Curtain Call: Toby Sebastian

Toby Sebastian’s time on Game of Thrones was brief. As Prince Trystane Martell, he appeared in five episodes: “The House of Black and White” (where he didn’t have any dialogue), “Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken,” “The Dance of Dragons,” “Mother’s Mercy” (again, no dialogue), and last Sunday’s Season 6 premiere. It was a short and, frankly, unexciting stretch. Like most of the Dornish characters introduced in Season 5, Trystane was not well-received by fans, and he never got a chance to carve out a place for himself on the show before he died in “The Red Woman.”

If the character was a failure, it wasn’t actor Toby Sebastian’s fault. Sebastian had done a little bit of movie and television acting before being cast on the show, but Game of Thrones represents his most visible work to date. He looked the part. With his good looks and confidence, we could believe that he was related to Oberyn Martell, even if he had a ways to go before he equaled his uncle for swagger. Also, after encountering noble sons who were cruel (Joffrey), psychopathic (Ramsay), and emotionally stunted (Robin Arryn), it was nice to meet one who was more or less a nice guy, if maybe a bit conceited. Trystane is probably the closest Game of Thrones ever came to depicting a decent, honest, Disney-style prince.

The problem was that the show didn’t really do anything with this idea. Trystane’s talk with Mrycella Baratheon in the Water Gardens in “Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken” was interesting because it was so different than what we usually heard on this show. These kids weren’t talking about plots or schemes or depravity—they were just two teenagers flirting.

But soon enough, the normal Game of Thrones pattern reasserted itself. Save for a quick scene in “The Dance of Dragons,” not much time passed before Trystane found himself embroiled in one of those Game of Thrones-style interfamily power grabs. He was stabbed through the back of the head by his cousin on his way back to Dorne, the victim of a scheme to save the country from what his relatives saw as his father’s weak leadership. (Or maybe a scheme by the writers to leave Dorne behind them—it’s hard to be sure.)

It’s unclear whether Trystane’s abrupt death was always part of the plan, or if the producers wrote him out of the show after the Dornish storyline in Season 5 was poorly received. Showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss have said that they changed nothing in response to fan criticism, but it seems odd that the show set Trystane up to join the King’s Landing Small Council in Season 5, and killed him less than an hour into Season 6.

Whatever the reasons behind his death, Trystane died before we really got a chance to know him. Considering how little respect Obara and Nymeria Sand seem to have for members of the Martell family, it’s too much to hope that they’ll take his body back to Dorne for a proper burial. They likely dumped him overboard. Rest in peace, Trystane. Say hi to the fishes.