Cressen

Maester Cressen is a character in the A song of Ice and Fire novels and television adaptation Game of Thrones. He was the maester of Storm's End and subsequently the maester of Dragonstone, who 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.
In the TV series, he was portrayed by Oliver Ford Davies.
== Biography ==
Cressen was a kindly and loyal man who cared for the Baratheons, especially Stannis as he need it the most. After the death of Stannis' parents Cressen was the one who stopped their fool Patchface from being executed.
When Stannis decided to rebel and become king, Cressen worried he was being convinced to assassinate Renly by Selyse and Melisandre. Ultimately he dies as a result of his attempt to poison Melisandre with the Strangler.
Despite being harsh to him Stannis admitted after his death that Cressen had been like a father to him.
==Trivia==
*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.
==Navigation==
Category:A Song of Ice and Fire Heroes
Category:Loyal
Category:Servant of a Villain
Category:Book Heroes
Category:TV Show Heroes
Category:Lethal
Category:Dark Fantasy Heroes
Category:Friend of a Villain
Category:Elderly
Category:Good Vs. Good
Category:Live Action Heroes
Category:Male
Category:Doctors and Scientists
Category:Mentors
Category:Honorable
Category:Disciplinarians
Category:Nurturers
Category:Protectors
Category:Voice of Reason
Category:Suicidal
Category:Extremists
Category:Sophisticated
Category:Xenophobes
Category:Type Dependent on Version
Category:Non-Action
Category:Weaklings
Category:Healers
Category:Medieval Heroes