Davos Seaworth

As a supporter of the true King of Westeros, Ser Davos Seaworth’s affiliation with Stannis costs him almost everything. However, he gets back on his feet after his loses and tries to make things right. After the Battle of the Blackwater, Davos becomes a shadow of himself. Having lost his sons, he almost gives in to grief and loneliness, but he gets saved. After returning to Stannis Baratheon, he tries to kill Melisandre but gets arrested. Surprisingly, he becomes Stannis’s Hand.

Davos Seaworth Personal Details

• Name: Davos Seaworth.
• Allegiances: House Seaworth, House Baratheon of Dragonstone.
• Culture: Crownlands.
• Religion: Faith of the Seven.
• Titles: Ser, Lord of the Rainwood, Admiral of the Narrow Sea, Hand of the King for Stannis.
• Aliases: Onion Knight, Davos Shorthand, Davos the Smuggler, Ser Onions, Onion Lord, Knight of the Onion Ship, Davos of Flea Bottom, Onion Smuggler.
• Wife: Lady Marya Seaworth.
• Children: Dale Seaworth, Allard Seaworth, Matthos Seaworth, Maric Seaworth, Devan Seaworth, Stannis Seaworth, Steffon Seaworth.
• Eye Color: Brown.
• Hair Color: Brown.

Appearance and Personality

Davos is a shockingly-ordinary-looking man with brown eyes and brown hair. His face is rough, and his beard has wisps of white hair. Davos carries his fingertip bones in a pouch around his neck after getting them cut off for his past crimes. He wears a simple green and brown mantle made from wool, a brown cloak, brown breeches, and old boots. Because of his fingers, Davos wears leather gloves. He also barely wears chainmail.

Biography

Early Life

Though Davos became a crucial figure in Stannis’s cause, he was born to a poor smallfolk family in Flea Bottom, a wretched place in King’s Landing. When he came of age, he joined the trading galley Cobblecate under the Tyroshi pirate Roro Uhoris. When Uhoris got caught by the Night’s Watch’s fleet in Easywatch-by-the-sea, he got executed for dealing with wildlings.

After Roro’s death, Davos got a small ship and became a smuggler. With time, he became one of the most popular smugglers in Westeros. He visited the Three Sisters, a group of three islands in the Bite, South of White Harbor. Later, he married Marya and had seven children with her.

Robert’s Rebellion

When the King of the Seven Kingdoms killed the Lord of Winterfell and his son, Rickard, and Brandon, a rebellion started with Robert Baratheon as its leader. Stannis Baratheon, Robert’s brother, got besieged by House Redwyne’s fleet. Davos smuggled salted fish and onions through Shipbreaker’s Bay into Storm’s End to save Stannis and his men from starvation. His supply kept Stannis and his men long enough until Lord Eddard Stark broke the siege. 

For his crucial help during the war, Stannis knighted Davos and made him a landed knight by giving him lands on Cape Wrath. However, for his past crimes, Stannis stated he would lose the first joints of the fingers of his left hand as punishment, and Davos agreed to the judgment. After becoming a landed knight, Davos got his ship, the Black Betha.

Relevance in a Song of Ice and Fire

A Clash of Kings

After Robert Baratheon and Lord Eddard Stark’s death, Stannis Baratheon, the Lord of Dragonstone, declares himself King of the Seven Kingdoms. Davos supports Stannis’s claim to the Iron Throne and gets sent to meet Salladhor Saan, a Lyseni pirate. Davos employs Salladhor to join Stannis. He collects his sellsail fleet.

After failing at making the Lords of the Stromlands join Stannis, Davos attends a feast for Stannis’s bannermen and gives Maester Cressen a seat. When he realizes that Cressen is trying to poison Melisandre, he tries to stop him. However, the maester gives Melisandre the drink, and she takes it. She gives Cressen to drink, and he dies.

After Cressen’s death, Davos gets critical of Stannis’s worship of R’hllor. He witnesses Stannis wielding a fake Lightbringer. When Stannis writes a letter declaring Cersei Lannister’s children bastardy, he orders Davos to distribute the letters to many places, including Gulltown, White Harbor, the Fingers, and the Three Sisters. 

Stannis tells Davos to ensure the smallfolk read the letter and tasks learned knights for the job. When Davos tells him there will be no proof, Stannis replies that Robert’s bastard son, Edric Storm, will serve as proof. Later, Davos advises Stannis he should not discard the Faith of the Seven as the people will not love him for doing so, but Stannis replies the people have never loved him.

Upon completing the mission, Davos joins Stannis in the siege of Storm’s End. After Renly Baratheon gets killed, Ser Cortnay Penrose refuses to hand over the Castle to Stannis. He then tells Davos to smuggle Melisandre under the Castle, and when they get there, Davos witnesses Melisandre give birth to a shadow assassin. Later, he hears that Courtnay is dead.

When Stannis takes Storm’s End, he sets his eyes on King’s Landing. Davos and four of his sons follow the royal fleet and head to King’s Landing. Though Davos advises Ser Imry Florent to send in scouts to learn of the Lanister’s plan, the commander does not listen because he believes Stannis’s royal fleet has more ships.

Upon reaching Blackwater Bay, Tyrion Lannister unleashes wildfire on the royal fleet and destroys most of it. During the chaos, Davos dives into the water and loses consciousness.

A Storm of Swords

After losing consciousness, Davos wakes up on the Spears of the Merlin King and gets stranded there for days. He hallucinates and blames the red priestess, Melisandre, for causing Stannis’d defeat and his children’s death. Before almost ending his life, he sees a ship and grabs its attention. Upon getting in, he discovers it belongs to Salladhor and sails to Dragonstone.

Upon reaching the Castle, he gets arrested by Ser Axell Florent, as Melisandre had seen his intentions. Later, Melisandre visits him and explains she did not cause Stannis’s defeat and that the battle would have had a different ending if she had been at Blackwater. She tells Davos that Stannis is the Azor Azai reborn and tells Davos he has served the Lord of Light. When Alester Florent, Hand of the King for Stannis, tries to surrender to Joffrey Baratheon, he gets arrested and locked up.

Later, Davos gets freed and meets Stannis. He advises against killing the smallfolk in Claw Isle for Lord Ardrian Celtigar bending to Joffrey. For his honesty, Davos becomes the new Hand of the King. He later sees Stannis burn three leeches filled with Edric’s blood and speak the names of Robb Stark, Balon Greyjoy, and Joffrey Baratheon.

Later, Davos learns that Robb got killed by Walder Frey in the Red Wedding and Balon Greyjoy fell to his death. When Davos learns that Stannis plans to sacrifice Edric, he advises him against the action, stating that Shireen and Edric are friends.

Secretly, Davos begins learning to read from Maester Pylos. He gets a letter from maester Aemon at Castle Black talking about the threat from Mance Rayder, the King-Beyond-the-Wall. The letter mentioned the danger of wights, the fight at the Fist of the First Men, and the possible death of Jeor Mormont, the Lord Commander of the Watch.

To prevent Stannis from killing Edric, Davos tasks Ser Andrew Estermont, a loyal supporter of Stannis, with leaving Dragonstone with Edric. When Stannis learns of Davos’s actions, he almost kills him, but Davos reads the letter from Maester Aemon and tells Stannis that the enemy is in the North. Stannis then decides to march to the Wall and meets Jon Snow.

A Dance with Dragons

Davos leaves the Wall and heads to White Harbor to lay Stannis’s claim. On the way, storms destroy many ships in Salladhor’s fleet, and he decides to leave Stannis. Davos gets a small boat and reaches Sweetsister, an island on the Three Sisters. He meets Lord Godric Borell, who informs him of Lysa Arryn and Tywin Lannister’s death. Davos tells Godric he is traveling to White Harbor. He gets advised that the Freys are trying to make Lord Wyman Manderly support the Lannisters. 

On reaching White Harbor, Davos gets a hidden identity and discovers that Lord Manderly is amassing troops. He meets the lord and learns that the Iron Throne has Wylis Manderly as a hostage.

To free his son, Lord Manderly stages Davos’s death and keeps him hidden in a well-furnished chamber. Later, Davos learns that Wex Pyke was present during the Sack of Winterfell, and he knows that Bran Stark and his brother Rickon are alive. Wex tells Davos Rickon is in Skagos, and Lord Manderly states he will swear allegiance to Stannis if Davis can retrieve Rickon and Shaggydog.

Appearance in Adaptations

In HBO’s Game of Thrones, Davos got portrayed by Liam Cunningham. He becomes Stannis’s advisor after proving his loyalty to him. Davos appeared in seasons 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 and starred in 42 episodes.

Though Stannis had a different story arc in the tv series, Davos’s character stayed the same. After Stannis’s death, Davos swears loyalty to Jon Snow. He fights in the Battle of Winterfell, and after the Night King gets killed, he decides to kill Melisandre, but she kills herself by removing the necklace that granted her long life.

Davos: The Good Man

In A Song of Ice and Fire, Davos is one character that does the right thing. Having come from a poor background, he became a smuggler. However, when he saw the opportunity to change, he discarded his old life and accepted the punishment for his crimes.

Davos became an honorable man that advised Stannis on good actions to take. Davos prevented his King from committing murder and drew his attention to the Wall and the threat to the realm of men.

Davos showed that though one may come from a terrible background, if they have the will to change and accept the punishment for their past crimes, one can become honorable.

FAQs