Gendry is the bastard son of King Robert Baratheon. He was an apprentice at Tobho Mott’s shop, one of the best blacksmiths in King’s Landing. Being friends with Arya Stark, he tries to hide her identity from everyone. However, she runs from the Brotherhood to try and reach her brother and mother. She ends up getting captured by Sandor Clegane. When Lord Eddard Stark gets arrested for conspiracy and treason, Yoren, a man of the Night’s Watch, smuggles him and Arya out of King’s Landing in the guise of taking recruits to Castle Black. However, some members of the gold cloaks stop Yoren’s party on the road and ask him to hand Robert’s bastard son over.
Gendry Personal Details
- Name: Gendry.
- Title: Ser.
- Year of Birth: 284 AC in King’s Landing.
- Parents: King Robert Baratheon and an unknown woman.
- Aliases: Mutton Chop, The Bull.
- Allegiances: Tobho Mott, Brotherhood without Banners.
- Culture: Crownlands.
- Religion: R’hllor the Lord of Light.
- Hair Color: Black.
- Eye Color: Blue.
Appearance and Personality
Gendry has the look of members of House Baratheon. He is tall and muscular and has jet-black tangled hair with seeing blue eyes. According to those observant enough, he and Renly, the Lord of Storm’s End, share a striking resemblance, but he has a broader jaw and bushier eyebrows. As a blacksmith’s apprentice, he is cautious but stubborn. He is also shy around women. He is a good blacksmith and skilled with metalwork. However, he fails at other things like horseriding. He created a curved helm shaped like a bull with horns but is reluctant to wear it for unknown reasons.
Biography
Though Gendry was born in King’s Landing, he has no idea he has the King’s blood. He is the same age as Robb Stark, and his mother was a simple worker in an alehouse, and the only memory he has of her is her blond-colored hair. The only interaction he had with his father was when Robert almost trampled him when he played near the mud gate. Tobho took him in after a mysterious brown-bearded man with a hooded face paid twice the amount needed.
Relevance in A Song of Ice and Fire
A Game of Thrones
After Lord Jon Arryn’s death, King Robert travels to Winterfell and asks Lord Eddard Stark to become the new Hand of the King. On getting to King’s Landing, Ned begins investigating Jon’s death and visits many people that saw him before his demise. He sees Tobho Mott and immediately realizes the striking resemblance between Gendry and the King.
Though Eddard tries to buy Gendry’s helm, the young boy refuses to sell, making his master Tobho Mott embarrassed. Ned Stark discovers Cersei’s infidelity and confronts her. However, she plots her husband’s death, makes Joffrey Baratheon King, and begins a purge of Robert’s bastard children.
A Clash of Kings
Lord Varys arranges for Yoren to take Gendry out of King’s Landing to the Wall to protect him from Cersei. Gendry travels with a disguised Arya Stark, Jaqen H’ghar, Hot Pie, Lommy Greenhands, Rorge, and Biter. With Ned’s execution, Cersei uses the City Watch of King’s Landing to hunt Robert’s children. She sends some of the gold cloaks after Yoren’s party, but they get chased away. However, Ser Amory Lorch attacks the recruits at an abandoned town by the God’s Eye.
Though Yoren gets killed, Gendry, Arya, and Hot Pie escape. They get captured by soldiers of the Mountain Clans led by Gregor Clegane. The knight brings the trio to Harrenhal. Gendry gets taken to work as a blacksmith. Later, Arya spearheads the liberation of Harrenhal, and the castle falls into Lord Roose Bolton’s hands. She convinces Gendry and Hot Pie to follow her, believing it will get handed to Vargo Hoat of the Brave Companions.
A Storm of Swords
While searching for Riverrun, Gendry and his friends get captured by the Brotherhood without Banners at the Inn of the Kneeling Man. Hot Pie decides to remain at the Inn as a baker, and Gendry follows the Brotherhood when they promise to take Arya to her brother Robb Stark. When the group arrives at a brothel, he shyly refuses to sleep with Bella and defends Arya from an aged man. The Brotherhood takes him and Arya to the hollow hill, where they watch Lord Beric Dondarrion fight Sandor Clegane.
When Gendry offers to work as a blacksmith, he gets knighted by Lord Beric. Arya leaves the company of the Brotherhood feeling betrayed by her friends. However, she gets captured by Sandor Clagene. After the Red Wedding, Catelyn Stark’s dead body gets tossed into a river, and when the Brotherhood finds it, she gets the kiss of life and becomes Lady Stoneheart.
A Feast for Crows
When Brienne of Tarth searches for Sansa Stark, she meets Genry at the Inn of the Crossroads and notices his resemblance to Renly. Though he tries making her leave, Brienbne is allowed to stay at the Inn. A confrontation between her and former members of the Brave Companions occurs. During the fight, Brienne gets bitten by Biter, but Gendry saves her by killing him. She goes unconscious and wakes up as a captive of the Brotherhood without Banners.
Appearance in Adaptation
In HBO’s Game of Thrones, actor Joe Dempsie portrayed Gendry. He appeared in seasons 1, 2, 3, 7, and 8 and starred in 24 episodes. After escaping from Harrenhal, Gendry, and Arya stumble across the Brotherhood without Banners. While in the company of the Brotherhood, Melisandre arrives with some of Stannis Baratheon’s soldiers. She gives them two bags of gold and takes Gendry to Dragonstone. On reaching the castle, Stannis confirms Gendry is his brother’s last living son. Though Melisandre wants to sacrifice him, Ser Davos Seaworth smuggles him to King’s Landing.
Davos later becomes Jon Snow’s adviser and meets Gendry, who agrees to leave with him wielding a Warhammer. Gendry meets Jon and later goes on an expedition killing a bear who had turned into a wight. He joins Daenerys Targaryen, reunites with Arya, and sleeps with her. He then fights in the Battle of Winterfell, and after the event, he gets legitimized and becomes the Lord of Storm’s End.
Gendry: The Unknown child
Though people like to believe that children should not suffer for the sins of their parents, A Song of Ice and Fire shows it is impossible to separate offspring from the transgressions of their ancestors. Gendry is a young boy who suffered hardship because he was the bastard son of a father who never knew of his existence. He always looked over his shoulders to keep himself safe. Though innocent, he could not escape his identity as the child of a King.
FAQs
Who is Gendry?
Gendry is the oldest-known bastard son of King Robert Baratheon. He lived in King’s Landing and never knew his father. When Cersei plots her husband’s death, she asks the gold cloaks to hunt her husband’s bastards and kill them. However, he escaped before he could get killed.
Does Gendry die in the books?
No. In the novels, Gendry joins the Brotherhood without Banners and gets knighted. He then leaves for the Inn at the Crossroads, where he meets Brienne. He helps her in a fight against Biter.
Did Gendry and Arya marry in the tv series?
Though they sleep together, Arya refuses to marry Gendry, stating she has become different. She sails on an adventure while he becomes the Lord of Storm’s End.
Did Robert know of Gendry?
Apart from his first bastard daughter, Mia, Robert barely knew of his bastard children. He slept with a lot of women and rarely returned.
