- "There's a ship leaving for Eastwatch-by-the-Sea tonight. From there, I'm afraid it's rather a long walk to Castle Black."
- ―Tyrion Lannister to Janos Slynt
Eastwatch, or Eastwatch-by-the-Sea, is a castle and port located at the far eastern end of the Wall, where the Wall drops into an inlet of the Shivering Sea called the Bay of Seals. Eastwatch-by-the-Sea is one of only three manned castles left on the Wall, along with Castle Black and The Shadow Tower. There are nineteen castles along the Wall, but as their numbers fell over the centuries the Night's Watch had to abandon sixteen of them.
Eastwatch-by-the-Sea serves as the main port for the Night's Watch, as the capital city of King's Landing, as well as the cities of White Harbor and Gulltown, are also located on the eastern coast of the continent.[1]
Known residents
- Cotter Pyke, a bastard of the Iron Islands, commander of the Eastwatch garrison.
- Borcas, head steward of Eastwatch.
- Dareon, a newly-made steward, assigned to Eastwatch.
History
Season 1
Dareon is assigned to the Stewards and Maester Aemon sends him to Eastwatch and ordered to report to Borcas.[2]
Lord Commander Jeor Mormont tells Jon Snow that four of Cotter Pyke's men found four wights in the snow near Eastwatch. Unlike the men at Castle Black, they had the sense to burn them.[3]
Season 2
Tyrion Lannister takes tremendous pleasure in dumping Janos Slynt onto a boat headed for Eastwatch-by-the-Sea.[4]
In the books
In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, Eastwatch-by-the-Sea serves as the main resupply post for the Night's Watch, with ships stopping there from King's Landing, the Free Cities far to the south, the island of Ibben, and even some wildling fisherfolk who are permitted to trade there. There is also some clandestine smuggling going on there, which is tolerated only as far as that it helps the Watch. The Night's Watch possesses a small "fleet" of ships at Eastwatch, but they are not frequently used and thus often left unmanned and tied up at anchor.
Naming
In the novels, the castle is named Eastwatch-by-the-Sea almost constantly. In the TV series, it is called "Eastwatch" the one time it is mentioned in dialogue in the first season, as well as on the map on the HBO website. However, in the second season it was also called "Eastwatch-by-the-Sea" on-screen, indicating that the two terms are interchangeable.