Night's Watch

"Night gathers, and now my watch begins. It shall not end until my death. I shall take no wife, hold no lands, father no children. I shall wear no crowns and win no glory. I shall live and die at my post. I am the sword in the darkness. I am the watcher on the walls. I am the shield that guards the realms of men. I pledge my life and honor to the Night's Watch, for this night and all the nights to come."

- The Night's Watch oath

The Night's Watch is a military order which holds and guards the Wall, the immense ice structure which separates the northern border of the Seven Kingdoms from the lands beyond. The order is currently led by acting Lord Commander Alliser Thorne from the stronghold of Castle Black.

The Night's Watch consists of three groups: the Rangers, who fight, defend the Wall and patrol the Haunted Forest; the Builders, who maintain the Wall and the castles; and the Stewards, who support and feed the members of the Watch.

Background
According to legend, the Night's Watch was founded 8,000 years ago. They now protect the Seven Kingdoms from threats beyond their northern border, such as white walkers, wildlings and giants. They man a vast structure known as the Wall, a 700 foot tall and 300 mile long barrier which separates the Seven Kingdoms from the lands to its north. It is formed mostly from ice. The Watch have built several castles along the southern edge of the Wall to house their men. They also control a region south of the Wall known as the Gift, from which they obtain supplies and provisions. The region was donated to them by House Stark, the Kings in the North, at the time.

Members of the Night's Watch swear an oath of duty that is binding for life and prohibits marriage, family, and land ownership. Recruits renounce all past allegiances and birthrights. Joining the Watch provides absolution for past crimes and immunity from further punishment. Brothers start with a clean slate and can rise within the ranks whatever their origins. They describe one another as "sworn brothers" because of the oath. Men of the Watch dress entirely in black, giving rise to the nickname "crows" - which is what the Free Folk commonly call them - or "black brothers." Members of the Night's Watch are not specifically forbidden from seeing their families, but they cannot leave the Wall without permission. Desertion is punishable by death. First Ranger Benjen Stark would often visit his family at Winterfell while representing the Night's Watch.



The Watch was once highly regarded and their ranks were filled with volunteers from noble houses, as serving was a sign of selfless devotion to the protection of the realm. However, most recruits are now criminals avoiding punishment, nobles avoiding scandal, orphans and other social outcasts. Men known as wandering crows, such as Yoren, travel around the Seven Kingdoms gathering recruits for the Watch, offering them escape on the Wall. For the highborn, the Wall is a convenient place to exile embarrassing or disgraced family members. Samwell Tarly was disowned by his own father and ordered to join the Watch. Tywin Lannister had plans to exile his own son Tyrion to the Wall.

By the reign of King Robert Baratheon, the institution has fallen into disrepute and is largely ignored by the throne. It is severely undermanned; dwindling numbers have led to all but three of the Wall's nineteen castles being abandoned. The Night's Watch is now led from its stronghold at Castle Black. The Shadow Tower and Eastwatch-by-the-Sea are the only other castles that are still manned. Meanwhile, trouble is stirring beyond the Wall. A large wildling army under a new King Beyond the Wall, Mance Rayder, is advancing south, and there are rumors that the White Walkers, long since thought to be extinct, have returned. The leader of the Night's Watch when Jon Snow arrives at the Wall is Lord Commander Jeor Mormont.

Season 1
Increased wildling activity beyond the Wall leads the Watch to send out several patrols to investigate. Some do not return. A three man scouting party consisting of Ser Waymar Royce, Gared, and Will is one of those sent out, but only Will returns - then frantically tries to desert the watch by running south. He rambles that the legendary White Walkers killed his companions, but he is disbelieved as a madman and beheaded by Lord Eddard Stark for desertion.

When Tyrion Lannister, younger brother of Queen Cersei, makes a visit to the Wall while traveling to Winterfell, he is met at Castle Black by Lord Commander Jeor Mormont and Maester Aemon. They implore him to bring news to the king that the Night's Watch is severely undermanned and undersupported: they are down to under a thousand members, and barely have the resources to feed and support the few men they still have. Mormont warns Tyrion about disturbing rumors coming from beyond the Wall, about missing scouting parties, and the one man who did survive an attack say it was the White Walkers finally returning, just before he was executed. Aemon warns that they have had a very long summer lasting for years, and that the coming winter may be also be long and bitter - and only the gods can help them if they do not do more to prepare for what's coming.

Season 2
Jeor Mormont's Great Ranging travels far beyond the Wall, and sets up a base camp at the Fist of the First Men

Season 3
The Night's Watch engages in the first open conflict between men and White Walkers in eight millennia when their position is assaulted in the Battle of the Fist of the First Men. They suffer heavy casualties, though a few dozen men led by Mormont manage to fight their way out, and retreat southwards. Mormont himself is then killed by his own men when they mutiny at Craster's Keep.

Season 4
Alliser Thorne temporarily succeeds Mormont as acting Commander. Their strength now reduced to about 100 men, the remainder of the Watch manage to fend off a wildling attack on Castle Black. Stannis Baratheon then unexpectedly arrives to relieve them, and defeats the wildling army.

Structure
Men of the Night's Watch are divided between three different orders:


 * Builders - who physically maintain the structures of the Night's Watch, and repair the Wall itself.
 * Stewards - who provide for the day-to-day needs of the Watch: gathering, cooking, and serving food, repairing clothes and equipment, tending to the horses and messenger-ravens, and gathering firewood. By far the largest of the three orders.
 * Rangers - the true warriors of the Night's Watch. While all black brothers are expected to have some basic arms training and to take up a sword in defense of the Wall itself, the Rangers are the ones who are sent on dangerous scouting expeditions beyond the Wall, to track wildlings movements. When the Watch was more numerous in past centuries they formed the core fighting group sent to destroy large wildling warbands who attempted to pass south of the Wall.

Leadership
The leader of the Night's Watch is the Lord Commander. Each Lord Commander serves for life, and a new Lord Commander is selected by other members of the Night's Watch in a Choosing.

Recruitment
Recruiters commonly known as "Wandering Crows" travel to the cities of southern Westeros to gather up new recruits to join the Night's Watch. In recent years, most of these tend to be criminals, murders, rapers, and thieves taken from the dungeons of major cities and towns. A few also join because they are desperately poor and have no better options. Once and a great while a younger son or bastard son of a major noble House will decide to join the Night's Watch, but they can often afford to travel to the Night's Watch on their own initiative (such as Jon Snow and Waymar Royce).

Recent Lords Commander

 * {Jeor Mormont}, Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, Lord of Castle Black. Killed by Rast during the Mutiny at Craster's Keep.

Past Lords Commander
The original headquarters of the Night's Watch was the Nightfort, the first castle built at the Wall, and thus for thousands of years it was where the Lord Commander of the Watch resided. A little over two hundred years before the War of the Five Kings, during the reign of King Jaehaerys I Targaryen, the Night's Watch abandoned the Nightfort because they could no longer maintain it with their dwindling resources. Instead, they relocated their headquarters to Castle Black, where all subsequent Lords Commander were based.


 * The "Night's King" - one of the early Lords Commander who, according to legend, lived eight thousand years ago. The legends say that he was seduced by a female White Walker, declared himself king of the Night's Watch, and conducted human sacrifices at the Nightfort. It took an alliance between the Stark King in the North and the wildling King-Beyond-the-Wall Joramun to overthrow him, and restore the Night's Watch.
 * Brynden Rivers = held the position during the reign of King Aegon V Targaryen.

Based at Castle Black

 * ​Ser Alliser Thorne, former Master-at-Arms. Temporarily serving as acting Lord Commander of the Night's Watch.
 * Jon Snow, the Bastard of Winterfell, called "Lord Snow", personal steward to Mormont. Currently at Castle Black.
 * Benjen Stark, First Ranger. Missing north of the Wall.
 * Ser Jaremy Rykker, acting first ranger. Last seen at Castle Black.
 * Ser {Waymar Royce}, the youngest son of House Royce. A ranger killed by White Walkers.
 * {Gared}, a ranger killed by White Walkers.
 * {Will}, a ranger executed by Eddard Stark for desertion.
 * {Othor}, a ranger killed under unknown circumstances and raised as a Wight. Destroyed by Jon Snow.
 * {Jafer Flowers}, a ranger killed under unknown circumstances and raised as a Wight. Destroyed by members of the Watch.
 * {Grenn}, ranger. Killed fighting Mag Mar Tun Doh Weg during the Battle of Castle Black.
 * {Rast}, ranger. Killed by Ghost.
 * {Karl}, ranger. Killed by Jon Snow at Craster's Keep for betraying the Watch.
 * Matthar, Balian, newly-made Rangers.
 * Aemon, maester at Castle Black.
 * Samwell Tarly, known as "Sam" and sometimes mocked as "Ser Piggy", personal steward to Aemon. Currently at Castle Black.
 * Bowen Marsh, the First Steward.
 * {Pypar}, called "Pyp", a steward. Killed by Ygritte during the Battle of Castle Black.
 * Hobb, known as Three-Finger Hobb, steward and cook, currently at Castle Black.
 * Eddison Tollett, called "Dolorous Edd", steward. Currently at Castle Black.
 * Othell Yarwyck, the First Builder.
 * Halder, Toad, newly made Builders.
 * {Kegs}, {Jack Bulwer}, and {Mully}, builders, slain by wildlings at Mole's Town.
 * Lord Janos Slynt, former commander of the King's Landing City Watch and Lord of Harrenhal. Exiled to the Wall by Tyrion Lannister.
 * {Locke}, an infiltrator sent by Lord Roose Bolton to find Bran Stark and Rickon Stark. Killed by Bran while warging into Hodor.

Based at the Shadow Tower

 * Ser Denys Mallister, commander of the Shadow Tower.
 * {Qhorin}, called "Qhorin Halfhand", leading ranger of the Shadow Tower. Killed in a duel by Jon Snow, per Qhorin's instructions.
 * {Harker}, {Borba}, and {Stonesnake}, rangers led by Qhorin. Killed by the Lord of Bones' warband.

Based at Eastwatch

 * Cotter Pyke, commander of Eastwatch.
 * Borcas, head of the stewards at Eastwatch-by-the-Sea
 * Dareon, a steward, currently at Eastwatch.

Recruiters

 * {Yoren}, a "wandering crow" in charge of finding new recruits. Killed in the Riverlands by Ser Amory Lorch.

Oath
When joining the Night's Watch, all members must swear the following oath, either in a sept if they are of the Faith of the Seven, or before a heart tree if they follow the Old Gods of the Forest.

"Hear my words and bear witness to my vow. Night gathers, and now my watch begins. It shall not end until my death. I shall take no wife, hold no lands, father no children. I shall wear no crowns and win no glory. I shall live and die at my post. I am the sword in the darkness. I am the watcher on the walls. I am the shield that guards the realms of men. I pledge my life and honor to the Night's Watch, for this night and all the nights to come."

Quotes
"The Night's Watch is the only thing standing between the realm and what lies beyond and it has become an army of undisciplined boys and tired old men. There are less than a thousand of us now. We can't man the other castles on the Wall. We can't properly patrol the wilderness. We have barely enough resources to keep our lads armed and fed."

- Maester Aemon to Tyrion Lannister

"You came to us as outlaws, poachers, rapers, killers, thieves. You came alone, in chains, without friends or honor. You came to us rich and you came to us poor. Some of you bear the names of proud Houses, others only bastard names or no names at all. It does not matter. All that is in the past. Here on the Wall we are all one House."

- Jeor Mormont to the recruits

"We've been guarding the Kingdoms for eight thousand years."

- Jon Snow to Ser Jaime Lannister

"Here, a man gets what he earns, when he earns it."

- Benjen Stark to Jon Snow

"You knelt as boys; rise now, as men of the Night's Watch"

- Othell Yarwyck to Samwell Tarly and Jon Snow after taking their vows

In the books
In A Song of Ice and Fire, the First Ranger is Benjen Stark, while the Lord Commander is Jeor Mormont, the father of Jorah Mormont. The Night's Watch is grievously under-strength by the beginning of the book series, having fallen from 10,000 when Aegon the Conqueror invaded to less than 1,000, divided into three garrisons at Castle Black (600 soldiers), the Shadow Tower (200 soldiers) and Eastwatch-by-the-Sea (less than 200 soldiers).

Of these 1,000 men, almost 300 are killed in the Great Ranging, due to the disastrous Battle of the Fist of the First Men and subsequent Mutiny at Craster's Keep. This further reduced the Night's Watches ranks to only 700 men, and perhaps worse, killed off most of their senior officers and best warriors, including Lord Commander Jeor Mormont himself. The expedition force consisted of one hundred men from the Shadow Tower and two hundred men from Castle Black.

After the Battle of Castle Black, the Night's Watch takes a headcount: their entire manpower (including the garrisons at Eastwatch and the Shadow Tower) has been reduced to 589 brothers. Most of the losses are taken at the Battle of the Fist of the First Men, and more at the following Battle of the Bridge of Skulls and the Battle of Castle Black.

The oath used in the show leaves out one line from the oath in the books.

''Night gathers, and now my watch begins. It shall not end until my death. I shall take no wife, hold no lands, father no children. I shall wear no crowns and win no glory. I shall live and die at my post. I am the sword in the darkness. I am the watcher on the walls. I am the fire that burns against the cold, the light that brings the dawn, the horn that wakes the sleepers, the shield that guards the realms of men. I pledge my life and honor to the Night's Watch, for this night and all the nights to come.''

The Night's Watch has no heraldic symbol, to emphasize its sworn duty to be removed from petty politics of one lordly House or another, but to defend the lands of men as a whole. Thus, the Night's Watch uses solid black on its banner and shields, which symbolize the erasure of any allegiance to noble Houses. Even the "uniform" of the Night's Watch is to wear solid black clothing; members from wealthier families often buy all-black clothing before leaving for the Wall, while poor conscripts have their clothing simply dyed black when they reach the Wall (clothing which isn't always well-suited for cold weather). Solid black specifically denotes the rejection of heraldry, and is therefore strictly speaking not a "symbol" in and of itself, but the absence of a symbol.