Benjen Stark
| House / Order | House Stark |
|---|---|
| Race / Culture | First Men |
| Status | Unknown (missing) |
| Origin | The Wall |
| Born | Winterfell |
| Died | |
| Weapon | |
| Fate | Vanished beyond the Wall while ranging |
| Portrayed by |
Benjen Stark is the younger brother of Lord Eddard Stark and First Ranger of the Night's Watch. A respected and capable man of the Watch, he disappeared beyond the Wall early in the events of A Game of Thrones, and his fate remains one of the lingering mysteries of the series.
Night's Watch
Benjen took the black as a young man and rose to become First Ranger, the officer who leads the Watch's expeditions into the wild lands beyond the Wall. He is stationed at Castle Black and is well known and well liked among his brothers. It was Benjen who, on a visit to Winterfell, helped inspire his nephew Jon Snow to join the Watch, though he later warned the boy of the hardships he would face.
Disappearance
Shortly after Jon arrived at the Wall, Benjen led a ranging party north to investigate troubling reports of vanished wildlings and stirring dangers in the haunted forest. He did not return. Some of his men were later found dead, their bodies rising as wights, deepening the dread that something ancient was waking beyond the Wall.
Mystery
Benjen's fate is unresolved in the novels. His disappearance is one of the early signs of the gathering threat of the Others and the coming of a second Long Night.
Screen note: in HBO's Game of Thrones, a figure connected to Benjen reappears as "Coldhands," aiding Stark children north of the Wall.