Game of Thrones showrunners wanted to cut one of the Stark kids

The Game of Thrones showrunners wanted to cut Rickon Stark. “I said I had important plans for him,” said George R.R. Martin, “so they kept him.” What could he mean?

Earlier today, Entertainment Weekly published an excerpt from James Hibberd’s upcoming book, Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon: Game of Thrones and the Untold Story of the Epic Series, an oral history of HBO’s fantasy smash, tracing it from the early days of its disastrous pilot all the way through its controversial final season.

There are plenty of juicy tidbits in there, from the stars’ early impression of the show (“I remember finding the whole thing ridiculous,” said Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) to stories from behind the scenes to why some major actors were recast. But one of the most interesting anecdotes came from A Song of Ice and Fire writer George R.R. Martin, who remembered showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss suggesting that one of the Stark children be cut.

“The biggest thing was Dan and David called me up and had the idea of eliminating Rickon, the youngest of the Stark children, because he didn’t do much in the first book,” Martin remembered. “I said I had important plans for him, so they kept him.”

Now isn’t that intriguing?

Rickon, who was played by Art Parkinson on the show, disappeared in season 3, going with the wildling Osha to be stay with House Umber while Bran went beyond the Wall and Robb fought his wars down south. He stayed on the sidelines for a couple of seasons before being brought back for season 6, now in the hands of the dastardly Ramsay Bolton.

Rickon didn’t have a single line after being brought back, although he did have one very memorable scene: trying to avoid Ramsay’s as he ran towards his half-brother/secret cousin Jon Snow, right before the Battle of the Bastards kicked off in earnest. As we all remember, he didn’t make it:

Serpentine, Rickon, serpentine!

Anyway, while Rickon did play a role in the sixth season of Game of Thrones, I don’t know if it matches up with Martin’s description of “important plans.” Could Rickon be meant for something bigger in the books?

Whether on the show or the page, Rickon has been offscreen for a while. In the books, he left with Osha at the end of A Clash of Kings. But so far as we can tell, she didn’t take him to the Last Hearth, but rather to the mysterious island of Skagos, land of cannibals and unicorns.

Well, maybe. We’ll probably find out more in The Winds of Winter, the forthcoming sixth book in the Song of Ice and Fire series. You see, in the fifth book, A Dance with Dragons, Davos Seaworth visited the Northern lord Wyman Manderly in White Harbor. A staunch Stark loyalist, Manderly had discovered that Rickon, who many thought had died at the hands of Theon Greyjoy back at Winterfell, was actually alive and on Skagos. Davos’ mission is now to find Rickon, who is now the eldest living male Stark anyone thinks is alive, and bring him back to the North proper, presumably so Manderly and other loyal lords can support him as Robb’s rightful heir to the Kingship of the North.

As we said, on the show, Rickon is captured by Ramsay and pretty much just serves as a plot device to bring Jon and Sansa into conflict with the Bastard of Bolton. After Rickon is killed and the Battle of the Bastards won, Jon is named the new King in the North:

As usual, things are more complicated on the page. There’s the matter of Robb’s will to deal with, for example. It’s hinted that Robb may have named Jon Snow as his successor, but it’s possible Rickon could have been named.

That said, I have a hard time believing that the rest of A Song of Ice and Fire will go that far afield of the show. The books and the TV series split at several important points, but the vague outline is the same. I’m betting Rickon will die and that Jon will become King in the North, one way or another.

Not that this is proof, but the name of Rickon’s direwolf, Shaggydog, even hints at his potential role in the story. In fiction, a “shaggy dog story” is one that’s long and rambling but ultimately pointless. I’m not saying that was intentional or that Rickon’s story is pointless just because it’s not foundational to the plot, but it’s food for thought.

Also, there’s the possibility that “important plans” means something different to Martin than it does to us. I have no doubt Rickon will have a role to play in the story, and probably a bigger one than he had in the show, but I’m not expecting him to be the hinge on which the tale turns.

Or Rickon ends up on the Iron Throne in the end. It’s anyone’s guess.

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