(Book Spoilers) Could Gendry replace a certain character?

[Dirk blitzen]

If Gendry truly has no major purpose in the novels, then he could easily replace Lancel on the show. Look at the three major points in Gendry's story:

1) He is hunted down by the royalty in kings landing.

2a) He is betrayed by a guy who was resurrected with magic.

2b) That guy runs a group of vigilantes who claim to be good, but apparently sell people out for money.

3) He is almost sacrificed by Melisandre for magical purposes that would supposedly ensure Stannis defeating the royalty in kings landing.

So... he can't trust highborns (at least the ones in command of westeros), he is betrayed for money by the common people led by a guy who lives off magic, and is almost sacrificed in order to overthrow the current regime in kings landing.

So who can he turn to? How can he survive... especially considering he is headed back to kings landing.

I think the only protection he could get (from harm and hunger) would be from the Faith of the Seven. They are the only ones who hate the king and magic. Hell, Gendry could even join the faith miltant and/or be their blacksmith if needed.

I'm not sure if Gendry's personality would fit that of a religious fanatic, but I think logically joining the Faith would be the only way to survive. And then day by day he could become more involved with their goals and whatnot.

Thoughts?

[Black Dragons]

I heard that Gendry and Jon Snow might replace Aegon VI storyline I think they going cut him out because there is NO Arianne Martell or Quentyn can you believe this crap.

[Arkash]

Yeah, I see him joining the Faith Militant... maybe as a page to the High Sparrow.

[Hippocras]

I think Gendry's most likely places to appear are:

1. Continuing Edric Storm's role, if we get Aegon, who I suspect uses Edric Storm somehow to capture Storm's End. He might be hanging with team Aegon in Pentos.

(No news on Aegon means nothing BTW - he is a top secret character, probably to be played by a well known actor if at all, so there will never be any announcement related to him until the moment we meet him in the show...if we do. He is supposed to be a surprise.)

2. He will go back to the Riverlands to find his friend Hot Pie. He knows Hot Pie is not the Brotherhood, and will want a familiar face. From there he will join Brienne's arc.

[Steelborn]

We already have Lancel as an established character. And Cersei needs to have a reason to kill the High Septon which will be Lancel telling him she fucked him, so it wouldn't make sense for Gendry to fullfill this role.

Although, I don't wanna be sure of anything at this point.

[Wolf Girl Arya]

I've also seen it speculated that they may have Gendry take over Aegon's storyline.

There was a fair amount of emphasis in season 1 on Cersei and Robert's firstborn son (the little black-haired beauty) who died a few days after his birth to a fever.

Pretty much either Gendry is actually that baby and Varys knows and tells him, or he isn't but Varys convinces him he is. Varys would probably be the first to know when Gendry reached King's Landing and could have spirited him away to another location.

I think there is some merit to this, from a practical stand point. Gendry is already an established character whom a lot of the audience loves. With Aegon, they'd have to use up a lot of screentime just to get him to that point, and there's already going to be a sea of new characters. And if there is to be a dance of dragons 2.0 at some point, Gendry being the supposed true heir doesn't exclude this as one doesn't neccesarily have to be a Targaryen to be a dragonrider.

While it isn't a strong point in favor of this, it is a bit odd that Elia's children were almost always lumped together. If they were going to be introducing Aegon this season, it would seem more logical to at least name drop this past season.

Or maybe Gendry'll just have his own storyline. Who knows?

[Hippocras]

^ I would bet against that.

Gendry DOES have his own storyline in the books. He eventually needs to rejoin it. The only character's role he could reasonably fill and still get back to his own storyline eventually is Edric Storm's.

[zaphodbrx]

The problem I have with the Aegon replacement is that it just doesn't fit with his character as established on the show. Gendry is sick of highborns and their game of thrones. Why would he set up to be a pretender King? Also it makes Varys look really incompetent if that was his actual plan all this time.

[oprahnoodlemantra]

I'm actually not against the idea of Gendry taking over for Aegon. I don't think that's what will happen but I'd prefer this if they decide to cut Aegon. Didn't Joe Dempsie say that D&D have a lot planned for him in the future?

[Pod The Impaler]

I'm actually not against the idea of Gendry taking over for Aegon.

Except he's a Baratheon.

[oprahnoodlemantra]

Except he's a Baratheon.

Viewers already know and care for him. Plus, it would preserve the argument of whether the character is legit or not. Is Aegon a Blackfyre or a Targaryen? Is Gendry a bastard or Cersei's child that was mentioned in the first season? Varys could be a Baratheon supporter which would explain why he'd rather have an actual son of Robert's on the throne as opposed to Lannister bastards. If this is the case, why wouldn't he support Stannis, the lawful king? Stannis has the Red Woman with him and it has already been established on the show that Varys is against magic of any kind. Having Gendry replace Aegon would save the show from having to cast and develop brand new characters while still preserving certain plot points.

Eventually Dorne can send a Sand Snake (in Arianne's place) to see for themselves how Gendry is. If Arianne is cut, the whole betrothal to Viserys must be as well. This way, Dorne can be Baratheon supporters instead of Targaryen loyalists but, like Varys, prefer a real son of Robert's over a Lannister bastard. Obviously they'd be playing more than one side like in the books where Doran has Arianne going to Aegon and Quentyn going to Dany but in this case it'd be a Sand Snake going to Gendry and Trystane going to Dany.

[Newstar]

Didn't Joe Dempsie say that D&D have a lot planned for him in the future?

Did he? I hadn't seen that quote.

If the writers have excised Aegon entirely to streamline the plot, I doubt they would try to duplicate Aegon's storyline with an established character. That would seem to defeat the purpose of cutting Aegon in the first place, no?

[Janicia]

Yeah, I really don't see Gendry becoming Aegon. Varys would have to keep him in a box for that to happen; no way Gendry would go along with the whole thing willingly after his encounter with Stannis.

Maybe Gendry or Edric Storm make major appearances in the last two books, but there is a good chance that they don't re-emerge as major characters. King Robert's importance is fading with the re-emergence of the Targaryans and the disappearance of the Baratheons as a relevant force south of the Neck. Robert's bastards just might not be particularly important anymore. I'd wager that GRRM provides some more resolution for Gendry, but I think the show has a lot of flexibility on what to do with him. I think he's a prime character for the show to kill off prematurely.

I don't like the idea of Gendry joining up with Brienne and Pod. Gendry and Pod are so similar - Gendry is just an older, rougher, and sassier version of Pod. It seems like a waste to put two such similar characters together, especially since Gendey's main skill - blacksmithing - isn't useful to Brienne on the road.

I agree that Gendry could definitely show up with the Faith Militant in Kings Landing, but it would probably be a really minor part. I guess he could somehow be the High Septon's primary lackey, but even still he'd just be running messages and standing around in the background. Most of Kings Landing is going to revolve around Cersei, and Gendry doesn't fit in her orbit.

Gendry could also possibly show up at the Wall. That was where he was initially headed, and the Night's Watch might be something he believes in; Yoren did die to protect him. And Gendry could think it would get him far from Baratheons and Lannisters. It would be lovely if Gendry and Jon ever met and reminisced about Arya and life as a bastard. But again, it would be a minor part - Jon has to spend most of his time leading things rather than hanging out with Gendry.

If Gendry ends back up with the BWB, I think it would be his death. He's not happy with them, and they're a lot darker now. Having them kill Gendry would be a way to establish how dark the group has gotten, but it seems lame to bring Gendry back solely to get killed to show that the BWB is murderous now. I kind of think that might be Hot Pie's fate.

I don't ship Gendry and Sansa, but the Vale seems like the best place for his character to have a chance to contribute much to the story. We haven't heard of any new Vale casting and have been wondering how that story happens without Myranda or Mya or anybody else new. The Vale seems like a place Gendry might go to, if he wanted to get out of the war and find stable employment. Sansa could use a lowborn ally.

[Starkfaithful85]

gendry will not take lancels spot bc cersei's manipulation of lancel caused strife between her and kevan and provides kevan with enough reason to demand that cersei let kevan be regent to her son...obv cersei wont allow this so kevan will leave KL

[Hippocras]

Did he? I hadn't seen that quote.

If the writers have excised Aegon entirely to streamline the plot, I doubt they would try to duplicate Aegon's storyline with an established character. That would seem to defeat the purpose of cutting Aegon in the first place, no?

I agree.

I, personally don't think Aegon will be cut, but I do think there will never be any casting leaks related to his storyline because it would cause too much press speculation. Particularly if they are going with an extremely attractive and/or known actor.

But, IF he is shockingly cut, the only character I could see being merged with his is Trystane Martell.

Gendry has his OWN arc, which he will eventually rejoin.

[Faithmemory]

I really like the actor who plays Gendry. And I am hoping that HBO has good plans for him. But I do hope that they will not cut Aegon.

Also, they already kind of merged Gendry and Edric Storm storyline. In the books he was Ser Gendry of Hollow Hill, knighted by Dondarrion. I want that to happen to him on the show too.. knighted by someone else or something.

[wallofice]

I don't think it would fit show Gendry's personality to be merged with Aegon - not that such a thing would stop them - but it would help explain the importance placed on him in previous seasons. He does appear to be the only living Baratheon bastard on the show, and I assume they had Melisandre tell him of his heritage for a reason.

That being said, I'd much rather see him in the Vale, since there'd be less chance of him dying and more opportunity of his affecting the story line in some positive way. BWB without Stoneheart seems like kind of a dead end, plus he should rightly hate them at this point, and no other plots aside from Bran and Brienne's (which seems to be leading to the Vale anyway) have room for footloose character work.

[Hippocras]

I really like the actor who plays Gendry. And I am hoping that HBO has good plans for him. But I do hope that they will not cut Aegon.

Also, they already kind of merged Gendry and Edric Storm storyline. In the books he was Ser Gendry of Hollow Hill, knighted by Dondarrion. I want that to happen to him on the show too.. knighted by someone else or something.

If Aegon is included and Gendry continues a while longer in Edric Storm's role which had him sent to Lys, he could very well join up with the Aegon party and take over Duckfield's role as well (knighted randomly in the middle of nowhere while serving Aegon) as Aegon's sparring partner.

From there I suppose he would help Aegon win Storm's End then find some other way to connect with Brienne and/or Jamie to continue, eventually, his Gendry role.

[Ser Frasier of House Crane]

If Aegon is included and Gendry continues a while longer in Edric Storm's role which had him sent to Lys, he could very well join up with the Aegon party and take over Duckfield's role as well (knighted randomly in the middle of nowhere while serving Aegon) as Aegon's sparring partner.

From there I suppose he would help Aegon win Storm's End then find some other way to connect with Brienne and/or Jamie to continue, eventually, his Gendry role.

Haha, that would require Gendry to have rowed in the complete wrong direction. Which would be mighty funny, now that I think about Gendry finally beaching on Lys and then looking around with a "Where the hell am I?" expression.

[Hippocras]

Haha, that would require Gendry to have rowed in the complete wrong direction. Which would be mighty funny, now that I think about Gendry finally beaching on Lys and then looking around with a "Where the hell am I?" expression.

No, I was thinking he rowed to KL but was immediately spotted by Varys.

Varys was the one who paid his apprentice fees and sent him with the Watch, so it is not far fetched that Varys would help him again.