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Although this page is based on canonical information, the actual name of this subject is pure conjecture.
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- "Let me stand at least. Let me go with a bit of dignity."
- ―The old man to Tormund
An old man resided in the Gift.
Biography[]
Background[]
The old man breeds horses for the Night's Watch. In return, the Watch protects him from horse thieves.[1]
Game of Thrones: Season 3[]
Orell wargs and notes that the old man has eight good horses, gold, and some proper steel. The gang wants to kill the old man, but Jon objects.[1]
As they make a run for his farm, Jon deliberately hits a stone with his sword to warn the old man. The sound agitates his horses and the man comes outside. Seeing the raiders coming, he climbs onto a horse and attempts to flee again, aided by Jon who stops Ygritte from firing at him. The wildlings continue their pursuit, and he is eventually cornered and apprehended from his dying horse. Surrounded by the wildlings, he draws a knife, but is convinced by Tormund to hand it over. After being interrogated and saying it doesn't matter where he was going, Orell says they should kill him.[1]
As Tormund draws his sword, the man asks to let him stand up, so he can die with some dignity, which Tormund accepts respectfully. Orell suggests that Jon should kill him, to prove he is one of them. Since Jon cannot bring himself to, Ygritte shoots an arrow at the old man, killing him.[1]
In the books[]
In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, the old man appears to be a traveller, not a resident of Queenscrown. He does not breed horses and has no ties to the Night's Watch.
The Thenns find the old man sitting by a fire inside roofless inn. They take his horse and loot his saddlebags. Styr orders Jon to kill him. The old man does not try to fight or escape. He says nothing, just looks at Jon in accusation and appeal. Jon knows that the old man is doomed in any case; there is nothing Jon can say or do to save him; refusing to kill him will blow Jon's cover and may cost his life, while many people depend on his safe return to Castle Black; yet Jon's conscience does not let him kill harmless innocent person.
Ygritte urges Jon to kill the old man, to prove that he is no crow, but one of the Free Folk, but Jon still refuses. Styr says "I see a crow and a crow wife". Ygritte shouts "I'm no crow wife!", snatches her knife and slits the old man's throat, yelling at Jon "You know nothing!". Styr says something in the Old Tongue that might have been telling the Thenns to kill Jon, but then Summer appears and attacks the Thenns. In the confusion, Jon fights and kills several of the Thenns, jumps on the old man's mare and rides away. One of the wildlings (perhaps Ygritte) shoots an arrow at Jon, hitting him at his right thigh, but he does not stop.
Appearances[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Game of Thrones: Season 3, Episode 9: "The Rains of Castamere" (2013).
Notes[]
- ↑ In "Winter Is Coming," which takes place in 298 AC, Sansa Stark tells Cersei Lannister that she is 13 years old and Bran Stark tells Jaime Lannister that he is 10 years old. Arya Stark was born between Sansa and Bran, making her either 11 or 12 in Season 1. The rest of the Stark children have been aged up by 2 years from their book ages, so it can be assumed that she is 11 in Season 1. Arya is 18 in Season 8 according to HBO, which means at least 7 years occur in the span of the series; therefore, each season of Game of Thrones must roughly correspond to a year in-universe, placing the events of Season 3 in 300 AC.