Sold from Meereen's fighting pits to Qohor and from Qohor to Pentos, Strong Belwas ended in Illyrio Mopatis's household as, by his own account, the greatest pit fighter the slave cities had ever produced — a claim he supports by inviting anyone who doubts him to count his scars, since his peculiar custom in the pits was to let an opponent land a single cut before killing him, so the tally would always be plain to read. Illyrio sent him east to guard Daenerys Targaryen alongside an aged squire calling himself Arstan Whitebeard — in truth Ser Barristan Selmy in disguise — and Belwas has stood at Daenerys's side ever since through Astapor, Qarth, and the harder work of holding Meereen once it fell to her, boastful, easily bored, and considerably more dangerous than either quality suggests.
Strong Belwas
- House
- no house; a freed eunuch, formerly a slave and champion of Meereen's fighting pits
- Titles
- champion of the Meereenese fighting pits (formerly)
- Seat
- none
- Religion
- unspecified
- Weapon
- an arakh and a great curved blade; renowned bare-fisted brawler
- Notable for
- Former champion of Meereen's fighting pits; serves as one of Daenerys Targaryen's personal guards
A former pit-fighting champion serving as one of Daenerys Targaryen's personal guards in Meereen.
Appearances
In the novels
- A Clash of Kings
- A Storm of Swords
- A Dance with Dragons
Key events
- unknownBorn a slave in Meereen and rises to become a champion of the city's fighting pits.
- before 299 ACSold onward from Meereen to Qohor and then to Pentos, ending in the household of the magister Illyrio Mopatis.
- 299 ACSent east by Illyrio to guard Daenerys Targaryen alongside the disguised Ser Barristan Selmy, posing as squire Arstan Whitebeard.
- 299-300 ACServes as one of Daenerys's personal guards through Astapor, Qarth, and the conquest of Meereen.
- 300 ACEats an entire bowl of poisoned honeyed locusts meant for Daenerys at the feast reopening Meereen's fighting pits, saving her at serious cost to his own health.
- 300 ACLeft violently ill and unable to help when Drogon's sudden appearance turns the pit's celebration into a massacre.
Reading the character
Strong Belwas is the story's clearest argument that swagger and genuine danger aren't opposites. His habit of letting an opponent land one cut before killing him, so his scars would always tally cleanly, is exactly the kind of boastful detail that could read as empty bluster — until his actions in Meereen prove that his size and strength are entirely real, and that his usefulness to Daenerys was never just talk.
He also functions as one of the few sources of levity in an increasingly grim Meereenese arc, easily bored, endlessly boastful, and utterly devoted to a queen he guards with the same straightforward loyalty a former slave might reserve for the first person who ever treated his freedom as a fact rather than a negotiation.
The arc of Strong Belwas
This carries the character’s road through the published novels. Read on only if you do not fear to know.
These partings name deaths, endings, and roads not yet ridden in the books. Unveil them only if both roads are known to you — or if you do not fear to know.
In the timeline
Why did Strong Belwas survive the poisoned locusts?
His unusual size and strength are credited with saving him — he ate the entire poisoned bowl himself and fell violently ill, but the same dose that could have killed a smaller man left him alive.
How did Strong Belwas come to serve Daenerys Targaryen?
Illyrio Mopatis, the magister who owned him, sent him east to guard her alongside the disguised Barristan Selmy, and he has remained one of her personal guards ever since.