Game of Thrones: See how much the cast has changed since the first season

Gendry

Game of Thrones fans only meet Gendry briefly during the first season of the show, when Ned Stark visits him after discovering Robert’s long line of bastard children living near King’s Landing. Gendry is working for a blacksmith at the time, a reasonably comfortable life given the fates of Robert’s other hidden children.

The next time we see Gendry, he’s leaving the capitol to join the Night’s Watch. Though he doesn’t realize it at the time, this is the result of Joffrey’s mad order to kill all of Robert’s children, eliminating any potential threats to his throne. As far as we know, Gendry is the only one who survives Joffrey’s sentence.

From Gendry’s time traveling to the Wall to his stint spent under Stannis’ care, he doesn’t change much. And given that he’s a decent person just trying to survive, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Even the realization that he could have a small claim to the throne fails to alter his personality, and he remains the Gendry we know even after years spent rowing to King’s Landing.

Episode 65 (season 7, episode 5), debut 8/13/17: Joe Dempsie.

photo: Helen Sloan/courtesy of HBO

Even when Gendry returns during the seventh season of the show, his haircut is about the only thing that’s different about him. He’s still capable in a fight, still relatively modest, and he still appears completely uninterested in power. His circumstances change, but Gendry stays consistent.

For this reason, it will be interesting to see what the showrunners do with his character during the final season. There had to be some reason for bringing him back to the show, and his Baratheon heritage likely has something to do with it. Gendry is the very last of that line, and that could have major consequences going forward.