Overview[]
Samwell Tarly is a fat and timid young man. He is the first son of the Lord of Horn Hill, but was sent to serve the Night's Watch on the Wall.
Background[]
Samwell Tarly was born the first son to the Lord of Horn Hill, making him the rightful heir to the title. As he grew up, Samwell did not enjoy training with swords, archery or hunting like most other boys, but instead took a liking to poetry, music and books - much to the chagrin of his father. This constant disappointment ended with an ultimatum from his father: Samwell was to take the black and join the Night's Watch, thereby surendering his birth right, or else his father would take him on a hunting trip where he would suffer a tragic and fatal "accident". When he was little he also wanted to be a wizard.
Major Plots[]
Season 1[]
When Sam comes to Castle Black he proves to be as useless with a sword as he had always been, this time earning the ire of Alliser Thorne, Castle Black's master-at-arms, who makes his other pupils attack Sam even while the youth is down and defenseless. The only one to stand up to Thorne is Jon Snow, who, with the help of some "aggressive persusion", makes the other boys disobey Thorne when asked to attack Sam. The two become fast friends.
When the boys are finally sworn in to become brothers of the Night's Watch, Sam is chosen to join the stewards. Jon Snow is also unexpectedly named to the stewards, and chosen to become Lord Commander Mormont's personal steward. Jon is quite disappointed and angry, as he had hoped and expected to join the rangers like his uncle Benjen. Samwell manages to lift Jon's spirits by convincing him that Mormont is grooming him to one day become Lord Commander himself. The two friends then swear their oaths together under the Godswood, and rise as brothers of the Night's Watch.
After Jon is told of what has happened to his father, and that his brother Robb is going to war, he decides to leave Castle Black and join his brother in the dark of night. Sam, together with their friends Pyp and Grenn, not wanting his friend to be branded a traitor, chase after Ned Stark's baseborn son and make him hold his oath. When Lord Commander Mormont decides to ride out to investigate the rising, blue eyed corpses from beyond the Wall, Samwell joins the large host leaving Castle Black.