What Gendry's 'Clovis' alias in 'Game of Thrones' could reveal about his final purpose

It’s done. The memes are over. Gendry is finally back in Game of Thrones.

Davos did give us one final nod to one of the most famous Game of Thrones jokes of all time – one that’s followed us (and Gendry’s actor Joe Dempsie) around for years, when he told Robert Baratheon’s bastard son that he thought he “might still be rowing”.

But now we’re back in business – Gendry’s here, he’s got a big-ass hammer, and he’s heading north of The Wall to try and catch a White Walker – frankly, one of the most ridiculous plans ever thought up by anyone in any TV show ever. Good job, Tyrion.

Anyway, we’re not here to speak about moronic plans or even beefy-as-fuck hammers – what we need to talk about is Gendry’s name – no, not Gendry – Clovis, the one Davos gave him as an alias while trying to smuggle him away from King’s Landing.

As Davos and Gendry wait for Tyrion down on the shore, preparing to make their escape, they’re approached by two goldcloaks. Davos thinks on his feet, calling Gendry Clovis rather than revealing his true identity, and manages to charm the two guards with a fair sum of gold and a couple of mouthfuls of fermented crab (great for your performance, apparently).

While it may seem that Clovis is just a random name Ser D has just generated on the spot, that’s not actually the case – Game of Thrones never passes up an opportunity to be almost irritatingly smart.

See, Reddit user fifthpilgrim points out that in real life, Clovis culture is a Paleo-Indian culture famous for the spear tips they make, known as Clovis points.

These points are commonly made from obsidian – the material known as dragonglass in Game of Thrones – see where we’re going here?

As we know, dragonglass in one of the few materials capable of killing White Walkers, and a lot of fans have theorised that Gendry’s big role, as a blacksmith, will be to forge the dragonglass weapons Jon Snow and his army will use to fight the Army of the Dead. 

It makes almost too much sense, doesn’t it? Unless Gendry goes down in the next episode (which feels unlikely, surely they won’t bump him off so soon after bringing him back?) then he’s the best qualified man for the job.

On a similar note, Gendry used to be apprenticed to Tobho Mott, who was known in the books for being an armourer with the ability to work with Valyrian steel – the other material we know can defeat White Walkers.

Mott was the man who melted down Ice – Ned Stark’s old Valyrian steel greatsword – and made it into Oathkeeper and Widow’s Wail (Oathkeeper was given to Jaime, who gave it to Brienne, Widow’s Wail belonged to Joffrey, but is now Jaime’s).

This means that Gendry may also know a little bit about working with Valyrian steel, which could prove an invaluable skill should anyone ever rediscover the secret to forging it – our money’s on Sam.

Either way, we reckon this makes Gendry safe from death in next week’s episode. Please don’t quote us on that though, you literally never know with this show.

(Images: HBO)