Why Game Of Thrones Cut The Weirdest Part Of Stannis Baratheon's Story

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HBO’s Game of Thrones cut out the significant, yet admittedly weird character Patchface from Stannis Baratheon’s story, who may have given more insight to House Baratheon had he been included. In the books, Patchface is the jester and court fool for Stannis Baratheon, though much of his wit and almost all of his memory was erased when he washed up on shore after the shipwreck that killed Stannis’ parents. Largely incoherent, Patchface is a strange character in George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire books, who is known for wearing a mock helm fitted with antlers and cowbells, his face being tattooed in motley, and speaking in seemingly-prophetic rhymes that listeners don’t understand.

Patchface isn’t the only significant character from A Song of Ice and Fire that was left out of Game of Thrones, as notable figures like Jeyne Poole, Jeyne Westerling, Victarion Greyjoy, Arianne Martell, and Young Griff were all cut from HBO’s TV show. Although it’s unclear what stakes Patchface actually has in the books’ larger story, he was an intriguing aspect of House Baratheon’s history and oddities that it seemed strange for him not to be included in Game of Thrones. He also fit in perfectly with Stannis’ fears and the family’s quickness to believe in supernatural phenomena, with many readers of the books theorizing that Patchface was connected to the Ironborn Drowned God religion.

Related: Game Of Thrones' Character Changes Caused A Weird Stark Coincidence

Game of Thrones writer Brian Cogman actually did intend to include Patchface in the series, even writing him into the original script for the season 3 episode “Kissed by Fire” (via Westeros.org). He ultimately cut out Patchface’s character from the episode because he believed