- "If you want to run away south, run away. Of course, they will behead you as a deserter... if I don't catch you first."
- ―Ser Waymar to Will.
Ser Waymar Royce is a minor character in the first season, appearing only in the series premiere, "Winter is Coming". He was portrayed by Rob Ostlere. He was a sworn brother of the Night's Watch who was killed by White Walkers.
Biography
Background
Ser Waymar Royce was a knight of House Royce, an ancient and proud noble family of the Vale of Arryn, and the youngest son of Lord Yohn Royce, Lord of Runestone and the head of the family. He joined the Night's Watch and was placed amongst the Rangers due to his noble birth and skill at arms.
Season 1
Rangers Gared, Ser Waymar Royce and Will departing Castle Black on a ranging beyond the Wall.
Ser Waymar commands a ranging beyond the Wall, accompanied by Gared and Will, to investigate sightings of wildlings close by. Instead, they find wights and a White Walker. Royce, along with Gared, was brutally killed. Will flees and is eventually executed by Ned Stark for desertion.[1]
Season 4
Sansa Stark mentions to Lord Yohn Royce that she had previously met him at Winterfell when Yohn was escorting his son Waymar to the Wall to join the Night's Watch.[2]
Appearance
Template:Season One Appearances
Family tree
Template:House Royce family tree
Behind the scenes
Jamie Campbell Bower as Waymar Royce in the unaired pilot episode.
In the unaired pilot episode he was played by Jamie Campbell Bower, but was recast with Rob Ostlere when the opening scene was re-shot.
He is the first character in the series to be killed.
In the books
In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, House Royce of Runestone is distantly related to House Stark. As is the third and youngest son of "Bronze" Yohn Royce, and therefore having little chance of inheriting lands or wealth, he joined the Night's Watch. Waymar was fast-tracked to being an officer because of his noble blood. Eighteen-year-old Waymar is a skilled warrior, trained by his castle's master-at-arms, but is untested in battle. He is arrogant and has a tendency to underrate the experience of other men due to their lower birth, even though they have been serving on the Wall for longer than he has, but he is not completely stupid. For example, he realized that if the Wall was "weeping" recently (partially melting), it could not be cold enough for eight wildlings with warm clothes, shelter, and material for a fire to simply freeze to death.
The young Sansa (who was less than 11 years old at the time) developed a massive romantic crush on the handsome young man in the brief time he and his father stayed at Winterfell before he departed to the Wall.
Despite his youthful arrogance and untested nature, when the White Walkers appear he bravely attempts to fight one in single combat. However, his sword shatters after only a few clashes with the White Walker's ice blade due to its extreme cold. One of the metal shards pierced his left eye, and he was defeated and killed. Will had been hiding in a nearby tree and witnessed the clash. After waiting for some time he hoped the White Walkers had left and climbed down: after examining Waymar's corpse, he went to retrieve his shattered sword-hilt so he could take it back to Castle Black as evidence of what happened. When Will turned to rise again, Waymar stood over him - now revived as a wight, his remaining right eye glowing blue. The wight-Waymar then wrapped its hands around Will's throat and strangled him to death. The TV version changed this around so that Will, not Gared, is the survivor of Waymar's party who escapes but only to be later beheaded by Ned Stark for desertion: Waymar is never shown being revived as a wight, and instead Gared is simply beheaded by another White Walker.
See also
References
- ↑ "Winter is Coming"
- ↑ "The Mountain and the Viper"
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