A Song of Ice and Fire Wiki
Register
Advertisement
House Tarly
Night's-Watch-Shield-Icon

Samwell Tarly, often called Sam, Ser Piggy or Sam the Slayer, is the eldest son and child of Lord Randyll Tarly and his wife, Lady Melessa Florent. He serves as a steward of the Night's Watch.

Appearance and Character[]

Samwell Tarly is a tall but immensely fat and overweight young man with messy dark hair, small pale eyes and a very large, moon-shaped face. With a high and squeaky voice and a weak disposition, Sam has been scorned his entire life for being fat and cowardly. Despite all this, and in spite of his fear of violence, Sam is deceptively strong.

Sam, at first, is a coward. He has had this opinion beaten into him to such an extent that he outright admits it to his fellow recruits when he arrives at Castle Black, which shocks everyone present as no man among them would have it in them to admit being a coward. Sam is afraid of height, of the dark, and of so many other things that Jon Snow is alarmed that he came to join the Watch in the first place. He has grown to be terrified of his father, of combat, and of the prospect of being made to fight in general. However, after protracted time at the Wall, he has become immensely brave, killing an Other and even participating in combat on several occasions. His assertiveness has also grown drastically, to the point that he doesn't suffer tormentors gladly anymore.

Sam is also extremely loyal and highly intelligent; he forms close friendships when allowed to, as is the case with Jon Snow. He is utterly mindful of his vows to the Night's Watch, even though he develops a romantic relationship with Gilly. He is also disgusted by acts of dishonour or cruelty when he sees it with his own eyes, and cares about those who show him kindness. For this reason, he becomes much more respected among his sworn brothers as time progresses. Sam is a keen and studious reader and an exceptionally clever individual, which even Jon Snow recognises soon after meeting him; this is one of the reasons he becomes so invaluable to Maester Aemon, and one of the reasons they grow so close.

History[]

Samwell was the first child of Lord Randyll Tarly and his wife Melessa Florent. Lord Randyll was regarded as one of the finest military commanders in the Seven Kingdoms and he did everything in his power to raise Samwell into what he deemed a proper heir. Unfortunately, Samwell resisted every effort and failed to meet his father's expectations.

He was sent to the Arbor as a page, but the Redwyne twins (Hobber and Horas) bullied him, and Lord Paxter sent him back to Horn Hill where a dozen masters-at-arms proceeded to fail at toughening Samwell. There were many attempts to strengthen Samwell's disposition such as dressing him in his mother's clothes, forcing him to sleep in chainmail, and being bathed in aurochs blood by Qartheen warlocks, but each failed to raise his valor.

After Lady Melessa bore her husband three girls, Samwell's brother Dickon was born. Dickon Tarly showed promise that Samwell lacked, including the physical vigor Lord Randyll had tried to instill in his older son. As a result, Randyll's attentions turned towards raising his more promising younger son to take his place instead of Samwell. For some time Randyll allowed Samwell to enjoy his music, food, and other soft pursuits, but Randyll forbade his son from traveling to Oldtown to become a Maester.

When Sam finally reached maturity, his father told him that he was not worthy of their house's ancestral sword. Randall then told Samwell to join the Night's Watch and renounce his family name so that he would not stand in the way of his younger brother's inheritance. If he refused to do so, Randyll promised that Samwell would then suffer an "unfortunate hunting accident". Having no other choice, Samwell chose to take the black of the Night's Watch.

Books[]

A Game of Thrones[]

Upon Sam's arrival at Castle Black, he is first fitted for new armour by Donal Noye. He is then sent into a training fight against Halder by Ser Alliser Thorne, who mercilessly mocks him. After being knocked to the ground quickly, Sam yields, but Ser Alliser urges Halder to press the attack, using the flat of his blade, which hurts Sam. Jon Snow then intervenes, putting himself between Sam and Halder. Alliser then sends Rast and Albett against Jon, who ends up being supported by Grenn and Pypar, and Jon and his companions easily dispatch of their opponents. Afterwards, Sam confesses to being a craven, much to Grenn's disapproval.

That night, Jon takes Sam outside, and the two of them talk, with Sam getting close to Ghost, who allows him to stroke his fur. Sam tells Jon the story of his father bullying him into joining the Night's Watch. Jon tries to get Sam to join him in the common room, but Sam instead heads to bed. Afterwards, Jon convinces the other recruits into taking it easy on Sam, although he has to threaten Rast to do so.

When Jon and many of their other friends are elected to graduate from training, Sam is sad to be left behind. Fearing what Ser Alliser may do to him, Jon visits Maester Aemon, and suggests that Sam would make a good assistant. Sam is then allowed to graduate from training, and replaces Chett in Aemon's service. He makes his vow to the Watch in front of the heart tree north of the wall, despite House Tarly holding the Faith of the Seven.

A Feast for Crows[]

Samwell is sent away by Jon with Gilly, her son and Maester Aemon. They are escorted by Black Jack Bulwer to Eastwatch-by-the-Sea. Jon wants Sam to travel to Oldtown, to train to be a Maester and succeed Aemon as the Maester at Castle Black.

Advertisement