Gared, More Than A Man (Meta)
Based on evidence collected both from in-game and the Game of Thrones wiki, it seems to be suggested by the writers that Gared possesses abilities beyond that of a regular man. He shows signs of being both a Forrester by blood and a greenseer, with evidence scattered throughout all episodes of the game.
First, some definitions from both the Game of Thrones & awoiaf wiki:
Greenseer is the title given to people who possess the magical ability to perceive future, past or distant events in dreams known as Green Dreams. According to legend, greenseers were much respected by the Children of the Forest.
In the A Song of Ice and Fire books, greenseers were the wise men of the Children of the Forest who had magical abilities that included power over nature and prophetic visions. While one in a thousand men is born a skinchanger, one skinchanger in a thousand is born a greenseer.
Below is a compilation of evidence that suggests that Gared has abilities that reach further than that of a normal, lowborn squire.
Gared claims to have been hearing the weirwoods whisper to him since before he “was a man grown”, and that because he didn’t understand the sounds, it frightened him.
If not for this, it could have been suggested that it is only the weirwood specifically outside the North Grove that whispers to those that pass by it, but it’s clear that there is someone or something (the children of the forest?) attempting to contact him each time that he’s close enough to be reached.
Unfortunately, as it seems he was a child when he heard the majority of the whispering, he was perhaps not in a position to attempt to work out what it all meant. This is further backed up by the fact that he appears confused by the whispers he hears by the weirwood outside of the North Grove. Clearly it isn’t every person, or even every Northerner, that can hear the trees contacting them — so why can Gared?
“Hear the weirwoods whisper.” (Can anyone in possession of the map hear the tree, or is it possible that Gared is uniquely qualified to be the one to complete this mission?)
To listen to the whispers, Gared first has to focus on the tree, before it then begins to speak to him. As he begins to listen, however, he is interrupted by Shadow, leaving it unclear what the weirwood would have said to him if he were able to keep listening. It’s interesting that he is interrupted by a warged animal, a power often held by greenseers. Visual foreshadowing?
It’s also important to note that the Wall is known for being a barrier of magic, and that any magic south of it is significantly weakened. Bran, for example, becomes far more capable of accessing the weirwood’s visions when beyond the Wall. Gared’s power may also have been weakened by living in the North, and only when beyond the Wall can he have full access to it.
This may be why the weirwoods whispers were implied to be much quieter when he was a child, as his ability to hear them was weakened. He swears to have “actually heard them” as a child because it was not loud enough for him to be certain. Therefore, when beyond the Wall, with no barrier to his abilities the whispers are both louder and clearer – the only reason he still does not hear what he is being told is because he’s interrupted far too early to hear anything of meaning.
Another suggestion that Gared has powers is his ability to control the undead wildlings within the North Grove, something that Elsera was previously only able to do, and only because she used blood magic to achieve this. She also has to use her voice to command them.
Gared, however, only uses a gesture of his own sword to control them, and it’s not even the specialized ironwood knife that he’s gifted by Elsera that he uses to achieve this. Even if Elsera told them to listen to Gared, it still does not explain how he does not need to use his voice like she does. Could this link into the Greenseer’s ability to control nature and their surroundings?
It’s also possible that his powers stem back to the fact that he may be of Forrester blood, which in turn may allow him access to the weirwood’s whispers, and the power of the North Grove. This is arguably first implied in Episode 1, when looking at the tapestry of the Forrester’s. Gared has these words in particular to say about Lady Forrester:
“Lady Forrester. She’s always been kind to me. Treated me like I was a Forrester myself.”
There’s also the fact that, for the most part, Gared seems to possess the facial features of the Forrester’s, as opposed to those of his own family.
A side-by-side comparison of Gared and Lord Forrester. It’s difficult to tell under the beard, but the jawline, cheekbones, ears and nose are of similar structure.
Meanwhile, here’s a comparison of Gared and his father.. who look nothing alike.
As you can see, Garbear over here looks NOTHING like his damn father. And I know, I do know that allllll his genetics could come from his mother but… HIS ENTIRE FACE? NOTHING LIKE HIS FATHER? NO WAY, NO FUCKING WAY.
You know who Gared does look like? Gregor the goddamn Good. And I know what else you may say, Telltale would re-use assets, blah blah blah. Why re-use Gregor’s features and not his father’s if that is the case??? See? It makes no sense. Gared looks like Gregor, he looks a bit like the damn Forrester children as well! So… that’s that.
It’s also telling that Gared survives the season regardless of the player choices, despite not even being a “Forrester” himself, the family that the game is focused on.
There’s also this….
“Ryon. Never easy being the fourth-born son.”
So, fourth-born, ay? Lemme see here, sooo, we have… Josera, Rodrik, Asher and hmmm, who would come next if they were related… Oh! Gared! Of course, and in that case, he’d be the fourth-born. This could be some interesting foreshadowing.
It’s also interesting to note that weirwood and ironwood share a lot of common properties that make them a lot alike. They’re both known for their hardness, durability, being found beyond the Wall, and resistance to flame. This isn’t established in the books in regards to ironwood, so perhaps the writers created this parallel on purpose to even further suggest that the Forrester’s and the weirwood trees are closely linked to one another. Could ironwood also be linked to the children of the forest, and therefore, House Forrester as a whole?
Another possible visual metaphor is that, enclosed within the Forrester pendant, which has an ironwood tree engraved on it, is a weirwood tree, suggesting that the two are closely linked. It is not just the ironwood trees that are suggested to be linked, but the Forrester’s by extension too.
Side note: is it not strange that Talia just so happened to give Gared the piece of the puzzle he needed to find out exactly where the North Grove could be found? The way she runs up to him suggests that she had to give it to him before he left – perhaps Lord Forrester once instructed her to make sure Gared had the necklace on him if he were to ever travel to the Wall? The way she says ‘Be safe’ suggests that she knows he’s gonna be on a harder trek than just the Wall. (Also, she doesn’t say goodbye, which I think is even more suspicious).
“You must swear, tell only your Uncle Duncan.”
The way he says that line ^, so seriously… It suggests so much. Tell only Gared’s uncle? Someone who has been friends with Gregor since they were teenagers/kids? Well, who else is gonna know all of Gregor’s secrets? Especially, someone who is as close to an advisor as anyone can get.
(I think I should also mention that, the way Gregor insists, absolutely demands for Gared to go is very telling). cough, cough Gared is his son cough, cough
Anyhow, I believe this means that Duncan knows a lot more than he’s ever told Gared.
“I can’t say anything more just yet.”
Say, that Gregor knocked a woman up and he was in a spot of bother. He’s married to Lady Forrester, he has Rodrik and Asher (and Josera and Elsera, probably born before he was married). Perhaps even Lady Forrester is pregnant with Mira. But, unfortunately, there’s another pregnant woman in the mix. So, Duncan steps in. He offers up his brother as a way to get out of this mess. So, his brother marries this woman and Gared is born, in wedlock, as a Tuttle. Which means Gregor’s son gets to have the privilege of a legit second name.
Therefore, Gared is slowly worked into the ranks and becomes Gregor’s squire because, that’s the best way to spend time with your illegitimate son, without raising any eyebrows.
Perhaps Duncan didn’t tell Gared everything because the more you know about The North Grove, the more you’d know the whole truth. Perhaps it’s something linked to people with Forrester blood, people with certain abilities (much like Josera and Elsera, who’s to say their powers don’t come from Gregor). I mean, it’s possible that Gregor and the Forrester children have abilities as well. But the magic barrier restricts those abilities from showing in fully-fledged form.
However, if Gared is a Forrester, being sent North of the Wall means his abilities get to develop as they should… perhaps a bit like Josera and Elsera? Maybe the legit Forrester children have to stay south so that they can inherit the Lordship of the House. Perhaps it was the plan all along. That these children, who can’t inherit the house, should be sent North to protect a long held secret, a long held Forrester secret.
All the Forrester children had the necklaces to solve the puzzle. So, it was a thing that more than one of them may have had to leave Ironrath to go to The North Grove. However, with Gared on the scene, maybe they were told if he were to go North, they had to give a necklace to him. Hence, Talia gave hers away. Maybe she didn’t know why she had to, or maybe she did, nevertheless, she gave Gared the guide directly to The North Grove.
Duncan was stupid, if this is correct. If he does know all this, he’s only risked Gared further. What else did he have to lose in telling Gared? Well, other than Gared being in too much shock to continue on his quest. Perhaps those were his motives.
Or perhaps Telltale just wanted a bigger reveal.
(Written by Me and @Lewsblake23)
Comments
I'm not sure I agree with it, but it's a very interesting theory! More so the Greenseer stuff, rather than Gared being Gregor's son as I'm not really into that idea. And also Talia's necklace, I'd rather it be meant as sentiment rather than she was told to give it to him. But still, great theory! I can tell a lot of thought went into this.
Thanks! (You would not believe how many hours @Lewsblake23 and I poured into this XD)
I know I love Gared being a Tuttle and everything, but with the idea of him being Gregor's son floating around in my head for two years, I knew it would fit well into this theory :P And yeah, I like Talia's necklace being sentiment, but it being the key to the puzzle seems too convenient and I wanna give Telltale more credit than it being a simple plot device... But, I guess, it is what it is, and it will be what it will be
It's already too common to have several greenseers on a game based on the asoiaf franchise.Mors Westford was the case on the got of Cyanide,and it was quite cool to wary into his dog.About the theory of Gared being a Forrester makes Lord Gregor look even worse than before having three bastards and the favouritism he showed Gared keeping him closer and sending the twins to the lands beyond the Wall for no justified reason.
Well it needs a lot of explanation but thanks man to bring us something original to the community,Thanks man!
True...
But I don't think it needs much explanation at all... All it needs is a paragraph at most? It's pretty easy to connect the dots, I think. But then, I am well versed in writing theories, and crazy ones too :P
And Gregor looking worse isn't too much of a bad thing. We already know he's prone to it shrugs.
Also, no prob! Anything to get this forum back into the swing of... something, at least. It's been so quiet for so long that, I hope, this theory will get people talking again. (But perhaps not, since it's so dead over here :P)
Well it's been so long since we've heard anything regarding season 2 that a lot of people just don't see the point in coming here anymore.
I know, the only reason I'm back here is because of this theory.
There was me thinking the Tuttles were honorary Forresters but everything you say makes sense. It would also explain why Gregor had a flash-forward just before he died that contained the unavoidable fate of Ironrath and the peril that the North Grove would be in from the Wightwalkers.
As to explain why two of his bastards are in the North Grove and he kept Gared close: his lover who bore him the first two was a wildling and Gared's mother was an Ironwrath peasant (hence why it was safe to marry her off to Duncan's brother).
double post
Actually Gared cannot be related to the Forresters because they all have green eyes and he has brown eyes. Gared is a Tuttle no doubt about it.
Lord Forrester probably noticed that Gared had some sort of abilities maybe through dreams or perhaps everytime they passed by a weirwood he would be startled there has to be something that makes Lord Forrester think that Gared is the one to be sent to North Grove. Also he was not sent there by Lord Forrester he was sent there by his Uncle Duncan who after reflecting on Lord Forrester's words about the North Grove sees his chances lie with Gared and that is why he is sent there.
Well, actually, it's likely Gared's mother had brown eyes and the gene for brown eyes is dominant over green/blue. So, with that in mind, between Lord Forrester and Gared's mother, he would have a 50-100% chance of having brown eyes.
So, it is well within the possibility that Gared is a Forrester!
I don't buy it because if Lord Forrester had cheated on Elissa again wouldn't she notice it? I mean Gared even says that Lord Forrester was honorable I doubt he'd cheat twice. Perhaps Tuttles are distant cousins of the Forresters I mean some of the Forresters resemble the whitehills like Asher and Talia both of them have blonde hair and the Whitehills have blonde hair and their families were close once meaning they could carry genes from the Forrester and Whitehill alliance days