Television

These Game Of Thrones Characters Were Missing From Season 6

By Amanda Bell

The sixth season of Game of Thrones revived (often just to kill off in dramatic fashion) a boatload of characters who'd been missing in action for years, including: Rickon Stark and his direwolf Shaggydog, Benjen Stark, Osha, Sandor "The Hound" Clegane, Walder Frey, Beric Dondarrion and his Brotherhood without Banners, Brynden "The Blackfish" Tully, Edmure Tully, and Balon Greyjoy. Every one of their returns were eventful and either closed the book on their stories [insert the obligatory Hodor/hold the door pun here] or opened things up for more action. Even so, there were a lot of names missing from this season's roster, so look for some or all of these to turn up before the end.

Gendry

Robert Baratheon's bastard son Gendry survived the series of slaughterings (ordered by the always-power-hungry Cersei Lannister, of course) that saw dozens of his illegitimate brothers executed no matter their age or innocence to protect her own sons' claim to the throne. He went on to help Melisandre the Red Witch prove the value of king's blood for magic purposes and was sent on his merry way by Ser Davos in a small boat meant for King's Landing in Season 3. He's been neither seen nor heard from since. Is the last Baratheon heir still alive? Did he rejoin the Brotherhood without Banners, and we just haven't noticed yet? These are the kind of loose ends that simply cannot be left dangling, so don't count him out for a seventh season surprise just yet.

In the meantime, though, actor Joe Dempsie has certainly been having fun with the fact that GoT fans are so interested in his small screen counterpart making a comeback. After Season 4 ended with no sign of him or his little dinghy, he answered fan outreach with a tongue-in-cheek tweet that read simply, "Still rowin'."

He followed that up after Season 5 with the words "Still Goin' ... Help's Knowin'" and attached a link to The Lonely Island's sketch song "I'm On A Boat."

To mark the again Gendry-less Season 6, he wrote, "... Life is but a meme."

Hot Pie

In addition to proving Melisandre a sneaky succubus, Gendry was also one-third of the awesome Arya-Gendry-Hot Pie trifecta that escaped Harrenhal and joined the Brotherhood without Banners at the Inn at Crossroads in Season 3. After Arya and Gendry left, Hot Pie stuck around at the Inn as a baker's apprentice and was instrumental in leading diners Brienne of Tarth and Podrick Payne to Arya Stark's probable location. The Inn is located right by the banks of the Trident River which (cue the lightbulb idea emoji) is not very far away from the Dragonstone Island shores, from which Gendry embarked three years ago.

Nymeria

Most of the Stark childrens' adopted direwolves have been killed off (R.I.P. Lady, Grey Wind, Shaggydog, and Summer), but two remain: Jon Snow's Ghost and Arya Stark's Nymeria. While Ghost only saw a tiny bit of screen time this season, he still made a memorable cameo, but Nymeria's been off roaming the Riverlands for years doing who knows what.

Arya chased her pup off in the first season to save her life after she bit then-Prince Joffrey, but then Sansa's Lady was executed in her place by order of King Robert Baratheon. Either Nymeria knows how crazy all of the Westerosian people are right now and is purposefully steering clear (not the worst idea, really) or she's following her book-based call of leading a pack of grey wolves in the Riverlands—where, as it happens, Arya Stark is located at the end of Season 6. Nymeria might not have returned to her human Stark counterpart yet, but it's still just as likely as any of these two-legged character reprisals.

Rhaegar Targaryen

During one of Bran Stark's big Three-Eyed Raven time-hops through pivotal points in the history of Westeros, viewers got a glimpse of the Mad King (Aerys II Targaryen) in his final, bonkers days in charge before being violently dethroned by Robert Baratheon. In another, viewers were finally shown a visual confirmation of their long-held theory that Jon Snow wasn't the bastard son of Eddard Stark, but rather the son of his sister Lyanna, who died shortly after giving birth to Rhaegar Targaryen's baby boy (often presented as the pseudo-mathematical R L=J) and made him promise to keep his true parentage a secret to protect him.

The only thing missing from this visual equation was the appearance of Rhaegar, eldest son and heir to King Aerys II and presumed father to Lyanna Stark's baby (whether by force or choice, it is still unclear). Since Season 6 made such a point of supporting the theory Jon Snow was of both Stark and Targaryen blood, one might expect Bran to later look back on the relationship between his aunt and her supposed captor so he might be able to tell his adoptive brother Jon about his birth family if and when they are reunited. (Also, GoT fans might pull off their own city sack if this as-yet-unresolved story seam isn't stitched up by the end.)

Lady Stoneheart

With as many name-checks as Catelyn Stark got throughout the season, it's honestly pretty surprising that her zombie counterpart Lady Stoneheart hasn't been shown yet. The George R.R. Martin faithful know that in the books, Catelyn Stark is revived by Beric Dondarrion so she can wreak havoc on all those who betrayed her and led to the tragic events of the Red Wedding. Sure, Arya herself is currently carrying out essentially the same revenge campaign (so long, Walder Frey), but still, it's disappointing. Maybe next year? Beric is still alive, after all, so it's still not too late.

Quaithe

This show doesn't make a habit of introducing smart and intuitive characters without following through (well, at least not as of this recent season). Some speculate that Quaithe, briefly seen in Season 2, wore her metal mask to conceal partial facial grayscale—like Princess Shireen had—which could mean that Jorah Mormont might seek her out to find a cure for his own bout with the otherwise fatal illness. After all, she was a fan of Dany as soon as she met her, and seemed to have some vital intel about who was trying to betray the Mother of Dragons in the city.

Ilyn Payne

King Baratheon's executioner disappeared from the show in its second season, but the reason for his unexplained departure is a little different than most. The singer-turned-actor who portrayed the mute king's guardsman, Wilko Johnson, was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2012. Fortunately for him, he was able to beat the disease and is still alive and playing shows with his band across Europe. He hasn't ruled out returning to bookend his work on Thrones. "I do know that my character hasn't actually been killed off and I may well be in the next series," he teased in 2015. "I enjoyed it so much I really would like to."

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