How Gendry Could Be Key to Beating White Walkers on ‘Game of Thrones’
(Spoiler alert: Please do not read on if you haven’t watched Sunday’s episode of “Game of Thrones”)
Since before “Game of Thrones” was a show, fans have speculated that Gendry, the affable blacksmith from Flea Bottom and friend to Arya Stark (Maisie Williams), could be pretty important.
Now Gendry (Joe Dempsie) has returned to the show in Season 7 after a lengthy absence (we last saw him rowing away from Dragonstone in Season 3), just in time to join the warrior dream team Jon Snow (Kit Harington) is taking north of the Wall.
But while Gendry is bringing a big hammer with him to fight the wights of the Army of the Dead, there’s reason to believe he’s more important to the future of Westeros than just as a guy who bashes zombies.
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Gendry has royal blood — he’s the bastard son of King Robert Baratheon (Mark Addy) — but that’s not what makes him special. It’s actually his skills as a blacksmith that could be essential to helping everyone survive the coming winter and the White Walker threat that’s coming with it.
Back before all the intrigue that happened to Gendry on “Game of Thrones” through Season 3, he was a blacksmith’s apprentice in King’s Landing. Gendry trained under Tobho Mott, a master blacksmith from Qohor and one of the best in Westeros. It’s Mott, and what he might have taught Gendry, that’s essential to the theory.
After Ned Stark (Sean Bean) was executed for treason, Tywin Lannister (Charles Dance) had his Valyrian steel greatsword, Ice, melted down into two new blades. One was given to King Joffrey Baratheon (Jack Gleeson), which he named Widow’s Wail. Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) got the other, but after he lost his hand, he gave it to Brienne of Tarth (Gwendoline Christie), and she named it Oathkeeper. Mott is the blacksmith the Lannisters commissioned to turn one Valyrian steel sword into two.
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Valyrian steel is extremely important in the war with the White Walkers, because as was established in “Hardhome” back in Season 5, it’s one of only two known substances that can kill the Walkers. The other one is dragonglass.
But here’s the thing about Valyrian steel: No one knows how to make it anymore. Those secrets died with the country known as Valyria, where the steel comes from. Legend has it, Valyrian steel requires Dragonfire and magic spells to forge, which is what gives it its nearly indestructible quality.
While no one can forge new Valyrian steel weapons, Mott knew how to work with Valyrian steel and create Oathkeeper and Widow’s Wail. And Gendry was his apprentice, which probably means that Gendry knows how work Valyrian steel as well.
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Since Valyrian steel weapons are going to be absolutely essential to defeating the White Walkers, anyone who might be able to work with the stuff, even in a limited capacity, is going to be invaluable. Gendry’s role in the coming war might be as much to supply weapons as to wield them.
Looking for more “Game of Thrones” fan theories that might illuminate the future? Check out our list of 23 interesting fan predictions below.
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'Game of Thrones': Tracking Every Valyrian Steel Sword We Know Of
