Grey Worm
| House / Order | Servant of House Targaryen |
|---|---|
| Race / Culture | Unknown (taken into slavery as a child) |
| Status | Alive (as of A Dance with Dragons) |
| Origin | Slaver's Bay; Meereen |
| Born | Unknown |
| Died | |
| Weapon | Spear, shield, and shortsword |
| Fate | Commanding Daenerys's Unsullied in the defense of Meereen |
| Portrayed by | Jacob Anderson |
Grey Worm is the chosen commander of the Unsullied, the elite eunuch slave-soldiers freed by Daenerys Targaryen. Trained from boyhood in the brutal discipline of Astapor, he becomes one of Daenerys's most loyal and capable military officers in Slaver's Bay and the defense of Meereen.
His name reflects the dehumanizing system that made him: the Unsullied are stripped of their birth names and assigned demeaning ones drawn by lot, and "Grey Worm" was the name the slave called when Daenerys freed him.
Background
Grey Worm was taken into slavery as a young child and trained as one of the Unsullied in Astapor, a process designed to erase individuality and fear: the boys endure horrific conditioning, are castrated, and are made to commit acts of cruelty to deaden their humanity. Each is given a worthless name, a color and a creeping or biting thing, to be redrawn daily, a constant reminder that they are nothing. The slave who would become their commander had drawn "Grey Worm."
Biography
A Storm of Swords
When Daenerys buys the Unsullied at Astapor and then frees them, turning them on their masters, she declares that they may keep or discard their slave names as they choose. To her surprise, the soldier called Grey Worm chooses to keep his name, saying it was the name he bore on the day his queen set him free and made him lucky. The Unsullied elect him their commander. He proves a disciplined, devoted officer in the liberation of Yunkai and Meereen.
A Dance with Dragons
In Meereen, Grey Worm and the Unsullied form the backbone of Daenerys's forces, guarding the city and the queen against the insurgent Sons of the Harpy, who murder freedmen and Unsullied alike in the streets by night. He leads his men with stoic resolve through the grinding shadow war, holding the gates and keeping order as Daenerys struggles to rule. His steadfastness and the loyalty of the Unsullied are among the few certainties of her embattled reign.
Character
Grey Worm is disciplined, fearless, and intensely loyal, shaped by a lifetime of conditioning yet capable of pride and choice, as his decision to keep his name shows. The Unsullied are trained to feel no fear and to obey without question, and Grey Worm embodies that iron discipline, but his loyalty to Daenerys is freely given rather than compelled, the gratitude of a freed man to his liberator. He speaks of himself in the third person and with the spare formality of his training.
Relationships
Grey Worm's defining relationship is his devoted service to Daenerys, who freed him and to whom he owes his name and his liberty. He commands the Unsullied and works alongside Daenerys's other freedmen and advisers, including the scribe Missandei, in the governance and defense of Meereen.
Quotes
Grey Worm. This one has had no other name... it is a lucky name. The name this one had been given on the day Daenerys Stormborn had set him free.
In the television series
In HBO's Game of Thrones, Grey Worm was portrayed by Jacob Anderson. His arc broadly follows his book role as commander of the Unsullied, then continues beyond the novels: he enters a romance with Missandei, follows Daenerys to Westeros, grieves Missandei's execution, and after Daenerys's death leads the Unsullied to sail for Naath. None of these events have occurred in the books.