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“ | Rafford: Can you walk? Lommy Greenhands: No, you got to carry me. Rafford: Think so? |
„ |
~ Rafford to Lommy Greenhands before murdering him. |
“ | Mercy: I'm a maiden now. Raff: Not for long. I'm Lord Rafford, sweetling, and I know just what I want. |
„ |
~ Raff to "Mercy", who is actually Arya Stark in disguise. |
“ | Rafford: You'll need to carry me. Mercy: Think so? |
„ |
~ Rafford's last words before he is killed by "Mercy" (Arya Stark). |
Rafford, also known as Raff the Sweetling, is a minor antagonist in the A Song of Ice and Fire novel series. He is a man-at-arms in service to Ser Gregor Clegane, and is one of the "Mountain's Men".
Rafford doesn't appear in the television series as his character is combined with that of Polliver while his other aspects are given to Ser Meryn Trant.
Appearance[]
Rafford appears as a handsome young man who has poppy sand hair and is soft-spoken.
In the graphic novel version of A Clash of Kings, he sports a long bushy mustache, but this is not part of George R. R. Martin's description on the character in the novels.
Personality[]
Despite being nicknamed the Sweetling, Rafford is cruel and sadistic. He is bolder than many of the Mountain's Men but is less cunning.
Biography[]
A Clash of Kings[]
Rafford is one of the Mountain's lackeys and is part of the group, whom Gregor Clegane commands, that captures Arya Stark, Gendry and Hot Pie in the Riverlands.
Rafford asks a boy named Lommy Greenhands, who was traveling with the trio, if he could walk, and Lommy tells him that he has to be carried as he couldn't walk, due to being wounded at the God's Eye Town. Instead of helping the boy, Raff sadistically kills him by driving his spear into Lommy's throat before chuckling to himself.
During the march to Harrenhal, Rafford used a spiked mace to smash the face of a three-year-old boy, causing his mother to start screaming before Raff kills her as well. When Chiswyck tells a story about the gang rape of Layna, a 13 years old girl, in an alehouse, he says Raff killed the son of the innkeeper. Hearing this, Arya Stark adds him to her prayer kill list, which consists of people she hates and want to kill.
Rafford joins with Gregor Clegane and two other Mountain's Men, Chiswyck and The Tickler, in their raids. Later, he leaves Harrenhal with Lord Tywin Lannister to be part of the Mountain's vanguard. For a time, this puts him out of Arya's reach, as she chose him as her next target for Jaqen H'Ghar, a faceless man.
A Storm of Swords[]
Arya Stark recalls the atrocities committed by Rafford to the Brotherhood without Banners as they searched for their leader Lord Beric Dondarrion. Raff stills remains on Arya's prayer kill list but as time goes by, the latter began having difficulty on remembering his face.
A Feast for Crows[]
When Ser Jaime Lannister stopped at Harrenhal he found the remaining Mountain's Men, with Rafford among them. Jaime noticed the latter wearing a chain coins that once belonged to Vargo Hoat, the leader of the Brave Companions. When Ser Bonifer Hasty refused to allow Jaime and his group quedasen, they marched to Riverrun, the ancestral seat of House Tully, as part of the forces destined to besiege the castle. Jaime sees Raff and another man-at-arms playing with two washerwomen.
After the fall of Riverrun, Jaime ordered a dozen Mountain's Men, led by Raff, to escort Ser Robin Ryger, and Ser Desmond Grell to Maidenpool for their trip to the Wall.
The Winds of Winter[]
Rafford is one of the guards who accompanied Ser Harys Swyft, the master of coin, to Braavos, where the latter would negotiate with the Iron Bank of Braavos. Raff states that he's going to kill Harys for Cersei, but only if Harys fails to make a bargain with the Iron Bank. Ser Harys, Raff, and the other guards attend the performance of The Bloody Hand. Later, an 11 year-old old mummer named Mercy (Arya Stark) spots Rafford and seduces him. She then runs to her room, which is streets away, with Raff chasing after her until he was left exhausted. Mercy tells him that once she teaches him a line to say, he could become a mummer too.
Once Raff is undressed, she carefully cuts his femoral artery. When he insists that Mercy unlace him, the latter only responded that he is bleeding. Though he was confused at first, he immediately realize that he is bleeding heavily and he asks Mercy to get him a healer, but she tells him that the healer only helps those who will come to him. When Rafford tells her that he cannot walk and she has to carry him, Mercy happily thinks to herself saying,"See? You know your line, and so do I."
She then echoes the same words Raff had said when he murdered Lommy Greenhands. Mercy then cuts his throat while whispering,"Valar Morghulis". With Rafford's death, Lommy's murder is finally avenged. Rafford's body is then thrown into a canal so it could be eaten by eels. Though Arya knows that her killing of Raff the Sweetling will blow her cover, she neverthlessly heads back to the Braavosi mummer playhouse known as the Gate before she is due to come up on stage.