History Characters / GameOfThronesTheOrderOfTheMaesters

* AdaptationalAttractiveness: While Pycelle in the show is hardly a SilverFox type, he's still far better looking and in better shape than his more decrepit book counterpart.

* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: A few extremely brief scenes suggest the ‘frail old man’ persona is an act. In a cut scene between him and Tywin, he drops the act entirely, revealing a tall robust man with a confident, deep voice. He actually looks like he could hold his own in a fight. [[spoiler: In "Winds of Winter, he's able to deliver a solid backhand to one of Qyburn's little birds, though it doesnt save him from the rest of them.]]

* {{Foil}}: Sam is one for Qyburn, both are rebellious students at the Citadel who chafe at the Institution's frankly stupid and [[CreativeSterility stagnant]] protocols and practices but Sam is devoted to knowledge to help the world and defend it, while Qyburn is a MadScientist willing to engage in unethical experiments and amoral enough to serve a corrupt government and lend his skills to enact its atrocities.

* {{Foil}}: To the extremely corrupt Maester Pycelle, Aemon represents the true dedication and commitment to his vows, offers genuine and useful advice and is beloved and respected by his charges.

* AdultFear: Nearly all his family members were killed during Robert's Rebellion. The only survivors were his brother's grandchildren, Viserys and Daenerys, who were sent into exile across the Narrow Sea as young children. Viserys was later murdered by a Dothraki khal and Daenerys was left alone halfway around the world. And all the while, Aemon was completely powerless to do ''anything'' about it.

[[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/GameOfThronesTheonGreyjoy Theon Greyjoy]]) | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseArryn House Arryn]] ([[Characters/GameOfThronesPetyrBaelish Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish]]) | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseTully House Tully]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseFrey House Frey]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseTyrell House Tyrell]] ([[Characters/GameOfThronesMargaeryTyrell Margaery 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]]]]]]-]

* BaldOfAwesome: Very bald, and very awesome.

* AdaptationalBadass: In the books, him killing a White Walker was purely an accident where as here he went actively attacked it, despite being thrown aside like a sack of potatoes. Further shows his badassery in ''Watchers on the Wall'' where as his book incarnation is still largely a coward who freezes up at imminent danger. In the TV series, Sam intently went back at the White Walker, dragonglass dagger in hand, and shanked the abomination in the back.
* AdaptationalJerkass: In the books, he's a complete Shrinking Violet who insists that "It was the dragonglass that slew it, not me." In the show he likes to brag up his accomplishments: "How many brothers can say they've killed a White Walker and a Thenn? I might be the first in history!"

[[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/GameOfThronesTheonGreyjoy Theon 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]]]]]]-]

* NotSoDifferent: He sympathizes with Jon's love for his family and tells Jon that he knows what it's like to have ConflictingLoyalty to the Night's Watch and the desire to save his family. Maester Aemon's family, the Targaryens, were entirely slaughtered, ''even the children'', while he was powerless to stop them, being too old and blind by then to desert his post and fight at their side.

* FamousLastWords: "Egg? I dreamed... that I was old."

* RealityEnsues:
** Sam killed a White Walker and a Thenn; impressive accomplishments, but ultimately the product of luck. His actual fighting ability is demonstrated in ''The Gift'', where he gets the living shit beaten out of him by a couple of sworn brothers attempting to rape Gilly. He still retains his badass status, though, because even beaten to a pulp, he ''gets back up''.
** Also, when faced with his abusive father he quickly reverts back to a crying mess. Subverted in that he is ultimately able to defy his father by escaping with Gilly and stealing his precious sword.
* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: He later reasserts this stance to Maester Aemon, [[KirkSummation correcting him]] in case he's having similar sentiments to Lord Mormont's ones about it not being their place to help others.
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: After Lord Commander Mormont is attacked by Rast, and all hell breaks loose, he runs to take Gilly away, forgetting about Edd and Grenn. In all fairness, they did the same thing to him when that horn sounded a third time...

* AdultFear: Nearly all his family members were killed during Robert's Rebellion. The only survivors were his brother's grandchildren, Viserys and Daenerys, who were sent into exile across the Narrow Sea. Viserys was later murdered by a Dothraki khal and Daenerys was left alone halfway around the world. And all the while, Aemon was completely powerless to do ''anything'' about it.

* BadassBoast: In the ''Histories and Lore'' video for Season 4, he's talking about dragons when the subject of Daenerys and her dragons come up. Pycelle's conclusion goes thus:

* GoOutWithASmile: He grows delirious in his final hours and relives the days of his youth, his final words being a statement that he now thinks his real life at the Wall was a dream.

* He's not far off the mark when he argues that assasinating Danaerys may in the long run save thousands of innocents in the long run from a potential Dothraki invasion [[spoiler: as Seasons 7 and 8 proved categorically.]]

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

* DirtyCoward: All Pycelle wants is to survive, and he will do anything he has to in order to do it, which amounts to kissing up to whoever is in power and ducking his head when they turn his way. In a deleted scene, he explains to Tywin that most people are like flowers, seeking to grow ever higher. But, when a flower grows too tall, it risks getting clipped; Pycelle wants to remain low and in the shadows so no one ever tries to "clip" him.

%%* DrJerk: Ebrose doesn't give a damn about helping patients and more or less sees his job as a gig to get him through the day.

* 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 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.

** 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 particular deviation from the books. Pycelle felt nothing but admiration and respect for Tywin, and while it's unclear insofar 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.

* 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.

* ProfessionalButtKisser: He might look like [[Literature/HarryPotter Dumbledore]], but he's pretty much just a Lannister yes-man. He was also a YesMan to Robert and Aerys before him. It's how he's managed to survive [[DeadlyDecadentCourt King's Landing]] for so long. This is shown in the "Histories and Lore: Dragons" where according to him, as long as King's Landing has Tywin, Daenerys and her dragons are no threat.

** In a similar manner as Robert Baratheon, he thinks that Daenerys should be killed for the good of the people of Westeros, as [[spoiler:Daenerys burns down King's Landing in Season 8.]]

* TheObiWannabe: Ebrose often composes and eloquently voices long monologues and bon mots and seems to believe he is imparting philosophy and life's wisdom on Samwell Tarly, except Sam and the viewer knows that he is completely and utterly wrong on every single thing he says.

* NoWomansLand: Informs Samwell that women and children are not allowed at the premises of the Citadel.

* AdaptationalAttractiveness: While Pycelle in the show is hardly a HotGrandpa type, he's still far better looking and in better shape than his more decrepit book counterpart.

* JerkassHasAPoint: While it's mostly jealousy he is right that Qyburn's experiments are an abomination. While Qyburn is better at medicine than him he is more attracted by dealing pain.

* JerkassHasAPoint: Wile it's mostly jealousy he is right that Qyburn's experiments are an abomination. While Qyburn is better at medicine than him he is more attracted by dealing pain.

* NoKillLikeOverkill: Is stabbed to death multiple times by a gang of murderous child assassins during the Season 6 Finale.
* OhCrap: Has this reaction when Qyburn's little birds surround him.
** Pycelle also has this reaction when he realises [[RightBehindMe Gregor Clegane is standing behind him]], having heard every word of a rant Pycelle's been giving about how thanks to Qyburn, the knight is now an abomination that should be destroyed at first opportunity, and is now giving Pycelle a look that indicates how much Gregor wants to smash his skull.

* TallPoppySyndrome: [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]] in a conversation with Tywin, even using the metaphor itself to describe his self-serving survivalist mentality.

* HateSink: Unlike Littlefinger or Varys, Pycelle is nothing more than a two-faced sycophant who backstabs and boot-licks just to save his own skin, traits that earn him the disgust and disdain of many viewers.

* HateSink: Unlike Littlefinger or Varys, Pycelle is nothing more than a sycophantic toad who backstabs and bootlicks just to save his own skin, traits that earn him the disgust and disdain of many viewers.

* UndignifiedDeath: Getting stabbed to death by a group of children isn't the most flattering way to go out; a fitting end for a cowardly weasel like Pycelle.

* {{Adorkable}}: Particularly towards Gilly.

* JerkassHasAPoint: [[spoiler:His belief that the return of the White Walkers isn’t too much to worry about winds up being proven right when the Army of the Dead is stopped at Winterfell]].

* HateSink: Unlike Littlefinger or Varys, Pycelle is nothing more than a sycophantic toad who backstabs and bootlicks just to save his own skin.