We’ve been hit with a myriad of Game of Thrones Season 7 filming spoilers of late, with pics and video flowing in from Spain almost faster than we can catalog it. One of them involves a character not seen in seasons interacting with some major players in Westerosi politics. I’d like to discuss his future.
However, before we continue, be forewarned: There will be SPOILERS in this post, so please tread lightly if you wish to follow the path of Jon Snow and know nothing.
The character I’m talking about is, of course, Gendry Waters. Back in Season 3, he was at Dragonstone. Melisandre was going to sacrifice him to the Lord of Light, but Davos Seaworth intervened, freeing him from the castle’s prison. Last we saw him, Gendry was rowing a boat away from Dragonstone in the Season 3 finale.
Gendry was one of King Robert Baratheon’s many bastard sons. He lived in the Flea Bottom district of King’s Landing, working as an apprentice in a smithy where he showed great skill in forging armor. Lord Eddard Stark, investigating the death of the former King of the Hand, Jon Arryn, discovered Gendry and instantly recognized his resemblance to King Robert. When Robert was fatally injured during a boar hunt, Lord Stark had the foresight to request that Yoren of the Night’s Watch take Gendry out of King’s Landing in order to save him from Joffrey’s purge of King Robert’s many bastards.
The ploy worked, and Gendry headed north, not realizing how close he’d come to danger. Along the way, he and Arya Stark became friends, and were taken as captives together to Harenhal, which was under Lannister control at the time. After escaping, Gendry and Arya were taken captive by the Brotherhood Without Banners, to which Gendry eventually pledged his service as the group’s blacksmith.
At this point, Gendry’s story took an important turn. Melisandre learned of his existence. Wanting to make help Stannis achieve his goals, she offered the Brotherhood sacks of gold and took Gendry back to Dragonstone, intending to make use of his precious kingsblood via a ritual sacrifice. And here is where we come to Gendry fleeing the island fortress in a boat, never to be seen again.
The unanswered question of Gendry’s location has been a much-discussed mystery among Game of Thrones fans. It’s even been turned into a myriad of hilarious memes that actor Joe Dempsie actually commented on. But now, thanks to leaks from the Season 7 set, we know that Gendry is no longer rowing. In fact, he made it to King’s Landing. We first learned of Gendry’s return in a video posted to YouTube by user Streetanger.
In the video, Gendry shows up and seemingly rescues Davos Seaworth and Tyrion Lannister from two Gold Cloaks on the shoreline of King’s Landing. Oh, and look: just like his father King Robert Baratheon, Gendry is swinging a hammer.
The real question here is: Why is Davos in King’s Landing? Was he simply smuggling Tyrion in so that he could try and talk to his brother Jaime? Or is Davos’ mission twofold, and he’s there to convince Gendry to come back to Dragonstone and meet the Dragon Queen? Taking this a step further: Why would Davos want to bring Gendry to meet Daenerys? The only experience Dany has with House Baratheon is running most of her life from the Usurper’s assassins.
What if Davos, a skilled negotiator, has convinced Daenerys—or rather Tyrion, Dany’s Hand of the Queen and voice of reason—that it would be beneficial to legitimize Robert’s sole surviving bastard? As far as we know, Gendry is the last living Baratheon. By legitimizing him and installing him as the Lord of Storm’s End, Dany could bring the Stormlands into the fold and gain more allies in her quest for the Iron Throne.
If you’re thinking that this all sounds like a lot of wishful thinking, then you only need to look as far as one the latest photos of filming in Zumaia, Spain, where scenes at Dragonstone are being filmed.
That’s Gendry wearing all the trappings of the lord of a great House of Westeros. Are we looking at Lord Gendry Baratheon of House Baratheon, Lord Paramount of the Stormlands? What other reason would he have for being outfitted in such a way?
For Daenerys to once again ally House Targaryen with House Baratheon would actually bring the story of these two great Houses, full circle. When Aegon the Targaryen conquered the Seven Kingdoms, he placed his close adviser, and rumored bastard brother, in Storm’s End, after he defeated House Durrandon, rendering that great House extinct. So the Targaryens and Baratheons had a history of working together before Robert and Rhaegar went and ruined everything. And if the rumors of Orys Baratheon’s parentage are true, House Baratheon was brought to power in Westeros through the line of a bastard. How fitting.
h/t Westeros.org