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Wiki of Westeros
Night's Watch
Night's Watch

"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[src]

Eastwatch-by-the-Sea,[1] also referred to as simply Eastwatch,[2] was 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 was one of only three manned castles left on the Wall during the War of the Five Kings, along with Castle Black and the Shadow Tower.

As the only castle on the Wall located on the sea, Eastwatch served 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 was relatively easy for provisions and news to reach the castle.

Eastwatch was destroyed when the Night King attacked and breached the portion of the Wall in which the castle was built using the undead dragon Viserion.

Known residents[]

  • Cotter Pyke, a bastard of the Iron Islands, commander of the Eastwatch garrison.
  • Borcas, head steward of Eastwatch.
    • Dareon, a newly-appointed steward, assigned to Eastwatch.
  • Tormund, sent to Eastwatch by Jon Snow, in order to shore up the castle's defenses.

History[]

Game of Thrones: Season 1[]

Dareon is assigned to the Stewards and Maester Aemon sends him to Eastwatch and ordered to report to Borcas.[3]

Lord Commander Jeor Mormont tells Jon 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.[4]

Game of Thrones: Season 2[]

Tyrion takes tremendous pleasure in dumping Janos Slynt onto a boat headed for Eastwatch-by-the-Sea.[5]

Game of Thrones: Season 3[]

When Jon 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.[6]

Game of Thrones: Season 5[]

During his stay at Castle Black while organizing his campaign in the North, Stannis advises the recently elected Lord Commander of the Night's Watch Jon 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.[7]

Game of Thrones: Season 7[]

During a meeting between King Jon Snow, the Northern Lords, the Knights of the Vale, and the Free Folk leaders, Jon sends the surviving free folk warriors to man the castle Eastwatch-by-the-Sea as it is under manned and the closest castle along the wall to Hardhome, the last known place the White Walkers and the Army of the Dead were seen.[8]

705 Eastwatch Meeting Room

Jon Snow meets with Tormund in Eastwatch.

Bran wargs into a flock of ravens and sends them over Eastwatch and beyond the Wall. After spotting the Night King approaching with the army of the dead, he orders ravens sent to the maesters of the Citadel, Jon and Tyrion with news of his discovery. Jon decides to travel to Eastwatch with a small force to capture a wight as proof of the threat of the Night King for Cersei, hoping this will bring about an armistice. He travels to Eastwatch with Davos, Jorah Mormont, and Gendry, meeting Tormund (who has command of the castle). Tormund reveals he has captured the Hound, Beric Dondarrion and Thoros; they all join forces to lead an expedition north of the Wall.[9]

After subduing and capturing a wight beyond the Wall, Jon Snow sends Gendry back to Eastwatch, to send a raven to Daenerys requesting assistance. Gendry barely makes it to Eastwatch before collapsing, and is brought into the castle by Davos. Daenerys receives the distress call and flies north with her dragons, saving the remaining members of the wight hunt, though one of her dragons, Viserion, is killed in the process, and Jon is left behind.[10]

The survivors return to Eastwatch and wait for some time, in hopes that Jon survived. Eventually Daenerys spots him, half dead after having been saved by Benjen Stark. Jon is quickly allowed into Eastwatch and transferred to Daenerys's ship for medical treatment. Tormund and Beric Dondarrion remain at Eastwatch, while the rest of the survivors travel to King's Landing.[10]

Viserion burning down WALL s7

Viserion's fire pierces the Wall near Eastwach.

Sometime later, the Army of the Dead reaches Eastwatch, led by the Night King riding a now-undead Viserion. The dragon breathes fire at the Wall, causing it to melt and rapidly collapse, destroying Eastwatch and allowing the White Walkers to pass into Westeros.[11]

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 Ib, 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 for the Wall, 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.

Appearances[]

Gallery[]

References[]

External links[]


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