Samwell Tarly | |
---|---|
A Song of Ice and Fire character Game of Thrones character |
|
John Bradley as Samwell Tarly
|
|
First appearance |
Novel: A Game of Thrones (1996) Television: "Cripples, Bastards, and Broken Things" (2011) |
Created by | George R. R. Martin |
Portrayed by |
John Bradley (Game of Thrones) |
Information | |
Aliases | Sam Sam the Slayer |
Gender | Male |
Family | House Tarly |
Significant other(s) | Gilly (lover) |
Relatives |
Randyll Tarly (father) Melessa Florent (mother) Dickon Tarly (brother) Talla Tarly (sister) |
Kingdom | The Reach |
Samwell Tarly, called Sam, is a fictional character in the A Song of Ice and Fire series of fantasy novels by American author George R. R. Martin, and its television adaptation Game of Thrones.
Introduced in 1996's A Game of Thrones, Sam is the eldest son of Randyll Tarly, from the fictional kingdom of Westeros. He subsequently appeared in Martin's A Clash of Kings before being a POV character in the later novels.
Sam is portrayed by John Bradley-West in the HBO television adaptation.
Samwell Tarly, called Sam, is the elder son of Lord Randyll Tarly of Horn Hill. Ten chapters throughout A Storm of Swords and A Feast for Crows are told from his point of view. In spite of his self-professed cowardice, Sam is highly intelligent, resourceful, and loyal. Randyll, renowned as one of Westeros' finest military commanders, tried to groom Sam as a worthy heir when he was young, but Sam's complete lack of martial abilities and his interest in scholarly pursuits ultimately forced Randyll to raise Sam's younger brother Dickon to take Sam's place instead. Randyll refused to let Sam join the Citadel to become a maester, but instead forced him to join the Night's Watch, implying that he would have Sam killed and his death staged as a hunting accident if he refused. Sam decided to take the black.
Samwell Tarly is a background character in the first two novels of the series, and his actions and thoughts are interpreted by others point of view characters, like Jon Snow. He then becomes a point of view character in the novels, as of third novel, A Storm of Swords.
Sam is soon bullied by his fellow recruits for his weight and shyness, although Jon Snow takes pity on Sam and convinces them to go easy on Sam in arms training. Sam fails to progress in training and is not deemed ready to officially join the Night's Watch, so Jon persuades Maester Aemon to let Sam join the Order of Stewards instead, with Sam assigned to help Aemon in the rookery and library. When Jon tries to abandon the Night's Watch to join Robb Stark's army and avenge the death of his father Eddard Stark, Sam alerts their fellow recruits, who convince Jon to not break his vows to the Night's Watch.