A Collection of Ranger's Apprentice Theories

Duncan, Halt and Crowley's Age

As the older generation, Duncan, Halt, and Crowley are the wise ones—but how many years of wisdom do they have? Flanagan is vague on all ages, with the younger cast's relative age to each other in 'The Ruins of Gorlan' only known by attending the same Choosing Day for those turned, or turning, 15 in the calendar year.

This theory assumes that the characters are accurate when approximating the age of one another, being the method to smoothly relay their real ages. Halt makes two references to Duncan's age in 'The Tournament at Gorlan.' One is a comparison, noting Duncan is not much older than himself, and the other is an estimate of low twenties. This makes Duncan in the range of 20-23, with Halt being a few months to a few years younger.

According to 'The Battle of Hackham Heath,' Halt apprenticed under Pritchard for four years, and confirms with Crowley that apprentices are usually apprenticed at fifteen. The circumstances for Halt's apprenticeship were unusual and he may have become an apprentice sooner or later than 15, so Halt's story from 'The Kings of Clonmel' needs to be taken into consideration for when he comes to Araluen.

Halt was 16 when Ferris tried to poison him. Six months after that, Ferris attempted to crush Halt with roof tiles. Then, a year after that, Ferries tried to drown Halt, which triggered the latter's move to Araluen and meeting with Crowley a few months later. 16 + 1.5 years is 17.5 years old. That being said, 13 is quite young to start an apprenticeship. Gilan didn't become an apprentice until 14, and he was really eager. Also, Halt and Ferris could have been on the tail end of 16, making Halt more like 18 or 18.5 years old when the drowning incident occurred.

This is consistent with Duncan's age, though makes it more likely Duncan is on the younger end of the low twenties, 20-21, where the extra few years add just enough maturity for Halt to see the difference.

Crowley's age is a different difficulty to pin. 'The Hibernian' confirms he spent 5 years as an apprentice, and since no definite age is given besides young boy—which 15-year-old Will is referred to as in 'The Ruins of Gorlan'—he can be assumed the norm who graduated to a full Ranger at 20. However, the time between graduation and when he meets with Halt is unclear. Halt may have apprenticed with Pritchard for 4 years, but 'The Hibernian' mentions Pritchard had disappeared 3 years previous, right after Crowley received his Silver Oakleaf. What should have been the most accurate age becomes a range of 23-24.

That's not taking into account that 'Tournament at Gorlan' claims Crowley graduated a couple years before Pritchard's dismissal, several more years passing since then. Lewin seems the most recent Ranger to graduate, two years prior to the events of the book. Crowley is the youngest Ranger, barring Halt, in 'The Battle of Hackham Heath,' meaning Lewin must have graduated later though was apprenticed later in his life, making him older than the other two.

Overall, this makes the birth order: Crowley, Duncan, then Halt, with the approximate ages being 23, 21, and 18 as of 'The Tournament at Gorlan.' Given that both Crowley and Duncan die or become otherwise ill first, while Halt remains in excellent shape, this age gap makes some sense ('A New Beginning').

To get the ages from any other part of the timeline, a further theory on Crowley examines the potential gaps between books in detail. The prequel series takes place over about 2 years, and the gap of time to the first book of the main series is 15 years.

Chronologically after 'The Siege of Macindaw' it gets hard because there's no specific amount of years mentioned before Horace's fateful journey to Nihon-Ja, although Duncan starts going gray by the later books in the main RA series. The Royal Ranger books take place more than fifteen years past Cassandra's wedding (in 'The Lost Stories') because Maddie has to grow up. The best estimated time is 48 years between 'The Hibernian' and 'A New Beginning,' making Halt and Duncan 69 and 66 respectively.