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Barristan Selmy

The object of loyalty

Contains spoilers through A Dance with Dragons. Television events and unfinished preview chapters are outside this collection.

The character in context

Dubbed Barristan the Bold after entering a tourney at ten, Ser Barristan Selmy slew the pretender Maelys the Monstrous during the War of the Ninepenny Kings and joined the Kingsguard at twenty-three. He rescued King Aerys II during the Defiance of Duskendale, survived grievous wounds at the Trident, and was named Lord Commander by Robert Baratheon. Stripped of his white cloak by Joffrey Baratheon, he journeyed east disguised as Arstan Whitebeard to seek Daenerys Targaryen, eventually revealing his identity before the conquest of Meereen to serve as her Queensguard commander and Hand of the Queen.

A reading path

These are editorial starting points, not a complete appearance list or a claim that the character narrates every chapter.

  1. 1. Dismissal from the Kingsguard

    A Game of Thrones, Chapter 57, Sansa V

  2. 2. Revealing his identity

    A Storm of Swords, Chapter 57, Daenerys V

  3. 3. Responsibility in the queen’s absence

    A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 70, The Queen's Hand

Sources and chapter references

Our original summaries use named novel chapters and the A Wiki of Ice and Fire reference index. The links lead to that secondary index, not the full novel text. Coverage is selective, not exhaustive line-by-line verification.

  1. 1. A Storm of Swords, Chapter 67, Jaime VIII — A Wiki of Ice and Fire reference index
  2. 2. A Game of Thrones, Chapter 33, Eddard VIII — A Wiki of Ice and Fire reference index
  3. 3. A Game of Thrones, Chapter 57, Sansa V — A Wiki of Ice and Fire reference index
  4. 4. A Clash of Kings, Chapter 63, Daenerys V — A Wiki of Ice and Fire reference index
  5. 5. A Storm of Swords, Chapter 57, Daenerys V — A Wiki of Ice and Fire reference index
  6. 6. A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 2, Daenerys I — A Wiki of Ice and Fire reference index
  7. 7. A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 70, The Queen's Hand — A Wiki of Ice and Fire reference index
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