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No. I will not go meekly off to freeze and die. No traitor's bastard gives commands to Janos Slynt! I am not without friends, I warn you. Here, and in King's Landing too. I was the Lord of Harrenhal! Give your ruin to one of the blind fools who cast a stone for you, I will not have it. Do you hear me, boy? I will not have it!
~ Janos refusing an order from Lord Commander Jon Snow.

Lord Janos Slynt is a supporting antagonist in the A Song of Ice and Fire novel series and its television adaptation Game of Thrones. He is the commander of the City Watch of King's Landing and patriarch of the Slynt lowborn family.

During the first novel, he becomes the noble head of House Slynt and the new Lord of Harrenhal, until he is subsequently stripped of Harrenhal and sent with the outcasts of the Night's Watch. He was the son of a butcher and has one unnamed daughter and three living sons in King's Landing: Morros, Jothos, and Danos. The girl is his youngest child.

As "the Lannisters always pay their debts", Janos' children remain nobles and squires, although Lord Morros still doesn't bother to demand lands of his own.

In the TV series, he was portrayed by Dominic Carter.

Biography[]

Slynt was captain of the Iron Gate and was raised to Commander of the City Watch of King's Landing, the "gold cloaks", after the death of the previous commander, Manly Stokeworth (died during the sack of King's Landing).

Janos was known for taking bribes and selling positions and promotions. By the end of his tenure, over half the officers were paying him part of their salaries. Jon Arryn discovered this and had two men who were willing to come forward to testify against Janos, but both were found dead a short time later. Despite this, Arryn still wished for Slynt to be dismissed but Robert Baratheon refused. Stannis Baratheon thinks Robert listened to Petyr Baelish and the crown profited from the corruption of the City Watch.

Years later Eddard Stark helps Janos to keep order in the capital, and later after King Robert Baratheon has been injured by a boar during a hunt in the kingswood, Lord Eddard plans to proclaim Stannis Baratheon as the new king once Robert has died, implying a likely confrontation with Queen Cersei, who wants to install her son Joffrey to the Iron Throne instead. Given the strength of the Lannister force commanded by Cersei, Eddard sees the loyalty of the City Watch as crucial to the success of his plan, so he contacts Baelish, who promises him to buy the loyalty of Slynt and his men for six thousand gold pieces (this was a mistake as Littlefinger suggested Ned to have the loyalty of Lord Yohn Royce, who was in King's Landing at the time).

During the confrontation with Joffrey and the Queen Regent, Slynt and his men betray Eddard Stark and kill his men. After that he was rewarded with Harrenhal and made Lord head of House Slynt, much to the disdain of Tywin Lannister

Janos has also been given a place in the small council. He was worried about the influx of peasants in the city. He oversees the massacre of all of the late King Robert Baratheon's bastard children. In the show version he personally murders the baby Barra (book version has Allar Deem doing it) and interrogates Tobho Mott about the whereabouts of Gendry. He is later stripped of Harrenhal and sent to join the Night's Watch by Tyrion along with the men he has suggested as replacements for him as Commander of the City Watch. He is replaced by Ser Jacelyn Bywater, though Tyrion believes that in getting rid of Slynt for Bywater, he has merely replaced a man loyal to Littlefinger with one loyal to Varys. In the show version Tyrion has Bronn to replace Janos Slynt instead of Ser Jacelyn.

Not knowing that Renly is already dead, Bowen Marsh of the Night's Watch sends an appeal to the five kings, in which he asks them to send men to defend the Wall and the realm against an expected attack by Mance Rayder's wildlings. He also tells them about the possible death of Lord Commander Mormont during the Great Ranging. When Grand Maester Pycelle informs Lord Tywin Lannister about the letter, the Hand of the King is annoyed about the neutrality the Night's Watch keeps in the War of the Five Kings and suggests that no help will be sent until a Lannister ally has been installed as new Lord Commander and brings discipline back to the Wall. Janos arrives at Castle Black and allies himself with Ser Alliser Thorne and Ser Glendon Hewett. He tries to have Jon Snow executed for treason but fails thanks to Maester Aemon. In the show he hoped that Jon would have died fighting the mutineers at Craster's Keep led by Karl Tanner.

During the Battle of Castle Black Janos, having no true leadership experience, breaks down and flees to hide during the battle.

In the book version Janos is candidate for new Lord Commander, while in the show he supports Alliser Thorne. To avoid Slynt undermining his authority with his scheming, to separate him from his ally, Alliser Thorne, and in view of his experience, Jon Snow, now Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, decides to give Slynt command of the abandoned way castle Greyguard. Still under the misapprehension that Jon's youth and inexperience give him license to do as he pleases, Slynt refuses to follow Jon's orders, doing so the second time publicly. At this point, Jon, sick of Slynt's insubordination and knowing either imprisoning Slynt or forcing him to go would only cause further problems, orders that Slynt should be taken to the top of the Wall and hanged, though Slynt remains arrogantly confident that Jon would not go through with the execution, threatening them all with Tywin Lannister's retribution if Jon harms him, unaware that with Tywin's death, he is making empty threats. However, Jon ultimately decides to follow the moral code that Eddard Stark had set his sons, and orders his men to fetch a chopping block so Jon can carry out the beheading himself, under the laws of the First Men his father had followed: namely 'The man who passes the sentence should swing the sword.' With his head on the block, Slynt begs for mercy and says he will obey Jon's orders, but Jon thinks "No. You closed that door", though Jon is merciful and kills Slynt quickly. Stannis Baratheon, who watches the execution, approves of Jon's behavior.

Quotes[]

Janos: You're a sly one, Tyrion. Thought you could trick me, did you? It takes more than wine and cheese to make Janos Slynt tell more than he should. I pride myself. Never a question, and never a word afterward, not with me.
~ Janos to Tyrion Lannister
Janos: I'll not have my honor questioned by an Imp!
Tyrion: I'm not questioning your honor, Lord Janos. I'm denying its existence.
~ Janos and Tyrion.
Janos: What are my sons to you, dwarf?
Tyrion [angry] Dwarf? You should have stopped at Imp. I am Tyrion of House Lannister, and someday, if you have the sense the gods gave a sea slug, you will drop to your knees in thanks that it was me you had to deal with, and not my lord father. Now, how many sons do you have?
Janos: [terrified for his children] Th-three, m'lord. And a daughter. Please, m'lord—
Tyrion: You need not beg. You have my word, no harm will come to them. The younger boys will be fostered out as squires. If they serve well and loyally, they may be knights in time. Let it never be said that House Lannister does not reward those who serve it. Your eldest son will inherit the title Lord Slynt, and this appalling sigil of yours. Lands will be found for him, and he can build a seat for himself. It will not be Harrenhal, but it will be sufficient. It will be up to him to make a marriage for the girl.
~ Tyrion promises to maintain Janos's rewards for his children, to honor the service given against Stannis Baratheon's ascension to the throne.
You and your threats, well, we will see. I am the king's friend, you know. We shall hear what Joffrey has to say about this. And Littlefinger and the queen, oh, yes. Janos Slynt has a good many friends. We will see who goes sailing, I promise you. Indeed we will.
~ Janos, one moment before being seized by his own subordinates and being forced to take a boat for Eastwatch-by-the-Sea before the court can learn about it.
Ser. You will address Ser Alliser as ser, and myself as m'lord. I am Janos Slynt, Lord of Harrenhal, and commander here at Castle Black until such time as Bowen Marsh returns with his garrison. You will grant us our courtesies, yes. I will not suffer to hear an anointed knight like the good Ser Alliser mocked by a traitor's bastard. Do you deny that you took a wildling woman into your bed?
~ Janos to Jon Snow
I heard you! Ser Alliser had your measure true enough, it seems. You lie through your bastard's teeth. Well, I will not suffer it. I will not! You might have fooled this crippled blacksmith, but not Janos Slynt! Oh, no. Janos Slynt does not swallow lies so easily. Did you think my skull was stuffed with cabbage?
~ Janos to Jon Snow
Still, I will not have it said that Janos Slynt hanged a man unjustly. I will not. I have decided to give you one last chance to prove you are as loyal as you claim, Lord Snow. One last chance to do your duty, yes! Mance Rayder wants to parley with us. He knows he has no chance now that Janos Slynt has come, so he wants to talk, this King-beyond-the-Wall. But the man is craven, and will not come to us. No doubt he knows I'd hang him. Hang him by his feet from the top of the Wall, on a rope two hundred feet long! But he will not come. He asks that we send an envoy to him.
~ Janos decides to send Jon Snow to treat with Mance
Janos: Janos Slynt does not make terms with lawless savages, Lord Snow. No, he does not.
Alliser: We're not sending you to talk with Mance Rayder. We're sending you to kill him.
~ Janos and Alliser Thorne force Jon Snow on a mission to assassinate Mance, then deal with the reaction of the wildlings.
Janos: Your Grace, let me say how pleased we are to be summoned here. When I saw your banners from the Wall, I knew the realm was saved. There comes a man who neer forgets his duty, I said to good Ser Alliser. A strong man, and a true king. May I congratulate you on your victory over the savages? The singers will make much of it, I know—
Stannis: The singers may do as they like. Spare me your fawning, Janos, it will not serve you.
~ Janos attempts to ingratiate himself to Stannis Baratheon
Stannis: It is not my wish to tamper with your rights and traditions. As to royal guidance, Janos, if you mean that I ought to tell your brothers to choose you, have the courage to say so.
Janos: [smiles uncertainly and starts sweating]
Bowen: Who better to command the black cloaks than a man who once commanded the gold, sire?
Stannis: Any of you, I would think. Even the cook. Janos was hardly the first gold cloak ever to take a bribe, I grant you, but he may have been the first commander to fatten his purse by selling places and promotions. By the end he must have had half the officers in the City Watch paying him part of their wages. Isn't that so, Janos?
Janos: Lies, all lies! A strong man makes enemies, Your Grace knows that, they whisper lies behind your back. Naught was ever proven, not a man came forward ...
Stannis: Two men who were prepared to come forward died suddenly on their rounds. Do not trifle with me, my lord. I saw the proof Jon Arryn laid before the small council. If I had been king you would have lost more than your office, I promise you, but Robert shrugged away your little lapses. ‘They all steal,’ I recall him

saying. ‘Better a thief we know than one we don't, the next man might be worse.’ Lord Petyr's words in my brother's mouth, I'll warrant. Littlefinger had a nose for gold, and I'm certain he arranged matters so the crown profited as much from your corruption as you did yourself.

~ Stannis Baratheon confronts Janos about his corrupted activities in King's Landing.
Jon: I will give you one last chance. Put down that spoon and get to the stables. I have had your horse saddled and bridled. It is a long, hard road to Greyguard.
Janos: Then you had best be on your way, boy. [laughs] Greyguard's a good place for the likes of you, I'm thinking. Well away from decent godly folk. The mark of the beast is on you, bastard.
Jon You are refusing to obey my order?
Janos: You can stick your order up your bastard's arse. [Ser Alliser smiles and stares at Jon, and Ser Godry Farring laughs]
~ Janos refuses to obey Jon Snow's order a second time, after being given a night to calm down and think it over.
Janos: No, unhand me. He's just a boy, a bastard. His father was a traitor. The mark of the beast is on him, that wolf of his … Let go of me! You will rue the day you laid hands on Janos Slynt. I have friends in King's Landing. I warn you—
~ Janos protesting against his death sentence and struggling against Dolorous Edd and Iron Emmett.
Janos: Please, my lord. Mercy. I'll … I'll go, I will, I …
Jon's thoughts: [No. You closed that door.]
~ Janos's execution.

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

  • In the novels, Janos ofter talks about himself in third person.
  • He achieved all of his life goals, but subsequently faced downfall for his crimes, until his death after refusing a chance to become a commander with his own garrison of the Night's Watch. In the novels, Jon gave him one night to reconsider, and thought Janos' behavior was senseless. Jon hoped in vain that Janos would change his mind, so no execution would be necessary.
  • In the novels, Janos is the one who immediately follows King Joffrey's order to execute Ned Stark. Janos ignores Cersei's protests and rushes to hold Ned and pushes him down for Ilyn Payne to behead.
    • Janos is also the one who lifts Ned's severed head and shows it to the crowd. In the TV series, Sandor Clegane is the one who does it. Janos does it with happiness, earning Sansa's hatred.
  • Janos can be considered a dark counterpart to Davos Seaworth, as both of them rose high in society in support of their respective leaders, despite being born from humble lowborn status. While Davos rose to nobility from a life of crime, Janos rose through corruption and progressively became worse.
  • Janos maintained a positive and respected reputation even after being sent to the Wall, as the citizens of King's Landing hated Tyrion even more for it. The citizens never learned about Janos's corrupt activities and kept thinking he was a good and honest leader.
  • In the TV show's storyline of the Night's Watch, Janos's gang of cronies and supporters does not appear, with the exception of Ser Alliser Thorne. A good portion of Janos's gang in the novels are his fellow corrupt accomplices from the City Watch, including Allar Deem, who were sent by Tyrion to Eastwatch-by-the-Sea with Janos. After Janos' execution, his supporters no longer trouble Jon, as they personally have no beef with him. Another ally of Janos who doesn't appear in the show is Ser Glendon Hewett, an officer from Eastwatch.

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