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| “ | I've never had a crown on my head or sat my arse on a bloody throne, if that's what you're asking. My birth is as low as a man's can get, no septon's ever smeared my head with oils, I don't own any castles, and my queen wears furs and amber, not silk and sapphires. I am my own champion, my own fool, and my own harpist. | „ |
| ~ Mance Rayder |
| “ | We do not kneel. | „ |
| ~ Mance Rayder |
| “ | The freedom to make my own mistakes was all I ever wanted. | „ |
| ~ Mance Rayder to Jon Snow. |
Mance Rayder is a major character in the A Song of Ice and Fire novel series and a major antagonist in its television adaptation Game of Thrones.
He is a former member of the Night's Watch who defected to the Free Folk (also known as the wildlings), his mother's people, eventually rising to become their leader, officially styling himself as the King-Beyond-the-Wall, as other wildling kings did before him in times past. According to Selyse Florent, Mance's parents were a native common woman of the Free Folk and a Black Brother of the Night's Watch.
Although he is a villain due to his many crimes, Mance is not inherently evil and is more of a ruthless anti-villain, because he genuinely cares for the well-being of his people and has many honorable qualities.
In the television series, he was portrayed by Ciarán Hinds, who also played Steppenwolf in the 2017 Justice League film, Mephisto in Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, Botticelli Remorso in The Tale of Despereaux, Henry Burke in Trip to Witch Mountain, Bill Maplewood in Life During Wartime, and Jonathan Reiss in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life.
Personality[]
| “ | I've sung my songs, fought my battles, drunk summer wine, tasted the Dornishman’s wife. A man should die the way he's lived. For me that's steel in hand. | „ |
| ~ Mance to Melisandre. |
Mance is a charismatic, determined, and easygoing man with strong leadership qualities. It is these qualities that allowed him to defect from the Night's Watch to join the Free Folk, and quickly rise to the title of King-Beyond-The-Wall. Mance's exceptional social skills enabled him to unite the diverse wildling clans, no matter how different they were from one another or how much they wanted to kill one another. He is shown to be quite imaginative when he loves songs, freedom, and wildling women.
Mance was raised by the members of the Night Watch at Castle Black and eventually became a sworn brother. One event during his service which involved being forced to replace a red cloak from a wildling woman to his rudimentary black cloak determines Rayder to desert The Wall on grounds of being too dogmatic and freedom-restraining. This also led to the unification of sundry wildlings from all across Beyond-The-Wall to fight for their freedom.
Mance is also very aware of the threat the White Walkers will pose to the entire world and used it to his advantage in convincing the wildlings to unite as a singular army. Because of his honest yet stern persona, he earned the great respect and admiration of the toughest of wildlings and even giants. However, Mance states himself that his trusting nature is also a weakness of his; having honestly let himself believe that Jon Snow was truly defecting from the Night's Watch as he did.
However, even when faced with such betrayal or adversity, Mance keeps a calm and levelheaded attitude, not even growing overly angry when discovering Snow's attempt to assassinate him. Above all else, Mance cherishes the Free Folk and their culture, performing dangerous and world-changing actions in the hopes of finding them safety from the coming winter.
Gallery[]
Mance Rayder at the Frostfangs.
Mance playing the lute.
Mance with his sister-in-law Val in his own tent, during the march to the Wall.
Mance tests Jon Snow by ordering him to climb the Wall and attack Castle Black from the south.
Mance and his pregnant wife Dalla.
Mance under the glamour of Rattleshirt as he is about to reveal himself to Jon Snow, under Melisandre's command.
Mance as the minstrel "Abel", playing songs with his "daughters" (wildling spearwives) during Ramsay Bolton's wedding feast at Winterfell.
Trivia[]
- Mance's wife Dalla, his infant son, and his sister-in-law Val were entirely omitted from the TV series Game of Thrones, as well as Mance's own role after his defeat.
- Mance saw King Robert I Baratheon for the first time in 298 AC, during Robert's arrival at Winterfell. Mance attended Robert's feast in the castle, while disguised as a common bard, where he also noticed Jon Snow being seated away from the trueborn Starks by the orders of Lady Catelyn Stark. Jon later used this to convince Mance that he wanted to join the Free Folk out of resentment for his bastard status in the green lands of the "kneelers".
- Before the attempt on Bran Stark's life, Lord Eddard Stark and his wife Catelyn were focused on the threat of Mance Rayder, when he seemed to be the sole threat to the Seven Kingdoms, and Ned told King Robert about it. Robert considered the prospect of helping Ned to fight Mance's army, and Mance personally took the measure of Robert at Winterfell.
- In the fifth season of the TV show, Jon is sent by King Stannis I Baratheon to Mance's cell to convince him to bend the knee to Stannis. This never happens in the novels, where it is Stannis himself who visits Mance in his cell, but the details of the conversation are unknown. It is slightly implied by Stannis's own words that he attempted to convince Mance to swear allegiance to him (though whether he promised to spare Mance and ignore his crimes, or just promised a quicker death for Mance and benefits for his family and people is unknown).
- In the novels, the fake Mance Rayder is burned alive early in the fifth book, after Jon Snow is chosen as Lord Commander during the end of the third book, after refusing Stannis's offer of legitimization. This order of events was changed in the TV series, with the fourth season ending before the Night's Watch's election, the real Mance being burned alive early in the fifth season, and only after several scenes and interactions based on Jon's final chapters, as well as his choosing as Lord Commander in the third book were adapted.
- In the novels, it is the Lord of Bones who was burned alive by Stannis Baratheon's orders, as he was forced to swap places with Mance via magic glamoring by Melisandre. In the TV series, this was cut, and Mance was truly burned alive, while the Lord of Bones is one of the leaders who gathered wildling survivors at Hardhome. Thus Mance's role as "Abel" in Winterfell, his orchestration of several murders within the castle, and his role of aiding Theon Greyjoy and Lady "Arya Stark" (Jeyne Poole) was omitted as well.
- Unlike the television version, the infant son of Gilly and Craster (still unnamed and nicknamed "Monster" in the books) was never made to join Samwell Tarly's sea voyage to Oldtown. Also, while Master Aemon dies at the Wall in Season 5, in the fourth book he is also part of Sam's voyage. The reason for all this is because in the novels, Lord Commander Jon Snow forces Gilly to take Mance Rayder's infant son in place of her own baby and serve as his wetnurse, while her own son stayed at Castle Black under a wildling wetnurse. Jon did it because he feared that Melisandre and Stannis (the latter having exposed Maester Aemon's identity as a Targaryen) might have sacrificed both Mance's son and Aemon by burning them at the stake over the alleged power of king's blood.
- Thus in the novels, Mance's son was brought with Sam to Essos and Maester Aemon fell sick during the sea voyage, beginning slowly to die in Braavos. After joining a crew of Summer Islanders to sail back to Westeros and go to the Reach, Aemon died at sea. Gilly decided she will name Mance Rayder's son Aemon Steelsong, in the maester's memory, but only when he will be at least 2 years older, as per wildling's custom.
- While Mance is currently and allegedly imprisoned in Winterfell, his infant son is currently in Oldtown, while Gilly's infant son at Castle Black is being publicly presented as Mance's son.
- In the novels, Mance has allegedly been captured and caged by Lord Ramsay Bolton, who threatens to tell the world that Stannis and Jon Snow lied about having executed the infamous King-Beyond-the-Wall, and accusing the two of having sent Mance to kidnap the fake Arya. As both Mance and Stannis were killed earlier in the show, the two never interacted with Theon and Ramsay's wife (Sansa Stark in the show), unlike the books.
- Mance's army's size was estimated to be about 30,000 or 40,000 wildlings by Jon Snow, and 100,000 by Satin. In the books, Mance's army of giants included hundreds of giants and over 100 mammoths.
- There are several differences between the novels and the television series regarding Mance Rayder's invasion of the Wall. While in the TV show the Battle for the Wall lasts only two days, in the novels the invasion is far longer and lasts for weeks, with the Night's Watch suffering multiple attacking waves from Mance's forces along the Wall.
- While in the TV show, Castle Black is the only place where a large battle is known to take place, in the novels, the battles for the Wall last many days, in multiple waves, with Mance's warbands attacking or baiting all three garrisons of the Night's Watch at Castle Black, the Shadow Tower and Eastwatch-by-the-Sea. The three major fights of the wildling invasion of the Wall are the Fight by the Bridge of Skulls (Bowen Marsh and Ser Denys Mallister's hosts vs the Weeper's host beyond the Wall near the Shadow Tower), the Attack on Castle Black (Castle Black's garrison led by Donal Noye vs Styr's host), and the Battle Beneath the Wall (Castle Black's garrison, and finally Stannis Baratheon's army and Cotter Pyke's reinforcements of Eastwatch vs Mance Rayder's main host). Some minor skirmishes also take place along the Wall, including one between Rattleshirt's warband and the rangers of Eastwatch.
- In the TV series, Mance sends a small band led by Tormund Giantsbane to climb the Wall and attack Castle Black from the south, and has Jon Snow joining Tormund's warband. In the novels, Mance also has Jon joining Tormund's warband, but only during their march to the Wall, as Tormund is not part of the warbands sent by Mance to climb the Wall. Tormund stays in Mance's main host, while Jon and Ygritte join Jarl's warband, climbing the Wall along with Styr's warband of Thenns. In the TV version, Jon never spends time with Styr and only faces him on the battlefield.
- In the novels, during the early stages of the Wall's invasion, it is not only the Night's Watch who defend Castle Black against Styr's warband; there are also an unknown number of many residents of Mole's Town. Unlike the show, Jon Snow alerted the whole population to evacuate, and many came to Castle Black for safety, while others stayed or fled south. Also unlike in the show, it seems Mole's Town isn't even attacked by Mance's forces in the end. The villagers who go to the Wall (including a girl named Zei, who is a prostitute and archer) end up fighting Mance's southern vanguard in the Attack on Castle Black, where Styr and Ygritte die. After the battle, many of the villagers including Zei leave and head south, fully deserting Mole's Town, while other townsfolk stay at Castle Black and some of them join the Night's Watch as volunteers.
- The involvement and presence of Mole's Town's residents at the Wall was omitted from the TV show, where only a boy from an unnamed village named Olly is featured, and he also joins the Night's Watch.
- In the novels, after the attack on Castle Black (in which Styr and Ygritte are killed) and the battle by the Bridge of Skulls beyond the Wall in the west, at the Gorge (in which Grenn and Dolorous Edd participate, unlike the show, where they stay at Castle Black), the battle beneath the Wall lasts for many days, as this engagement has Mance's whole main host, including the giants and their mammoths, attempting to breach the central gate of the Wall. The de-facto commander of Castle Black's garrison, Donal Noye, is killed by the giant Mag the Mighty during the invasion, causing Jon Snow to take command in his place, until reinforcements from Eastwatch-by-the-Sea led by Lord Janos Slynt, Ser Alliser Thorne, and Ser Glendon Hewett join and take over the leadership. The battle lasts for many days.
- Unfortunately, due to budget-related reasons, the invasion of the Wall is of much smaller scale in Game of Thrones (just like the Battle of the Blackwater is of smaller scale compared to the books). While in the novels, the Night's Watch and Stannis Baratheon's army fight hundreds of giants and over 100 mammoths, the TV show's battle featured only two giants (Mag and Dongo) and one mammoth. Giants and mammoths were cut from Stannis's battle, which is a bigger conflict in the novels, and included the Free Folk cavalry (also cut from the show).
- In the novels, after Donal Noye's death and during Jon Snow's temporary command of Castle Black's garrison, Mance's army uses a siege engine during the battle beneath the Wall, a giant turtle to protect themselves with. This turtle was omitted in the TV series.
- In the TV series, at the beginning of Season 4, Thorne and Slynt were already at Castle Black since before Mance's full invasion. In that version, Thorne serves as the temporary commander/castellan of Castle Black, while in the novels it is Bowen Marsh who had command of the garrison since Lord Jeor Mormont's departure in the Great Ranging, before he and all the warriors of Castle Black were lured west to aid the Shadow Tower's garrison by the Weeper's warband. In the novel version, Marsh, while victorious, is wounded beyond the Wall at the Bridge of Skulls, forcing him to recover at the Shadow Tower. When Mance and Styr attack Castle Black, the garrison is first commanded by Donal Noye, then days later by Jon Snow, and later by Janos Slynt when is sent by Eastwatch with reinforcements, including Alliser Thorne, although Mance no longer attacks during Slynt's command. Also, since the moment Janos arrives, Jon is immediately thrown into an ice cell and remains there freezing for days, as the captive Rattleshirt, the Lord of Bones, testifies against him. It is during Jon's imprisonment that Stannis Baratheon's forces land at Eastwatch-by-the-Sea and Stannis crosses the Wall and leads his mounted beyond the Wall to Mance's camp.
- While in the TV show, Jon Snow takes the initiative and self-sacrifice to head to the Haunted Forest to personally negotiate with Mance, in the books it is Mance himself who sends envoys to approach the Night's Watch and ask to negotiate with him. And it is Ser Alliser Thorne, not Jon Snow, who decides to assassinate Mance during the parley. Lord Janos and Thorne scheme to kill two birds with one stone by forcing Jon to kill Mance under the pretext of treating with him, and then let the wildlings torture Jon to death afterwards.
- In the novels, Mance shows Jon a horn which he claims to be the Horn of Winter, from the wildling Joramun, a magical warhorn said to have the power to bring down the entire Wall. Mance threatens to blow it unless the Night's Watch grants the Free Folk and the giants safe passage south of the Wall, as Mance has no wish to destroy the only thing protecting the Seven Kingdoms from the Others. Later, the Horn of Winter is destroyed and burned with Rattleshirt by Melisandre, and even later Tormund reveals the horn was a fake and that Mance was bluffing, as he never found the Horn of Winter after opening many graves of past wildling kings and leaders. The entire existence of the Horn of Joramun was omitted from the TV show, where Mance simply threatens to keep giving battle against only Castle Black's garrison.
- It is theorized by readers that the real Horn of Winter that Mance desired was actually found by Samwell Tarly and Grenn at the Fist of the First Men. The warhorn, which is still unidentified, has been brought to the Citadel in Oldtown by Sam, in order to properly identify it. Curiously, this horn was also featured in Season 2 of the TV show, found the same way at the Fist, suggesting it was meant to have a role in the show as well, before being completely cut.
- While in the TV show, none of the wildlings in Mance's army are ever seen using horses, in the novels, they have a large cavalry and use horses to face Stannis and Cotter Pyke's forces, after being baited out of the woods by scouts. While the TV version the battle is portrayed more as a one-sided massacre, in the novels it is the final engagement of the Battle Beneath the Wall, in which the Free Folk are defeated by Stannis in a fight between their respective cavalries. Also, unlike in the show, Stannis's army face the army of giants who attack mounted on their mammoths.
- In the book version, Mance personally leads the battle on his own horse, while his wife Dalla is giving birth to his son. Tormund and Harma Dogshead also lead the horse force along with him. Mance is defeated in battle and captured, while Stannis's knights sack and burn the great wildling camp in the forest. In the show version, Mance does not participate in the battle and orders his men to surrender after a brief battle, while Tormund was already captured in place of Rattleshirt. Also, Mance's camp is never set afire by Stannis's knights in this version.
External Links[]
- Mance Rayder on the Heroes Wiki
- Mance Rayder on the A Wiki of Ice and Fire.
- Mance Rayder on the Game of Thrones Wiki
