Warning: spoilers ahead for Episode 5 of Game of Thrones Season 7, "Eastwatch."
Game of Thrones has been bringing all kinds of characters together throughout Season 7, and we've gotten big reunions and even bigger meetings. Some characters have practically come back from the dead to return to the game as the Great War approaches. Now, "Eastwatch" has finally reintroduced one character that has had fans wondering, theorizing, and joking ever since the end of Season 3. Yes, Gendry is finally back.
Gendry has apparently spent the last several years in King's Landing, not rowing and rowing and rowing his little boat aimlessly around the Seven Kingdoms. He was set free from Dragonstone by Ser Davos in Season 3 when Melisandre intended to sacrifice him for his king's blood. At the time, Stannis Baratheon was not willing to let Melisandre kill his daughter, but he was pretty okay with using his brother's bastard son. Now, Gendry is back with his king's blood, although his blood may not be what matters this time around. This time, it might be his hammer that makes all the difference.
Ser Davos found Gendry working as a blacksmith once again, and Gendry revealed that he was much more comfortable wielding a hammer rather than swinging a sword. That said, he was still more than happy to get back into the fight, not especially enjoying his work providing weapons for the Lannisters. He had a war hammer, ready and hanging on the wall for when the time came to jump back into war. His choice of weapon mirrors that of his father, Robert. He too favored a hammer over a sword, and it was with a war hammer that the fate of the Seven Kingdoms was decided a generation ago. Could the same be true now of Robert's son with a hammer of his own?
Unlike Robert, Gendry isn't heading south for war. Instead, Gendry has joined Jon Snow in his fight to defeat the White Walkers and the wights in the Great War. Despite Ser Davos' instructions not to reveal his true identity, Gendry immediately revealed his name and who his father was when he met Jon. Believing that they could join forces just as Ned Stark and Robert Baratheon did when the Mad King ruled the land, Gendry teamed up with Jon to combat the White Walkers that threaten to overrun the land.
Jon and Gendry were joined by Ser Davos, Ser Jorah, the Hound, and the remnants of the Brotherhood Without Banners to fight along with the wildlings to defend Eastwatch. It's a relatively motley crew of Northmen, southerners, wildlings, and strays, and it's all that currently stands between the army of the dead and the Seven Kingdoms. Well, technically the Wall is still standing, but surely Game of Thrones won't kick off the Great War in style with the Wall still standing, right? My money is on the Wall coming down sooner rather than later. Only time will tell if Gendry will last long enough to take much of a stand.
We'll have to wait and see. Tune in to HBO on Sundays at 9 p.m. ET for new episodes of Game of Thrones, and don't forget to take a look at our fall TV premiere schedule.
