Gendry Still Rowing

Gendry Still Rowing was a meme in Game of Thrones fandom, humorously referencing the fact that the character of Gendry Waters disappeared for several seasons of the show and was last seen in a rowboat rowing away at the end of season 3. The meme received media coverage, tweets from the actor who plays Gendry, comments from TPTB, and eventually a shout-out on the show when Gendry returned in season 7.
==Origins==
In season 3, episode 10, "Mhysa", of Game of Thrones, Gendry Waters escapes being burned at the stake by leaving Dragonstone in a rowboat. He plans to flee to mainland Westeros. This episode aired on June 9, 2013, and would be the last time Gendry was seen on the show until August 13, 2017, when Gendry returned in season 7, episode 5, "Eastwatch."
After Gendry rowed away at the end of season 3, he remained absent from the show for all of season 4, his actions and whereabouts completely unaddressed. It seems to have taken about a full year for Gendry's absence to really be noted, probably because fans were hoping he'd come back in season 4, but how exactly the "Still Rowing" meme began is somewhat unclear.
An early example—showing that fans where already making fun of the fact the Gendry was still probably out in the boat in season 4—is a May 2014 reddit thread on the r/gameofthrones subreddit showing a cartoon of a man in a rowboat and the title "Meanwhile somewhere in the Narrow Sea".Meanwhile somewhere in the Narrow Sea (archive 1, archive 2) The post received 310 comments and as of early 2019 has just over 3,000 upvotes. These numbers no longer qualify the post for r/gameofthrones' top posts of all time, but is substantial response considering the date the post was made.Although it must be kept in mind that Reddit's voting algorithm has changed in the years since the "Somewhere in the Narrow Sea" post was made (the soft cap for how high something could be voted was raised from ~5,000 to ~8,000 in 2015, for example) and the algorithm has always been set up to count new material and new votes as more important than old things.
Many fans in the thread commented on the fact that Gendry's disappearance was actually a result of the books' adaptation into a television show.
However, the term "Still rowin'" came from the actor Joe Dempsie, who played Gendry, who tweeted, "Still rowin'...#GoT" in June 2014June 17, 2014 tweet just days after season 4 concluded without any updates on Gendry's status. Fans took the concept and created various image macros and other memes, many of them tweeted at Dempsie in reply to his post. Popular variations included Gendry in the rowboat with text, Gendry inserted into other water scenes on the show, or missing characters photoshopped in the boat with Gendry.
Dempsie continued to occasionally reference the meme, notably in June 2015 after the final episode of season 5June 17, 2015 tweet and in June 2016 after the final episode of season 6.June 27, 2014 tweet Fans continued to respond to his tweets, and may fans on twitter used #stillrowing and #stillrowin on their tweets about missing Gendry. On tumblr, the popular tag was "where is gendry".
==Example Gallery==
File:Game-of-thrones-meme-1502889175.png|Example of early memes
File:Life of gendry.jpg|Rowing meme combined with Life of Pi
File:Finding-gendry.jpg|Rowing meme combined with Finding Dory
File:SS Abandoned plotlines.jpg|Other, believed to be abandoned, characters added to meme in 2015 (many of these characters, like Gendry, later returned)
File:Wedonotrow.jpg|House words created by Iteki referencing the meme, posted the same day as actor Joe Dempsie's tweet.
File:2down1togogendry.jpg|A 2016 example showing Gendry Waters, Balon Greyjoy. and Rickon Stark as missing kids on milk cartons
File:Gendry memes.jpg|Collage of memes, where Gendry is placed in water scenes from other films
File:Gendry Rowning Crossstitch.jpg|Fannish cross stitch created by ChemicalDroid, based upon the meme
==Gendry's return and TPTB==
In addition to Joe Dempsie's tweets, the show runners Dan Weiss and David Benioff also showed they were aware of the meme. In a July 2016 interview, they said:
When Gendry returned in 2017 for season 7 episode 5,According to the Game of Thrones wiki, despite being in the "starring cast" for season 7, Gendry doesn't appear in S7e1, S7e2, S7e3, or S7e4, so the August 13th 2017 season 7 episode 5 "Eastwatch" is Gendry's first appearance since season 3. the meme was referenced in dialogue: Davos Seaworth, who originally put Gendry in the rowboat back in season 3, goes to find Gendry and says, "Thought you might still be rowing."‘Game Of Thrones’ referenced a meme and the internet loved it
Fan reactions:
Dempsie also tweeted about it again:
==External links==
===Resources===
* Know Your Meme: Where is Gendry
* #stillrowing and #stillrowin on twitter
* "where is gendry" tag on tumblr
===News coverage===
====Before Gendry's return====
* Jun 3 2014—Buzzfeed: Seriously, Where Is Gendry On "Game Of Thrones"? (archive)
* Jun 18 2016—Popsugar: Seriously, Where Is Gendry on Game of Thrones? The Internet Wants to Know (archive)
* Jul 7 2016—Moviefone: Where Is Gendry? 'Game of Thrones' Showrunners Address Long Absence (archive)
* Jul 7 2016—ScreenRant: Game of Thrones Showrunners Say Gendry Is 'Still Rowing' (archive)
* Jul 10 2016—Bustle: Where Is Gendry On 'Game Of Thrones'? The Show's Creators Finally Have An Answer (archive)
* Sep 14 2016—Mashable: A certain 'Game of Thrones' character may be rowing back into our lives (archive)
* Aug 11 2017—Mashable: The most burning 'Game of Thrones' question: Where the eff is Gendry? (archive)
====After Gendry's return====
* Aug 13 2017—TV Line: Game of Thrones: A Brief History of Gendry, the Long-Lost Baratheon (archive)
* Aug 13 2017—Mashable: 'Game of Thrones' brought back someone we've sorely missed, and we're screaming (archive)
* Aug 13 2017—Huffington Post: ‘Game Of Thrones’ Actor Joe Dempsie Finally Reveals What Happened To Gendry (After years of waiting and plenty of rowing ...) (archive)
* Aug 13 2017—Bustle: 'Game Of Thrones' Made A Gendry Rowing Joke, Breaking The Fourth Wall In A Big Way (archive)
* Aug 14 2017—Boston Globe: Joe Dempsie—Gendry on ‘Game of Thrones’—on rowing memes and shirtless scenes (archive)
* Aug 15 2017—NME: ‘Game Of Thrones’ referenced a meme and the internet loved it (archive)
* Aug 28 2017—Hypable: ‘Game of Thrones’ Gendry watch 2k17: Where is that Baratheon bastard now? (Don't tell me he's rowing again.) (archive)
==References==
Category:2019 Featured Articles
Category:Game of Thrones
Category:2014 Memes