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When Tyrion is pulled under water by a Stone Man in the attack scene in Game of Thrones (Season 5, episode 5), it appears that the Stone Man does not need to breathe -- Is it implied anywhere that this is the case?

This is when Jorah and Tyrion are attacked in a boat and Jorah gets exposed to the disease. Tyrion falls overboard and is pulled under water by a stone man who appears far below him, and does not seem to need to breathe.

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    what attack scene? What episode was that?
    – Luciano
    Oct 1, 2020 at 9:18
  • when jorah and tyrion are attacked in a boat and jorah gets exposed to the disease. tyrion falls overboard and his pulled under water by a stone man who appears far below him and does not seem to need to breathe.
    – releseabe
    Oct 1, 2020 at 12:57
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    you can edit the question to add information there, instead of adding in comments - it's better.
    – Luciano
    Oct 1, 2020 at 13:57
  • gameofthrones.fandom.com/wiki/Stone_Men these guys. Since it mentions here that the stone men are dead, covered with the greyscale disease and acting like animals, the stone men play a bit like a group of involuntary undead infected like zombies and no zombies do not need to breath and can travel distances while submerged without oxygen.
    – MCU And You Film Blog
    Oct 1, 2020 at 19:39
  • @MCUAndYouFilmBlog .... does it say they are dead? It says their skin is dead.
    – iandotkelly ♦
    Oct 1, 2020 at 19:51

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This scene does not imply that Stone Men do not breathe.

In the scene in question we see multiple Stone Men jump from the rocks above the boat--two into the water and two into the boat directly. Jorah and Tyrion (but mostly Jorah) fight the Stone Men off, knocking them repeatedly into the water after the Stone Men repeatedly jump or climb into the boat. When Tyrion finally falls into the water, he is grabbed from below by one of the Stone Men who had fallen into the water previously. He is grabbed about ten seconds after the most recent Stone Man is knocked into the water. I was able to hold my own breath for the entire 90 second duration of the scene without much trouble. By contrast, the Stone Man who grabs Tyrion could have been holding his breath for as little as ten seconds, depending on which of the Stone Men he was. That he grabbed from below and pulled Tyrion down suggests that Stone Men tend to sink and cannot swim well--the fact that the Stone Men Jorah kills do not float to the surface supports this--but the scene in no way implies that Stone Men do not need to breathe... In fact, Tyrion's survival suggests that the Stone Man who had him, let him go for some reason--most likely because he drowned.

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  • I could see them, while they still need to breathe, no longer having the instinct/reflex to do so or with less urgency than a normal person because their brains had been affected. So they might not even try to save themselves from drowning but drown nonetheless of course.
    – releseabe
    Oct 1, 2020 at 22:31
  • Yeah, maybe. It's been a while since I read the books, but I seem to recall that Stone Men were pretty miserable and more or less indifferent to whether they died.
    – ruffdove
    Oct 1, 2020 at 22:54
  • well, i don't think it is a rational decision -- a normal human, due to something in the oldest part of the brain, breathes and if this part were damaged, that impulse might still exist (as they do breathe) but it is not as intense. in the tv show, the stone man under water seemed only concerned with grabbing Tyrion, not saving himself. It could also be that they could not save themselves once under water, not able to swim or maybe less buoyant.
    – releseabe
    Oct 1, 2020 at 23:02
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    When your body and brain are wracked with disease, how much rationality are you expecting? As for “more concerned with grabbing Tyrion than saving himself” you should know that a drowning man grabbing whatever he can reach IS trying to save himself. There’s an old saying: a drowning man will grasp at a straw. When you drown, you panic and grab whatever you can reach.
    – ruffdove
    Oct 2, 2020 at 0:07

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