[Samwell Tarly — Characters]
Benjen stands with Jon on his first watch and tells him that he is going ranging North of the Wall. Jon is keen to accompany him, but Benjen insists that he complete his training. Tyrion helps Jon see that he is no better than the recruits, but has been afforded more advantages than them due to his highborn upbringing. Jon offers to train some of his new brothers and Pypar and Grenn accept. He also befriends the fat and bookish coward Samwell Tarly when he arrives at Castle Black , and helps to protect him from the cruelty of Thorne. Thorne angrily tells Jon that going easy on Sam won't help him, and will risk getting him killed during the next winter.
Daenerys and Jorah later encounter Samwell Tarly in Winterfell's library. After praising him for realizing the secret behind dragonglass and curing Jorah of his greyscale, she asks if there is anything she can do to repay him. Sam jokingly asks for a pardon for stealing books from the Citadel and for taking his family's ancestral sword without permission. Upon hearing his surname is "Tarly", Daenerys realizes that he is, in fact, Randyll Tarly's son, and proceeds to tell him the difficult truth that she executed his father and brother for rebelling against her. Sam is speechless for a few moments before asking to leave the library.
At the following meeting with Jon's bannermen, despite Samwell Tarly 's letter confirming a large supply of dragonglass on Dragonstone, Sansa maintains her opposition to Daenerys's request after hearing Jon's intent of accepting the invite to the island. She reminds Jon that their grandfather was also invited to see the Mad King at the cost of his own life. Sansa says Daenerys is in Westeros to reclaim the Seven Kingdoms and believes this mission is too great a risk for her brother to take. Jon considers Sansa's suspicions a possibility and knows it is a risk but believes Tyrion is a good man.
Having also learned of Robb's death, Jon Snow confides to Samwell Tarly about the last time he saw his brother, remembering their farewell in the courtyard. He confesses how he felt that he lived in Robb's shadow, feeling Robb was better than him at everything when they were young but Jon couldn't hate him and they had loved one another as brothers.
Despite the fact that he had previously participated in a blood ritual out of hope that it would lead to Robb's death, Stannis remains disgusted at the manner of Robb's demise and offers to avenge him by killing Roose Bolton in an attempt to sway Jon to his side. Later, when Jon is signing request letters to various houses for new recruits as the newly elected Lord Commander of the Night's Watch , he balks at sending one to Roose Bolton, reminding Samwell Tarly that Roose murdered his brother Robb.
Samwell , born Samwell Tarly , and often called Sam , is Jon Snow 's closest friend, the eldest son of Lord Randyll Tarly and Lady Melessa Tarly of Horn Hill , and the older brother of Dickon and Talla Tarly . Eventually he becomes the new Grand Maester .
Samwell Tarly is the oldest son and former heir of Lord Randyll Tarly , the head of House Tarly . House Tarly is one of the most powerful noble families in the Reach , and sworn to House Tyrell . By rights, Samwell would have grown up to be one of the top ranking lords of the Seven Kingdoms .
Samwell Tarly arrives at Castle Black . Ser Alliser Thorne identifies him as a soft, pampered lordling and has the other recruits attack him harshly, mockingly calling him "Lady Piggy". To Alliser's annoyance, Jon Snow defends Sam. Sam is assigned watches with Jon. He tells Jon that he is craven and that his father forced him to come to the Wall or face a 'hunting accident' that would result in his death. Jon convinces the other recruits to go easy on Sam, even using Ghost to intimidate Rast into doing so. Sam befriends Pypar and Grenn .
He admits that he's feeding his pigs better than them - as pigs are valuable to him - and half-seriously suggests to his guests that they should eat the fat Samwell Tarly. He is also annoyed by Gilly's loud wailing from birthing pains. Sam leaves the main house to a birthing hut where he witnesses Gilly giving birth with the aid of a few other women. To her horror, the baby is a boy. Sam and Gilly realize that Craster will want to sacrifice him to the White Walkers.
Samwell Tarly visits Gilly, who is deeply distraught about the impending fate of her newborn son. She is frantic, and yells at Sam not to draw attention to the fact that it's a boy by calling it a "he" so loud, as Craster will want to offer it up as a sacrifice when he finds out it is a son. He asks her if she has decided on a name, but she responds that there's no point in naming her baby if he's only going to be offered up as a human sacrifice. She gives Sam back his mother's thimble and says she doesn't care about such stupid things, all she is focused on is protecting the life of her baby.
On the outside, Samwell Tarly may appear completely antithetical to the standards of his house - he is extremely timid, awkward, cowardly, nervous, and easily frightened. When he was first tested in combat by Alliser Thorne, he didn't even pick up a weapon and allowed himself to be beaten, terrified, leading to the impression that Sam was worthless (an impression that Randyll Tarly had never allowed him to forget). However, in reality, Sam is actually a good man - he is extremely loyal to those who show him kindness, as evidenced by his almost brotherly relationship with Jon, who remained his best friend throughout his time as a member of the Night's Watch. His loyalty to Jon would resonate from the moment that he volunteered to take Jon's vows with him. His extreme personal loyalty is potentially one of his best qualities, and ironically evidence that Sam aligns with the expectations of his house - after all, House Tarly breeds soldiers, and soldiers are supposed to be loyal.
George R.R. Martin has stated that he is a big fan of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings , in which main character Frodo Baggins's best friend is Samwise Gamgee, called Sam for short. Similarly, Jon's best friend Samwell Tarly (also called "Sam" for short) is also an overweight, not martially skilled everyman character who enjoys reading stories in books. Moreover, Pypar (called Pyp) for short, has a similar name to Frodo's other companion Pippin Took (sometimes shortened to "Pip"). Thus both Jon and Frodo Baggins have two companions named "Sam and Pyp".
Although Stannis was not pleased that Jon interfered with Mance's execution, he presents Jon an enticing offer. If Jon bends the knee and swears his loyalty to Stannis, the king will legitimize him as Jon Stark, making him the Lord of Winterfell . Stannis, after receiving a message from Lyanna Mormont , knows that having a Stark on his side is the best chance of rallying the Northerners to his cause. Jon is tempted by the offer, since he wanted to be a true Stark since he was a boy, but he tells Samwell Tarly that he intends to refuse the offer.
" The Wall " is the ninth short of the fourth season of Histories & Lore . It is the sixty-eighth short of the series overall. It was released on February 17, 2015 in Game of Thrones: The Complete Fourth Season . It was narrated by John Bradley as Samwell Tarly and written by Dave Hill .
Grenn , Edd , and Samwell Tarly find a cache of dragonglass spear heads along with an old warhorn buried in the snow on the Fist of the First Men . Sam identifies the material, but is unsure why it would have been left on the Fist by a ranger of the Night's Watch . Edd suggests that whoever it was, they wanted someone else to find the weapons.