Spoilers for all published material are possible, so be wary.
JON
Summary
Jon was showing Dareon and Pyp some moves with a sword, when a new recruit entered the practice yard. It was the fattest boy Jon had ever seen. Ser Alliser sent the new recruit to the armorer, and it took the better part of the morning fitting the armor so it fit the new recruits girth. Ser Alliser christened him "Ser Piggy," and sent Halder, the strongest of the new recruits, to spar with him. The fight lasted less than a minute, and ended with the fat boy on the ground, shaking and bleeding. Ser Alliser ordered him back up, and when he did not rise he instructed Halder to hit him with the flat of his blade until he rose.
Jon walked forward to intervene, and Pyp tried to stop him, but Jon shook him off. Jon told Halder to stop, and Ser Alliser then ordered him to continue. Halder hesitated, then told Ser Alliser that the fat boy had yielded. Ser Alliser ordered Rast and Albett to join Halder, and to attack Ser Piggy, and to go through Jon to do it. Pyp and Grenn joined Jon, to make the fight even. The six men fought, and Jon and his friends were victorious. Disgusted, Ser Alliser ended the practice for the day.
The fat boy helped Jon with his armor, and introduced himself as Samwell Tarly, formerly the heir of Horn Hill. Grenn and Pyp came over, and Grenn wanted to know why Sam didn't get up and fight.
"I wanted to, truly. I just . . . I couldn't. I didn't want him to hit me anymore." He looked at the ground. "I . . . I fear I'm a coward. My lord father always said so."
Grenn looked thunderstruck. Even Pyp had no words to say to that, and Pyp had words for everything. What sort of man would proclaim himself a coward?The boys then split up, each to do their afternoon chores. Jon was to take crushed gravel and scatter it over the icy paths on the Wall. As Jon walked, Ghost beside him, he thought of Samwell Tarly, and of Tyrion. Tyrion had said most men would rather deny a hard truth than face it. There were many cravens who pretended to be heroes, but it took a different kind of courage to admit cowardice.
Jon finished his work, and entered the hall for dinner late. He saw his friends, and heard Pyp telling a story, but then saw Sam sitting alone. Jon and Ghost walked to Sam's table and joined him. Jon asked Sam to go outside and walk with him. As they walked Sam admitted to being afraid of hunting, afraid of heights, and hating the cold, and he began to cry. Jon didn't know what to do, until Ghost came up and began licking the tears from Sam's face. They laughed at this and sat and began to talk. Jon told Sam of Winterfell, and a dream he had been having. He is going through Winterfell, looking for someone (he isn't sure who), and yells and yells but never finds who he is looking for, and never sees anyone. His dream always ends when he is walking down the dark stairs to the crypt.
It was Sam's turn to talk, and he told Jon the story of how he ended up at the Wall. His father was embarrassed by him, and his craven ways. He meant for his second son to be the heir, and told Sam that Sam would have "an accident" if he didn't join the Watch and make way for Lord Tarly's second son to be the heir. Sam was afraid to practice sword fighting again, knowing that Ser Alliser would likely continue forcing him to fight. Jon wanted Sam to come back to dinner with him, but Sam went to bed instead. Jon returned to the hall, and talked to his friends about Sam. He outlined his plan, and through convincing, threatening, cajoled, or shamed them all to agreeing. First Pyp, then Halder, then Grenn, and then the rest... all except for Rast. That night, Jon, Grenn, and Pyp visited Rast in his bed, and held him down as Ghost leaped onto his chest. Rast fell in line, and none of the boys did any harm to Sam when they practiced, no matter how much Ser Alliser shouted.
Sam came to Jon shortly after, and thanked him for whatever he did. He told Jon he had never had a friend before, and Jon corrected him. They weren't friends, they were brothers. Jon thought then, that it was true, Sam, Pyp, Halder, and Grenn were all his true brothers. He may dream of Winterfell, but Castle Black was his home.
My Thoughts
This chapter was a nice 'slice of life' type chapter, showing what it is like to live at Castle Black and serve with the Night's Watch. Samwell Tarly finally joins our party, and Jon meets what will soon be his closest friend.
Other than establishing Sam's past, we don't have much plot progression here. What we do get is character progression. We saw the beginning of Jon asserting a leadership role last time, and we already see the dividends it has paid. Grenn, and Halder, and Pyp hated Lord Snow, and now they were his closest friends. Halder listens to Jon over the Master-at-Arms, and Grenn and Pyp are quick to leap to his aid. In fact, all of the members of the Watch in training (except Rast) follow Jon's lead, and Rast does too after he is put in line.
It would have been easy for Samwell to remain an outcast, until he was eventually killed through the arduous training, or even by taking his own life. Sam is a pretty depressed guy, a father that hates him, and being sent to the Wall of all places. A young, soft boy who has never seen snow, now forced to live the rest of his days at the edge of the earth? But Jon shows his charisma, his leadership, and just his good nature, by seeking Sam out and bringing him into the group. At this early stage it is already very easy to see that Jon would ascend to Lord Commander one day.
Also, Ghost is awesome.
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And that's it for tonight. Hopefully my work hours get put back to normal so I can do my normal two posts a night. What did everyone else think?
How come all the good stories have a fat defenseless kid?
ReplyDeleteSUCKS TO YOUR ASS-MAR!