History
Gilly was born beyond the Wall, the product of an incestuous marriage between her father Craster and one of his own daughters. In time, Craster married Gilly as well, and she gave him a son.
As you can already tell, Craster wasn’t a pleasant person. In addition to being an incestuous polygamist, he sacrificed his sons to the White Walkers. Gilly, eager to save her son from a similar fate, fled Craster’s Keep with Sam after mutinous Night’s Watchmen killed Craster and Jeor Mormont, the then-Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch. They made their way to Castle Black together, where Gilly stayed over the next couple of seasons. However, with so many former criminals in the Night’s Watch, Castle Black wasn’t a safe place for either of them, and Sam took Gilly and her son, named Little Sam, south with him when he left for Oldtown to become a maester.
Over the course of their relationship, Gilly, Sam, and Little Sam have become a family unit — Sam may not be Little Sam’s actual father, but he serves that role. Last we saw them, they had all arrived safely at the Citadel in Oldtown.
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Status
Now that Sam will be busy with his studies, it’s unclear what Gilly and Little Sam will do in their new home. However, with Sam’s help, Gilly has been learning to read, and now has access to plenty of books she can use to practice.