Who will survive the Final Cut?

With almost a week of filming in the can, there seem to be a lot of roles yet to be cast. Which isn’t to say they haven’t been cast; more than a few simply have yet to be announced. We know we’ll be seeing Rickon, Myrcella, Tommen, Jeyne Poole, Shagga, Jhogo, Qotho, Gendry, and even Tobho Mott, even though their actors have yet to be named. And if GRRM’s casual mention holds any credence, even the Late Lord Frey looks to be making his debut in season one. This still leaves more than a few names on the will they / won’t they docket, however.

Unless the story as we know it is going to see a radical change, they still have some pretty vital casting to do. Who stays, who goes? None of us can be sure who is going to survive: The Final Cut!

SPOILER NOTE: as per the usual, this post and its attached comments will be riddled with spoilers of various magnitudes. Newcomers, you have been warned!

Fire And Blood: Delving back into my list of potential season one speaking roles, I give you my top ten list of the ones that remain. They’re ranked in order of importance (as I see it), so feel free to debate the merits of their rankings as well as the impact their absence would have on the story. They are:

1.Mirri Maz Duur: Dani needs her foil. Who the hell else is she going to burn alive? The lessons the maegi imparted on young Daenerys’s mind are a large part of who she is today. I cannot–cannot–see them going Duur-less.

2.Bran’s Assassin: If we have no assassin, we have no wake-up call for Catelyn, we have no knife, we have no reason for Tyrion to be arrested (unless Bran wakes up and somehow thinks he saw the dwarf shove him out the window). Assassin is necessary.

3.Wineseller Assassin: While not as necessary as Bran’s assassin, the guy who fails to off Dany is still a salient plot point. Without him, Drogo never changes his mind about invading Westeros.

4.The Greatjon: I rank Greatjon Umber over Roose Bolton (below) only because of the strength of his presence in book one. Bolton, while important in his own right, grows in influence slowly, whereas the Greatjon is in our faces from the get-go. “Your meat … is bloody tough!”

5.Roose Bolton: It has been suggested that Bolton could be shoveled off to future seasons, and I find no real reason to insist he make his debut in season one … aside from being a polar opposite to the Greatjon’s bluster, which, in most peoples’ opinions, would only serve to strengthen Robb’s scenes. It’s the Kevan Lannister argument: Robb not having someone to bounce ideas off weakens him.

6.Kevan Lannister: See above. Is Tywin going to be surrounded by a bunch of yes-men? (Well, of course he is. He’s Tywin Lannister.) Still, you need a source of dialogue, and Tywin’s no Chatty Cathy. If the production chooses to spend its money wisely and wait for future seasons to hire a quality Kevan, I’ve no qualms, but someone needs to do the talking. Other than Tyrion, I mean.

7.Masha Heddle: Here’s where we start to stray into the realm of “Well we know there will probably be an innkeeper…” So really, why not Heddle? The sourleaf is too great a visual, and Tyrion’s quip to her corpse is too wry to miss. Heddle!

8.Mya Stone: If they’re really focusing on the Hunt for Robert’s Bastards route (and they hired a Mhaegen after all), they would be remiss in leaving out his eldest. Can she make an appearance in later seasons? Sure. But now is better. Just a peek.

9.Beric Dondarrion: I’m firmly in support of the notion that has us casting some dude in Beric’s armor (or armour if you’re British and spell words correctly) for season one and then an actual Beric (with a face and everything) later down the road. Because by then Kevin McKidd might be available. What?

10. Podrick Payne: Because who else will we blame?

Arguments can be made for a slew of other characters. Everyone adds something. Stiv, the Karstarks, and Fat Tom almost made my top ten, as well as a half-dozen more. As for those names already shunted to season two… hey, I’m only slightly sad we won’t see the Blackfish, Edmure, or Hoster Tully in season one. Because all things considered, my primary hope is that the show is successful. Hell, I’ll take successful over good. At least success would get us more seasons. Worst case scenario, they could then hopefully learn how to make it good.

Firefly was good. See where good got it?

So I want success, and if that means hacking a few dozen names off the call list so that a first-time viewer can actually keep track of everyone, I’ll take it.

Cancellation is the unkindest cut of all.

• Published on 08/05/2010 at 2:53 AM CDT
• Last updated on 10/20/2016 at 5:14 PM CDT