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Maester Luwin
Maester Aemon is the son of Maekar I Targaryen, which makes him the uncle of Aerys II Targaryen and the great-uncle of Viserys, Daenerys, and Rhaegar. He is the maester (which is a kind of scholar, healer, and scientist) at Castle Black, where he serves the Night’s Watch. Sam becomes his steward after he takes his vows for the Night’s Watch. Aemon also discusses the tension between honor and duty with Jon Snow. Maester Aemon tells Jon that he felt compelled to join his relatives to fight against Robert when Robert seized the throne from the Targaryens. But, Aemon says when advising Jon, he let duty guide him and stayed at Castle Black, implying that Jon should do the same.
Maester Aemon Quotes in A Game of Thrones
The A Game of Thrones quotes below are all either spoken by Maester Aemon or refer to Maester Aemon . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 26: Jon
Quotes
Fat and awkward and frightened he might be, but Samwell Tarly was no fool. One night he visited Jon in his cell. “I don’t know what you did,” he said, “but I know you did it.” He looked away shyly. “I’ve never had a friend before.”
“We’re not friends,” Jon said. He put a hand on Sam’s broad shoulder. “We’re brothers.”
And so they were, he thought to himself after Sam had taken his leave. Robb and Bran and Rickon were his father’s sons, and he loved them still, yet Jon knew that he had never truly been one of them. Catelyn Stark had seen to that. The grey walls of Winterfell might still haunt his dreams, but Castle Black was his life now, and his brothers were Sam and Grenn and Halder and Pyp and the other cast-outs who wore the black of the Night’s Watch.
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Chapter 60: Jon
Quotes
“Jon, did you ever wonder why the men of the Night’s Watch take no wives and father no children?” Maester Aemon asked.
Jon shrugged. “No.” He scattered more meat. The fingers of his left hand were slimy with blood, and his right throbbed from the weight of the bucket.
“So they will not love,” the old man answered, “for love is the bane of honor, the death of duty.”
That did not sound right to Jon, yet he said nothing. The maester was a hundred years old, and a high officer of the Night’s Watch; it was not his place to contradict him.
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Maester Aemon Quotes in A Game of Thrones
The A Game of Thrones quotes below are all either spoken by Maester Aemon or refer to Maester Aemon . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 26: Jon
Quotes
Fat and awkward and frightened he might be, but Samwell Tarly was no fool. One night he visited Jon in his cell. “I don’t know what you did,” he said, “but I know you did it.” He looked away shyly. “I’ve never had a friend before.”
“We’re not friends,” Jon said. He put a hand on Sam’s broad shoulder. “We’re brothers.”
And so they were, he thought to himself after Sam had taken his leave. Robb and Bran and Rickon were his father’s sons, and he loved them still, yet Jon knew that he had never truly been one of them. Catelyn Stark had seen to that. The grey walls of Winterfell might still haunt his dreams, but Castle Black was his life now, and his brothers were Sam and Grenn and Halder and Pyp and the other cast-outs who wore the black of the Night’s Watch.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 60: Jon
Quotes
“Jon, did you ever wonder why the men of the Night’s Watch take no wives and father no children?” Maester Aemon asked.
Jon shrugged. “No.” He scattered more meat. The fingers of his left hand were slimy with blood, and his right throbbed from the weight of the bucket.
“So they will not love,” the old man answered, “for love is the bane of honor, the death of duty.”
That did not sound right to Jon, yet he said nothing. The maester was a hundred years old, and a high officer of the Night’s Watch; it was not his place to contradict him.
