Samwell Tarly, or simply 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, where the character is portrayed by English actor John Bradley.
Introduced in A Game of Thrones (1996), Samwell is the elder son of Lord Randyll Tarly of Horn Hill and his wife Lady Melessa Florent. A self-professed coward with a love for books and songs, Samwell was forced by his father to abandon his birthright and join the Night's Watch so that his younger brother could become heir to Horn Hill. While at the Wall, he meets Jon Snow and quickly becomes his closest friend and ally. Samwell subsequently appeared in the second book A Clash of Kings (1998) before becoming a point-of-view character in the third book A Storm of Swords (2000) and the fourth book A Feast for Crows (2005).
Contents
Character
Description
Samwell Tarly is the elder son and firstborn child of Lord Randyll Tarly of Horn Hill and his wife Lady Melessa Florent, and has four siblings — younger sister Talla, two other unnamed sisters, and a younger brother Dickon. Through his mother, Samwell is also second cousin to Shireen Baratheon and Edric Storm, who were born to Melessa's first cousins Selyse and Delena, respectively. He has dark hair, pale eyes and a large moon-shaped face, and is very obese. Jon Snow originally comments that Sam is the fattest boy he has ever seen, and estimates him to weigh twenty stone (130 kg; 280 lb).
A gentle young man, Samwell is fond of music and songs, and prefers books over weapons, and is afraid of blood and violence, which earned his father's intense contempt. After being frustrated at Samwell for years, Randyll's attentions turned to grooming his more promising younger son Dickon, who showed all of the physical vigor that Samwell lacked, and decided to have Dickon inherit the Tarly title. On Samwell's fifteenth birthday, Randyll forces him to join the Night's Watch and renounce his birthright of heir to Horn Hill, threatening death if he was to refuse. After arriving at Castle Black, Samwell was bullied for being overweight and unskilled in combat, and was often called "Ser Piggy" and "Lord of Ham". However, his new-found friendship with a sympathetic Jon Snow allows his character to start unfolding positively, and earns him the position as the personal steward of Maester Aemon. While lacking his friends' fighting abilities and having self-professed cowardice, Samwell is highly intelligent, observant, resourceful and loyal, and eventually becomes Jon Snow's most trusted sidekick. In the fourth book, Sam is sent by Jon to the Citadel at Oldtown and becomes accepted as a novice trainee supervised by Archmaester Marvyn and acolyte Alleras.
According to George R. R. Martin, the character Samwell Tarly is the most relatable to him. When asked why, Martin said in a 2014 interview: because Sam's "the fat kid who likes to read books and doesn't like to go up a lot of stairs." Just like Tarly, George R. R. Martin both “had troubled relationships with their fathers and neither is a fighter at heart” (Barnes). George R. R. Martin refused to go to the Vietnam War, because he “believed it was stupid — a sentiment that is reflected throughout the entire Song of Ice and Fire oeuvre.” (Cian) If given the option, Samwell Tarly would choose not to fight, just like Martin.
Storylines
In the books
Samwell Tarly is a background character in the first two novels of the series, and his actions and thoughts are interpreted through the eyes of Jon Snow. He then becomes a point of view character in the third novel A Storm of Swords and the fourth novel A Feast for Crows, with total of ten chapters told from his point of view.
Upon arriving at the Wall, Sam is soon bullied by Ser Alliser Thorne and the fellow recruits for his weight, shyness and clumsiness in training. Jon Snow takes pity on Sam and defends him in arms training. Later on, Sam confesses his life story to Jon, who sympathizes with Sam and secretly uses his influence among the recruits (making violent threats when necessary) to protect Sam from harm. When Sam fails to progress in fight training and is not deemed worthy to join the Night's Watch, Jon persuades Maester Aemon take in Sam as a personal steward to help in the rookery and library.
Sam is the first person to notice something strange about the recovered corpses of rangers Othor and Jafer Flowers, who are actually wights
sent by the Others to assassinate Lord Commander Jeor Mormont. 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 intercept Jon and convince him to not break his vows to the Night's Watch.
Sam takes part in the Great Ranging beyond the Wall, to take care of the ravens as Lord Commander Jeor Mormont's aide. While stopping at Craster's Keep, Sam befriends one of Craster's daughter-wives, Gilly, who is pregnant and fears that Craster will sacrifice him to the Others if her child is a boy. Sam is horrified, but unable to help. Later, at camp at the Fist of the First Men, Sam and Jon's direwolf Ghost discover a cache of dragonglass weapons buried under the snow.
The Night's Watch's camp at the Fist of the First Men comes under attack and is overrun by an army of wights sent by the Others, with Sam among the few survivors who manage to break out and flee to Craster's Keep. Sam and two fellow Watchmen, Small Paul and Grenn, become separated from the main group, and they are attacked by an Other who kills Paul. In desperation, Sam stabs it with a dragonglass dagger, killing it instantly and earning him the nickname "Sam the Slayer". Sam and Grenn then regroup with the other survivors at Craster's Keep, where Gilly gives birth to a son. Soon after, a violent mutiny breaks out, and Mormont and Craster are among those killed in the fight. Sam flees with Gilly and her infant son, and are accosted by wights before being rescued by a mysterious man, Coldhands, who looks like a wight but is friendly and supposedly a former fellow Night's Watchman. Coldhands takes them to the Nightfort and asks Sam to go find and escort Bran Stark and his party through the Wall.
In the show
Sam is quickly identified as being soft and weak by Castle Black's master-at-arms Ser Alliser Thorne, and suffers in sword-training until Jon Snow convinces the other new recruits to go easy on him. Sam is assigned to the order of stewards, to serve Maester Aemon. When Jon tries to abandon the Night's Watch after hearing of his father's execution, Sam follows with Pyp and Grenn. They convince Jon to remain loyal to the Night's Watch.
Sam joins the Night's Watch in the Great Ranging. Along the journey, the party rests at Craster's Keep, where Sam encounters and falls in love with Craster's pregnant daughter-wife Gilly. While camping at the Fist of the First Men, Sam discovers a cache of weapons made from dragonglass. While Sam is out collecting dung for fires, the White Walkers march on the Fist of the First Men. Sam is unable to outrun the army of the dead, but for unknown reasons their leader spares Sam.
Sam and the survivors of the resulting massacre flee back to Craster's Keep. Sam witnesses Gilly give birth to a baby boy, whose gender Sam and Gilly realize they must keep secret to prevent Craster from giving the baby to the White Walkers. A brawl later breaks out among Craster and the Night's Watch, and Sam flees with Gilly and the baby. They are followed by a White Walker who tries to take the baby, but Sam kills it by stabbing it with a dragonglass dagger. Sam and Gilly pass through the Wall at the Nightfort, where they discover Jon's half-brother Bran Stark and his party, headed beyond the Wall. Sam is unable to persuade them to come to Castle Black instead but promises not to tell Jon their destination.
Arriving back at Castle Black, Sam warns Aemon of the advancing White Walkers, and Aemon has Sam send the warning throughout the Seven Kingdoms. Later, Jon returns to Castle Black, gravely wounded and disguised as a Wildling. Sam recognises Jon and orders him to be attended to.
Sam reveals to Jon that Bran is alive and headed beyond the Wall. Sam decides to send Gilly to Mole's Town to work as a maid in the brothel, as he fears for her safety at Castle Black. Mole's Town is attacked by the Wildlings, who slaughter the entire populace of the town. Sam is distraught, unaware that Gilly and her baby had been spared by Ygritte. Gilly later makes it to Castle Black moments before the Wildlings attack. Sam participates in the battle and manages to kill the Thenn warg.
TV adaptation
Samwell Tarly is played by John Bradley in the television adaption of the book series. Samwell Tarly appeared for the first time in season 1 episode 4, as a new recruit of the Night's Watch and a self-described coward. It was Bradley's first professional appearance after graduating from The Manchester Metropolitan School of Theatre. The scene used in the auditions belonged to "Cripples, Bastards, and Broken Things," with Sam explaining to Jon how Sam's father forced him to "take the black" (meaning join the Night's Watch). According to author and executive producer George R. R. Martin, Bradley delivered "a heartbreaking performance." When asked which character he personally would be on the show, Martin said of Samwell Tarly, "I love Sam, too. He's a great character - Tyrion might be who I want to be, but Sam is probably closer to who I actually am. The fat kid who likes to read books and doesn't like to go up a lot of stairs."
Remarking on the character's sex life with Gilly, Bradley said:
I think Sam would just happily accept more of the same. He's not one of the people that tries to inject exotica into his sex life; Sam thinks about sex the way that most people think about space. It goes on. He has nothing to do with it. He's fascinated by it in a childlike way.