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gendryatrash · 5 years

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To be honest, is Gendry really good enough for Arya?

A big fat YES, anon. I strongly believe so. Out of all the characters in asoiaf, I’d argue that Gendry is the perfect character for Arya Stark who isn’t her relative (Jon) lmao. In answering this, I’ll mostly refer to book!gendry since show!gendry is so different from him aside from the fact that they both love Arya. Nonetheless, despite all their differences, I still believe that Gendry himself in whatever life or medium his character is portrayed in truly deserves to be with Arya.

So here are the reasons why Gendry is ‘good enough’ for his lady:

In answering the question whether someone is good enough for a person, I think it’s important to first consider the character with whom they are being linked to. In this case, the character we’re analyzing is that of Arya and-

1. Arya Stark loves who she loves.

When it comes to building relationships, I believe that Arya is the kind of character that isn’t caught up with other people’s place in the social ladder or in social hierarchy in itself. Since I think that this is mostly the reason why people would believe they shouldn’t be together given that she’s obviously a lady and Gendry, aside from being an unrecognized bastard, is only a blacksmith (which isn’t bad in itself but is still considered lowborn). I strongly believe that Arya is not the kind of character to base her affections on people’s station in life since the text itself says that Arya befriends and protects people from all walks of life as she did with the butcher’s son Mycah to Weasel a young girl she had no responsibility of taking care of but did. In short, Arya Stark loves who she loves. It was never a question of who you are for her, she loves people for the reason of loving them. Arya’s heart and compassion for different people is seen in the books and I believe that this extends with who she might choose to end up with in the future. She already thinks highly of Gendry and actually considers him to be a friend and companion of hers that it really broke her heart when Gendry decided to stay with the Brotherhood Without Banners. Arya, in letting people into her life, would never let any social status stop her from admiring and choosing a person she already confides with and thinks highly of.

Now onto more reasons why Gendry is awesome!

2. Gendry is literally a pure human bean

Aside from the fact that Arya doesn’t give a damn about labels, Gendry himself as a character is one of the purest in the whole story. I mean, this dude who had zero idea about who Arya is, decided to help her protect herself from bullies that wanted to take advantage of a small and seemingly defenseless kid. He literally could’ve minded his own business because he seemed indifferent as fuck when he was first introduced through Ned’s pov but that wasn’t what happened here. Gendry was literally that supportive friend you have who coaches you where the next punch is coming from to help you protect yourself. From the get go, it’s established that Gendry and Arya are equals and it’s amazing (there’s more to this but i’ll shut up about this for now). Moreover, Gendry doesn’t want to hurt a single hair in Arya’s body whether accidental or not as seen in this passage:

“Want to fight?” she asked the Bull. She wanted to hit something.

He blinked at her, startled. Strands of thick black hair, still wet from the bathhouse, fell across his deep blue eyes.

“I’d hurt you.”

“You would not.”

“You don’t know how strong I am.”

“You don’t know how quick I am.”

“You’re asking for it, Arry.” He drew Praed’s longsword. “This is cheap steel, but it’s a real sword.” Arya unsheathed Needle. “This is good steel, so it’s realer than yours.”

The Bull shook his head. “Promise not to cry if I cut you?”

“I’ll promise if you will.” (ACOK)

It’s adorable that despite his size and intimidating appearance, Gendry is such a softie who doesn’t want to hurt his friends even though it’s unintentional. And let’s also not forget that Gendry literally gets all flustered and dumb whenever girls are in the equation. Dude blushes just from the thought of girls and literally walks out when a girl shows interest. Like. What an adorable awkward Boy!! It’s real cute that Gendry is so innocent about sex and romantic relationships because in that way, his youth was highlighted. And paired with Arya who grew up with him in that same level of innocence, they make a hecking adorable example of literally childhood friends who could turn into so much more when they grow older.

3. Gendry is not only a skillful smith, he’s also a smart boy

Now let’s talk about how Gendry is good at his craft. It’s said in the books that he was still an apprentice to Tobho Mott when he was taken by the Night’s Watch to go to the wall. But even with this, Gendry clearly possess the skills and passion it takes to make a great smith and armorer in the future.

Almost shyly, the boy led them to his bench, and a steel helm shaped like a bull’s head, with two great curving horns. Ned turned the helm over in his hands. It was raw steel, unpolished but expertly shaped. “This is fine work. I would be pleased if you would let me buy it.” (GOT)

“I did my work, is all. Bellows and tongs and fetch and carry. I was s’posed to be an armorer, and one day Master Mott says I got to join the Night’s Watch, that’s all I know.” Then he’d go off to polish his helm. It was a beautiful helm, rounded and curved, with a slit visor and two great metal bull’s horns. Arya would watch him polish the metal with an oilcloth, shining it so bright you could see the flames of the cookfire reflected in the steel. Yet he never actually put it on his head. (ACOK)

As she passed the armory, Arya heard the ring of a hammer. A deep orange glow shone through the high windows. She climbed to the roof and peeked down. Gendry was beating out a breastplate. When he worked, nothing existed for him but metal, bellows, fire. The hammer was like part of his arm. She watched the play of muscles in his chest and listened to the steel music he made. He’s strong, she thought. (ACOK)

Gendry was only spared because he’d admitted to forging the horned helm himself; smiths, even apprentice smiths, were too valuable to kill. (ACOK)

“Master Mott said it was time I made my first longsword. He gave me a sweet piece of steel, and I knew just how I wanted to shape the blade. Only Yoren came, and took me away for the Night’s Watch.” (ASOS)

“I could shoe him for you,” said Gendry, all of a sudden. “I was only a ’prentice, but my master said my hand was made to hold a hammer. I can shoe horses, close up rents in mail, and beat the dents from plate. I bet I could make swords too.” (ASOS)

From this, we could see that it wasn’t only Arya who saw Gendry’s skill and passion for smithing. We get to see this sentiment repeated coming from different characters like Ned and Tobho Mott.

And Yes, despite all the jokes about Gendry being a stupid bastard, he’s actually quite smart especially considering that he hasn’t really acquired formal education like one taught by maesters since he’s only a bastard boy. But looking at passages from the books, Gendry was the voice of reason in their gang and he actively joins in on conversations and adds his own input and suggestions.

Look with your eyes, Arya wanted to shout at the men below. “Can’t they see we’re no lords or knights?” she whispered. “I don’t think they care, Arry,” Gendry whispered back. And she looked at Ser Amory’s face, the way Syrio had taught her to look, and she saw that he was right. (ACOK)

“They would have burned the lake if they could have,” Gendry had said,

and Arya knew he was right. (ACOK)

It was Gendry who thought of the lord’s towerhouse and the three that Yoren had sent to hold it. (ACOK)

“There’s nails,” Lommy pointed out. “And there’s trees all around. We could build us all boats.” Yoren spat. “You know anything ‘bout boat-building, dyer’s boy?” Lommy looked blank. “A raft,” suggested Gendry. “Anyone can build a raft, and long poles for pushing.” Yoren looked thoughtful. “Lake’s too deep to pole across, but if we stayed to the shallows near shore … it’d mean leaving the wagons. Might be that’s best. I’ll sleep on it.” (ACOK)

Gendry wanted no part of any roads, and even Hot Pie and Lommy saw the sense in that. (ACOK)

“The river bends and loops,” said Gendry. “This is just a shorter way, I bet. Some secret outlaw way. Lem and Tom and them have been living here for years.” That was true. Arya bit her lip. (ACOK)

“If there’s people, there’s food,” Hot Pie said, too loudly. Gendry was always telling him to be more quiet, but it never did any good. “Might be they’d give us some.” “Might be they’d kill us too,” Gendry said. (ACOK)

Gendry frowned. “Knights and lordlings, they take each other captive and pay ransoms, but they don’t care if the likes of you yield or not.” (ACOK)

These are just some quotes showing us how street smart and perceptive Gendry is. And I really believe that if he was only given the chance to have proper education, he would have been knowledgeable about other subjects too since even without it, he’s already seen as someone with valid and reliable suggestions.

4. Gendry is honorable and loyal

Gendry is one of the few characters in the series who is actually honorable. Right from the start, he doesn’t see the point of changing who he is just for the sake of other people, be it noble or not. He lives and works for his own, not feeling the need to ever take advantage of someone just so he could feel better about himself. Before his and Arya’s path crossed, he worked peacefully and kept to himself, expecting others to do the same. To quote a scene i previously mentioned,

Ned turned the helm over in his hands. It was raw steel, unpolished but expertly shaped. “This is fine work. I would be pleased if you would let me buy it.” The boy snatched it out of his hands. “It’s not for sale.” Tobho Mott looked horror-struck. “Boy, this is the King’s Hand. If his lordship wants this helm, make him a gift of it. He honors you by asking.” “I made it for me,” the boy said stubbornly. “A hundred pardons, my lord,” his master said hurriedly to Ned. “The boy is crude as new steel, and like new steel would profit from some beating.” (GOT)

While Tobho Mott thought that it was rude of Gendry to act the way he did, personally I see this as Gendry being true to himself by being honest regardless of the social pressure he constantly face to bow down to nobility.

Moreover, loyalty is another one of Gendry’s characteristics that makes him such a good partner for Arya. While his father, Robert, couldn’t keep his pants on for the life of him, Gendry couldn’t even handle being flirted by other girls. The only time we could see Gendry flirt with anyone openly and happily is with Arya. He even fled the scene when Bella was tempting him back at the inn and this gets to show that Gendry is the exact opposite of Robert, implying that he would be a loyal partner even in the future. Additionally, he also shows his loyalty through his commitment to the masters he thought are fair starting from Tobho Mott and ultimately with the Brotherhood Without Banners.

A sword’s a sword, a helm’s a helm, and if you reach in the fire you get burned, no matter who you’re serving. Lucan’s a fair enough master. I’ll stay here.” (ACOK)

“A smith can find a welcome most anywhere. A skilled armorer even more so. Why would you choose to stay with us?” Arya watched Gendry screw up his stupid face, thinking. “At the hollow hill, what you said about being King Robert’s men, and brothers, I liked that. I liked that you gave the Hound a trial. Lord Bolton just hanged folk or took off their heads, and Lord Tywin and Ser Amory were the same. I’d sooner smith for you.” (ASOS)

Later in ASOS, Gendry is shown to take account of the fairness of the brotherhood and it influences his decision a lot. Thinking that being with Arya while she’s highborn and he’s not to be too painful, he opted to serve for a cause he believes to be just. He seeks out honorable men and this mirrors how honorable he is too.

5. He respects Arya Stark. BIG TIME.

Right from ACOK, Gendry and Arya’s tandem was built on insulting each other but still listening to one another’s opinion. Now what I love the most about these two dorks is that deep down, they really do respect each other. Moreover, he does not only respect her by following what she says but he also shows it by keeping her secret safe and by protecting Arya in a way that doesn’t invalidate her skills. We could see this from the very moment they met after Arya whacked Hot Pie in the face for wanting to take Needle from her,

The Bull shouted, “Behind you,” and Arya spun. Hot Pie was on his knees, his fist closing around a big jagged rock. She let him throw it, ducking her head as it sailed past. Then she flew at him. He raised a hand and she hit it, and then his cheek, and then his knee. (ACOK)

Here’s more instances when Gendry protected Arya while acknowledging that Arya knows what she’s doing and he just wants to let her know that he’s there ready to kick some ass if ever she needs it

Broken Nose guffawed. The officer looked her up and down. “Put the blade away, little girl, no one wants to hurt you.

“I’m not a girl!” she yelled, furious. What was wrong with them? They rode all this way for her and here she was and they were just smiling at her. “I’m the one you want.” “He’s the one we want.” The officer jabbed his shortsword toward the Bull, who’d come forward to stand beside her, Praed’s cheap steel in his hand. (ACOK)

Arya edged backward away from the wagon. When she felt the hand on her shoulder, she whirled, bringing up her stick sword again, but it was only the Bull. “What are you doing?” He raised his hands defensively. “Yoren said none of us should go near those three.” (ACOK)

“Lommy could steal, if it wasn’t for his leg,” said Hot Pie. “He was a thief in the city.” “A bad thief,” Arya said, “or he wouldn’t have got caught.” Gendry squinted up at the sun. “Evenfall will be the best time to sneak in. I’ll go scout come dark.”

“No, I’ll go,” Arya said.“You’re too noisy.”

Gendry got that look on his face. “We’ll both go.”

“Arry should go,” said Lommy. “He’s sneakier than you are.”

“We’ll both go, I said.” (ACOK)

I noticed how Gendry was literally Arya’s sidekick and I see that as him helping her protect herself because Gendry believes in Arya and he doesn’t see her as a fragile object that might easily break.

And lastly, Gendry not only respects Arya Stark’s skills and opinions. He respects her feelings too. And we clearly get to see this when he apologized to Arya for wanting to stay with the Brotherhood (even tho we all know he did that partly because of his belief that he’s way too lowborn for his milady),

As Arya was cinching her saddle girth, Gendry came up to say that he was sorry. She put a foot in the stirrup and swung up into her saddle, so she could look down on him instead of up.You could have made swords at Riverrun for my brother , she thought, but what she said was, “If you want to be some stupid outlaw knight and get hanged, why should I care? I’ll be at Riverrun, ransomed, with my brother.” (ASOS)

The quotes i’ve included here have been quoted many times already and my answer is getting too long now but all I know is that Arya deserves someone who respects her, including all the skills, opinions, and feelings that she have. And I know for sure that Gendry is the kind of man to do so because he’s shown time and time again how much he respects his lady and everything about her. Gendry is a skilled smith, an honorable and loyal person, and most of all, he respects and cares for Arya Stark. And due to these reasons, Arya admires him and I believe that’s enough reason for me to think that Gendry indeed, deserves to be with his lady.

#gendry waters #gendry baratheon #i love gendry with my whole heart and id defend him to the ends of the world #a lot of the points i made here have already been made by countless metas before #and i think these points have already been raised by other metas before #because gendry really is all that in the books #he's amazing #maria.txt #asks #anon

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the-end-of-the-storm · 5 years

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GoT 8x03 aka The Battle of WinterHELL

I can’t help but feel like this is the episode of missed opportunities and (unintentional) wtf moments. Just a little warning: this will not be the most positive review and I hate that I feel this way about the episode because I know how much work (55 consecutive night shots!) went into creating it but I can’t help but not love it. There was some good stuff in there too, and I’ll mention it but don’t expect hails of praise from this. Also, keep in mind, that I LOVE this show to death and that it’s not my intention to bash it – it’s still the best and most thought-through show I’ve ever seen – but I also need to get all my feeling about this mess out.

They foreshadowed the crypts being unsafe in 8x02 with the subtlety of a sledgehammer and then it turned out that they actually were breached… but it has like no consequences? No one that we know died and there wasn’t even a good close combat scene. Super odd. The whole crypts stuff in general was really … underwhelming.

I was really out there expecting some Sansa x Varys’ (ya know, Varys meeting his Dream Queen) bonding in the crypts but instead I got … another conversation with Tyrion … ok lol, thanks. Next.

On a positive side note, however, if they’d wanted to make Sansa x Tyrion romantic, they would have made a Wight attack her and Tyrion save her, you know this whole thing with her wanting a hero … or to make it a twist Sansa would have saved Tyrion. But D&D noped out of that big times.

Missandei, I love you, but you need to chill.

Alys Karstark, what are you up to? Stayin’ alive and all that … So far, at least.

Why bring Ghost out for 0.2 seconds for no purpose at all? Fighting with the Dothraki? Am I to believe that Ghost wouldn’t be with, um, I don’t know … Arya, Sansa or Bran? I’m sorry I don’t buy that. If you can’t afford or don’t want to spend money on his CGI to give him meaningful scenes THEN DON’T FUCKING SHOW HIM AT ALL! The only theory I have about Ghost being in both episodes since the parentage reveal but not in 8x01 when Jon returns to Winterfell and a Jon x Ghost reunion would have made sense, is that Ghost is a symbol for Jon’s Stark-ness and therefore I suspect that we’ll see him further until it is once and for all revealed that … tamtatatam … Jon wants to stay a Stark. Surprising, right? -.-

My main problem with this episode is that I felt disconnected to it all. Even in the bits where Jaime saved Brienne I felt like they were shot in a way that didn’t evoke emotions in me. Don’t know how to express myself correctly but it was just off. Felt like we were just swiping through the scenery, and over characters but didn’t actually focus on anyone.

That Arya x Walking Dead scene was alright HOWEVER how ‘bout some dialogue instead??

Ok, so the Night King raises the dead but no one has to fight a killed loved one??? (Or, you know maybe they did and I just couldn’t see it …) This is a missed opportunity so big I can’t quite believe it. Maybe it is time for a proper re-watch, idk.

Most of the episode I was wondering what the dragons were up to ... only to realize over and over again that they were up to LITERALLY nothing O.o

I’m forever going to be pissed that when Bran said “You’re a good man. Bye.” He let Theon f*cking die when I was fully expecting him to be like: “You’re a good man, thank you. But now it’s time to go.” I would have felt that. But of course f*cking not. I suppose I did feel that, too.

Would it have killed them to give Jon a decent fighting sequence with the Night King though? Jon has been so obsessed with him and sacrificed so much to defeat the NK, he would have deserved to get to kick his ass a bit in one on one combat. (And no, the dragon fighting doesn’t count because I couldn’t tell shit apart. I still don’t know which dragon got bitten and which did the biting, like … this is what you chose to spend so much CGI on, are you for real???)

I’m slightly disappointed that the NK only tried to shot a dragon with his badass spears one f*cking time!! It’s not because I dislike the dragons and want them gone (which I do), I just think it could have made good visuals and raised the stakes even further (I know the stake were pretty darn high to begin with but I just didn’t feel anything.)

Can the Night King speak or does he just choose not to cause “reasons”? Well, at least he can smirk like a boss … Seriously, he’s the most generic and boring villain ever. Glad he’s a goner though.

Also, what was the point of the White Walkers? Like, did they do anything but stand around at the tree line? I was really waiting for them to … I don’t know … try to shoot a dragon out of the sky or fuck things up in the castle.

I like that it was Arya who saved the day, I wasn’t expecting that and I feel there was a bit of foreshadowing for this but it was done so anti-climactic I couldn't properly enjoy it. I still wish they would have done some more foreshadowing for this but they probably wanted it to be a complete “twist” that absolutely no one saw coming. I think I actually would have preferred Bran to be the NK but alright …

Am I wrong or were there less than 10 sentences spoken in 82 minutes?

I am not going to lie; I really wanted Jon to slay Wightserion. I love this man with all my heart but they have been butchering his character and POV to protect their Pol!Jon plot twist and I get it and I believe in Jon but having him slay a Zombie!Dragon would have been a great metaphor for him getting his old self back and literally slaying his dragons, you know? The more I think about this, the more I’m pissed that they didn’t …

I’m so confused that they killed of both of the Mormonts. The only good thing I saw in having Lyanna killed was that at least that would mean that Jorah would live … which is probably exactly why they did it. BIG DISLIKE.

I was relieved to see D*ny cry about Jorah’s death, he loved her so much it’s killing me inside. (How do people see the way Jorah loved her so fiercely and then see Jon with her as a contrast and are like … Yeah Jon and D, man, that’s love … TF?) Anyways, Jorah did her wrong, he did her good but he certainly deserved to be cried over by D*ny. I hate losing Jorah, I loved that devoted fool but I’m also low-key relived that at least this way, Jorah doesn’t have to pick between the North and D*ny. Also good, I loved Jorah and D fighting side by side – one last ride, I guess, going down together ... that's my kind of tea but whatever.

Also interesting, Jorah stayed at her side till the very end, while Jon ditched her first chance he got.

On that note, I also want to say that one of the most interesting things that happened in this episode was that Sam x Jon scene. You know the one where he walks past Sam, although Sam could’ve obviously used some help. Of course, you could say, yeah he just wanted to go kill the NK (which he obviously did want to) but I do believe that Jon’s decision to keep moving has a lot more to do with Bran than the NK. When he ditched D*ny, he said he needs to get to Bran, not “I need to find the NK and kill him”. He was under a lot of stress but his mind immediately went to Bran his brother and not to the Night King his enemy. I do believe that means something. Obviously, the argument can be made that it means the same but I doubt it. The walking past Sam thing could have been easily omitted but they didn’t. Sam, Jon’s best friend and BROTHER of the Night’s Watch. To me, it means that the Starks still are the priority of his heart, siblings or not. Jon knows now that Bran isn’t really his brother, that he’s the 3ER and let’s be real, he hasn’t had a meaningful interaction with Bran in years. He doesn’t know him anymore. But he still chose Bran. He couldn’t spare those ten seconds to help his best friend because Bran needed him. He ditched his NW brother/best friend AND his aunt/lover for his cousin Bran. I don’t know about you guys but I really loved that. Because it means so much regarding him being part of the pack and shit.

I very happily noted that D&D really went out of their way to make sure that absolutely nothing of significance was accomplished by D*ny or her armies or her dragons. Drogon and Rhaegal didn’t even take down Viserion, Arya Stark did. Kinda.

What will Arya be called now by the smallfolk? Kingslayer? Dragonslayer? Nightslayer? Armyslayer? Sooo many possibilies ...

I'm in the serious need of a Jonsa scene. I've been patient but now I need Jon to gaze at Sansa from the side and being awkward around her and then I'll need him to reveal his parentage to her and Ayra.

Also, big F*ck You to all the “leakers” out there who made me worry all week about B*atbang!Baby and lines like D: “Ily but you need to keep the Targline alive. Do you understand?” J: “No, I get it, Auntie, but Ily and I only want you”. I mean that Exodus dude wrote a fucking essay based on nothing but lies – why do people even do that? Get a hobby, man!

Resume: I still have faith in Pol!Jon, Dark!D and Jonsa but I’m really confused about the route they’re currently taking. I’m assuming Dany will leave for Dragonstone in 8x04 and Jon will join her and we’ll have another Jonsa separation with only three episodes left, so that’d really suck. However, if I could wish for only a single thing next episode, then I want Jon back, I miss my man so much.

I realize this all must sound kinda anti but I’m just a bit upset and tired. I do love this show and I will keep watching till the bitter end, obviously. Also I respect all the work that went into creating this episode. It just wasn’t my kind of tea. Cheers xx

#jonsa #jon snow #got 8x03 spoilers #anti-daenerys #dark!dany #anti jonerys #game of thrones

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