Oh I never posted this here did I?
Ranger's Apprentice fans, I have come to a revelation about Gilan. In particular, about his lack of description.
So in Ruins of Gorlan, when we meet Gilan, one of the first things Will notices is that he has a sword that he uses in addition to the standard ranger weapons. Will remarks this is unusual, but Halt says no one saw any point in wasting the training Gilan had already received with the sword.
We also learn two things about Gilan: one, he's tall, and two, he's clean shaven. This is the full extent of the description we get of him.
Now, coincidentally, this is rather similar to a bit in TEY1 where we meet Farrel, ranger for Redmont. He's notable for using a battleaxe in addition to the standard ranger weapons. Halt remarks this is unusual, but Crowley says no one is gonna argue with a man with a battleaxe.
And coincidentally, we also learn only two things about Farrel: one, he's taller than the average ranger, and two, he's quite broad in the shoulders. This is also the full extent of the description we get of him.
Therefore, we can conclude that rangers who use weapons more associated with knights in addition to standard ranger weapons are so frightening to everyone else that anyone meeting them only has time to notice a maximum of two (2) physical features before their attention is drawn to their unusual weapons, thus we never get a full description of them