Ser Robert Strong discussion

[H.P.]

I thought we could have a thread to discuss the mysterious and enormous newcomer Ser Robert Strong.

A few thoughts:

1) He is the Mountain, right?

2) The whole business with his skull makes me confused. At first I thought "okay, they obviously let the Mountain live and killed some other poor fellow whith a huge head and sent that skull to Dorne", but now I'm not so sure. Strong acts pretty much like I think an animate, headless corpse would act: He never removes his helm, talks, eats or drinks.

Which raises the question: What does he have instead of a head? His skull is removed; could his skin, brain, eyes and ears be left? Does he have a ghost head? Or has Qyburn replaced his original head with the head of one of the many women he used for his experiments?

[OmnomnomPomelo]

I think he has no head and is controlled by some kind of magic.

But somewhere I read that what if they sent Robert Baratheon's skull to Doran? Robert was hugh in body too.

But I'm still with the no-skull option.

[John Suburbs]

Or he has the head of someone else who recently died. I'm thinking Shae or Lady Stokeworth would be funny.

[Archmaester Drew]

I Think 'Ser Robert Strong' has his head, but cannot show it because it would reveal that the Gregor Clegane was not dead. Oh, yeah -- Gregor Clegane is not dead. Qyburn transformed him into a Hatian-style zombie with his experimentation.

The skull sent to Dorne was that of the Dwarf with the very large head erroneously offered up to Cersei for the reward. :)

[Griffin's Roost]

Robert Baratheon was huge but GRRM said like 6'5 or 6'6, mountain is 8'0 and 400 pounds. so his head or shae or anyone like that wont look the same. I think even Arianne says this is definitely his skull because no normal persons head is this big.

but yea Idk what the guy has under that mask then. maybe he doesn't have a head, but it is definitely the body of gregor

[Lord Lannister]

I always figured it was just an empty helmet. Guess it'll be awhile before we really know though. His "oath of silence" until all Cersei's enemies are dead is good though. Cause that's an impossibility. :P

[SnowHeart]

The reveal for this is one of my most eagerly anticipated moments in the series. Just for everyone's reactions, Cerci basically being screwed as a result and a complete meltdown in KL. Can't wait!

In answer to the question, I guess an empty helmet is the most likely in my mind.

[Blackfyre89]

I want the Mountain to have his own head. I've always hated the notion of using Robb Stark but it would be like adding salt to a open wound though.

[King of the Rock]

Well, the actor (whose name I will never remember) who played ser Gregor in the show has been cast for the next season. Either we'll only see him lying in bed in agonizing pain, or he'll be playing ser Robert Strong. I think we should just wait and see. Assuming he's Robert Strong is a fair guess. Assuming he has someone else's head, preferably Robert Baratheon, Robb Stark, or worst of all, Shae, is... just, no. I'd rather have him headless. I think that would make for a cool twist if his helmet got knocked off his head. I think Qyburn would be smart enough to put an unrecognizable head on him, though. At least then he could play it off.

[Archmaester Drew]

I find it hard to believe that Gregor is dead, much less headless. Qyburn is not using magic, therefore he must be using biological means to create 'Ser Robert'. This would suggest that he neutralized the poison and somehow converted him to an automaton-like zombie. I think he is alive but chemically subjugated.

From Wikipedia on Zombies:

Chemical hypothesis

Several decades after Hurston's work, Wade Davis, a Harvard ethnobotanist, presented a pharmacological case for zombies in a 1983 paper in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology,^[12] and later in two popular books, The Serpent and the Rainbow(1985) and Passage of Darkness: The Ethnobiology of the Haitian Zombie (1988).

Davis traveled to Haiti in 1982 and, as a result of his investigations, claimed that a living person can be turned into a zombie by two special powders being introduced into the blood stream (usually via a wound). The first, coup de poudre (French: "powder strike"), includes tetrodotoxin (TTX), a powerful and frequently fatal neurotoxin found in the flesh of the pufferfish(order Tetraodontidae). The second powder consists of deliriant drugs such as datura. Together, these powders were said to induce a deathlike state in which the will of the victim would be entirely subjected to that of the bokor. Davis also popularized the story of Clairvius Narcisse, who was claimed to have succumbed to this practice. The most ethically questioned and least scientifically explored ingredient of the powders, is part of a recently buried child's brain.^{[13][14][15][verification needed]}

The process described by Davis was an initial state of deathlike suspended animation, followed by re-awakening — typicallyafter being buried — into a psychotic state. The psychosis induced by the drug and psychological trauma was hypothesisedby Davis to reinforce culturally learned beliefs and to cause the individual to reconstruct their identity as that of a zombie, since they "knew" they were dead, and had no other role to play in the Haitian society. Societal reinforcement of the belief was hypothesized by Davis to confirm for the zombie individual the zombie state, and such individuals were known to hang around in graveyards, exhibiting attitudes of low affect.

:)

[H.P.]

double post

[H.P.]

Well, the actor (whose name I will never remember) who played ser Gregor in the show has been cast for the next season.

Hafthor Bjornsson, in English spelling. They probably need him for playing the body. There basically aren't any other actors, extras or stuntmen who are large enough.

Qyburn is not using magic

Actually, didn't Qyburn get dispelled from the order of Maesters for dabbling in the dark arts? (I hope I'm not mixing up terms with Harry Potter here.)

[H.P.]

And by the way, do you know why Ser Robert Strong wears white on his head? Because mountain caps are white.

[Lord Sapna]

Well, the actor (whose name I will never remember) who played ser Gregor in the show has been cast for the next season. Either we'll only see him lying in bed in agonizing pain, or he'll be playing ser Robert Strong. I think we should just wait and see. Assuming he's Robert Strong is a fair guess. Assuming he has someone else's head, preferably Robert Baratheon, Robb Stark, or worst of all, Shae, is... just, no. I'd rather have him headless. I think that would make for a cool twist if his helmet got knocked off his head. I think Qyburn would be smart enough to put an unrecognizable head on him, though. At least then he could play it off.

Gregor cleganes actor has changed three times, plenty of giants in the world. I look forward to his actor changing mid battle.

Seriously though. Yes it's Gregor. I think he will have a head, but can't think whose it will be. Ned, Robb? Grey wind :( The hound?

Whoever owns the head though will be a character we know.

[SnowHeart]

H.P. : Nice catch... or maybe it could be, idk, because he's in the KG perhaps?

(Sorry, can't get the quote tab to work for some reason :dunno:)

[H.P.]

H.P. : Nice catch... or maybe it could be, idk, because he's in the KG perhaps?

(Sorry, can't get the quote tab to work for some reason :dunno:)

Nope. It's definitely a pun of "mountain cap". I'm dead sure on this.

[Balerion the one eared cat]

I always figured it was just an empty helmet. Guess it'll be awhile before we really know though. His "oath of silence" until all Cersei's enemies are dead is good though. Cause that's an impossibility. :P

Me too.

Or maybe it's Robert's head - would explain "Robert Strong" other than just the general hilarious irony that Robert could ultimately be Cersei's saviour.

Seriously though. Yes it's Gregor. I think he will have a head, but can't think whose it will be. Ned, Robb? Grey wind :( The hound?

I doubt it'll be any of those: Ned's bones were sent to Catelyn and then on their way back to Winterfell - IIRC isn't Lady Dustin planning on feeding his bones to her dogs? Robb's and Grey Wind's are probably still at the Twins, and the Hound's skull is probably with the brothers on the Quiet Isle, or still on his body, if you believe the gravedigger theory. I guess they're all still possible with GRRM, though?

Personally I think it's an empty helmet. And think there could be a riot if/when the people/Faith realise Cersei won her trial by sorcery, and she'll get dragged back into it again just when she thought she was safe and had regained her power.

[John Suburbs]

No, picture it: Shae's dead head all in twisted fury running around on Gregor's body. Priceless.

[John Doe]

Gregor cleganes actor has changed three times, plenty of giants in the world. I look forward to his actor changing mid battle.

Seriously though. Yes it's Gregor. I think he will have a head, but can't think whose it will be. Ned, Robb? Grey wind :( The hound?

Whoever owns the head though will be a character we know.

Neds head was put on a spike, I doubt they still have the skull. That Gregor might be somewhat alive but a pawn of Qyburn is a nice catch btw.

[King of the Rock]

Hafthor Bjornsson, in English spelling. They probably need him for playing the body. There basically aren't any other actors, extras or stuntmen who are large enough.

I considered that, but there's a good chance he won't just appear as a corpse. Maybe he will, but I don't think they would have added the scene with Qyburn if it wasn't going to lead to something in the future. It really depends on how many appearances he's scheduled to have. Maybe just scan through the end credits when/if Robert strong appears in an episode.

Gregor cleganes actor has changed three times, plenty of giants in the world. I look forward to his actor changing mid battle.

Seriously though. Yes it's Gregor. I think he will have a head, but can't think whose it will be. Ned, Robb? Grey wind :( The hound?

Whoever owns the head though will be a character we know.

Seriously. No! Qyburn's not mentally challenged. He's actually a very clever man. He wouldn't put any of those heads on Gregor. Why would he? His helmet gets knocked off, next thing you know Cersei and Qyburn are losing their heads. If he's going to replace the head, then he would put someone else's head so if the helmet gets knocked off, then people can believe ser Robert Strong is an actual person rather than a reanimated corpse with a... wolf's head... Actually, that would be really cool. In my opinion, ser Robert Strong IS Gregor Clegane, but he's not dead. I'm a show and book lover. I take my reasoning from both sources. Qyburn said that he can save ser Gregor, but the process will "change him". He's probably not a zombie, but rather, he's probably nearly brain dead. He can only do what Cersei and/or Qyburn tell him to do. As for the not eating, sleeping, or using the restroom. I'm sure there's a good reason for that. Mel apparently doesn't need to eat, and there's no reason to think she's a zombie (well, there's one reason). If Gregor is a headless zombie, then I support a wolf or lion head. Make him even scarier.