History Characters / GameOfThronesTheOrderOfTheMaesters

** Becoming a maester is more or less a dumping ground for rejects and the Aristocracy looks down on the Citadel and the Maesters, with Randyll Tarly preferring to send Sam Tarly to the Night's Watch rather than the Citadel which suited him better, since he liked the idea of Sam killing and/or dying fighting savages more than sullying the Tarly family name by reading books.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: His pep-talk to a terrified Olly inspires him to take up a bow and help fight...then he kills Jon's LoveInterest. Ouch.

* AdaptationalVillainy: Although book Pycelle is hardly a saint, he serves as an OnlySaneMan in the Small Council with UndyingLoyalty towards the Lannisters. Here, he is shown in a more negative light, as a cruel, self-serving and manipulative CorruptPolitician.

* BewareTheNiceOnes: He's roundly a NiceGuy, when he talks to Jon about the murder of Elia Martell's children (his great-great-niblings), it's clear if he had been a younger man at the time with his eyesight remaining nobody would have stopped him from seeking revenge.

* BewareTheNiceOnes: He's roundly a NiceGuy, when he talks to Jon about the murder of Elia Martell's children, it's clear if he had been a younger man at the time with his eyesight remaining nobody would have stopped him from seeking revenge.

* AdaptationalVillainy: Although book!Pycelle is hardly a saint, he serves as an OnlySaneMan in the Small Council with UndyingLoyalty towards the Lannisters. Here, he is shown in a more negative light, as a cruel, self-serving and manipulative CorruptPolitician.

* ObfuscatingStupidity: Pretends to be an AbsentMindedProfessor in order to fly under the radar. It obviously has served him well, as he's managed to survive in the DeadlyDecadentCourt of King's Landing for sixty-seven years. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMXJlUIQP94 A deleted scene from Season 3 makes this extremely explicit]]. His physical, intellectual and oratory abilities would make him more than a match for the mighty Tywin Lannister if he so chose to be.
** This was something Julian Glover contributed to the role. He's remarkably spry for his age and suggested that this be included. The producers agreed and so included the scene in "Fire and Blood" where he exercises.

* TheFunnyGuy: He gets a lot of humorous moments.

[[Characters/GameOfThronesWesteros The Seven Kingdoms of Westeros]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseStark House Stark]] ([[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseStarkChildren House Stark Children]] [[[Characters/GameOfThronesJonSnow Jon Snow]], [[Characters/GameOfThronesSansaStark Sansa Stark]], [[Characters/GameOfThronesAryaStark Arya Stark]]], [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseStarkHousehold House Stark Household]]) | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseBolton House Bolton]] ([[Characters/GameOfThronesRamsayBolton Ramsay Bolton]]) | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseKarstark House Karstark]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseMormont House Mormont]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseReed House Reed]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesOtherNorthernHouses Other Northern Houses]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseLannister House Lannister]] ([[Characters/GameOfThronesTywinLannister Tywin Lannister]], [[Characters/GameOfThronesCerseiLannister Cersei Lannister]], [[Characters/GameOfThronesJaimeLannister Jaime Lannister]], [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseLannisterHousehold House Lannister Household]]) | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseClegane House Clegane]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseBaratheonOfKingsLanding House Baratheon of King’s Landing]] ([[Characters/GameOfThronesJoffreyBaratheon Joffrey Baratheon]]) | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseTargaryen House Targaryen]] ([[Characters/GameOfThronesDaenerysCourt Daenerys I’s Court]] [[[Characters/GameOfThronesDaenerysTargaryen Daenerys Targaryen]], [[Characters/GameOfThronesTyrionLannister Tyrion Lannister]]], [[Characters/GameOfThronesServantsOfDaenerys Servants of Daenerys]]) | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseBaratheon House Baratheon of Storm’s End and Dragonstone]] ([[Characters/GameOfThronesStannisBaratheon Stannis Baratheon]]) | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseGreyjoy House Greyjoy]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseArryn House Arryn]] ([[Characters/GameOfThronesPetyrBaelish Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish]]) | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseTully House Tully]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseFrey House Frey]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseTyrell House Tyrell]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseTarly House Tarly]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseMartell House Martell]] ([[Characters/GameOfThronesSandSnakes Sand Snakes]]) | [[Characters/GameOfThronesTheFreeCities The Free Cities]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesSlaversBay Slaver's Bay]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesTheDothrakiSeaAndTheRedWaste The Dothraki Sea and the Red Waste]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesQarth Qarth]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesNightsWatch The Night's Watch]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesRoyalCourt Royal Court]] | '''The Order of the Maesters''' | [[Characters/GameOfThronesTheKingsguard The Kingsguard]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesWildlings Wildlings]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesBrotherhoodWithoutBanners Brotherhood Without Banners]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesTheFaithOfTheSeven The Faith of the Seven]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesRedTemple Red Temple]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesIndependentCharacters Independent Characters]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesTheatreTroupe Theatre Troupe]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesSupernaturalBeings Supernatural Beings]]]]]]-]

[[Characters/GameOfThronesWesteros The Seven Kingdoms of Westeros]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseStark House Stark]] ([[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseStarkChildren House Stark Children]] [[[Characters/GameOfThronesJonSnow Jon Snow]], [[Characters/GameOfThronesSansaStark Sansa Stark]], [[Characters/GameOfThronesAryaStark Arya Stark]]], [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseStarkHousehold House Stark Household]]) | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseBolton House Bolton]] ([[Characters/GameOfThronesRamsayBolton Ramsay Bolton]]) | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseKarstark House Karstark]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseMormont House Mormont]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseReed House Reed]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesOtherNorthernHouses Other Northern Houses]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseLannister House Lannister]] ([[Characters/GameOfThronesTywinLannister Tywin Lannister]], [[Characters/GameOfThronesCerseiLannister Cersei Lannister]], [[Characters/GameOfThronesJaimeLannister Jaime Lannister]], [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseLannisterHousehold House Lannister Household]]) | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseClegane House Clegane]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseBaratheonOfKingsLanding House Baratheon of King’s Landing]] ([[Characters/GameOfThronesJoffreyBaratheon Joffrey Baratheon]]) | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseTargaryen House Targaryen]] ([[Characters/GameOfThronesDaenerysCourt Daenerys I’s Court]] [[[Characters/GameOfThronesDaenerysTargaryen Daenerys Targaryen]], [[Characters/GameOfThronesTyrionLannister Tyrion Lannister]]], [[Characters/GameOfThronesServantsOfDaenerys Servants of Daenerys]]) | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseBaratheon House Baratheon of Storm’s End and Dragonstone]] ([[Characters/GameOfThronesStannisBaratheon Stannis Baratheon]]) | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseGreyjoy House Greyjoy]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseArryn House Arryn]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseTully House Tully]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseFrey House Frey]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseTyrell House Tyrell]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseTarly House Tarly]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseMartell House Martell]] ([[Characters/GameOfThronesSandSnakes Sand Snakes]]) | [[Characters/GameOfThronesTheFreeCities The Free Cities]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesSlaversBay Slaver's Bay]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesTheDothrakiSeaAndTheRedWaste The Dothraki Sea and the Red Waste]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesQarth Qarth]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesNightsWatch The Night's Watch]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesRoyalCourt Royal Court]] | '''The Order of the Maesters''' | [[Characters/GameOfThronesTheKingsguard The Kingsguard]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesWildlings Wildlings]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesBrotherhoodWithoutBanners Brotherhood Without Banners]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesTheFaithOfTheSeven The Faith of the Seven]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesRedTemple Red Temple]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesIndependentCharacters Independent Characters]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesTheatreTroupe Theatre Troupe]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesSupernaturalBeings Supernatural Beings]]]]]]-]

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/samwell_tarly.png]]

* AdaptationalVillainy: The character in the books is hardly a saint, but Pycelle in the series is shown to be cruel, manipulative and a backstabber, whereas in the books he showed UndyingLoyalty towards House Lannister.

* MagicVersusScience: They see themselves as representing science against superstition and magic. Which would be admirable if they weren't hostile to actual science (such as medical procedures that might treat deadly diseases) or if their world with its BizarreSeasons, Magic Wall and large dragons wasn't inherently magical.

-->'''Pycelle''': If she were so foolish as to march on Westeros, she would not not find, as her ancestor Aegon did, seven disparate kingdoms frightened by her strange beasts. She would find a continent united by Lord Tywin Lannister, who exintinguished her own father's flame. And we have known dragons now. ''We have seen them die''.

* BoringButPractical: They'll never write a song about Pycelle, but his method for staying alive ''works''. Kings come and go, and he has weaselled his way through it for decades, keeping a privileged life in the process.

* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: A few extremely brief scenes suggest the ‘frail old man’ personna is an act. In a cut scene between him and Tywin, he drops the act intirely, revealing a tall robust man with a confident, deep voice. He actually looks like he could hold his own in a fight.

** He appears genuinely shocked when he sees how Gregor Clegane tries to murder Loras Tyrell and then his own brother over pure pettines.
** He was also aghast when Joffrey orders Ser Ilyn to behead Ned Stark, right on the steps of the holy Sept of Baelor..

** A deleted scene with Tywin reveals him to be much like Varys and Littlefinger, lying and scheming to survive the DeadlyDecadentCourt he's in by any means necessary. However, while Varys and Littlefinger have higher ambitions they aim for, Pycelle is a coward who flies under the radar because he has no ambition but to live a bit longer and enjoy the perks his office affords him. Though this particular scene also would have been a particulat deviation from the books. Pycelle felt nothing but admiration and respect for Tywin, and while it's unclear inhowfar these feelings were mutual, it would have been out of character for Tywin to behave towards a useful tool like Pycelle for no good reason, like he did in said scene.
** Also, there is a certain amount of comparison and contrast to be made between him and Qyburn; both are Maesters that have ended up in the service of the Crown, both end up taking orders from Cersei, and both are well-known for behaviour inappropriate to their order, and both provide medical attention. However, Pycelle not only proves himself less ambitious and ''much'' less inquisitive than Qyburn, but also nowhere near as dedicated to healing. As amoral as Qyburn is, he genuinely wants to save lives - in sharp contrast to Pycelle, who not only withheld treatment for Jon Arryn but also loaned out his supply of poison for a murder-suicide. This is perhaps best exemplified by their scene together in "The Children": Pycelle is prodding Gregor Clegane's unconscious body with a stick, claiming that nothing can be done to save him; Qyburn is examining the wounds at close range and actually providing a treatment. However, your mileage may vary. On the other hand, Manticore venom is ''universally'' held to be incurable, and Pycelle oddly keeps a sense of medical ethics while Qyburn is a Mad Scientist. Yes Qyburn wants to heal people, but he treats it as a problem to be solved. Pycelle argues that the humane thing would be to stop prolonging Gregor's suffering - while Qyburn wants to perform horrific medical experimentation on him.
* TheFriendNobodyLikes: Pycelle might not have many enemies (due to his status as YesMan and his lack of ambition) but he doesn't have much in the way of friends either. He claims loyalty to the Lannisters, but none of them like him. Tyrion is a strong enemy, Jaime refers to him as a 'grey sunken cunt', Cersei is repulsed by him and Tywin sees him solely as a tool.

* HumiliationConga: Tyrion, Bronn and Timett, son of Timett, come to arrest him while he is with a whore, cut off his beard and threaten to [[CallBack cut off his manhood and feed it to the goats]]. [[labelnote:From the books...]]In the books it was Tyrion and Shagga, son of Dolf, and Shagga ''did'' cut off his manhood... Which, in a brilliant little piece of UnEntendre, it turns out meant the beard.[[/labelnote]] In Season 4, Pycelle goes a more subtle but well-deserved conga. He's increasingly delegated to menial tasks as Cersei's patience with him wears thin, and Pycelle finds himself essentially replaced by Qyburn. He no longer commands the respect he once had or his coveted position with the Lannisters.

-> ''This is most irregular''

* TragicDropout: He abandons the Citadel, disilussioned with the passivity of the Archmaesters upon the upcoming war against the White Walkers. [[labelnote:From the books!]] An unofficial epithet for an individual who didn't complete his chain at the Citadel is "Halfmaester"; a man who goes by the name Haldon the Halfmaester is a member of the Golden Company, having left the Citadel early too; curiously, another person who would fall in the same category is Prince Oberyn Martell, who on his youth completed several links on his chain before he became bored and left[[/labelnote]].

* TheUnfavorite: He's at the Wall because his father threatened to ''murder'' him if he didn't "voluntarily" remove himself from the line of inheritance. Ouch. [[labelnote:From the books...]]This was ''after'' a long series of failed attempts to make him a man, including taking him to whorehouses, making him sleep in chainmail, forcing him to walk around in a dress to shame him into manliness, and bathing him in blood. Eventually, Lord Randyll's wife gave him another son, allowing why he could dispense with his girly-man firstborn. Incidentally, Randyll Tarly has achieved MemeticBadass status amongst the book fandom... but do you know, I don't think they meant it entirely as a compliment.[[/labelnote]]

* BrokenPedestal: To Samwell Tarly, since he had always wanted to be a Maester (something that got him disowned by his father) and when he finally visits the Citadel, he is overcome with joy and wonder at first. However, he grows disillusioned with the order because of their [[CassandraTruth skepticism towards his warnings]] and he is [[DudeWheresMyRespect repeatedly tasked with doing menial tasks despite his own achievements]]. [[spoiler:The final straw came when they dismissed a message from Brandon Stark from Winterfell telling them about the Night's King army marching on the North, making Sam leave the order]].

* VastBureaucracy: Keeps the records of many orders, nobles, doctors and more. They even have [[spoiler: Rhaegar's annulment]] and enough records of the Long Night to find a pattern lying in their library somewhere.

* ChekhovsGun: Ebrose charges him with transcribing some documents as part of his day-to-day work. They had no idea that these documents contained recorded evidence that [[spoiler:Prince Rhaegar Targaryen annulled his marriage with Elia Martell and performed a wedded someone else in Dorne, which would later be revealed to be Lyanna Stark. As a result, the child of this union Aegon Targaryen (who is none other than Sam's best friend Jon Snow) is the true heir of the Iron Throne]].

* HeadInTheSandManagement: His go to move when he hears a problem is ignore it and hope it solves itself, even his dog petting moment is still him [[spoiler: not having the heart to tell Sam his father and brother are dead]] while of noble sentiment still means he'll rather not report the news he judges bad even if they are true.

** Allows Jorah one last day to [[BetterToDieThanBeKilled commit suicide before the greyscale takes his mind]], and later congratulates Sam for [[spoiler: curing Jorah]].
** Despite dismissing Sam's warnings about the White Walkers as nonsense, its shown that he cares about him a great deal [[spoiler:since he can't bring himself to tell him about his father and brother's deaths and tells the other Maesters that he is a good boy]].

* BewareTheNiceOnes: [[spoiler:Midway through season 7, he gets so sick of the maesters refusing to take the threat of the Army of the Dead seriously that he steals as many tomes and scrolls from the forbidden archives as he can and flees northward with what he's stolen, hoping that he can make it to Winterfell and recruit people to help him study the texts for possible anti-undead measures there.]]

* DepletedPhlebotinumShells: Owns a dragonglass dagger which he uses to slay a White Walker. [[spoiler:And later steals the Tarly family heirloom longsword, Heartsbane, made of Valyrian Steel.]]

* LastOfHisKind: [[spoiler:With the deaths of his father and brother in "Eastwatch", he's the sole remaining male Tarly.]]

** [[spoiler:In Season 7, he cements this in an understated moment of badass when, after all his attempts to get the Order of the Maesters to try and find a way to fight the Night King fail, he ''steals piles of books and scrolls and makes for Winterfell.'' This is pretty much guaranteed to have him thrown out of the order, when his dream is being a Maester. When he takes one last look at the tower library, you can ''see'' the heartbreak in his expression. Then he turns his back on everything he's ever wanted, saddles up, and rides off to the biggest war in history, because damnit, ''Jon needs him.'']]

* GadgeteerGenius: He designs a wheelchair [[spoiler:for Bran after he returns to Winterfell]].

Former novice who was expelled from the Citadel before he completed his chain, later became a client of House Lannister, and currently Hand to Queen Cersei Lannister.

See [[Characters/GameOfThronesRoyalCourt Royal Court]]

[[WMG:[[center: [- ''Series/GameOfThrones'' [[Characters/GameOfThrones Main Character Index]]\\
[[Characters/GameOfThronesWesteros The Seven Kingdoms of Westeros]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseStark House Stark]] ([[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseStarkChildren House Stark Children]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseStarkHousehold House Stark Household]]) | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseBolton House Bolton]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseKarstark House Karstark]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseMormont House Mormont]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseReed House Reed]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesOtherNorthernHouses Other Northern Houses]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseLannister House Lannister]] ([[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseLannisterHousehold House Lannister Household]]) | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseClegane House Clegane]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseBaratheonOfKingsLanding House Baratheon of King’s Landing]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseTargaryen House Targaryen]] ([[Characters/GameOfThronesDaenerysCourt Daenerys I’s Court]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesServantsOfDaenerys Servants of Daenerys]]) | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseBaratheon House Baratheon of Storm’s End and Dragonstone]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseGreyjoy House Greyjoy]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseArryn House Arryn]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseTully House Tully]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseFrey House Frey]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseTyrell House Tyrell]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseTarly House Tarly]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseMartell House Martell]] ([[Characters/GameOfThronesSandSnakes Sand Snakes]]) | [[Characters/GameOfThronesTheFreeCities The Free Cities]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesSlaversBay Slaver's Bay]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesTheDothrakiSeaAndTheRedWaste The Dothraki Sea and the Red Waste]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesQarth Qarth]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesNightsWatch The Night's Watch]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesRoyalCourt Royal Court]] | '''The Order of the Maesters''' | [[Characters/GameOfThronesTheKingsguard The Kingsguard]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesWildlings Wildlings]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesBrotherhoodWithoutBanners Brotherhood Without Banners]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesTheFaithOfTheSeven The Faith of the Seven]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesRedTemple Red Temple]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesIndependentCharacters Independent Characters]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesTheatreTroupe Theatre Troupe]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesSupernaturalBeings Supernatural Beings]]]]]]-]

[[center: [-[[Characters/GameOfThrones Main Character Index]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesWesteros The Seven Kingdoms of Westeros]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseStark House Stark]] ([[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseStarkChildren House Stark Children]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseStarkHousehold House Stark Household]]) | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseBolton House Bolton]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseKarstark House Karstark]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseMormont House Mormont]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseReed House Reed]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesOtherNorthernHouses Other Northern Houses]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseLannister House Lannister]] ([[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseLannisterHousehold House Lannister Household]]) | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseClegane House Clegane]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseBaratheonOfKingsLanding House Baratheon of King’s Landing]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseTargaryen House Targaryen]] ([[Characters/GameOfThronesDaenerysCourt Daenerys I’s Court]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesServantsOfDaenerys Servants of Daenerys]]) | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseBaratheon House Baratheon of Storm’s End and Dragonstone]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseGreyjoy House Greyjoy]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseArryn House Arryn]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseTully House Tully]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseFrey House Frey]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseTyrell House Tyrell]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseTarly House Tarly]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseMartell House Martell]] ([[Characters/GameOfThronesSandSnakes Sand Snakes]]) | [[Characters/GameOfThronesTheFreeCities The Free Cities]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesSlaversBay Slaver's Bay]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesTheDothrakiSeaAndTheRedWaste The Dothraki Sea and the Red Waste]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesQarth Qarth]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesNightsWatch The Night's Watch]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesRoyalCourt Royal Court]] | '''The Order of the Maesters''' | [[Characters/GameOfThronesTheKingsguard The Kingsguard]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesWildlings Wildlings]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesBrotherhoodWithoutBanners Brotherhood Without Banners]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesTheFaithOfTheSeven The Faith of the Seven]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesRedTemple Red Temple]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesIndependentCharacters Independent Characters]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesTheatreTroupe Theatre Troupe]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesSupernaturalBeings Supernatural Beings]] ]]-]

* HeadInTheSandManagement: His go to move when he hears a problem is ignore it and hope it solves itself, even his dog petting moment is still him [[spoiler: not having the heart to tell Sam his parents are dead]] while of noble sentiment still means he'll rather not report the news he judges bad even if they are true.