IAmNobody Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 It will take ages for Sam to forge his maester's chain. At least a couple of years. Will Sam's PoV move away from the Citadel? Will he rush to the Wall when he hears of Jon's death/resurrection? Or will we get to see more Sarella, Pate/Jaqen and old windbag Maesters? Is that Sam's purpose now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koekfabriek Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 We dont know what the timefram is going to be in the next book, maybe it is going to cover a few years cosidering winter start kicking in and travel etc goes a lot slower. So maybe Sam is a maester at the end of TWOW, or he is very gifted and already learned because of his work for maester Aemon and all his reading. I think it is up to GRRM what is going to happen and without information on how many years the book is going to cover we have no idea what is going to happen. One book to cover a few years would also help to get all the stark kids a little bit older. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bright Blue Eyes Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 Well, a reasonable timeframe to forge a chain for the average novice joining the Citadel seems to be ~10 years (there are some maesters in their early twenties).Sam has a headstart, Randyll Tarly educated him well in matters of warfare and economics, he educated himself well in other subjects with help of the Tarly maester. Then, Sam served Maester Aemon and got better with the ravens than Clydas with his 30-odd years experience, most likely he improved in other subjects as well.When he joins the Citadel, he could probably forge four or five links in his first week and be far along in a lot of other subjects. By and large, medicine and magic seem to be the subjects he needs most without being aready well-versed.On top, he is a prodigy student and really, really motivated.I presume him to finish his chain in two or three years after arriving in the Citadel, which is already some time ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The BlackBear Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 Jon just seems to be looking ahead. What he wants is maesters now, so has requested they are sent. Sam will take a while to forge one yes, but bear in mind the others have been lurking around the wall for thousands of years, and seem to be really quite slothful even in the recent books.I suspect Sam's storyline will be involved in the politics, secrets and importantly dragon sentiment within the citadel, of which we've only just been given hints. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Manticore Knight Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 One question: how many links does a novice needs to make to be considered a maester? IIRC, some Maesters have more chain links than others, so apparently the chain doesn't need to be complete to one be called Maester(and I believe not many Masters have the Valyryan link) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The BlackBear Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 One question: how many links does a novice needs to make to be considered a maester? IIRC, some Maesters have more chain links than others, so apparently the chain doesn't need to be complete to one be called Maester(and I believe not many Masters have the Valyryan link)I'm not sure there is an exact number. I suspect there are certain ones which must be done: like healing, warfare, ravenry, economics etc. There are a fair few as your chain has to fit round your neck. So each maester might have more expertise in certain areas, but all will meet a certain 'citadel standard.'But we also know you can have more of one link of the same metal, which symbolises doing a higher level of it, sort of like GCSE English then A level english (apologies if you don't get this using the british system.) And we don't know how many levels of each type there is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrew_ Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 hmm I doubt Sam will ever forge a chain considering Martin's tendency to throw spanners in long term plans, such as cersei's plan to send ned to the wall, robb planning on retaking the north, Jon planning on assigning some fortresses along the wall with wildlings as part of his larger plan to defend the realm from the whitewalkers and danny's plan for peace with the yunkai. There are many more instances where things don't go to plan in aSoIaF so I very much doubt Sam will finish his chain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lokisnow Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 depends if Sam is allowed to stand for exams right away, I imagine he could pass a few and get some links right away. The internal politics of the Citadel probably do not allow this and if Sam wanted to do so he'd just make himself a target. He's going to have an experience similar to the one that he had at the wall, only without Jon to protect him. Other, older students who recognize how good he is will try to undermine him at every step. And the maester professors at the citadel have cushy appointments and agendas to protect, Sam is likely a threat to all that, particularly if he makes the mistake (very likely) of challenging any of them in class. I doubt he'll forge a single link and will make his way back north on a 'recruiting' trip ala Yoren. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arataniello Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 I imagine that the original plan was for Sam to graduate, or at least gain several links of his chain, in the infamous five year gap that has now disappeared from the series' timeline. On the other hand, there is nothing to say that GRRM's plan for Sam was to ever have hime GET his maester's chain - it is simply Jon's wish/plan for Sam. Having Sam in Oldtown may be all that the plot/GRRM requires. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qixoticneurotic Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 sam was the protege of the oldest living maester Aemon Targaryen. i dont know that he, or the readers really have seen the full function of that. i expect him to excel quickly while the establishment tries to humble him. on the wall a man gets what hes earned and i see him recieving quite a bit of "life study credits"also note that hes introduced in oldtown with a splinter group of intellectual radicals. marwyn is departing soon and if conflict arises i wouldnt be surprised to see sam in a leadership role. black sam the slayer hardened by the wall, slimmer through poverty and daily exercise (rowing) cuts quite a different figure then samwell's original introduction at the wall.its also his plotline. the death maester aemon and his encounter with gilly are sam "becoming a man" the man jon saw is the one showing up at oldtown and i cant wait to see how the grey sheep try to reign him in Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
intheswamp Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 I think you need to have enough links to wear it around your neck to be a maester. I'm not sure they have enough areas of study to make a chain long enough to fit around Sam's blubber. :/Sam will probably be leaving the Citadel at some point in Winds. Maybe, something happens to Oldtown or the Hightowers, he visits somewhere else in the Reach (his home or Highgarden), his father joins Aegon, his heart breaks when he hears his BBF has been stabbed, he learns some game-changing secret about the maesters, the faceless man gets him mixed up in things, he runs off with the Sphinx/Sand Snake, etc... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cynthia Snow Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 Sam has a headstart, Randyll Tarly educated him well in matters of warfare and economics, he educated himself well in other subjects with help of the Tarly maesterWell it mentions in Pate's prologue that Alleras earned three links in a year. Assuming that Alleras is Sarella Sand, Sam would have received much of the same education as him/her, considering they both had noble parents. That makes me think that even though the novices from noble backgrounds have much education already, they still have to go farther than average to make a chain link. It could be argued that Sam's super smart, but Sarella is posing as a man, surrounded by other men of great learning, and is the daughter of the BAMF Oberyn, so I'd think she's also of above average intelligence. Since three links in a year seems impressive, I'd expect it typically takes years to forge a full chain. I hadn't thought of it before, but I agree with some previous posters that something may come up before Sam becomes a maester that takes him away from the Citadel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cynthia Snow Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 Well I looked up Alleras on the wiki, and I've dug a hole through my own theory- According to the wiki, Alleras claims not to be noble's son. So maybe Alleras/Sarella couldn't knock certain links out of the way immediately because she had to appear as though she had not been educated as thoroughly as a noble child would have been. So that makes the idea of getting a number of links out of the way quickly due to prior knowledge more understandable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dragon has three heads Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 This is on if my concerns as well as aryas age, brans age etcWith Marwyn leaving it seems sams real reason for being at the citadel is to give us an insight into what they're about and how crooked they really are. Given that two-max three-years have passed since the start of book one It seems like the younger stark children will be too young to have any real power and at best speed Sam will take a year to become a maester... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winds of Winter blow cold Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 Well I looked up Alleras on the wiki, and I've dug a hole through my own theory- According to the wiki, Alleras claims not to be noble's son. So maybe Alleras/Sarella couldn't knock certain links out of the way immediately because she had to appear as though she had not been educated as thoroughly as a noble child would have been. So that makes the idea of getting a number of links out of the way quickly due to prior knowledge more understandable.I thought you had to be a noble even if a bastard to join! Isn't that what it says when you Wiki 'The Citadel'? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The BlackBear Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 I thought you had to be a noble even if a bastard to join! Isn't that what it says when you Wiki 'The Citadel'?If it does it's wrong. Pate was a novice (admittedly an awful one) and he was in no way noble. You're likely to get more nobles though, if only because peasants need every son, and nobles often have so many it's a drain on your wealth, Loras joining the KG is an example. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bright Blue Eyes Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 This is on if my concerns as well as aryas age, brans age etcWith Marwyn leaving it seems sams real reason for being at the citadel is to give us an insight into what they're about and how crooked they really are. Given that two-max three-years have passed since the start of book one It seems like the younger stark children will be too young to have any real power and at best speed Sam will take a year to become a maester...Close to four years in fact.I thought you had to be a noble even if a bastard to join! Isn't that what it says when you Wiki 'The Citadel'?Not at all, see Pate the pigboy. It's just more likely. And the wiki is full of misinformation and opinions, not reliable at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dragon has three heads Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 ^my point exactly.4 years? How is him going to the citadel anything but a plot device. Chain or no, he's there for the reader to learn things not necessarily complete his training. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dragon has three heads Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 Also, "Too old, too old to complete the training". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The BlackBear Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 Fear is the Path to the Grey side. Fear leads to Disinheritance, Disinheritance leads to the wall, the wall leads to the Citadel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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