10 Game Of Thrones Scene Stealers

Maester Cressen appears halfway through the first episode of Season 2, “The North Remembers”. It's clear he's grown old and weary in the service of an unyielding master, Stannis Baratheon (Stephen Dillane in all his stern and sinewy glory). Oliver Ford Davies often plays authority figures but here, he's playing one whose ability to command respect disappeared long ago.

In the book on which the second season is based, A Clash of Kings, Cressen is the point-of-view character in the prologue. He offers a glimpse into the early lives of the three Baratheon brothers and holds a special place in his heart for the serious and miserable Stannis. He also provides the background for the bizarre book-only character of Patchface, a fool who nearly drowned in the shipwreck which killed the Baratheon parents. Cressen is the window into the strange, insular world of Dragonstone.

In the show, he is more of a red shirt: He is there to show the audience that Stannis' "Red Woman" (Carice Van Houten) is capable of more than speeches and bonfires. His awkward attempt to murder her backfires horribly and doddering old Cressen dies as Melisandre calmly chides him for his foolishness.