The story

- This is a Game of Thrones Fan Fiction story. As such I do not own any of the characters or the world where the story is set.

- This story is set in the universe of the TV show. I aim for it to be completely canon according to the story that was told there. But I do use some book characters to fill out the cast when necessary and I also use some backstory from the books.

- I am (just like most of the rest of the world) of the opinion that the ending of the show sucked. It sucked so damn bad. Writing this story is basically my therapy for that ending. And while I will not change the ending I do aim to fix the damage that was done later in the story. Fret not, Gendry and Meera are here to give you a better ending!

- Below follows a list of the characters, places, and timeline I will use for this story. If you've watched the show you probably already know most of the characters and places though but I figured it would be good to contextualize the story.

The characters

Our heroes

Gendry Baratheon: Our wildly unprepared and under-qualified hero. He's not the strongest, he's not the smartest and he's not the most handsome. But dammit he got heart!

He's a blacksmith, he's the bastard son of the former king Robert Baratheon and he's just been legitimized as his father's son which means he's now the Lord of the castle Storm's End. He grew up an orphan in King's Landing. He went to hell and back on a journey taking him all across Westeros. On this journey he was chased by the king's guard who wanted to kill him because of who is father was, he was tortured at Harrenhall, he had his virginity taken by a witch who plied him with leeches and he was almost burned alive as a sacrifice by his uncle but at the last second he was saved by Davos Seaworth. So fun times all around... He did also befriend Arya Stark on this journey though. Then he rowed for 3 years before once again appearing in King's Landing. Only to decide to go to hell again... This time he went North with Jon Snow and ended up running a marathon back to the wall to send for help. Then he followed Jon to Winterfell to help prepare weapons for the coming war against the dead. Here he reunited with Arya Stark and they ended up banging right before the big battle. After the battle, Gendry gets legitimized as a Baratheon by the Queen and thinks it's a great idea to propose to Arya. It's not... she turns him down and he is left heartbroken. And this is where his story here begins.

I approximate Gendry's age to be about 22 in this story (making him 17 when he left King's Landing with Arya).

Gendry's last appearance in the show was in episode 8.4 (his brief appearance in epi 8.6 notwithstanding as we get no information on what he has been up to in the meantime, this story will fill that gap).

Meera Reed: Our much more prepared and qualified heroine. She's a fierce warrior and remarkably good at pulling sleds for a prolonged time.

Meera Reed is the Lady of Grey Tower, a castle located in the swampy area called the Neck that separates the North from the South. She and her brother Jojen went North to help Bran Stark find his destiny after Jojen had visions of this happening. They found Bran together with his helper Hodor and dire wolf Summer. They helped Bran become the Three-eyed Raven (whatever that is?). But Jojen dies during this mission. Then Hodor and Summer also die as they are forced to escape the Night King. Meera is the only one left and she is forced to pull Bran's ungrateful ass back to Winterfell all by herself. Although he isn't really Bran anymore... When they return to Winterfell Bran thanks Meera by saying that he doesn't need her anymore and she leaves to go home to her father. This is where her story begins.

I approximate Meera's age to be about 19 in this story.

Meera's last appearance in the show was in episode 7.4.

Other important characters

(might be some light spoilers here for where the story is going)

Davos Seaworth: Advisor to Jon Snow. Once saved Gendry's life.

Howland Reed: Meera's father. Friend of Robert Baratheon and Ned Stark. Lord of Grey Tower. *

Arya Stark: Former lover, travel companion, and friend to Gendry. Now a ninja assassin and a faceless man (woman?). Sister of Bran.

Bran Stark: Unhelpful travel companion to Meera. Deadweight. Three-eyed Raven (?). Brother of Arya.

Devan Seaworth: Oldest son of Davos (after the death of his older brother Mathos). Might be the smuggest and most self-assured person in the kingdom. Approximately 19 years old. *

Stannis Seaworth: Second oldest son of Davos. Scared of everything. Approximately 15 years old. *

Steffon Seaworth: Youngest son of Davos. Climbs stuff. Approximately 10 years old. *

Marya Seaworth: Davos' wife. An amazing woman. *

Balon Swann: Commander of the Baratheon armies. Former King's Guard for Robert Baratheon.*

Tyrek Lannister: Cousin of Cersei, Jaime, and Tyrion. The current holder of Storm's End. Extremely pretty. Approximately 18 years old. *

Robin Arryn: Lord Paramount of the Vale. Former mama's boy. Approximately 17 years old.

Cortnay Penrose: Stormlord. Previous ward of Storm's End for Renly Baratheon. *

Desmera Redwyne: Daughter of Lord Paxter Redwyne. Will be married off to... someone. Approximately 16 years old. *

Talla Tarly: Sister of Samwell Tarly. Widow after her first husband. Will soon be married again... Approximately 23 years old.

* Does not appear in the show (although I guess technically a younger version of Howland does appear in a flashback). All these characters are named in the books though, but my version of them might diverge from how the character is portrayed there (Devan is for example aged up).

Other major show characters such as Daenerys Targaryen, Jon Snow, Sansa Stark, Tyrion Lannister, etc might appear briefly in the story. But this isn't their story so I've tried not to focus on them.

The places

Winterfell: Castle that is home to the Starks. Located in the North. Gendry is here at the beginning of the story.

Storm's End: Castle that has belonged to the Baratheon family. Located in the Stormlands which is south of the capital. Is currently held by Tyrek Lannister at the order of Cersei Lannister (my reasoning here is that the castle would have belonged to King Joffrey and King Tommen as they were the Baratheon heirs but as they couldn't hold the castle themselves Cersei sent a cousin of hers there to hold it for them, and he remained there after their deaths).

Greywater Watch: Castle that belongs to the Reed family. Located in the Neck which is the narrow area that separated the north of the kingdom from the south.

King's Landing: The capital of the kingdom and therefore where the king or queen resides. Gendry grew up here.

Casterly Rock: Castle that is the home of House Lannister. Located on a cliff by the coast.

The Eyrie: Castle that is the home to House Arryn. Located on a mountainside. Held by Robin Arryn.

The timeline

- This story starts right after we've seen our heroes for the last time in the TV show.

- The majority of the story will be set after the ending of the TV show.

- Everything that happens in the ending of the TV show also happens in this story, but the events will happen off-screen since our main characters are not there (the King's council will be on the page though since Gendry is actually there).

Sequels

- This is a trilogy. Part 2 is also completed currently and Part 3 is planned to start being published in the Fall of 2021.