Samwell Tarly

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Samwell Tarly
A Song of Ice and Fire character
File:Samwell Tarly-John Bradley.jpg
John Bradley as Samwell Tarly
First appearance Novel:
A Game of Thrones (1996)
Television:
"Cripples, Bastards, and Broken Things" (2011)
Created by George R. R. Martin
Portrayed by John Bradley
Game of Thrones
Information
Aliases Sam
Sam the Slayer
Family House Tarly
Relatives Randyll Tarly (father)
Melessa Florent (mother)
Dickon Tarly (brother)
Talla Tarly (sister)
Kingdom The Reach
The Wall

Samwell Tarly, called Sam, is a fictional character in the A Song of Ice and Fire series of fantasy novels by American author George R. R. Martin, and its television adaptation Game of Thrones.

Introduced in 1996's A Game of Thrones, Sam is the eldest son of Randyll Tarly, from the fictional kingdom of Westeros. He subsequently appeared in Martin's A Clash of Kings before being a POV character in the later novels.[1]

Sam is portrayed by John Bradley-West in the HBO television adaptation.[2][3][4]

Character description

Samwell Tarly, called 'Sam', is the elder son of Lord Randyll Tarly of Horn Hill. Ten chapters throughout A Storm of Swords and A Feast for Crows are told from his point of view. In spite of his self-professed cowardice, Sam is highly intelligent, resourceful, and loyal. Sam's complete lack of martial abilities and his interest in scholarly pursuits convince his father that he is not a worthy heir and he is forced to join the Night's Watch.

Overview

Samwell Tarly is a point of view character in the novels, as of third novel, A Storm of Swords.[5]

Storylines

A coat of arms showing an empty black field
Coat of arms of the Night's Watch

In the books

He is initially bullied by the other recruits, but befriended by Jon Snow. After taking his vows, Sam is made Maester Aemon's steward and is tasked with taking care of the ravens in A Game of Thrones (1996). He participates in the Great Ranging in place of Aemon in A Clash of Kings (1998). In A Storm of Swords, he slays an Other, discovering their vulnerability to obsidian, and is nicknamed "Sam the Slayer". When the Watch has to choose a new commander, Sam manipulates them into selecting Jon Snow.

At Jon's command in A Feast for Crows, Sam travels to the Citadel to become a maester after which he will return to the Wall. He takes Maester Aemon, Gilly and the son of Mance Rayder with him. During the voyage, he and Gilly become lovers, and Aemon dies of old age after imploring him to find Daenerys Targaryen. He also briefly crosses paths with Arya Stark, but they do not recognise each other. At the end of the novel, Sam reaches the Citadel.

In the show

Early on in the show he becomes Jon's best friend after that Jon conspires with the others in their trainee class to go easy on him. He travels beyond the Wall in place of Aemon and falls in love with Gilly, one of Craster's daughter-wives. Later in Season 2, he finds obsidian "Dragon glass." At the end of the season he becomes a witness to the numerous army of White Walkers and Wights marching to the Fist of the First Men. He manages to escape with a few Night's Watch Men including Lord Commander Jeor Mormont, and they make it back to Craster's Keep. He serves as Maester Aemon's personal steward, but after Aemon dies of old age, he is sent to the Citadel in Oldtown by Lord Commander Jon Snow in order to train as a Maester so that he may better serve the Watch.

Family tree of House Tarly

TV adaptation

Samwell Tarly is played by John Bradley in the television adaption of the series of books.[6]

References

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