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Will Treaty

The Ranger's Apprentice series, by John Flanagan, follows protagonist Will Treaty, a member of the mysterious and elite organisation, the Ranger Corps. Originally published by Random House, Flanagan explores Will's adventures as both a Ranger's apprentice and as a fully-fledged Ranger over the eleven-book series, and has written further spin-off, prequel and sequel series that delve further into his fantasy world. Over the course of the books, the reader is able to see Will transform from an orphan who dreams of becoming a knight, to a famous Ranger and popular figure in the Kingdom of Araluen.

The Ranger's Apprentice has earned a degree of popularity since it was first published. The series has appeared on the New York Times Bestseller List, and has even inspired a fictional summer camp in the United States, which was run by BookPeople. Flanagan wrote a letter to those who registered for the camp, welcoming the new Rangers-in-training in the voice of Will Treaty.

Creation


Flanagan first created the character of Will Treaty as part of a series of short stories, written for his son Michael. A key characteristic of Will's physical appearance is his small and slim build, and Flanagan states in several interviews that this trait was written for his son: 'Mike was small, and his friends were all bigger and stronger than he, so that's why I created Will: to show that there's an advantage to being small and fast and agile'.

Furthermore, Flanagan states that Will is almost entirely based on his son, revealing that when he describes Will, he describes Michael. The similarities include a cheeky personality and a love of climbing, though Flanagan does point out a difference in hair colour, Will's hair being brown, while Michael's is blond.

Appearance & Personality
Will is described as being 'small and wiry' but 'fast and surprisingly strong'. Will's small stature is something he is very insecure about, and it held him back from achieving his dream of becoming a knight. Sir Rodney, the Battle Master at Redmont Fief, rejected Will's application to Battle School because of his size. However, his agile build puts him in good stead for his career as a Ranger, allowing him to move quickly and quietly, and enabling him to climb 'like a spider'. .

Though the series starts when Will is fifteen, Flanagan depicts his adventures when he becomes a fully-fledged Ranger. A ferryman in The Sorcerer in the North describes Will as 'well-featured' but with 'a hard light in the eyes...this pleasant looking lad wouldn't be wearing the Ranger grey and green if he didn't have steel in him'. This is certainly true, Will having demonstrated this steel and courage during his five-year apprenticeship by risking his life against a charging boar and the vicious Kalkara in The Ruins of Gorlan, as well as letting himself become captured by the Skandians to help end the war against evil warlord, Morgarath, in The Burning Bridge.

And yet, despite his history of war and hard fighting, Flanagan describes Will as 'a naturally friendly young man and he often longed for easy companionship with other people'. It is this naturally charming and friendly manner that helps Will form friendships and diplomatic relationships across countries; he is known for 'falling on his feet wherever he goes'. Flanagan uses Will's approachable personality as a source of humour in The Sorcerer in the North, having Will deal with a ship-load of angry Skandians who had come to raid his fief by inviting them to dinner, and then making friends with a notorious and terrifying sorcerer: 'he's actually quite a nice fellow once you get to know him'.

Reputation
Because of Will's seeming inability to lead a quiet life, his series of adventures and achievements has led Will to garner a lot of praise from the people of Araluen. Over the course of the books, Will has become a popular figure in the Kingdom. In The Kings of Clonmel, Will's former wardmate, Jenny, spreads the word that 'the famous Will Treaty and his beautiful girlfriend' will be eating at her restaurant in order to boost her bookings, and seats them 'at the table of honour'.

Despite this famous reputation, Will remains very down-to-earth, asking in Jenny's restaurant, 'how could anyone enjoy having every eye in the room on them?' This reserved nature was instilled in him from his Ranger training. For the most part, it's important that Rangers always separate themselves from society, going so far as to live in a cottage separate from the village, instead of taking rooms in the castle: 'it served their purpose to remain aloof from ordinary people. There was an air of mystery about the Ranger Corps.' As the Kingdom of Araluen's police force, Rangers take advantage of this mystery in order to keep order; if they are unnerving figures, it is easier for them to maintain law and order. This reputation of the Ranger Corps has even led common people to believe that Rangers dabble in the black arts to master their skills in weaponry and unseen movement, the ferryman in The Sorcerer in the North going so far as to 'surreptitiously make a sign to ward off evil'.

Backstory
Will is an orphan and grew up as a ward in Castle Redmont. He was left on the steps as a baby with a note that read: 'His mother died in childbirth. His father died a hero. Please care for him. His name is Will'. Since his surname wasn't mentioned in the note, Will grew up without a second name. This led Will's childhood bully, Horace, though they were later to form a strong friendship, to dub him 'Will No-Name'. Will is later given a new name in Erak's Ransom upon his graduation into the Ranger Corps. He is given the surname 'Treaty' in reference to his role in forming the treaty between Skandia and Araluen, effectively ending decades worth of raiding on the Araluen coast.

The mention in the note of his father dying a hero's death led Will to believe that his father was a knight who fought in the legendary battle against Morgarath. Will dreams of following in his father's footsteps by becoming a knight himself. After the main events of The Ruins of Gorlan, Halt, Will's mentor, tells Will the true story of his father in the epilogue. He reveals that he was a sergeant in the war against Morgarath, not a knight, but that 'he was the mightiest warrior' he had ever seen, and that he had even saved Halt's life. However, in The Lost Stories, Halt goes further in his tale, revealing that Will's mother didn't die in childbirth. She died a few days after Will was born, when rogue soldiers from the army came to Daniel's farm to pillage and steal. Though Halt had tracked the bandits there, he couldn't save Will's mother, and she was murdered. Halt then took Will back to Redmont and left him on the steps of the castle to be raised as a ward.

Animal Companions
Rangers have special bonds with their horses, particularly as they have to rely on them extensively in the field. In The Ruins of Gorlan, Will is introduced to his Ranger horse, Tug. Tug is described as 'sturdy' with a 'barrel shaped' body and a 'shaggy...ragged and unbrushed' mane. Despite his haphazard appearance, Tug is incredibly strong, speedy and has stamina enough to 'keep going all day' and 'run any of those fine fancy-looking battle-horses into the ground'.

Ranger horses are highly intelligent and loyal animals, and Will's bond with Tug grows and strengthens over the course of the series. This is evident in Erak's Ransom when Will loses Tug in an Arridian sandstorm. He traipses across the desert, almost dying in the attempt, to find Tug, instead of opting for another horse and continuing on his quest to rescue the Skandian oberjarl and leader, Erak. Also, in Oakleaf Bearers, Will is reunited with Halt, Horace and Tug after his capture and ensuing enslavement in Skandia. After catching scent of Will, Tug becomes very distressed: 'his body trembled' and 'he was on the brink of giving vent to another of those anguished cries and only the discipline and superb training of all Ranger horses was preventing him from doing so'. Once Tug was reunited with Will, he 'refused to stray more than a metre or two from Will's presence'.

Apprenticeship
Although Will was prevented from following his dream of becoming a knight due to his small size, these physical attributes made him an ideal candidate for becoming a Ranger's apprentice. Ranger apprentices are selected for their 'co-ordination, nimbleness, speed of hand and eye - but even more so for their natural curiosity'. Even though Will displayed all of these characteristics, Halt wanted to test his moral character before selecting him as an apprentice. On the night of the Choosing, the day when the wards select their future careers and are either accepted by the Craftmasters, the leaders in the industry, or are rejected, Halt passed Baron Arald a note that concerned Will. Arald seemed troubled by this note, and told Halt that he would need to think over the contents that night, and decide Will's fate in the morning. Witness to this conversation, Will burned with curiosity, and broke into Baron Arald's office that night in order to read it. Alas, he had acted exactly as Halt thought he would, and Will was caught. Instead of inventing an excuse, Will accepted responsibility: 'there is no excuse for my actions and I will accept whatever punishment you decide', thus earning approval from Halt and Arald. They gave the note to Will to read: 'the boy Will has potential to be trained as a Ranger. I will accept him as my apprentice'. Having passed Halt's test, Will begins his five-year-long apprenticeship to Halt, and begins to learn a Ranger's skills: unseen and silent movement, archery, knife-throwing, tracking and tactical thinking, amongst others.

Ranger Equipment
Camouflage Cloak: The Ranger uniform isn't complete without the mottled grey and green Ranger cloak. It acts as camouflage for the wearer, and fuels the rumours that Rangers are sorcerers, capable of rendering themselves invisible. Will learns the lesson of remaining unseen in The Burning Bridge, when hiding from a party of Wargals, a brutal beast that is a cross between a dog and a bear, who serve the evil Lord Morgarath. Hiding in the bushes with Horace and Evanlyn, the alias for Princess Cassandra of Araluen, Will finds himself staring into the Wargal's eyes, but Halt's strict training stops him from giving in to the impulse to drop his eyes. 'The true value of the camouflaged cloaks lay not in magic...but in the wearer's ability to remain unmoving under close scrutiny'. By trusting the cloak, Will escapes notice.

Longbow: Rangers are expert archers, capable of drawing, aiming and shooting in only a few seconds. There is a famous saying amongst Rangers that 'a Ranger carries the lives of two dozen men with him', as most Rangers are capable of ensuring that each of the twenty-four arrows in his quiver finds its mark, such is their accuracy. In The Kings of Clonmel, Will attends the Rangers' Gathering and instructs some of the Ranger apprentices in archery, revealing the secret to the Rangers' uncanny skill with the bow. Will repeats the same words Halt had used when teaching Will how to shoot: 'An ordinary archer practices until he gets it right. A Ranger practices...until he never gets it wrong'.

Saxe and Throwing Knife: All Rangers wear a double scabbard with a saxe knife and a shorter knife balanced for throwing. The blades of Ranger knives are incredibly strong, similar in strength to the Skandians' sea axes. So much so that when a fellow Ranger, Gilan, teaches Will how to use the double knife defence, Horace ends up with 'two deep nicks in the edge of his blade', whereas the blades of the Ranger knives were completely unscathed.

Notable Achievements
Will has many adventures over the course of the series, fueling his reputation as a legend of the Ranger Corps. While many of these adventures take place after Will graduates and becomes a fully-fledged Ranger, many of these exciting tales happen during his apprenticeship.

The Boar Hunt: Will's first opportunity to prove his courage occurs very early on during his apprenticeship. During a tracking lesson, Halt and Will come across the tracks of a wild boar. After reporting the tracks at the Castle, they join the hunting party. Though the hunters were able to kill the first boar without a hitch, they were surprised by a second, leaving Will and Horace directly in its charging path. Horace slips, losing his grip on the boar spear and becoming helpless. Will risks his life to save Horace: 'he knew his small bow would have no chance of stopping the boar's maddened rush. All he could hope to do was to distract' it. Halt eventually kills the boar, saving both Horace and Will from becoming impaled on its tusks. This first taste of adventure solidified Will's friendship with Horace, forming a strong bond from the shared danger.

Hunting the Kalkara: The Kalkara are vicious beasts used by Morgarath to assassinate those in the King's army most likely to upset his plans. When Halt becomes a target of the Kalkara and they begin to hunt him, Will rides day and night in order to bring help from Castle Redmont. Returning with Baron Arald and Sir Rodney, Will finds Halt about to be killed at the hands of the Kalkara. He acts quickly, shooting a fire arrow at the creature, and 'the Kalkara's screams had terror in them as it felt the touch of fire - the one thing in life it feared'. Thus, Will's quick thinking and courage saved his mentor's life and killed the Kalkara.

Burning the Bridge: In The Burning Bridge, Will travels to Celtica with Gilan and Horace on a diplomatic mission. They find the place deserted, the Celts having been captured or driven off by Morgarath's Wargals. Soon after Gilan rides off to report the disturbances, Will and Horace discover that Morgarath is building a bridge across the Fissure in order to bring his war party across the mountains and make a surprise attack on the King's army, trapping them on The Plains of Uthal. Will resolves to burn the bridge with the help of Horace and Evanlyn, who they met on the road. After setting the fires alight, only one side of the bridge burns, and so Will and Evalyn both give themselves up for capture by the Skandians, employed by Morgarath, in order to get the other fire burning. Their actions and sacrifice prevent Morgarath's army from crossing the Fissure, ensuring victory for the King's army, the end of the decades-long threat Morgarath had posed and peace in the Kingdom of Araluen.

Directing the Archers in the Battle for Skandia: After Evanlyn helps Will escape slavery, they are reunited with Horace and Halt in The Oakleaf Bearers. However, they are unable to escape Skandia due to an invading force of Temujai warriors. They join the War Council as tacticians and Will has the idea to turn the Araluen slaves into a force of archers. He oversees their training and directs them in battle, calling the angles and positions to cause maximum damage and panic amongst the enemy. As the Skandian army had never employed archers before, the Temujai forces were taken by surprise: 'men and horses screamed in pain as they crashed to the ground. And instantly, the structured, disciplined formation of the Ulan was shattered'. Under Will's instruction, the archers help see off the Temujai enemy, leading to a peace treaty between Araluen and Skandia.

Sieging Castle Macindaw: On his first solo mission as a graduate of the Ranger Corps, Will is sent on an undercover mission to Norgate Fief in the North. He travels to Castle Macindaw undercover as Will Barton, a simple jongleur, to investigate rumours of black magic after the Baron of the Castle is struck down with a mysterious illness. These rumours turn out to be false, and Will finds himself trapped in Grimsdell Forest with the supposed sorcerer, a simple healer called Malcolm. Luckily, a ship-load of Skandians are beached on the northern coast for the winter, and Will hires them to help him siege the castle, take back control of the fief and rescue Alyss, his girlfriend, who is trapped in the castle. With only thirty men, Will manages this almost impossible feat, using Malcolm's skills in projection and chemistry to distract the men on the walls: 'a ball of fire rose into the night, hissing and trailing a banner of sparks behind it before exploding' and 'a huge gigantic shadow figure loomed against the mist. Huge, evil, terrifying'. Taking advantage of the distraction, Will and Horace climb the ramparts and begin the attack with the Skandians to take control of the castle once more. Later, Flanagan reveals that Crowley, the Corps Commandant, circulates a detailed report of Will's actions to the rest of the Rangers so they can study his tactics: 'those with apprentices had begun using the siege as an example of initiative and imagination', thus demonstrating Will's extraordinary talent as a Ranger.

Because Will has proved his worth as a Ranger, Crowley doesn't assign him his own fief. Instead, he creates a Special Task Force for crises that cross borders, both fief borders and international ones. Crowley was inspired to create this group after Will's adventures in Skandia, Arrida and Norgate, saying that they were 'lucky to have someone as accomplished and capable' as Will to take on those challenges. Both Halt and Horace join Will in this group, and the trio undertake several other adventures over the remaining books. They track a religious cult, called the Outsiders, in Hibernia, and join a battle in Nihon-Ja to prevent the Emperor from being overthrown.

External Sources
|Penguin: John Flanagan

|The Ranger's Apprentice Series

|The World of John Flanagan