Gared is a ranger of the Night's Watch.
Appearance[]
Gared is past fifty. He lost both ears, three toes and the little finger of his left hand to the cold.[1] Old and scrawny,[2] he is considered an experienced ranger.[3] Gared is known to make fun of Ser Waymar Royce because of the fine clothes the inexperienced lordling wears.[1]
History[]
Gared joined the Night's Watch as a boy and spent forty years as a ranger. When Gared's ears had frostbite one winter, Maester Aemon had to cut them off.[1]
Shortly before A Song of Ice and Fire starts, Gared, Will, and Ser Waymar Royce were sent ranging into the haunted forest by Jeor Mormont, Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, in search of a band of wildling raiders. Jeor gave the command to Waymar, although he was the least experienced of the three, whereas Jeor counted Gared and Will among his best men. However, Waymar felt it was his due to have a command because he was a knight, and the Lord Commander accepted because he did not want to offend Waymar's father, Lord Yohn Royce.[3]
Recent Events[]
A Game of Thrones[]
Gared, Will, and Ser Waymar Royce follow the wildlings, finding them dead on the ninth day. Gared wants to return to the Wall, but Waymar insists they discover what killed the wildlings. Gared says he can feel that something is wrong, but Waymar dismisses the suggestion. He mocks the experienced ranger repeatedly, making Gared increasingly angry. Waymar orders Gared to remain with the horses while he and Will walk the last part. Waymar refuses to allow Gared to make a fire. After Waymar is slain by Others, the knight rises as a wight and kills Will.[1]
A terrified Gared deserts the Night's Watch and flees south of the Wall, but he is arrested outside a small holdfast in the hills near Winterfell. He is questioned by Lord Eddard Stark, but Eddard's words do not reach the ragged and distraught Gared.[2]
For his desertion, Gared is sentenced to death by Eddard, who performs the beheading himself with the greatsword Ice in accordance with the traditions of the First Men. Afterwards, Theon Greyjoy laughs and kicks Gared's head when it lands near his feet, provoking Jon Snow's disapproval.[2]Eddard sends Gared's head to Jeor Mormont, Lord Commander of the Night's Watch.[3]
While Jeor tells Tyrion Lannister about the conditions on the Wall, he mentions the ranging on which Will and Waymar went missing. Jeor laments giving the command to someone as inexperienced as Waymar. Jeor mentions that Gared had been longer at the Wall than himself and that he would never have believed the man would turn.[3]
A Clash of Kings[]
Craster tells Jeor that the three rangers stopped at Craster's Keep during their search for raiders.[4]