'Game of Thrones' fans are obsessed with learning where this character wound up

HBO

"Game of Thrones" fans aren't strangers to plot lines left by the wayside. Season three in particular had a wave of characters who never appeared in the subsequent two seasons — Balon Greyjoy chiefly among them. But another minor character has drawn more attention than any other: Gendry. 

The bastard son of King Robert Baratheon came under threat when the red priestess Melisandre discovered him. Her plan was to burn him alive as a gift to the Lord of Light, utilizing the "king's blood" in him for her own power. Davos Seaworth, ever the moral man, helped Gendry escape in the season three finale. Davos put the young man in a boat, instructing him to row down to King's Landing.

Though it's logical to assume Gendry made it alive, and has kept a low-profile among the poor peasants of King's Landing, many fans are craving direct closure. Without seeing the bastard boy actually land on shore, many believe he's still out there to this day, rowing his boat gently down the sea. 

HBOSome even joke — whenever a dark ocean shore appears in a new episode — that he's actually about to land. For example, this GIF uploaded by Redditor SimpleRy splices together Gendry's departure with the chaotic scene of season five's "Hardhome" episode. 

Gendry last appeared when the season three finale aired on June 9, 2013. As recently as March 2016, Redditors were posting theories about his possible reappearance. Redditor AcoupleofIrishFolk's guess was a clear joke: "Gendry is a blacksmith, so obviously he is going to have one stronger arm than the other. His dominant hand is rowing slightly stronger than the other. Poor bastard has been rowing in f---ing circles around the narrow sea since he left Dragonstone."

Others have taken to rewriting the classic nursery rhyme "Row, Row, Row Your Boat." Here's Redditor el-toro-loco's take:

Row, row, row your boat
Across the Narrow Sea
Aimlessly, aimlessly, aimlessly, aimlessly
It sucks to be Gendry

Another Redditor, backnblack92, wrote a little diddy to the tune of "Ridin'" by Chamillionaire (featuring Krayzie Bone):

They see me rowin'
They hatin'
Floatin' ... Tryin' not to die of scurvy

Even Joe Dempsie, the British actor who played Gendry, is in on the joke. Immediately following the season four finale, he tweeted the following message:

Still rowin', indeed. Dempsie held with tradition one year later, and tweeted a reference to his character after the season five finale. This time he added in the YouTube video for The Lonely Island's "I'm on a Boat."

With season six approaching, fans are once again trying to guess if Gendry will ever appear. Our guess? Not likely. In the book, the whole subplot with Melisandre and Davos never happens. Gendry is simply among the Brotherhood without Banners, presumably fighting off Lannister soldiers in the Riverlands.

Author George R.R. Martin didn't make him out to be particularly significant in the same way the show did. So for now, we'll assume Gendry made it safely to King's Landing and is hiding out as instructed by Davos. But keep the memes coming, Redditors. Nothing passes time between seasons like a good running gag. 

Season six premieres April 24 on HBO. Tune in to see the returning cast of characters (probably sans Gendry), and keep a look out for Dempsie's next season finale tweet about Gendry's never-ending boat adventure.

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