Eastwatch-by-the-Sea

"There's a ship leaving for Eastwatch-by-the-Sea tonight. From there, I'm afraid it's rather a long walk to Castle Black."

- Tyrion Lannister to Janos Slynt

Eastwatch, or Eastwatch-by-the-Sea, is a castle and port located at the far eastern end of the Wall, where the Wall drops into an inlet of the Shivering Sea called the Bay of Seals. There are nineteen castles along the Wall, but as their numbers fell over the centuries the Night's Watch had to abandon sixteen of them. Eastwatch-by-the-Sea is one of only three manned castles left on the Wall, along with Castle Black and The Shadow Tower.

As the only castle on the Wall located on the sea, Eastwatch-by-the-Sea serves as the port for the Night's Watch. The capital city of King's Landing, as well as the cities of White Harbor and Gulltown, are also located on the eastern coast of the continent, so it is relatively easy for provisions and news to reach Eastwatch.

Known residents

 * Cotter Pyke, a bastard of the Iron Islands, commander of the Eastwatch garrison.
 * Borcas, head steward of Eastwatch.
 * Dareon, a newly-made steward, assigned to Eastwatch.

Season 1
Dareon is assigned to the Stewards and Maester Aemon sends him to Eastwatch and ordered to report to Borcas.

Lord Commander Jeor Mormont tells Jon Snow that four of Cotter Pyke's men found four wights in the snow near Eastwatch. Unlike the men at Castle Black, they had the sense to burn them.

Season 2
Tyrion Lannister takes tremendous pleasure in dumping Janos Slynt onto a boat headed for Eastwatch-by-the-Sea.

Season 3
When Jon Snow infiltrates the wildlings, Orell asks him which of the nineteen castles along the Wall are still manned by the Night's Watch. Jon admits that only Castle Black, Eastwatch-by-the-Sea, and the Shadow Tower are still manned.

Season 5
During his stay at Castle Black while organising his campaign in the North, Stannis Baratheon advises the recently elected Lord Commander of the Night's Watch Jon Snow to appoint Alliser Thorne as commander of Eastwatch, to keep him from causing trouble at Castle Black. Jon instead says he intends to keep Alliser close where he can keep an eye on him, and instead treats Alliser with respect by making him the new First Ranger in recognition of his service. Cotter Pyke presumably retains command of Eastwatch.

In the books
In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, Eastwatch-by-the-Sea serves as the main resupply post for the Night's Watch, with ships stopping there from King's Landing, the Free Cities far to the south, the island of Ibben, and even some wildling fisherfolk who are permitted to trade there. There is also some clandestine smuggling going on there, which is tolerated only as far as that it helps the Watch. The Night's Watch possesses a small "fleet" of ships at Eastwatch, but they are not frequently used and thus often left unmanned and tied up at anchor.

At the start of the books, less than 200 soldiers are based at the Eastwatch.

In the novels, it is specified that when King Stannis Baratheon sailed to the Wall to save the Night's Watch during the Battle of Castle Black, his forces landed at Eastwatch, then proceeded west along the north side of the Wall until they reached Castle Black. Black brothers from Eastwatch came with them, to lead them along Ranger paths used in scouting beyond the Wall, so they could reach Castle Black in time.

Naming
In the novels, the castle is named Eastwatch-by-the-Sea almost constantly. In the TV series, it is called "Eastwatch" the one time it is mentioned in dialogue in the first season, as well as on the map on the HBO website. However, from Season 2 onwards it has usually been called by the full name "Eastwatch-by-the-Sea", indicating that the two terms are interchangeable.