Collection of Ranger's Apprentice Theories

All About Baron Arald

There is actually not a lot to say, considering this is "All About Baron Arald." Arald has black hair and a short beard as of "The Ruins of Gorlan", his colors are blue and gold, and his symbol is a gold boar's head. He is known to struggle with his weight but to have muscles, and has a wife named Lady Sandra who tried to break his horrible manners during dinners for five years as of "The Tournament at Gorlan".

There are a few more things that could be truly worth knowing, though, for a fanfiction or just general curiosity.

๏ ⊙ ๏

Baron Arald's age in "The Ruins of Gorlan" is forty-two. Oddly specific. That makes him twenty-seven at the time of the Hackham Heath battle, and twenty-six at the time of the Gorlan tournament (or twenty-five depending on when his birthday is). From there I can subtract five years to twenty or twenty-one, which would be when his wife was in his life enough to notice his table manners and try to fix them—likely his age at their marriage.

In another theory, I calculated approximately how long it would be from the Gorlan tournament to Maddie's birth (32 years) and to "A New Beginning" (15). That means Arald would be about 74 by the time Maddie is an apprentice, although he sure doesn't act like it. Perhaps he's just as ageless as Halt.

๏ ⊙ ๏

Where did Arald come from? Who succeeds him? And how did he become a baron in the first place? Twenty-six seems a bit young to run a fief by choice (of fief members and himself). It was only the year before that he could finally beat Morgarath to get the Golden Spur. Plus, seventy-four seems a bit old for someone running a fief unless he doesn't have a choice.

There is one debatable clue in "The Ruins of Gorlan" which could lead to the answer. In Arald's office is a painting of his ancestor. Getting a painting done of oneself doesn't seem like a pastime farmers would join in on, seeing as they have to work the fields all day, cook, and clean. This ancestor was probably rich, a Lord or Lady of a castle. Arald would therefore have come from a long line of nobles.

The job of a baron is most likely passed down from father to son. We never see Arald's father, so he can be presumed to be dead, and we also never see an Arald jr. which is why he is the Baron for so long. In fact, Flanagan might be in a stalemate because he never gave Arald a kid and until he finds/makes up a way to pass on ownership, the current baron has to keep ruling, no matter his age.

This line of succession is also confirmed a little in "The Sorcerer of the North" when it is mentioned that Orman will inherit the castle from his father. Macindaw is not a castle made for a baron, but it is quite important in the defense department. If Orman, non-fighter, can up and become a lord of an important castle just because his father was, like the way the royal family works, then baron succession can operate the same way. If it hasn't gone horribly wrong for two noble lines, probability is, it works for all of them. Right?

And this concludes the segment on Baron Arald.