| Osha | |
|---|---|
 Osha, by Amok © | |
|
| |
| Allegiance | House Stark |
| Culture | Free folk |
| Born | Beyond the Wall[1] |
| Lovers | |
| Books |
|
| Played by | Natalia Tena |
| TV series |
Game of Thrones: Season 1 | Season 2 | 3 | 6 |
Osha is a spearwife of the free folk from north of the Wall. In the television adaptation Game of Thrones, she is portrayed by Natalia Tena.[2]
Appearance and Character
[edit]Osha is tall and lean, standing a head taller than Robb Stark.[3] She has a hard face, shaggy brown hair,[3] and is flat-chested.[4] Osha's bony arms are wiry but strong,[5] and her body bears many scars.[4] She is stronger than Alebelly.[6]
Osha worships the old gods of the forest and is knowledgeable about them, as well as the lands beyond the Wall and their inhabitants. Bran Stark thinks of her as as tough and uncomplaining.[7]
Osha wears mail and leather[1] and a bowl-shaped halfhelm.[3] Her spear is eight feet of black oak with a tip of rusted steel;[3] Bran compares it to a steel-headed serpent.[3]
History
[edit]Osha was born beyond the Wall[1] and has lived her life there.[7] Osha has fought men of the Night's Watch, and has killed one of them.[4] Her brother killed a ten-foot-tall female giant.[1]
Recent Events
[edit]A Game of Thrones
[edit]Osha travels with three other wildlings, including Hali, and a pair of Night's Watch deserters, Stiv and Wallen. This group flees south of the Wall, trying to escape the Others. They cross the Wall and travel into the wolfswood north of Winterfell, where they come upon the crippled Bran Stark. Osha wants to take him hostage and return to Mance Rayder, presumably to use him to gain passage south through the Wall. Robb Stark, Theon Greyjoy, Grey Wind, and Summer arrive to rescue Bran, however. Robb deflects Osha's spear with his longsword and rides her down. All of the band are killed, except Osha, who calls for mercy after Stiv is killed by Theon.[3]
Osha is taken back to Winterfell for questioning.[3] She is eventually given a limited freedom of the castle for her good behavior, and employed as a kitchen servant. Mikken chains her ankles with iron mankles, however, to prevent her from escaping. Osha allows the cook Gage to have a sexual relationship with her, as she likes the smell of flour on his hands, and she finds him gentler than Stiv.[1]
When Robb calls the northern banners to Winterfell in response to the arrest of Eddard Stark in King's Landing, Osha attempts to warn the lordling about wights and white walkers, threats north of the Wall. Robb ignores her when she calls out to him in the yard, however, and the Greatjon pushes her aside.[1]
Osha goes to pray to the old gods in the godswood of Winterfell, where she comes upon Bran as he finishes his own prayers. The two bond to a degree, sharing a common devotion to the old gods. Osha tells the boy about the old gods and giants, and she wants Bran to tell Robb he should be marching north instead of south. Maester Luwin discounts Osha's stories when Bran speaks with him about the woman.[1]
Bran dreams that he saw his father, Lord Eddard Stark, in the crypt of Winterfell. Luwin summons Osha to carry Bran and goes down to the crypts with him. Because of Osha's good behavior, the chains from her shackles are removed, but the shackles remain to show she is not entirely trusted. Luwin has Bran tell Osha about the Kings of Winter entombed in the crypt. They are surprised in the catacombs by Rickon Stark's direwolf Shaggydog, who savages Luwin's arm. They return to Luwin's tower, where Osha bandages the maester's wound. Osha and Luwin disagree about Bran's dreams and about conditions beyond the Wall. A raven arrives to inform Winterfell about Eddard's execution in the capital.[7]
A Clash of Kings
[edit]
Osha continues working in Winterfell's kitchens,[4] and she sometimes helps carry the crippled Bran.[5][6] She remains wary about Summer and Shaggydog, the direwolves of Bran and Rickon.[4] When Bran asks about the red comet, Osha responds it is "blood and fire, boy, and nothing sweet."[5] Instead of bathing in the hot springs of the castle's godswood, she swims naked in the cold pool by the heart tree and attempts to find its bottom.[4]
Osha pours ale during the harvest feast held at Winterfell. When one of Leobald Tallhart's men slides his hand up her skirts, she breaks the flagon over his head.[8]
Bran has recurring dreams of a three-eyed crow. When the boy asks Osha if she knows the way north of the Wall, she tells him to look for the Ice Dragon.[6]
After Winterfell is taken by the turncloak Theon Greyjoy and his ironborn, Theon has all of Winterfell's people gather in the Great Hall so that they can hear Bran yield to him. The Stark prisoner Reek bends the knee to Theon, and is set free and armed. Osha then steps up, remininding Theon that she was a captive too. Bran is hurt by this betrayal, as he thought she was his friend. Osha says that she is tired of scrubbing pots and warming Gage's bed, and wants a spear in her hand again. The ironborn Stygg harasses her, and in response, Osha knees him in the crotch and knocks him to the ground with the butt of his own spear, while the other ironborn laugh. Theon laughs as well, and tells her to keep the spear as she bends the knee.[9]
However, not long after, Osha secretly escapes Winterfell with Bran and Rickon Stark, Jojen and Meera Reed, Hodor, and the direwolves Summer and Shaggydog. She kills the ironman Drennan in the process, seducing him before cutting his throat with his own knife.[10]
Theon assumes that the escapees are being led by Osha. During the hunt for them in the wolfswood, Maester Luwin convinces Theon to show mercy on the children and Hodor if they are found. Theon says he will not spare Osha, as she pissed on the oath she swore to him.[10] In actuality, Osha, the Starks, the Reeds, and Hodor have hidden themselves in the crypt of Winterfell[11] after doubling back from the wolfswood.[10] Unable to find their quarry, Theon and Reek kill two miller's boys and present their corpses as those of the missing Bran and Rickon.[12]
While Bran's party are in hiding, Reek reveals himself as Ramsay Snow, betrays Theon, and orders the sack of Winterfell.[13] When Bran sees through Summer's eyes that Winterfell is empty and on fire, Osha decides they can go aboveground. Wielding a long oaken spear, she also takes the sword from Eddard Stark's tomb before they leave, one of the last to come from Mikken's forge. They emerge to find Winterfell in ruins and filled with corpses, which angers Osha. She realizes it was not Theon who sacked Winterfell, as many ironborn are among the slain, but someone from House Bolton. They find the mortally-wounded Maester Luwin in the godswood, and Osha agrees with him that the Stark brothers should be split up for safety. Before she leaves the godswood, Osha grants Luwin the gift of mercy. Outside Winterfell, Bran, Summer, the Reeds, and Hodor head north, while Osha escorts Rickon and Shaggydog through the East Gate toward the kingsroad and parts unknown.[11]
A Storm of Swords
[edit]Heading north to the Wall, Bran remembers that Osha had once told him that the blue star in the Ice Dragon's eye pointed the way north. He wonders how Osha and Rickon are doing, and if they have found safety with House Manderly or House Umber.[14]
A Dance with Dragons
[edit]At White Harbor, Davos Seaworth learns that Wex Pyke, Theon's squire, survived the sack of Winterfell by climbing the heart tree in the godswood, and afterwards followed Osha and Rickon. Wex reveals that Osha has taken Rickon and Shaggydog[15] to Skagos.[16]
Quotes by Osha
[edit]
Bran: Tell me what you meant, about hearing the gods.
Osha: You asked them and they're answering. Open your ears, listen, you'll hear.
Osha: Who do you think sends the wind, if not the gods? They see you, boy. They hear you talking. That rustling, that's them talking back.[1]
Bran: It's only the wind.
—Bran Stark and Osha
Bran: Are there truly giants beyond the Wall?
Osha: Giants and worse than giants, Lordling. I tried to tell your brother when he asked his questions, him and your maester and that smiley boy Greyjoy.[1]—Bran Stark and Osha
Bran: But the children of the forest are all gone now, you said.
Osha: Here, they are. North of the Wall, things are different. That's where the children went, and the giants, and the other old races.
Luwin: Woman, by rights you ought to be dead or in chains. The Starks have treated you more gently than you deserve. It is unkind to repay them for their kindness by filling the boys' heads with folly.[7]
—Bran Stark, Osha, and Luwin
Bran: You've got a lot of scars.
Osha: Every one hard earned.[4]—Bran Stark and Osha
Theon: I need fighters, not kitchen sluts.
Osha: It was Robb Stark put me in the kitchens. For the best part of a year, I've been left to scour kettles, scrape grease, and warm the straw for this one. I've had a bellyful of it. Put a spear in my hand again.
Osha: You keep that soft pink thing. I'll have me the wood and iron.[9]
Stygg: I got a spear for you right here.
—Theon Greyjoy, Osha and Stygg
—Osha to Meera and Jojen Reed
Quotes about Osha
[edit]
—thoughts of Bran Stark
Her hair was growing out, brown and shaggy. It made her look more womanly, that and the simple dress of brown roughspun they'd given her when they took her mail and leather.[1]
—thoughts of Bran Stark
—Luwin to Bran Stark
I should have known better than to trust that one. She's as unnatural as Asha. Even their names sound alike.[10]
—thoughts of Theon Greyjoy
References
[edit]- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 A Game of Thrones, Chapter 53, Bran VI.
- ↑ HBO: Game of Thrones Cast & Characters
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 A Game of Thrones, Chapter 37, Bran V.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 A Clash of Kings, Chapter 16, Bran II.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 A Clash of Kings, Chapter 4, Bran I.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 A Clash of Kings, Chapter 35, Bran V.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 A Game of Thrones, Chapter 66, Bran VII.
- ↑ A Clash of Kings, Chapter 21, Bran III.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 A Clash of Kings, Chapter 46, Bran VI.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 A Clash of Kings, Chapter 50, Theon IV.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 A Clash of Kings, Chapter 69, Bran VII.
- ↑ A Clash of Kings, Chapter 56, Theon V.
- ↑ A Clash of Kings, Chapter 66, Theon VI.
- ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 24, Bran II.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 29, Davos IV.
- ↑ George R. R. Martin's A World of Ice and Fire, Osha.