Rast

Rast
Biographical information
Died	301 AC in the Haunted Forest Savaged by Ghost after the Raid on Craster's Keep
World of Westeros
Season(s)	1, 3, 4
Appeared in	12 episodes (see below)
First seen in	"The Kingsroad"
Last seen in	"First of His Name"
Died in	"First of His Name"
Portrayed by	Luke Barnes

"Run fast, Piggy! And sleep well! I'll be cutting your throat one of these nights!"

―Rast to Samwell Tarly

Rast was a ranger in the Night's Watch, and takes part in the Great Ranging beyond the Wall. Though he is disliked for bullying and his past as a raper, he is generally treated patiently by Jon Snow, Grenn, Pyp and Eddison Tollett, until he betrays the Night's Watch in the Mutiny at Craster's Keep. Instead of helping defend Craster's Keep with the rest of the Mutineers, Rast instead flees the ongoing battle, allowing his former brothers to be massacred by the Night's Watch before being mauled to death by Ghost, the same animal he tormented.

Biography

Background

Rast was forced to join the Night's Watch after being arrested for rape. He chose to take the black over the alternate punishment, castration.

Season 1

Rast and another new forced recruit join Benjen Stark and Tyrion Lannister's party as it travels to the Wall, escorted by Night's Watch recruiter Yoren. Tyrion talks to Jon Snow about them being rapers, and how Jon had expected the Night's Watch to be made of honorable men, like his uncle Benjen. Jon Snow beats Rast and two other recruits, Grenn and Pypar, in the training yard at Castle Black, leading to Rast, Grenn and Pypar threatening Jon in the armory. He, along with the other two, is encouraged to leave by Tyrion. Jon later begins training the Night's Watch recruits in the art of combat, earning Pypar and Grenn's respect, but not Rast's.

Alliser and Rast bully Sam.

Rast is happy to fulfil Ser Alliser Thorne's commands to humiliate Samwell Tarly on his arrival at Castle Black. Jon convinces Pypar and Grenn to go easy on Samwell, but Rast refuses to go along. He says if Ser Alliser puts him up to fight Ser Piggy, he will slice himself off a side of bacon. Jon has his direwolf Ghost threaten him. Rast wakes to find Ghost sitting on his chest with teeth bared, while Jon reminds him that they know where he sleeps. Afterwards, he refuses to beat Samwell, despite Ser Alliser's commands. Rast is assigned to serve in the rangers.

He is later present with Jon, Sam, Grenn and Pyp at the burning of a wight, and shows signs of worry when Sam wonders whether or not the Wall will be enough to stop the White Walkers should they awaken from their slumber. Later on, Jon comes into the dining hall having just been given Longclaw by Jeor Mormont. All of the recruits are excited and asking to see it, chanting the word "sword", but Rast watches from the back table with a look of envy. He takes part in Mormont's Great Ranging beyond the Wall.

Season 3

Rast is forced to be Sam's guardian.

Rast survives the White Walkers' attack on the Fist of the First Men, and regroups with the remaining survivors as the ranging attempts to pull back to the Wall. As the Night's Watch survivors march back south, Rast taunts an exhausted and demoralized Sam, causing him to collapse. Despite having the chance to go ahead with the survivors, Rast remains behind and attempts to persuade Grenn and Eddison Tollett to leave Sam behind lest they all die. Angry at being held back by them, Lord Commander Mormont commands Sam not to die and Rast to keep him alive, under penalty of death. Rast grudgingly accepts, unprepared to die for Sam.

Rast betrays Jeor.

After reaching Craster's Keep, Rast urges Grenn and Edd that they are not safe here, and that Craster is not to be trusted. Following the funeral of their brother Bannen, Rast is visibly angered and blames Bannen's death on Craster starving him. Inside the Keep, tensions are starting to run high among the Night's Watch, as Craster starts berating them. When Craster openly suggests that they should kill their wounded or simply let them be killed by Craster himself, an aggravated brother of the Night's Watch, Karl, steps forward stating that they're being fed with nothing but bread cut with sawdust, and demands to know where he keeps his hidden larder. Rast joins in on the accusations calling him a "stingy bastard". Enraged, Craster picks up an axe and threatens to chop the hands off the next man to call him a "bastard". Lord Commander Mormont grabs Rast by the shoulder to lead him out the doorway, when Karl challenges Craster by calling him a "daughter-fucking, wildling bastard". Drunk and enraged, Craster leaps towards Karl with his axe. Karl manages to grab Craster's axe with his left arm before Craster manages to swing it. Karl then uses his right arm to shove a dagger up Craster's throat, killing him. Lord Commander Mormont bellows that the gods will curse them for this as Karl just broke one of the most the ancient and sacred traditions in all of the Seven Kingdoms, the guest right, but Karl ignores this and reminds Mormont they are not in the Seven Kingdoms.

When Karl proceeds to threaten one of Craster's daughters, Commander Mormont draws his sword and threatens to have Karl executed. Karl releases the girl but suddenly Rast literally stabs the Lord Commander in the back, making him drop his sword. Grenn tackles Karl and a mutiny begins. Mortally wounded but alive, the enraged Lord Commander lifts Rast off the ground with his bare right hand. He hurls him up towards a wall, nearly succeeding in choking him to death before he starts to choke on his own blood. As the Lord Commander falls to the ground, Rast catches his breath before picking up a knife and repeatedly starts stabbing the Lord Commander until he is dead.

As Sam runs away with Gilly, Rast shouts that he may run for now but that he will eventually find him and cut his throat. 

Season 4

Rast is still with the entrenched Betrayers at Craster's Keep but even though he helped Karl earlier by killing Mormont, Karl shows Rast no gratitude or respect and is verbally abusive toward him. Karl orders him to "feed the beast". Rast proposes they should just kill the direwolf, angering Karl because he is not following orders. At the same time, one of Craster's wives enters with Craster's last son, insisting the infant must be given as a "gift to the gods". On Karl's order, Rast leaves the infant on a patch of open ground, then deals with the beast - Ghost, who the mutineers have caged, and whom Rast taunts by withholding food and water. Suddenly, a snowstorm whips up and the temperature drops, causing the water Rast was taunting Ghost with to freeze. Recognizing the approach of White Walkers, Rast flees.

Later, when Summer falls into a trap set by the mutineers, Bran and his companions are taken captive by the mutineers. Rast joins his fellow mutineers in tormenting Hodor and stabs him in the leg with a spear, but chastises him for not fighting back despite his immense size. Bran reveals his identity to Karl when he threatens Meera and Jojen. Knowing Jon Snow, Rast confirms that Bran is his brother.

​When Jon Snow and his allies attack Craster's Keep, it is Rast who alerts Karl of their arrival. However, Rast flees from the raid and is later killed by Ghost, who has been freed from his cage.

Personality

Rast is a former raper who was offered the choice between joining the Night's Watch or facing castration, choosing the former. While he is fearful of those stronger than him, he misses no chance to bully those who are weaker. When Jon trains his fellow recruits in swordsmanship, Rast jumps at the opportunity to bully the overweight and defenseless Samwell Tarly on Alliser Thorne's orders, stopping only when he is threatened by Jon, Grenn and Pyp with dire consequences if he touches Sam again.

Despite these traits, Rast is not without scruples. Even though he has contempt for Sam for his cowardice and for surviving the Battle at the Fist of the First Men when braver rangers fought and died, he becomes friends with Sam's friends Grenn and Dolorous Edd. He likes Grenn and Edd enough to urge them to leave the exhausted Sam behind since he thinks they will all die of hypothermia if they do not but does not go on ahead of them even though he has the chance. At Craster's Keep, he is visibly angered when his fellow ranger Bannen dies of starvation and stands up to Craster for this, and it is this anger at that injustice that drives him to kill Lord Commander Mormont when he threatens to have ranger Karl Tanner executed for murdering Craster, even though it was self-defense. After the ensuing mutiny, Rast is visibly uncomfortable under Karl's rule and appears to be the only one trying to be gentle with Craster's daughter-wives, who are being beaten and raped by the other mutineers.

Quotes

Spoken by Rast

Samwell Tarly: "I've come to take the black."

Rast: "Come to take the black pudding!"

— Rast to Jon Snow, Grenn and Pyp about Samwell Tarly.

"If I was your size, I'd be king of the fucking world."

―Rast to Hodor

"You are in love, Lord Snow. You girls can do as you please. But if Thorne puts me up against Lady Piggy, I'm gonna slice me off a side of bacon."

―Rast to Jon Snow

Rast: "He's sitting there, drinking our wine and eating his fill while we die!"

Craster: "I gave you crows enough. I've got to feed my women!"

Rast: "So you admit you've got a hidden larder then? How else would you make it through winter?"

— Rast confronts Craster.

"You're a stingy bastard!"

―Rast to Craster

Spoken about Rast

"You look like a fuckin' ballsack. Ugly looking stupid cunt-face. I could piss in any gutter and soak five of you. "

―Karl Tanner to Rast

Appearances

Template:Season One Appearances Template:Season Three Appearances Template:Season Four Appearances

Image gallery

Night's Watch recruits rest on the road with Tyrion Lannister in "Kingsroad".

Rast training under Ser Alliser Thorne in "Cripples, Bastards and Broken Things".

The living remains of the Night's Watch after the fight with Wights and White Walkers, in "Valar Dohaeris".

In the books

In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, Rast was sent to the Wall after being accused of rape. He chose to take the black rather than face execution. While being trained as a ranger, he becomes an acquaintance of Jon Snow and Samwell Tarly. In contrast to the TV series, Rast doesn't take part in the Great Ranging Beyond the Wall. While the books mention that Rast and the group of rapers he was sent to the Wall with came from the Fingers region of the Vale of Arryn, the show apparently showcases him as a northman.

In the books, it was not Rast but Ollo Lophand who stabs Mormont in the stomach when the mutiny breaks out.

When Jon returns to Castle Black, Rast and several more of the defenders think that he is a turncloak. While some of them just turn away from Jon, Rast gives him an occasional nasty look. During the battle, the wildlings mount the stair and push back the defenders, killing some of them. Rast is among the casualties: he is killed when a Thenn drives a spear into his stomach. 

See also

• Rast on A Wiki of Ice and Fire (spoilers from the books)
• Ollo Lophand on A Wiki of Ice and Fire (spoilers from the books)

References

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