, stubborn maybe, but not stupid. I do not believe he knows he is the son of the King, and even if he did, his feelings about his father wouldn't change.

I always thought the reason he rejects the prostitute at the inn is that he has a crush on Arya. Isn't this the same time that Lady Smallwood has dressed her in her daughter's clothes and cleaned her?

You know what? I got the same impression, especially since he gets so upset about their difference in social status.

[a free shadow]

I don't think Gendry is stupid at all. With all the interest several people have shown in him/his appearance, and the Gold Cloaks being sent after him, he has to have at least a suspicion who he might be. But more importantly, I don't think it's in Gendry to care much about the fact Robert is his father (if he does suspect). As has been stated before, he doesn't seem to hold the upper class in much esteem. With Gendry, I think nobility of character matters more than the status of nobility, which is what I like about him.

Maybe that is what is more important and no one argues that Gendry would care about it. I'm sure he would try to forget it as soon as possible. Still, the topic is does he know? It might become handy in the future. If anyone tries to manipulate him or other things happen.

And welcome on board(s)!

[Melifeather]

I think he has suspicions, and those suspicions may have played a part with him wanting to stay with the Brotherhood Without Banners. He liked that they were Robert's men and that they were defending his realm.

[Raist86]

Maybe that is what is more important and no one argues that Gendry would care about it. I'm sure he would try to forget it as soon as possible. Still, the topic is does he know? It might become handy in the future. If anyone tries to manipulate him or other things happen.

And welcome on board(s)!

Well, in summary, it's my opinion Gendry knows who his father is, but doesn't let that affect him. As for possibly being manipulated by others in the future, I don't think poor Gendry quite has the mental fortitude to battle wits with the likes of Varys or Littlefinger or any of the other real players in this game :). He would get steamrolled! He's not dumb, but he definitely wouldn't be a world chess champion, either.

[MizasterJ]

I think it might be written down somewhere amoungst Jon Aryn's things. However there probably wouldnt be anyway to prove it. Never the less he is a knight and has a chance at holding a high position, maybe kings guard, and even still if he were to wed a highborn such as Arya, it would be like full filling his birthright.

[Dustin Barlow]

Kind of an old post but i think Gendrys' humble upbringing makes him a perfect candidate for the whole "prince trying to reclaim his fathers throne" scenario, makes him somebody you can't help but pull for.

[Dena]

I don't think Gendry is stupid, he is extremely stubborn and, as someone else said, really good at denial. He was a little boy when his mother died and the he started working as a smith, does he even remember how he started working for Tobho Mot? IIRC we know his story from Tobho himself, maybe Gendry was too young to realize something weird was going on, maybe he doesn't remember clearly how he got his apprenticeship.

I agree that the visit of two Hands of the King and the Gold Cloaks going after him are extremely suspicious, but he doesn't know anything about how things work at the Red Keep or about the incest, he was raised to believe he was nothing special, just an orphan kid. Anyone with that background would find hard to believe his father was a King, so I don't think he knows (maybe after Brienne's questions he suspects, probably he thinks she is talking nonsense).

There is also a possibility he already knows thanks to Thoros, but he probably doesn't care because his father means nothing to him (why should he? he was never a father to Gendry even if he was the King) and he seems to hate anything that has to do with highborn people and all the social distinctions that a lordship implies.

So IMO he doesn't know because he was raised as a poor orphan boy from King's Landing, or he knows but refuses to believe it because he doesn't care at all about who his father was

[Artemis]

Did we find out who Gendry's benefactor was? I have an inkling it might be Varys. He was a mummer in the Free Cities (if it can be believed), and we know he's quite good with disguises.

“Who paid the boy’s apprentice fee?” he asked lightly. “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.” He hesitated a moment.

“My lord, I want no trouble.”

Also, there's the question as to WHY Gendry was given the apprenticeship (King Robert had 16 or so bastards, of which Mya Stone, Edric Storm and Gendry Waters are [somewhat] looked after) and WHY he was sent with Yoren at the end of AGoT to join the Night's Watch.

Who would go to such lengths to protect him...and why? I may be being just daft here as I haven't done a re-read in quite some time.

[Lizaveta Martell]

As a person who doesn't know who their father is, I can say you on a personal level that thinking about it much is something you get over at about age 9. I know my dad was white (mostly) and he had curly hair. He probably didn't have brown eyes. Do I imagine that every blue eyed white guy in his 50s is my dad? No. Even the ones I look like? No.

Imagining that your dad is the king is pretty much the most delusional thing a bastard could do except if its true. Since there is absolutely zero way to prove any such thing, thinking your dad was king even if it is true is essentially a useless exercise in wishing you hadn't grown up so bone poor.

That said, Gendry has probably worked it out. The reasons he doesn't seem to want to dwell on it are probably two fold 1) it's dangerous as shit to be Robert's bastard and 2) no one wants to think that their dad was a notably shitty king who slept with their mom and left her alone to raise a kid. It would be preferable to imagine the father that abandoned your mother did so because he was poor and incapable, not because he's just a callous lout.

I think anyone in his position would keep it close to the vest. Anyone who hears that and doesn't believe him, Gendry seems like a loony and Gendry seems to admirably take pride in being serious and practical. Anyone who hears that and believe him would just have a reason to sell him out.

I hope Gendry refounds the Baratheon line with Arya. I just learned how the Baratheons were founded and it just seems like an obvious set up for Arya/Gendry. Bastard son marrying the daughter of an established house. GRRM even gave him a new sigil (the bull).

[Little Miss Sunshine]

By now he probably figured it out, specially after the talk with Brienne. If he did, he's keeping it to himself, since in the current situation it only means trouble and danger.

[Faithmemory]

Yes, Gendry might be clueless but I don't see him as stupid, but i think he has suspicions. If we had a Gendry POV in the earlier books I'm sure we'll read about possible suspicions he had in mind. But then no one knows. I assume he has suspicions already but he do not dare ask anyone maybe because he don't trust people easily because some people who asks about him dies or wants to kill him. And at first we can sense that Gendry isn't interested in all these high-blood and iron thrones issues.

I doubt that he'll be a candidate for the iron throne (I don't think he would want it and he lacks that knowledge and skills) that is for now. Who knows in the future books.

For now, I can see Gendry as a warrior or a knight. He has his infamous 'bull head helmet' He stubbornly said to Ned that he made it for himself. So I can see him in a battle wearing that head helmet. He'll be a great warrior. A warrior with a BULL HEAD HELMET and a HAMMER (a smith) in a WAR. That'll be a good sight. the hammer will always remind me of his father Robert Baratheon.

And I'm sure a GENDRY POV in the future books won't hurt. It'll be interesting if ever. Alot are quite curious about who Gendry is.

[houseHB]

I think Gendry will find out who he is in WOW in a Jaime chapter, we all know Jaime is pretty descriptive when looking at someone.

[Teal'c]

I think Gendry is smart enough to figure out who he is but that he's best served to keep it to himself. Jon Arryn and Ned Stark both came around with this Royal Bastard stuff and they got killed for it. Brienne of Tarth tried to tell him what's what, and it just about got her killed, too. The Goldcloaks come looking for him at the start of ACOK and, in the show at least, they drop a reference to "coming back for the bastard". On the other hand, being nothing but a dumb and humble blacksmith saved him from the worst of Amory Lorch/Vargo Hoat's threats (they couldn't cut his hands and feet off, because he was a smith, could fix their weapons and armor, and thus was too valuable to maim) and introduced him to a cool little girl who pretends to be a boy that, while of noble birth herself, thinks all that highborn stuff is kinda stupid. Plus he LIKES it. He's real proud of that bull helmet he made. Even the best case scenario for him coming forward as a Royal Bastard is some warlord trying to cut his way to the throne in Gendry's name, which still puts a big target on his back and nobody will let him touch a forge again because now he's "too important" and working a forge is Beneath A King. He'd hate it. He's got every reason in the world to play dumb.

Agree. He's seen two Hands die for asking questions about him.

[drigoly]

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

Edric Storm is a legitimized Bastard of Robert and even has a highborn mother.