Sentence:  Subplots that might have been fun to explore were relegated or eventually <WSD>sidelined</WSD> altogether in the case of characters like Gendry, who disappeared for years and finally resurfaces as a blacksmith in King's Landing, literally waiting for the call to his hero's journey. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  To remove or keep out of circulation or out of the focus.