Game of Thrones Brought Back a Fan Favorite in a Significant Way

A few ways Gendry's return could be of major importance to Jon Snow.

By Terri Schwartz

Full spoilers for Game of Thrones: Season 7 "Eastwatch" continue below.

"Thought you might still be rowing."

With the most fan-service line of the night, Davos Seaworth helped Game of Thrones fans welcome Gendry, the long-missing, still-rowing bastard son of Robert Baratheon, back into the fold. While he's here to be the hammer-wielding part of the dream team Jon Snow is taking ranging north of the Wall, his returned presence back to the show is of marked importance.

First, as was underlined multiple times in "Eastwatch," Jon and Gendry are in many ways the new versions of Ned Stark and Robert Baratheon. Game of Thrones: Season 7 has done nothing if not call back to just how much has changed over the past seven seasons, and seeing these two characters meet in the flesh -- one leaner, and one shorter than the men that came before them -- is very much reminiscent of the close bond between Ned and Robert. It's even more moving when you think about the fact these men are both bastards, which they surely will find kinship over (even if Jon might not really be a bastard after all).

Jon has a lot of notable allies by his side north of the Wall -- Tormund Giantsbane, Davos Seaworth and Beric Dondarrion, to name a few -- but he could need more if Gilly's little revelation comes to light this season. Of all of the people by his side, a solid handful could be swayed by Daenerys Targaryen, so it's useful to have a warrior and smith like Gendry ready to call him friend.

The fact that Gendry is a smith could prove to be his most notable asset. Though there could be one or two people still out there who want a Baratheon back on the Iron Throne, Gendry is far more use to Jon if he can weld dragonglass weapons. As Vanity Fair notes, in George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire novels, the blacksmith Tobho Mott -- a.k.a the blacksmith Gendry apprenticed for -- was one of few men who could weld Valyrian steel. If he passed that skill on to Gendry, the young bastard could be a very welcome asset in the wars to come.

Interestingly enough, Jon and Gendry might have more to bond over than just their bastard statuses, former fathers' friendship and the need to weld dragonglass weapons: they also have had notable, unsettling interactions with the Red Priestess Melisandre. As Joe Dempsie, who plays Gendry, tells the Huffington Post: "His experience with Melisandre, as you’ll see later in this season, is still something that rankles with him, something that he’s maybe not quite able to get over in his mind."

Clearly Gendry's return is significant, and if nothing else it's long-anticipated. What role do you think he ultimately has to play in what's ahead? Let us know in the comments below.

Terri Schwartz is Editorial Producer at IGN. Talk to her on Twitter at @Terri_Schwartz.

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