42

So, in the finale of Game of Thrones season 1, Pycelle is seen sleeping with Ros. After she leaves, he jumps up and is much more agile and full of vigour than his demeanour shows. He then goes back to acting like a feeble old man. After that, absolutely no mention is made of this. All the way up until recently, Pycelle has not shown any form of anything really.

What was the point? I know and we know that the show deviates from the books, but the creators still keep the main points, so things that happen should mean something right? So what was the point of this? Even with Margery, she was clearly plotting something.

Improve this question
  • 1
    Perhaps there was some vague plan, but the character clean-up in the finale of S6 has wiped out all of that. From now on it's a lean path to the ending in approximately a little more than a dozen episodes spread over two seasons. – BCdotWEB Jul 14 '16 at 10:57
  • 2
    @BCdotWEB i realise that. but in the process of cleaning up as you say, so many plot points were lost. even from before, Gendry and a couple others just left with some important to semi-important plot points that could've played out. this particular one was right in the beginning of the show, on the finale. surely something had to come of it? – Nicholas Aysen Jul 14 '16 at 11:00
  • 5
    I imagine they wanted to keep the option to portray Pycelle as more than he appears; see the cut scene youtube.com/watch?v=XxTZLk1DjyY – sbooth Jul 14 '16 at 11:38
  • 5
    Looks like someone committed the sin of hitting 'downvote' and 'close as opinion-based' because they didn't know what the answer was so assumed there wasn't one... Oh dear – user56reinstatemonica8 Jul 14 '16 at 12:48
  • 5
    @NicholasAysen Lots of characters in the show have their plans disrupted by untimely deaths or imprisonments. It doesn't seem like plot points being abandoned so much as the more realistic idea that not everyone's plans will work out. A non-traditional approach to television, but it works here, I think. Enough is shown that you can usually work out what a character or group was planning, but that doesn't mean that it will come to fruition – LogicianWithAHat Jul 14 '16 at 13:38
46

Congratulations! It looks like you spotted a subtle clue towards a plot twist originally planned to be revealed in season 2, that was later dropped.

Pycelle was originally imagined by the showrunners (possibly by author GRRM too, it's unconfirmed as far as I know) as a meek careerist toady, someone who maintains his comfortable high-status position by being useful and loyal to those with power and by avoiding letting himself be seen as a threat.

Part of that, as they saw it at least in early seasons, was that he deliberately acted more physically feeble than he really was, in a conscious attempt to appear harmless. They filmed a (later deleted) scene, which was to be aired in season two, where Tywin calls Pycelle out on his act.

As soon as he realises he's been found out, Pycelle stands up straight, drops the stammer from his voice, and admits (rather awkwardly...) that his mannerisms were a phony ploy. It's an extreme transformation - he looks like a different man, suddenly almost as healthy and sturdy as Barristan.

This scene never made the cut. I don't think they explicitly state why, but given that in Season 6...

...he doesn't particularly stand up straight and fight even when being murdered to death by children.

Maybe he lasts a little longer than you might expect for someone so seemingly frail, but he's quickly overwhelmed.

...it's likely they re-imagined or toned down this aspect of the character before releasing the final cut of Season 2. This presumed toning down came well after the scene you refer to in Season 1, so it's likely that when season 1 was filmed, they were still imagining him in this way.

Improve this answer
  • 2
    Did we watch the same scene in season 6? He's considerably more capable than he'd appear, though he does get overwhelmed almost immediately able. – Anthony Grist Jul 14 '16 at 13:03
  • 2
    Maybe he actually did deteriorate in the intervening time. It happens. – Lightness Races in Orbit Jul 14 '16 at 14:47
  • 4
    He may have just been shocked and that's why he didn't react much while he was being "murdered to death" – Captain Man Jul 14 '16 at 15:02
  • 17
    @CaptainMan being murdered to death is pretty shocking. It can even be fatal. – user56reinstatemonica8 Jul 14 '16 at 16:29
  • 1
    @user568458 Fatal? I don't know about that, sounds off [citation needed] – Shane Jul 14 '16 at 18:13

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .