One thing that I love about Halt is how much of a good/positive father figure and mentor he is.
There are many times in the book where Will, Gilan, and even Horace comment or think about how safe they feel around Halt, how much they trust and respect him.
Will tells Halt everything that happened to him in Skandia even when he is convinced that Halt might be disappointed in him, he still trusts and feels safe enough with Halt to tell him everything. This is also mirrored with Gilan when he tells Will that he told Halt about all his mistakes. That Halt created a place where they felt safe enough to admit mistakes and even perceived failures is such a positive thing to have in a mentor.
So, there was a little something I noticed in the books recently. We know that when Will goes on a mission with Halt and Horace as a part of the Task Force, Gilan comes down from Whitby to take over the Ranger position, and cabin, until Will’s return. Presumably this happens even after Will and Alyss’s marriage: after they have moved in with each other. Are we meant to assume that, by some strange coincidence, Alyss always has a mission of her own at the exact same time as Will. Or is it, more likely, that sometimes when Gilan comes down, Alyss is still at the cabin.
If so, that’s pretty funny to have Gilan and Alyss as occasional/temporary brother/sister-in-law roommates. We know canonically (from The Lost Stories) that the two of them are pretty good friends and that they like to trade gossip with each other. I can picture them trading interesting news and goings on over coffee in the morning—or even discussing cases with each other. Because, given the nature of their positions, I’m sure that there’s some overlap of confidential information they can share with each other.
They’d probably split all the cabin’s maintenance/domestic work between them fairly too. I’m guessing that since Pauline can’t really cook, that she never taught Alyss either, so that probably means that Gilan would probably be the de facto cook and hunter and Alyss would probably take the lead with other tasks. I can also picture the two of them going to visit Jenny or George for a fun evening out when they have some free time. Maybe Alyss offers to cover for Gilan on occasion so that he could spend an evening with Jenny too. And they each know they have a friend nearby to rely on if they need it. The implications are pretty fun/funny to think about.
A portrait of Gilan meeting with Jenny at the castle to practice their dancing for Halt's wedding.
Jenny looked up at him adorningly and nodded. Jenny was in love. Gilan was tall. dashing, good-looking, charming and very amusing. Plus he was cloaked in the mystery and romance that came with being a Ranger. Jenny had ever known one Ranger and that had been grim-faced, gray-bearded Halt.
There was Will, of course. But he was an old friend and held no sense of mystery for her. But Gilan! He was beautiful, she thought.
~John Flanagan, Erak's Ransom
Some random thoughts below.
On one hand, I'm very annoyed/frustrated that Flanagan never actually tells us what Gilan's hair and eye color are. But, on the other hand, I absolutely love seeing everyone's unique way of bringing the character to life. It's always fun/awesome to see how everyone pictured/interpreted him.
Which was why I was a little reluctant to color this/draw it fully: in fear of breaking the immersion for everyone, I guess. I mean, when I write him in fanfictions, I tend to avoid those descriptors for the same reason... but I finally gave in to the temptation to draw how I pictured him in my head.
My own personal headcanon is that Flanagan never describes his eye color because it's hazel-ish and so appears to change with his mood or dress (can look green, brown, or even grayish). And I always wondered if maybe his hair color was similar to my sister's: a sort of not-color. Too dark to really be blond, too off color to really be brown, and with odder undertones that make it look different depending on the lighting or how much it has been bleached by being out in the sun (can get almost blackish in the winter but almost blond in the summer lol). Then, at least, there is an excuse for why Flanagan never tells us outright, because it's difficult to pin down? Idk it's fun to ponder. Sorry for rambling X).
