Game of Thrones History & LoreEven the most die-hard fans have trouble keeping all the details straight. These lists feature Game of Thrones lore and history that dives deep into the series.
We apologize for what you are about to see… if you aren’t caught up on Game of Thrones, SPOILERS are just on the other side of the door!
This list is about everyone’s favorite Onion Knight, Davos Seaworth. Maybe you know everything there is to know about the former pirate and smuggler. You know he is from Flea Bottom. You know about his father’s occupation as a crabber, his wife Marya, and his seven sons.
But did you know that some tinfoil theories say he’s really a secret agent for the White Walkers?! Crazy talk! Dangerous crazy talk! And probably not a favorite theory since Davos is beloved throughout the fandom. Other Davos Game of Thrones theories suggest that he’s actually Lightbringer and will help Jon Snow and the rest of the Starks destroy the Others. He’s certainly warmed to Melisandre after plotting to kill her, but that’s because he hasn’t found out how Shireen really died. Perhaps he’ll be too busy with the work of the Starks to ask about details. But when he finds out what the Red Woman did, she better make like a shadow demon baby and cast herself far away on someone else’s wall. The Onion Knight does not play, lady.
Liam Cunningham, who plays the character on the HBO series, scoffs at many of the Davos fan theories. Given his cheeky sense of humor, he might just be throwing us off. Maybe Davos Seaworth WILL sit upon the Iron Throne when all is said and done. And Sam Tarley will be his Hand. At the very least, fans are rooting for Davos to survive the showdown with the Others. Nothing wrong with him kicking back at Cape Wrath with a bottle of wine after murderizing the White Walker horde.
Let’s delve into some Davos Seaworth theories, and fun facts about the actor who plays him, and see just how many layers there are.
Photo: HBO
Why Was Davos Protecting Jon Snow’s Body?
Photo: HBO
Davos is forging a new alliance with the Starks. Susan Bertolino explains this quite well: “He identified with Gendry as someone who grew up in poverty. Jon did not grow up in that way, but many of the Night's Watch are no different from what Davos once was. Davos is decent, and when given the chance, he will choose the harder path when he knows it is right. But I also think we have the Stark tie.
'In the books, Davos talks at length with Ser Wyman Manderly, who was sworn to Robb Stark, and lost one son at the Red Wedding. He has played a cunning game to get back his other son from the Mountain who serves the Lannisters. Davos had come to convince Ser Manderly to declare for Stannis, but Davos ends up deciding to rescue Rickon from the island of Skagos, an island in the North that also has ties to the Night's Watch. So I think the show wants us to see Davos as an eventual Stark supporter and rescuer. In the books, he will rescue Rickon so that Lord Manderly will support Stannis. In the show, he is rescuing Jon's body to begin his new commitment to the Starks. So the common denominator in both situations is Davos helping a Stark.”
Martin Explains Davos’s Existence
Photo: HBO
He may seem like a character who was front and center from the beginning, but, turns out, not so. According to So Spake Martin, "George said that at first he was just going to use the original POVs from AGoT for the entire series, then he realized that he needed to see what Stannis was doing, but didn't want to use Stannis as a POV. So he created Davos. Davos was his first added POV. The rest followed.”
Martin Explains Why Davos Smuggled Onions to Storm’s End
Photo: HBO
And it wasn’t out of the goodness of his heart. “[George laughs] Because he had onions! And so he thought to himself, ‘Where can I sell these at the best price? If I take them to King's Landing they'll pay me the price of onions, but if I take them to people during a time of hunger, they'd certainly pay me better.’”
Is Davos Going to Murder Melisandre When He Finds Out About Shireen?
Photo: HBO
Melisandre didn't immediately tells Davos she talked Stannis into burning his own daughter at the stake in order to ensure his victory. All Davos knew is that Stannis, the queen, and their daughter are all dead because they, he assumed, were killed in battle.
He also didn't know that that Selsye hung herself after letting Melisandre sacrifice her daughter. If he had known, he probably would never have asked her to raise Jon Snow from the dead, because he would have killed her with his bare hands first. Now that she HAS raised Jon, what will the knight do when he learns of his young tutor’s fate?
Rolling Stone asked Cunningham to read through some popular fan theories. He does not disappoint. He calls BS on Dany and Jon as siblings, that Jon is Azor Ahai, and that dyslexia will make Jaime Lannister great again. “Yeah, please. Everybody blames dyslexia. Maybe he’s just a d*ck,” Cunningham said. He also corrects the theory that dragonglass is dragon feces. “No, it’s not. It’s obsidian.” He also admits that he hasn't read the books.
He has his own theory about the last man or thing standing.The Night’s King will be sitting on the Iron Throne with his leg draped over one arm of it “sucking on a Cohiba.” And he doesn’t see Davos sitting atop the throne. Cunningham did share something directly from George R.R. Martin… the ending will be “bittersweet.” He has vowed to never share what he was told.
Why Fans Like Davos So Much
Photo: HBO
Kelsey L. Hayes explains why Davos is compelling, at least in her opinion: “Davos is the best parts of Ned Stark with very, very few of the weakest parts.”
She offers up his “strong moral code” and the way he stood up to Stannis and Melisandre. She also says that Davos’s shrewdness and pragmatism have served him well. She even suggests he would have avoided Ned’s fate. “In that sense, he'd probably never end up on the block in the same circumstances that Ned did, because he would have handled the whole incident differently (by, for instance, not blabbing to Cersei what he knew).”
Hayes also believes that Davos will make it to the bitter end. “Because he's one of the few remaining good guys we can root for without having to excuse awful sh*t he's done, and because it looks like he might actually stand a chance of surviving all of this.”
