Samwell Tarly

[bunn]

How *does* he stay so fat? I'm pretty sure that if I were on military food for months while undergoing physical training (no matter how bad I was at it), and then had to ride for days on end, and then had to walk all the way back again for several weeks through heavy snow eating only what I could carry, I'd shed more than a few pounds.

I reckon he has a Star Trek food replicator.

Comments

[chainmailmaiden]

I get wheezy far more quickly going upstairs than I do walking on the flat, maybe Sam has a similar problem. The cold doesn't help my asthma either a couple of steps outside when it's freezing and I can't breathe.

Also since he's supposed to be very overweight he could probably loose several stone before there would be very much difference in his overall shape and size.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

My asthma doesn't like the cold either - but when he's walking up the steps, he's doing it inside in the warm (on his way up from the library vaults). A few weeks earlier he was trogging on foot across rough country surrounded by Others!

I agree he could probably lose quite a lot and not be noticeably thinner, but you'd think he'd register some small difference, given that he's quite conscious of his size and it's in his thoughts quite often. During the same period, Grenn grows about a foot, loses all his flab and starts bulging muscles everywhere, yet Sam doesn't even get to tighten his belt a notch!

I have developed another theory about him actually: I reckon he was actually killed early on in the story and is now a wight (so no need to be powered in the conventional way) but nobody, including him, has noticed...

[sigisgrim.livejournal.com]

I wonder whether Sam has asthms that is triggered by warmth? But he doesn't have a problem with cold. (Like you and chainmailmaiden my asthma doesn't like cold.)

I also wonder whether he doesn't know the difference between muscle and fat? If he's converted a bit of fat into muscle, but it hasn't changed his overall size he might well think he is still all fat.

Since he is very conscious of his size he might well consider that he was fat even though he had actually lost weight.

[chainmailmaiden]

I still get wheezy going up stairs inside, I can't get up to the restaurant on the 4th floor at work without suffering. Admittedly I'm not very fit at all at the moment, but even when I was doing 2 hour rowing sessions at ChCh 6 days a week, stairs still made me breathless. Stairs are evil.

I do agree it you would think Sam would notice a bit of a difference, but I like sigisgrim's idea that Sam wouldn't realise even if he'd lost weight because he has such a poor self image.