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[Spoilers?] What was the point of Rickon?


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1 hour ago, Lord Lyman said:

I think it was purely budget reasons. Only 2 scenes and no speaking lines, which basically means they can use him for cheap. Since Game of Thrones, Art Parkinson has been in both Dracula: Untold and San Andreas. This probably put his price tag at a higher rate then what it was for the first few seasons.

#1 The wanted to have same actor since unlike Tommen and Myrcella the role was small

#2 Art's voice probably changed and he might have not sounded as childish as they wanted him to be. They wanted Ramsey to kill a child, not a teenage boy with adult voice.

53 minutes ago, missingm said:

Sometimes actors like Ian McShane almost volunteer to be in a show they like. Takes almost no commitment (could have been filmed in couple of days and coordinated with one main actor) and gets them more publicity. Plus it can be fun to be in the show if you as an actor like the story. Max Von Sydow was likely paid as he was committed over the course of two seasons. 

Most of them also request a gruesome death, its kind of in-show joke for GOT

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3 minutes ago, Masha said:

#2 Art's voice probably changed and he might have not sounded as childish as they wanted him to be. They wanted Ramsey to kill a child, not a teenage boy with adult voice.

As I mentioned in another post, both Osha and Edmure had episodes where they didn't speak. I truly believe it was done specifically to save on the budget. More lines=bigger status=more money.

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9 minutes ago, Future Null Infinity said:

For me no, with the years and seasons passing I got the strong idea that Game of thrones is a masterpiece of favoritism towards some main characters 

This is undeniable. I laugh when my friends say that anyone can die on GOT. Yeah right, if that was the case Tyrion would have died in Clash of Kings/Season 2.

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1 minute ago, Red Tiger said:

This is undeniable. I laugh when my friends say that anyone can die on GOT. Yeah right, if that was the case Tyrion would have died in Clash of Kings.

Believe me, I'm a man who doesn't care about anything in the show, I watch because I love the stories and I'm enjoying them, I never criticized the show but man, the biggest thing that blown my mind is that the mightiest assassin who ever lived on the earth in a cage!!! ok I understand but hide a little bit the favoritism :D

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17 minutes ago, Lord Lyman said:

As I mentioned in another post, both Osha and Edmure had episodes where they didn't speak. I truly believe it was done specifically to save on the budget. More lines=bigger status=more money.

Yes, but then they did speak and had quite a good speech in the show.  Art appeared in 2 episodes and he never spoke, it means that show-runners didn't want him to speak for reasons other than money, meaning his voice most likely changed to much more deeper/adult version.

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5 minutes ago, Masha said:

Yes, but then they did speak and had quite a good speech in the show.  Art appeared in 2 episodes and he never spoke, it means that show-runners didn't want him to speak for reasons other than money, meaning his voice most likely changed to much more deeper/adult version.

Then why bring back Menzies and Tena and not let them speak in a few episodes aside from money? Also, if D&D were concerned about a deep voice, then they could have just recast the character, but they didn't. It all has to do with money.

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20 minutes ago, Lord Lyman said:

Then why bring back Menzies and Tena and not let them speak in a few episodes aside from money? Also, if D&D were concerned about a deep voice, then they could have just recast the character, but they didn't. It all has to do with money.

This would be a difficult recast because viewers would assume its a fake Rickon. Also, I bet the actor who plays Rickon probably got paid for at least one episode. He has power because he was already cast and isn't easily recast. No way did he take a non-speaking role payment.

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12 hours ago, UnreliableNarrator said:

One thing that really gnawed at me this season was Rickon Stark. What was the point of bringing this character back? For all Jon's and Sansa's waffling about reclaiming their home this season his captivity seemed an afterthought, even with the high probability of his death. Did anyone mention Ned Stark's trueborn heir to the Lords they were petitioning? The ones who disparaged them for being a Snow and a Bolton? I can't decide if Brienne knew he was a hostage or forgot how succession worked when she kept saying Sansa was the rightful Lady of Winterfell.

Were we supposed to care as an audience? Could we have been lead to believe he MIGHT survive, or care if he survives, to build some suspense? Surely if he had a speaking part or a few scenes it might have helped! But I guess we wouldn't have the warts, fingers-up-butts, or Tyrion and Missandei at the Seinfeld diner.

The real shame is that compared to the books he had a bit of characterization and a decent scene or two with Bran. He served a nice purpose in setting apart the Starks from the southern lords. The way Rickon was filthy and wild-haired and climbed trees with the miller's son, contrasted with how Joffrey and Mika interact, nicely illustrated how the Stark's and Lannister's ruled their smallfolk.

Its not near as bad as Stannis or Jaime, but seems like wasted potential. Does anyone else get the sense D&D are sloppily tying up loose ends via unsatisfying deaths? It makes you worry about poor Gendry and Jorrah...

Rickon was assumed dead for a very long time. Even after Sansa learned from Theon that Ramsey hadn't really killed Rickon and Bran -- the most reasonable assumption was that they had died outside of Winterfell -- children alone with a wildling and a simple stable boy.

Bran is probably still presumed dead as well.

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1 hour ago, JonSnow1984 said:

to bring him back so he can be killed. avoid any further complications. 

This, pretty much. 

Ramsey having Rickon was the impetus that Jon and co. needed to attack Winterfell. 

And killing Rickon is a convenient way of tying up loose ends on a show that has lots of characters. 

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15 hours ago, UnreliableNarrator said:

One thing that really gnawed at me this season was Rickon Stark. What was the point of bringing this character back?

Truthfully - they brought him back so Ramsey could torture him and make John forget everything Sansa said, putting himself and everyone else in danger.  Rickon had only been a periphery character, and one most show only fans probably forgot long ago.  Ten hours of TV a year - especially on show as "thick" as Game of Thrones - is not a whole lot of time, so certain characters and events are moved in and out quickly to advance the story, and that was Rickon Stark's purpose on the show.  Maybe George will take 20-30 pages to give Rickon and his fate a lot more weight (or maybe he will become the main focus of book 7 and end up on the Iron Throne), but now we are watching an original television program because the source material ended (for now).   Showing dragons burning ships and 1000 horsemen baring down on one man with a sword (one of the most amazingly cool shots ever filmed) costs a ton of money, so between that and program time constraints, a lot of second and third tier characters will only have a minute or two of screen time to serve their purpose and leave.  Sadly - they can't all be as awesome as Lady Mormont.

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So book readers won't bitch about where he is. He had to be written out properly so he doesn't just disappear. And death IS the easiest and most straightforward way to get rid of a basically non existent character. Rickon had always been just there. He doesn't have a story or a personality. 

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