A Collection of Ranger's Apprentice Theories

Cakes and Crimes: The Lawlessness of Rangers?

Formally known as the King's Rangers, they're an elite force of archers loyal to the Araluen Crown, aka the King or Queen who inherits the throne and the only person with the authority to appoint or dismiss Rangers ('The Tournament at Gorlan'). A Ranger Commandant relays orders to the members of the Rangers Corps, who from the moment they become an apprentice, have taken an oath that the Kingdom always comes first and they're bound to their duties ('The Icebound Land'). Plans to take over Araluen must dismantle the Rangers as one of the first steps, and even then, the Rangers will keep being a nuisance to uphold their pledge.

Araluen's mail service is controlled by the Crown, with the Royal Mail being entrusted to knights; serious consequences happen to those who tamper with the mail, like Halt has become an expert doing ('The Battle for Skandia'). Rangers do not face those consequences, though. In 'The Tournament at Gorlan,' Halt and Crowley open a few letters, such as a sealed dispatch, and yet Arald is only disappointed they didn't keep the evidence.

It's a crime to sell someone into slavery, and so Will gets around this by gifting a man into Skandian slavery ('The Sorcerer of the North'), and this is after Alyss suggests killing the man to keep the mission quiet. When Halt learns of this, he relates a similar story about Crowley gifting a thief to the town he stole from as manual labor. Neither of these instances are punishable offenses.

Through the course of the series, Rangers have killed many people, and aren't above kitchen thievery for a midnight snack of sweetcakes. They hold a considerable amount of power, but how far does that extend before their activities cannot be forgotten or forgiven?

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In 'The Hibernian,' Crowley had been to Castle Araluen for a punishment. Although the details were sparse, the Ranger Commandant at the time was a puppet and vocal Rangers had been fired over falsified accusations to dismantle the Corps, set up by Morgarath, so Crowley was completely innocent in that case. Two organizations may pursue legitimate punishment on, or listen to appeals by, Rangers: the Ranger Tribunal and the Council of Barons ('The Tournament at Gorlan'). Baron Arald had hoped the Council would drop the charges on his Ranger, except the Council was also corrupted.

The crimes in which Morgarath framed the Rangers caused them to go into hiding or leave the country. Following that logic, said crimes are unforgivable for Rangers to commit, compromising the integrity of the force.

A barkeeper by the name of Jervis becomes very uncomfortable with the implication that information accompanied by the King's seal might not be true: it's dangerous to deny the King's authority. The previous Commandant, Nicholl, had been banished with Morgarath's false witnesses for the crime of treachery and disloyalty to the very Crown he swore to protect. Pritchard had been charged with treason.

Berrigan is confronted about singing a song allegedly about King Oswald, the name replaced with "Artur" to better rhyme with "Terrible Farter." This would be treasonous, if true. Just like Halt in 'The Icebound Land,' openly insulting the King as a sworn member of his special forces is considered a serious crime. Halt wanted to be exiled to go save Will, and his sentence was to leave the country within 48 hours or die.

Additionally, not only is Halt so inappropriate that most of his insults were not included in the PG novel, he attacks the corporal of the Watch, who had also taken an oath of loyalty to the King. Berrigan too was provoked to fight with soldiers and the alleged rightful Ranger of the fief, which did not help his case.

As a Ranger, upholding the goodwill of the people to the Crown, the one person Rangers serve, is a necessity. Publicly embarrassing the Crown and causing trouble to fellow law enforcement is a betrayal and breaks the oath. King Duncan gives Halt a light sentence because it's recognized as an act of desperation to find Will rather than actively plotting against the King, but even Halt cannot get away unscathed.

Perceived harm is important when determining whether Rangers have broken a punishable law. To feed the Rangers in hiding from Morgarath, Crowley grabs a few potatoes from a small farm's potato field, and Halt kills a deer ('The Tournament at Gorlan'). Deer are reserved for the King to hunt, though Halt excuses this by claiming the King wouldn't want them to be hungry.

The thieving Morgarath chooses to frame Rangers with are situations like attacking and robbing traders, or stealing from a widow, then gravely beating her 14-year-old son for attempting to stop the robbery. These are needless, selfish crimes, and involve unprovoked physical harm to citizens.

The King can afford to lose a deer or two. A beating of an innocent, however, does not go over so well on the goodwill and trustworthiness of Rangers. The Corps is supposed to be doing the saving from events like the latter, not be the cause of them.

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Rangers have a high status, often being the mouthpieces for King-approved law enforcement, and as such they have a right to skulk around, investigating potential disturbances and shutting them down before trouble can finish brewing. For this system to work, their word must be trusted.

They have the authority to be judge, jury, and executioner on the spot. When in Celtica, Gilan jokes about trying to hang people with no proper trees to do the deed ('The Burning Bridge'). King Duncan does ask Rangers to acquire solid proof before they start shooting and arresting—Halt and Will waited for the Moondarkers to obviously start attracting a ship to rob before moving in, in 'Purple Prose'—to avoid mistaken identities, though it is up to the Ranger's integrity to follow said rule.

With all the trust bestowed on Rangers, it is important they maintain their oath impeccably, working for the Crown with honesty. The punishable crimes for Rangers involve selfishness which threatens the trust that the Ranger in question acts to the betterment of the Kingdom. Sometimes forgery or taking a brace of murphies is required for the mission and these crimes prevent larger disasters by revealing secrets which need to be brought to light or keep Rangers operating on an optimal level.

A truly lawless Ranger does not exist; these are ex-Rangers either through exile or death. Araluen cannot afford a Ranger to turn against their own kind. As Crowley says in 'The Hibernian,' being a Ranger is an important part of history, and their skills are learned for when the people of Araluen need them.