Alliser Thorne

Alliser Thorne is a character in Game of Thrones. He was originally announced as being played by Derek Halligan, but Halligan withdrew from the role before production began. He is instead played by Owen Teale and debuts in the third episode of the first season.

Ser Alliser Thorne is a member of the Night's Watch. He is from House Thorne, now a vassal house to House Baratheon. Thorne serves as the master-of-arms at Castle Black and is responsible for training the new recruits; he has the habit of giving them demeaning nicknames.

Season 1
Ser Alliser Thorne sets Jon Snow against his fellow recruits Rast, Pypar and Grenn, and refers to Jon as 'Lord Snow'. Jon beats the other recruits easily, due to his previous training at Winterfell, but is unaware that Alliser is making him unpopular by emphasizing his superiority. Tyrion Lannister advises Jon to take into account that his co-recruits have had a less privileged upbringing; Tyrion suggest that Jon can befriend them by helping to improve their skills.

Ser Alliser begins training the new recruit Samwell Tarly, but is disgusted by his fatness and softness, nicknaming him 'Lord Piggy'. Jon decides to help Sam by convincing the other boys to go easy on Sam and refuse to hurt him. Thorne is furious and angrily confronts Jon and Sam, telling them how hard life is beyond the Wall and how he once had to turn cannibal and eat the frozen remains of his comrades or starve to death. He tells them they are soft and that Jon's 'protection' of Sam from the hard training he needs will get him killed.

In revenge for Jon's defiance, Alliser arranges to have him made a steward after he takes the oath of loyalty, while Jon had serious hopes to become a ranger. It turns out to be Lord Commander Jeor Mormont who takes Jon as his personal steward. Samwell convinces Jon that Alliser's plan has backfired, since this means that Jon will be privy to the inner workings of the Night's Watch command structure, and that the Lord Commander may actually want to groom Jon for a high position within the Watch.

Alliser keeps taunting Jon. When the Watch hears that Eddard Stark has been arrested, Alliser calls Jon the son of a traitor. Jon attacks Thorne with a knife, which results in him being restricted to his quarters and possibly facing execution. Jon redeems himself by saving Jeor Mormont's life when two dead rangers, who have been found beyond the Wall, are revived as wights. . Later, the Lord Commander sends Alliser to King's Landing with the frozen hand of one of the wights to warn the court of the return of the White Walkers.

In the books
In the Song of Ice and Fire novels, Alliser Thorne is respected for his service to House Targaryen. During the Sack of King's Landing he fought on the walls of the city against the Lannister forces. After being defeated, he took the black and joined the Night's Watch.

In a notable change, in the TV series Thorne is an experienced ranger who has been beyond the Wall on several occasions. In the books he much more rarely leaves Castle Black.