| “ | When a maester donned his collar, he put aside the hope of children, yet Cressen had oft felt a father nonetheless. Robert, Stannis, Renly ... three sons he had raised after the angry sea claimed Lord Steffon. Had he done so ill that now he must watch one kill the other? He could not allow it, would not allow it. | „ |
| ~ Cressen's thoughts. |
| “ | The process was slow and difficult, the necessaries costly and hard to acquire. The alchemists of Lys knew the way of it, though, and the Faceless Men of Braavos ... and the maesters of his order as well, though it was not something talked about beyond the walls of the Citadel. All the world knew that a maester forged his silver link when he learned the art of healing—but the world preferred to forget that men who knew how to heal also knew how to kill. | „ |
| ~ Cressen's thoughts as he decides to use the strangler on Melisandre. |
| “ | Melisandre: The night is dark and full of terrors. Cressen: Only children fear the dark. |
„ |
| ~ Cressen and Melisandre arguing. |
Maester Cressen is a supporting character in the A Song of Ice and Fire franchise and a minor character in the television adaptation Game of Thrones. He is a maester of the Citadel in service of House Baratheon. For many years, he was the maester of Storm's End and subsequently the maester of Dragonstone.
He raised Robert, Stannis, and Renly Baratheon, after the death of their parents, Lord Steffon and Lady Cassana Baratheon. He also tutored and educated Lord Stannis's daughter, Shireen. He serves as the opening POV protagonist in A Clash of Kings, and a mentioned character for the rest of the series. He is nearly eighty years old.
In the TV series, he was portrayed by Oliver Ford Davies.
Personality[]
Cressen is prudent and patient, but also capable of committing the crime of murder if his loved ones are threatened, as well as capable of hate toward a foreigner and their religion, if he deems them evil, as shown by his animosity toward Melisandre. Having spent some years living in the same castle as Melisandre, it is unknown when Cressen started to develop a dislike for the Red Woman, but he despises the beliefs in R'hllor, the Lord of Light, and said religion's hostility toward the Faith of the Seven.
Cressen is a complete skeptic, who denies the existence of all magic, still denying any higher power and mysteries in his death despite seeing Melisandre's ruby on her choker glowing whilst she remained unaffected by the poison called the strangler. Cressen has full faith in science and factual evidence, with some fans claiming he represented the arrogance of the Citadel and science itself.
Cressen loves the three sons of Lord Steffon Baratheon, with the loner Stannis being the boy he always loved the most. He saw the Baratheon brothers as the three sons he never had, especially Stannis and Renly, also having positive memories of how the boy Renly always used to play roles in his games. He also loves Shireen Baratheon, acting like some sort of grandfather to her. Due to the long service to Stannis for many years since childhood, Stannis has always confided in him.
Cressen feels guilty and responsible for Shireen's perpetual sadness, having been unable to cure her greyscale in time before the disease could spread across her face and leave her disfigured with scars, which is the likely reason why she wasn't brought to live at court in King's Landing with her father Stannis during King Robert I's reign.
Cressen does not feel at home at Dragonstone and finds it a grim castle and island, unlike the more pleasant and wealthier Storm's End. However, he has grown fond of Dragonstone's numerous gargoyle decorations of black stone.
As it's the case for most maesters, it is unknown whether Cressen is highborn or lowborn, and if he has a last name of birth.
Biography[]
Background[]
| “ | Davos: My liege, Pylos is pleasant enough, but I cannot see the chain about his neck without mourning for Maester Cressen. Stannis: Is it his fault the old man died? I never wanted Cressen at that feast. He'd angered me, yes, he'd given me bad counsel, but I did not want him dead. I'd hoped he might be granted a few years of ease and comfort. He had earned that much, at least, but—but he died. And Pylos serves me ably. |
„ |
| ~ Davos and Stannis after Cressen's death. |
Cressen's birth place and origins are unknown, but as a youth he lived in the great city of Oldtown and studied in the Citadel, earning his chains, which were his pride. Cressen is an old friend of Archmaester Walgrave, who is still alive and living in the Citadel.
Cressen was a kindly and loyal man who cared for the Baratheons, especially Stannis as he needed it the most as the unloved one of the Baratheon brothers. After the death of Stannis' parents in Shipbreaker Bay, Cressen was the one who stopped their new fool Patchface from being mercy killed for having become insane. Cressen helped identify the dead from the ship wreckage of the Windproud, which also claimed the lives of Lord Steffon and Lady Cassana Baratheon.
During Robert's Rebellion, Cressen was part of the Siege of Storm's End, which lasted from 282 to 283 AC. When the master-at-arms Ser Gawen Wylde and three other knights were caught trying to sneak out a postern gate to surrender to Lord Mace Tyrell's army of the Reach, the young castellan Ser Stannis was about to have the four traitors hurled at the besiegers' army via catapult. Cressen, however, convinced Stannis to imprison the men, pointing out that the castle might at some point be forced to eat their dead, and the four knights were "good meat". Whether Cressen did this out of pragmatism, or out of sympathy for the starving betrayers it's unknown (perhaps both). The little boy Renly also heard Cressen saying these words. The only reason the garrison never had to resort to cannibalism is thanks to the unexpected sneaky arrival of the notorious smuggler and lowborn criminal Davos of King's Landing. Later, Cressen would attend Davos's knighting and rise into nobility as Ser Davos of House Seaworth.
After Robert's Rebellion and the Targaryens' loss of Dragonstone, Cressen moved to the island to keep serving Stannis, the new Lord of Dragonstone. Another maester replaced Cressen in Storm's End. By the time of the main story, the maester currently serving at Storm's End is named Maester Jurne.
When the infant girl Shireen Baratheon contracted greyscale, Cressen worked hard to cure her and prevent the disease from spreading. Though Cressen was able to save her life, the disease almost killed her, and even left her permanently disfigured. Cressen feels that Shireen's constant sadness is a mark of his failure.
In 297 AC, Cressen fell and broke his hip, and ever since was no longer able to climb to Dragonstone's rookery on his own.
During A Game of Thrones[]
In 298 AC, after Lord Jon Arryn died, Lord Stannis Baratheon permanently left King's Landing, but without resigning his position of Master of Ships and without giving any notice to his brother King Robert and the Small Council. Stannis returned to Dragonstone accompanied by nearly the entire royal fleet at his following. He presumably confided to Maester Cressen his knowledge about his nephews and niece, the children of his sister-in-law, Queen Cersei Lannister, not being actual Baratheons.
That same year, likely while Robert Baratheon was traveling to Winterfell, Cressen fell ill. Prior closing Dragonstone's port to the world, Stannis paid the Citadel in Oldtown for an additional young maester to be sent to Dragonstone to assist the aged Cressen. The reason for this was because Stannis was preparing for the possibility of war and requested a young man from the Citadel because said war could last for many years, and Cressen's health was failing. Although Cressen was told Pylos was meant to be his assistant, Cressen was aware that in truth Pylos was to be his replacement after he died.
At Dragonstone, Pylos became an assistant to Cressen, although he slowly started taking up most of Cressen's duties, while Cressen himself continued to tutor Shireen Baratheon and spent most of his time with her, Patchface, Pylos, and Shireen's lady companions and serving girls.
A Clash of Kings[]
During the War of the Five Kings in 299 AC, Stannis rebelled against the Iron Throne and declared himself king instead and sends messengers across the realm to gather support for him, without success, except for Dragonstone's own vassal houses of Blackwater Bay's islands. During this period, Cressen receives a white raven sent by the Archmaester of the Citadel to announce the end of the Long Summer and the begin of Autumn. He is visited by Princess Shireen and the fool Patchface, the former wanting to see the white raven. Cressen attempts to sooth Shireen's worries about being eaten by a dragon, having suffered one of her nightmares, and discusses the red comet in the sky with her.
After Ser Davos Seaworth's return from the Stormlands, he reports to King Stannis his failed mission as an envoy for the stormlords, whose majority chose to declare for Renly Baratheon.
Cressen makes Stannis angry when he advises him to ally with either Renly or the Starks, as Stannis insists that those crowning Robb Stark as King in the North are committing treason, calling Robb a thieving boy. When Cressen mentions avenging the late Eddard Stark, Stannis is upset again, ranting that the man was nothing to him and resenting Robert's love for him. Cressen then advises for an alliance with the Arryns, urging Stannis to arrange with Lady Lysa Arryn for a betrothal between Shireen and Lord Robert Arryn. The advice is opposed by Stannis's queen, Selyse Florent, who tells Stannis he must not beg to traitors for his rightful allegiance owned to him by law.
Selyse urges Stannis to rely solely on her god R'hllor and promises that Renly will die soon, according to Melisandre of Asshai, a red priestess who spent recent years living on the island and spreading her religion to numerous residents. Selyse's words about Renly's possible imminent death, despite his young age, lead Cressen to assume that Selyse is suggesting fratricide and kinslaying. He is even more shocked and horrified when Stannis dismisses him to listen to Selyse's counsel.
Cressen concludes that Stannis is being convinced to assassinate his brother by Selyse and Melisandre. Cressen despises Melisandre and resents her religion of R'hllor. Blaming Melisandre and her "madness" for the possible fall of House Baratheon, Cressen decides to murder her. He is also at odds with Selyse, who behaves cruelly towards him and is only stopped by Stannis from going too far with humiliation attempts.
Ultimately, during a feast in the castle's Great Hall, surrounded by all of Stannis's sworn bannermen, major vassals and mercenary commanders, Cressen dies as a result of his attempt to poison Melisandre with the strangler, a brutal poison produced by alchemists. In disbelief of Melisandre's inexplicable immunity to the poison, Cressen ends up drinking the cup himself, despite Melisandre's initial attempt to stop him by telling him to "spill" the wine as a show of clumsiness.
Following Cressen's death, Pylos fully becomes Dragonstone's new maester. Not too long after, Dragonstone's sept of the Seven that had belonged to House Targaryen since Aegon the Conqueror was raided and destroyed by Selyse and Melisandre's followers, by concession of Stannis himself, ignoring the opposition of Septon Barre, who ended up in a cell. Whilst watching the statues of the Seven being burned in R'hllor's name, Davos thinks that Cressen would have opposed this, had he been still alive to see this.
Despite being harsh to him Stannis admitted after his death that Cressen had been like a father to him. Cressen's death leads his friend Davos to begin developing an antipathy toward Melisandre, which is strongly increased by her aggressive religious policies against other religions, especially the Faith of the Seven. After Cressen's death, Melisandre replaced him as Stannis's close confidant. Pylos becomes Shireen and Devan Seaworth's tutor and teacher, and later for Edric Storm as well.
During the siege of Storm's End by King Stannis and his host, King Renly Baratheon tells his lords and knights and Lady Catelyn Stark about the time Cressen had successfully convinced Stannis to keep Ser Gawen Wylde and other three traitor knights imprisoned in dungeons in case Storm's End's garrison needed to resort to cannibalism and eat them during the siege against the Targaryen loyalists of the Reach.
A Storm of Swords[]
After the Battle of the Blackwater, while spending days stranded on a minuscle island in Blackwater Bay and suffering from fever, Davos has a dream in which the Mother, one of the Seven aspects of God, visits him and wants him to kill Melisandre. Taking the dream for a real vision and mission sent by the Seven, Davos thinks about Maester Cressen and starts believing Melisandre killed him with sorcery. In addition to Cressen, Davos also believes Melisandre killed all the men who died to wildfire at the Blackwater Rush, including four of his sons, as a deliberate huge mass blood sacrifice to the Lord of Light. Vowing to avenge Cressen, his sons and the other fallen, Davos begins plotting to murder Melisandre, later confiding his intentions to Lord Salladhor Saan at Dragonstone. Recalling how Cressen's poison did not affect Melisandre, Davos wonders if normal weapons can kill the red priestess.
A long time later closer to the end of the same year, Davos is released from his cell and confronted by King Stannis for his attempted assassination of Melisandre. When Davos claims that Melisandre killed Cressen, among the other victims, Stannis comments about the absurdity of Davos' accusation and insists that Cressen willingly killed himself out of his own fatal mistake.
The now-Lord Davos thinks of Cressen when he is climbing up the narrow twisted steps of Sea Dragon Tower. He recalls how Cressen struggled so much to climb the steps after he had broken his hip.
After the sudden and convenient deaths of Kings Balon IX Greyjoy, Robb Stark, and Joffrey I Baratheon, Lord Davos, Maester Pylos and a small group of King's Men plot to have the bastard boy Edric Storm is secretly shipped away aboard one of Salladhor Saan's pirate ship to be sent to the Free City of Lys. Upon meeting his fellow King's Men, Davos reminds them that when Maester Cressen attempted to kill Melisandre she knew at once, so they must be prepared for her to know about their plan as well. However, the plan succeeds without Melisandre knowing it.
A Feast for Crows[]
In Oldtown, the elderly and senile Archmaester Walgrave sometimes confuses the Citadel's novice Pate with his old colleague Cressen.
Quotes[]
| “ | Loyal service means telling hard truths. | „ |
| ~ Cressen to Davos Seaworth in Game of Thrones. |
| “ | Talking gargoyles and prophecies in the sky. I am an old done man, grown giddy as a child again. Had a lifetime's hard-won wisdom fled him along with his health and strength? He was a maester, trained and chained in the great Citadel of Oldtown. What had he come to, when superstition filled his head as if he were an ignorant fieldhand? | „ |
| ~ Thoughts of Maester Cressen |
| “ | Melisandre: Now here is a riddle. A clever fool and a foolish wise man. A crown to match your chain, Lord Maester. Cressen: I need no crown but truth. Melisandre: There are truths in this world that are not taught at Oldtown |
„ |
| ~ Melisandre and Cressen |
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Cressen is the only maester who served as a POV protagonist. Novice Pate and the newly-made novice Samwell Tarly don't count.
- Cressen died at the age of 79.
- In the novels, Cressen unwillingly ends up poisoning himself, after witnessing in disbelief how Melisandre remained unaffected by the strangler. He is shocked and in disbelief by Melisandre surviving, but being a fervent skeptic, he still refuses to acknowledge this existence of Melisandre's magical powers, and drinks poisoned wine from her cup without hesitation to prove she is wrong, only to end up killed. Even in his dying moments, Cressen still shakes his head at Melisandre and denies the existence of her god and any sorcery.
- In the television series, Cressen is suicidal and drinks the poisoned wine himself first, before offering it to Melisandre.
- It is shown in the novels that what causes Cressen to go as far as to murder Melisandre is realizing that the priestess is likely plotting to murder Renly Baratheon, which is something Cressen refuses to allow, as he loves the children of Steffon Baratheon.
- In the novels, Melisandre never openly mocks Cressen at any point. It is Queen Selyse and the fool Patchface who ridicule him for being old. Melisandre only teases Cressen and tells him that there are things that are not taught in Oldtown. She knows that Cressen is planning to poison her, yet seems to takes pity on him. She tries to convince him not to throw his life away by going through with his plan and tells him it's not too late to "spill" the wine in his cup, so they can pretend nothing happened and move on.
- In the novels, Cressen dies in Dragonstone's Great Hall during a feast with all of King Stannis's bannermen, councilors, major knights, and captains. In the television series, he dies in Dragonstone's Chamber of the Painted Table in a more private meeting with a few vassals.
- In the novels, Cressen is not present at the burning of the statues of the Seven from Dragonstone's sept, because he is already dead. The sept of Dragonstone, which was used by Aegon the Conqueror centuries before, is destroyed by Selyse's men after Cressen died by the strangler. The nightfire with the offering of the sept's statues, Stannis receiving his red sword Lightbringer, and sending the letters about Cersei Lannister's children occur in another chapter after Cressen's POV prologue. As Davos watches the ceremony with his eldest sons, he thinks that if Cressen was still alive he would try to stop it.
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