Mark Gatiss publicly confirmed his return as Tycho Nestoris the Iron Banker for the seventh season of Game of Thrones in a new interview with Express, this weekend.
“Yes, I did it in Belfast last year. I can’t tell you anything more obviously, mostly because I don’t know anything.” He tells Express, “It was lovely. What I love about it is that I don’t have any stake in it.”
That would be quite a change for him. While Gatiss is a successful actor, he often wears multiple hats, writing several episodes of Doctor Who, and writing and executive producing the international hit Sherlock.
Spoilers beyond!
But when it comes to Game of Thrones, Gatiss says, “I honestly don’t know the ins and outs. People ask me this, that and the other, I haven’t got a clue. I’ve done four episodes now and there’s two more they think. It’s a huge saga and I don’t know and I rather like that. But I’ve had a lovely time.”
Gatiss has appeared in two aired episodes of GoT to date, and our sources confirmed for us that he’s set for two episodes in the middle of season 7. So the actor’s remarks are intriguing- it sounds as though the showrunners have already confirmed for Gatiss that he’s in two season 8 episodes!
As we reported last November when we first noted his return, Tycho Nestoris will visit King’s Landing to call in the Crown’s debt to the Iron Bank.
Gatiss also had this tease for Express. “The last scene I’m in with – I probably can’t say because it would be a spoiler, wouldn’t it?”
Given that he’s visiting with Cersei and the Crown, he just might be referring to Lena Headey. But we’ll see, won’t we!
Love him, happy to hear he will be in more eps to come.
It would be awsome if
heh, it would have been funny if Gatiss was returning as….
Mycroft Baratheon, the forgotten genius brother!
On a more serious note, assuming that Tycho is going to Kings Landing, then will Cersei still be the queen?
And on a more serious note, will he be wearing a Cat-in-the-Hat hat? I am sure that actually is absolutely critical to the story! 😛
The last scene in the series finale should be Mark Gatiss coming to Westeros to repossess the Iron Throne like the ultimate repo man. 😛
Eventually someone has to pay the debt to the bank.
Maybe next season Tycho will go north and have an arc similar to the one in Dance.
Love Gattis! 🙂
The Iron bank is one of the most intriguing establishments in the book, so I am very happy to see it return in the show.
Considering Cersei has no fucks to give, I don’t see this being a happy ending for gatiss 🙂
I hope he is not Dr Chinnery for the Dragons.
Hodor!
“I’m not going to stop the bank, I’m not going to break the bank.”
— Daenerys Targaryen, the Elizabeth Warren of Westeros
H.Stark,
Tertiary (hell, in this case, quaternary!) characters like this don’t have arcs: they are basically just plot devices that happen to be people. Moreover, it is way too late for that plotline: Jon’s no longer at the Wall and Stannis’ days as soi-distant King of Westeros are long gone!
My bet is that Tycho here will be taking the part of some other name in the books (should the books ever get to this) who represents the Iron Bank. It is sensible to use Gattis in that role because the audience now has a visual memory of him. True, it will be: “Wait, when did we see him before?” but as it will be associated with the Iron Bank, it should click quickly enough.
Tycho is going to charge the Lannisters double just for subjecting him to the singing of Mace Tyrell in season 5 and that’ll be his undoing.
Catspaw Assassin,
Geez, what I would not do to give Warren three dragons…..
Wimsey,
This 🙂
Wimsey,
What I mean is reaching an agreement with Jon/the Starks, and helping them in some capacity. Because I don´t think Cersei cares about the bank, she will show him the exit.
Oh this is very intriguing.Even more the fact that he is set to return in season 8.I can just imagine Jon or Danny or both or whatever poor soul has the kingdoms after the war with the WW getting a visit from the Iron Bank coming to collect lol.That would be so funny.You can escape ice zombies but not the bank.
How does the Iron Bank enforce anything? Do they have an army to force anyone into paying them back? Seriously though, what would the Iron Bank do if Cersei or whomever was in charge told him to fuck off? Would they even be able to do anything about it?
Do they hire the Faceless Men to “collect”?
Cersei will kill him.
The Iron Bank will hire the Faceless Men to kill Cersei as payback.
Jaqen will reappear in Westeros and task Arya with doing the job.
Arya will kill Cersei.
Job’s a good’un.
Roll credits.
Ramsay’s 20th Good Man,
Yay-esssssss!
So much for the foolish and cynical line of thinking that the Crown’s substantial debt to the Iron Bank would go away quietly, and that the show would either drop the storyline or rapidly tie it up in a neat little bow. The writers always have been very good about revisiting and resolving these recurring threads. We already knew about Gatiss’s involvement in Season 7, of course, but if he’s hinting that he’ll be back for Season 8 as well, then it sounds like the concern will linger until the very end of the series. It seems that not even the coming apocalypse stops the Bank from having its due.
When news of Gatiss’s return first surfaced, I wondered if Cersei might demonstrate her give-no-fucks-and-damn-the-consequences approach to power by having Tycho killed when he showed up to demand repayment. But if Tycho survives Season 7, that suggests that Cersei listened when Tywin described the Iron Bank as a temple: “one stone crumbles, and another takes its place. And the temple holds its form for a thousand years or more.” In that case, Tycho probably has better odds of surviving than almost everyone on the series. If the Night King needs to open a line of credit as his army makes their way south, I’m sure that he and his colleagues will be happy to oblige.
I can buy dragons, White Walkers and ressurrection, but a banker giving out interest free loans out of the goodness of his heart is stretching it…
Anyway, intriguing news for sure. I didn’t expect to see more of the Iron Bank story line, but now it looks like Cersei will have to deal with them. I have no idea how that will go down, but knowing Cersei I’m absolutely certain it’s going to be a ton of fun to watch.
Ah, yes, the old addage, “The only guarantees in life are death and taxes”.
Sounds like they are both coming for Westeros in the Wars to Come.
It was funny when Gatiss came on board , D&D , who are fans of him, had to suppress gushing and talking shop!
It’s all so mysterious , because it does seem , story wise, that Braavos has some kind of part in the big big picture, this includes the FM too. (Well also R’hllor .)
Curious.
Now , I don’t remember his name, Tycho Nestoris, being mentioned on the show, do I?
Just the cast list.
his last encounter will be with the Mountain. he will not return from king’s landing live.
Cersei certainly does not appreciate the power of the Bank, and her very “Tory” instincts seem to lead her to dismiss “Whig” power. However, because of this, my bet is that the Bank will put it’s money behind Daenerys, not Jon. Cersei seems to be following a very MacBethian path regarding Daenerys, and having Cersei further seal her prophesized doom in this way would be a nice flourish on that “motif.” (I’m not sure that is actually a motif: is it a trope, instead?)
But from the point of the plot, the Iron Bank will be acutely aware of Daenerys’ activities because: 1) it has to be disrupting economics in Essos (bad!) and, 2) Daeny’s abolitionist creed has to be resonating strongly in Bravos (good!). On the other hand, what happens in the North stays in the North. They probably will know about Stannis’ defeat because the Boltons clearly crowed (literally and figuratively) about that. We don’t know how quickly news of the Boltons’ downfall will percolate south. Jon et al. will have good reasons to not advertise this to the Lannisters. Of course, LF is there: and Loki Jr. does things for lots of different reasons. (There likely are not Lannister spies in those ranks, though, so news will not come from that.)
We know that they provide financial support for the enemies of people who screw them over on the condition that the supported enemies get the Iron Bank their payments. That does not mean that the Iron Bank does not also use other means such as assassins: but what they really want is the interest on their loans, and simply killing a ruler and stirring up social disorder sometimes will not be conducive to their actual goal. Bravosi shareholders are not people with whom to be triffled, it seems! So, Tyrell was only partly correct: the Iron Bank is built on gambles, but the Iron Bank also alters the dice.
Mr Derp,
They can financially support another candidate for the throne, who will pay off his/her debts as well as the debts from the Crown. In the books they support Stannis, as book Cersei refuses to honor the Crown’s debts to the Iron Bank. As a result, the bank called in all debts and refused to give out loans throughout Westeros, plunging it in financial chaos. Interestingly enough, book Jon manages to secure a loan from the bank to feed the Night’s Watch through winter. I doubt the show will go in this direction though, as Stannis is dead and Jon will probably benefit from the Vale’s resources.
Another alternative would be to simply hire a Faceless assassin and strike a deal with whoever ends up on the throne to honor the debts. With the threat of assassins, they’d be willing to pay.
Pfft Euron ain’t paying sh******t when he takes the Iron Throne.. Iron Bank brah. But then maybe he will be paying sh*****t cos he don’t value worldly goods that most folk want to get their hands on.
one of Euron’s Mutes,
So, in summary, Euron ain’t paying shit, but then again, he may be paying shit…
That’s some pretty deep shit right there 😉
Jared,
Perhaps the Night King can pay back in frozen assets (thats ok, I’ll show myself out….)
Welcome back, Mark!!!!!!!!!!!!
Flayed Potatoes,
Yea, I hear ya on that, but I feel like this would present a number of problems. For example, Stannis got some money from the Iron Bank, but he’s dead now, so who pays that off? How does the Iron Bank recover those losses? Do they simply decide that Cersei has to pay that back too because she is the one who the Iron Bank is currently backing? I mean, wouldn’t that prompt Cersei to find out that the Iron Bank has been scheming behind her back? That doesn’t sound like a good way to do business. Or do they decide to back Daenerys or someone new on the condition that they pay back Stannis’s debt?
ash,
No, that was a good one! Stick around. 😉
A condition of the Iron Bank funding, say, Daenerys would be repayment of Stannis’ and Joffery’s debts.
As for Cersei finding out that the Iron Bank is scheming behind her back, keep in mind that she has a very bad habit of assuming that nobody is smarter than she is. Because the Iron Bank is run by commoners, and because commoners are necessarily less intelligent than nobles (at least according to people like Cersei), Cersei would expect any attempted reprisals to be crude and easily thwarted.
Moreover, if Cersei did learn of it, then….. what? The Iron Bank is much more powerful than she comprehends, and nothing that she would think to do to them would amount to much. Supposedly the Iron Bank has kept monarchs and nobles trembling for centuries now: if it were that easy for them to retaliate, then someone would have done it successfully by now.
One thing to keep in mind about Cersei is that she is the classic Dunning-Kruger type (or at least the left-hand of the curve). It’s not just that she’s ignorant and not-very-bright: she’s ignorant of her ignorance and of her lack of intelligence. The history of the Iron Bank means nothing because she doesn’t know it: and she doesn’t know that she doesn’t know it.
Mr Derp,
Yes, the Iron Bank is notorious for using Faceless Men. This makes me wonder about Cersei’s worry about the valonquar. Hmmmm
Wimsey,
To play devil’s advocate, if Cersei and Euron can manage to form an alliance, what if Cersei makes a bold move and has Euron take his Iron Fleet over to Braavos and attack the Iron Bank, plundering all of their gold and whatever other riches they have and strike them before they can do anything to the Crown. Who would stop them? Do we know what has made the Iron Bank so powerful historically?
Mr Derp,
My guess is whoever they support next would honor all those debts. And I assume the bank will also repossess Stannis’ ships to make some money.
If it was that easy, then it would have been done already by the much-more powerful Essosian countries. Keep in mind that Braavos is set up to be very difficult to assault from the sea: their harbor is setup to be a death-trap for an invading fleet. Basically, any invading ships would be destroyed trying to pass under the giant statue. Moreover, as they are a sea-faring people, the Bravosi probably could be a match for the Iron Islanders. Remember, the Iron Islanders are a reaving people: their strength is not in great navies, but in “commando” tactics. They are much more like (say) 16th century England, not 18th century England!
Cersei’s death will not be so arbitrary as to be by an unknown character. It will be by someone who has a strong personal relationship with her: and almost certainly by another protagonist. And given the nature of these stories, it will be done by someone who does not entirely want to do it.
Mr Derp,
You know what I’m talking about. *fistbump*. Euron gonna make bank bro!
*opens chest full of gold trinkets and valyrian artifacts and throws them out into the crowd*
Wimsey,
Tyrion knew about Stannis by Ep9S6, so we can safely assume that the Iron Bank is aware of that too.
In general I agree that the Iron Bank will turn to Dany and Jon after Cersei refuses to pay its due, but I wonder how Jon is going to negotiate. Basicly, if the WW prevail, all the dues will be frozen literarly; hence, the Iron Bank should be interested to take the side of the living and invest into victory even by hiring the FM to kill the Night King.
But I strongly expect that the last scene of the show will be Tycho demanding the due from whoever survives and Aragorn’s tax policy will be a plot for spin-off.
Indeed! But, then, the Boltons would have sent news of this far and wide for several reasons. Word of their subsequent defeat will percolate south, but I would be surprised if it is advertised as heavily. (That also means that the stories that make it south will be much more heavily distorted: there is some small chance that this could be important.) Daenerys, on the other hand, is being wildly advertised.
True! However, I also expect that the Iron Bankers will be even more difficult to convince of fairy tales springing to life than will, say, southern Westerosi. They probably will choose their client long before events transpire that make the Walkers undeniable.
Of course, events could simplify the possible choices for the Iron Bank. For example, if Jon & Daenerys ally themselves, then the Iron Bank has no choice to make, at least between those two. If Daenerys has already driven Cersei out of Kings Landing by the time Mycroft turns up, then that also simplifies things.
My keyboard does not have enough L’s and O’s for that! 😀
Mr Derp,
I assume the Iron Bank has probably already made back their initial outlay to the Crown, or at least a pretty substantial proportion of it, via interest payments.
Obviously that won’t prevent them pursuing repayment in full, but it means that they’re unlikely to be bankrupted if they were forced to write off the debt.
Stannis was effectively employed like a debt collection agency on behalf of the Iron Bank, and that’s an expense that they probably factor into their finances regardless; just like how your own bank or credit card company will have those potential expenses factored into any payments/interest they expect of you.
If you’re going to lend somebody millions, then you had better factor in the means to recover your debt as a planned expense ahead of time.
“Power is where people think it resides” just like Varys said, but the Bank continuously funds people that never pay their debts back (even the Lannisters haven’t paid their debts back to the Iron Bank), and on and on it goes like spokes on a wheel, so I still don’t quite understand why anyone fears them or finds them necessary. To me, the success of the Iron Bank COMPLETELY depends on their ability to enforce their rules. Since we don’t entirely know how they ENFORCE these rules, I feel like it’s a natural progression to wonder why the Iron Bank is needed at all.
I guess the Iron Bank would just throw money at a rival enemy to destroy those who are in arrears to them, but that still wouldn’t make the I.B. any money in the long run. It’s just more dishing out money rather than receiving it. You could just say, screw you Iron Bank, instead of being paid to take out your enemy, I’ll just take you out and take all of your money. Unless, of course, there is a reason to fear them.
I’d love to get more background on the Iron Bank to understand how they are able to maintain their legitimacy. It’s one thing to make laws, but a completely different thing to enforce them. I’m sure there is an explanation, but I haven’t heard it yet. I have a hard time believing that this is all held together by the Faceless men. Perhaps White Walkers are the IRS debt collectors of their time and have been working with the Iron Bank all along. Ha!
Wimsey,
You said “And on a more serious note, will he be wearing a Cat-in-the-Hat hat? I am sure that actually is absolutely critical to the story!”
If so, he’ll want gold and will Pounce by the Ounce.
That eliminates Arya as FM because the FM do not permit a FM to assasinate someone known to the assassin. In this case, Arya would have to be a free agent.
One theme of ASoIaF that has received little recognition is that money rules the world, ultimately. Monarchs, governments, bullies, armies, associations of equals, slave owners cannot beat the Iron Bank. The Iron Bank religion is promulgated by the Faceless Men.
The Iron Bank personifies the inevitability of death and taxes through the FM and collection of debts as the city of Bravos personifies the triumph of slaves over masters through its founding by escaped slaves. So on the one hand money rules all but the underdog wins.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the Iron Bank had some ties with OldTown, and perhaps uses a bit of wizardry to collect…
I do wonder if someone could possibly inherit Stannis debt, perhaps a leftover Bartheon.
Hypothetically speaking I wonder what would happen if say the throne was destroyed and the monarchy stripped, who would inherit the loan then?
Catspaw Assassin,
The last scene I’m in with – I probably can’t say because it would be a spoiler, wouldn’t it?
Hodor!
I’m holding out hope the Spoiler that was Promised is Jaqen in Episode 6 or 7.
I’m thinking of the sellswords that deserted Stannis after Shireen, who would still have been in the general area and learned the outcome of the battle. It’s not so far a stretch to think that at least a few would want to get out of the snow and go south. They would be spreading their story of the massive “misdeeds” and massive defeat of Stannis. We’ve been shown various groups of traveling thugs who’ve come out of a battle, spreading their news. Arya ran across at least 2 such groups. It wouldn’t be so hard for someone in KL to mention having overheard in a brothel (probably re-opened by a student of Littlefinger) the news and delivering it to Cersei. The little birds are still fluttering about. They’d report it.
I’m glad the showrunners didn’t drop the Iron Bank thread – such a big deal was made of the power of the bankers. Stannis held Dragonstone at the time he got the loan from the Iron Bank. Wouldn’t they want to “foreclose” on it? It was about the only asset he had, except for the small fleet of ships, supposedly still at Eastwatch. But Dany is going to take Dragonstone. How can they enforce their foreclosure? Wouldn’t they be afraid of dragons over Bravos? They would either have to make a deal with Dany or send a Faceless Man to kill her, thinking that only she can control the dragons. So, maybe the person Nestoris meets with is Dany. It should be very interesting to see what happens. I don’t imagine they’d be too happy with Littlefinger either, come to think of it.
The Iron Bank shows, to me, an interesting transition between late mediaeval and early modern ‘ways of being’. Anybody here read Dorothy Dunnett’s ‘House of Niccolò’ series? The idea of the rule of money, the idea of independent financing, is coming to the foreground and banks start to thrive or fall on how well they promote this idea.
And while there are several banks emerging in Westeros (in the books), the Iron Bank has a key factor which is that it is on Bravos, and so cannot realistically be attacked.
I guess I thought that Stannis put up the Iron Throne as collateral , but the default would have been Dragonstone. Yeah one would think that now Danny has more gold than the Iron Bank, she could cover Stannis’s loan and perhaps rent Braavos’s navy which is supposed to be the best in Essos. One would guess that the IB would hold enough sway that it could involve Braavos on the side of Dany, after all as mentioned Dany is the first Valyrian they have ever seen who was an abolitionist.
Somehow, I’m not seeing Arya as being high on the FM’s list of trusted agents anymore….
The “collateral” was a promise to repay the debts. How does not seem to be flatly declared: but as Dragonstone does not have large amounts of farmlands or other sources of natural wealth tied to it, the Iron Bank probably would not have much interest in it. (The obsidian might be about to become very valuable: but, again, they don’t know that!) If there were specific promises, then the Iron Bank would have wanted lands that could guarantee some profit over the short and long term.
Possibly. However, the Iron Bank would be run by people smart enough to take those stories with big grains of salt: they would know that when stories get told and retold, the truth gets layered with exaggeration and outright fabrication. (That was discussed around here when people wondered why LF didn’t know about the Boltons: if “true” stories about them managed to reach LF’s ears, someone as savvy as LF would be skeptical because propaganda always magnifies misdeeds.)
The common point is that Stannis is dead, and thus the monies that the Iron Bank loaned him are lost. The important thing is that they will be looking to recoup that loss. In their favor, there are two sides to the impending Westerosi civil war; against their favor, they already know that Cersei cannot be trusted to honor debts, which leaves only Daenerys as a choice. Still, they might be able to offer her incentive to get them some of their money back. After all, Stannis is now a “sunk cost”: but that still can be psychological leverage.
Jared,
I have a feeling he might just renegotiate a deal with Cersei. I’m sure he’d want nothing to do with Davos after they threw money at Stannis and it was wasted, so he might just cross Jon off his list and maybe Dany by extension as well. Might as well go with the devil you know.
It would be a poor political move by the Iron Bank to renegotiate with Cersei. Part of how they get people to pay off their debts is the knowledge that failure to do so results in permanent reprisals from the Iron Bank. Moreover, they probably know enough about Cersei at this point to understand that she does not take them seriously. In many ways, she represents what Bravos as a whole hates: the arrogant aristocrat who assumes that non-nobles (be they slaves or freemen) are innately inferior to herself. Given that they would have a viable alternative in Daenerys (and given that Daenerys’ abolitionist views almost certainly play well in Bravos), it would be much more in keeping with what we know about them for the Iron Bank to just support her.
I was mainly thinking of the ways the news about Stannis and the Boltons could quickly reach Kings Landing and not so much about whether the IB would believe it. The gossip/traveling minstrel system must be a fairly quick and reliable source of news dispersement throughout the kingdom, more reliable and available to the farmers, etc., than ravens – even Littlefinger told Sansa he was sure that news of his declaring for the Starks had already reached KL, and that was within one episode of time lapse.
Cersei will continue her stupidity and kill him. And that will be her undoing as the FM will be sure to murder her in response via Arya. (I agree with whoever said this)
Wimsey,
I don’t think the Iron Bank support anything but money. And I think it’s like that in the real world as well. If they align with Dany, it’s for financial reasons only.
Boojam,
“Danny has more gold than the Iron Bank”,uhh,say what ? When was this ever stated in the show or implied ?
Thronetender,
Just like Varys was in Dorne and in Mereeen the same episode right ? Don’t judge the passing of time based on episode basis,it’s clear some time has passed since the defeat of Ramsay and the lords of the North gathering at Winterfell which would clearly take some time .
The gal that wrote the article discussing this topic at Vanity Fair titled it with “Expect to see a lot more Braavos in season 7.” She did however finish her article to include “or will Tycho go boldly into Westeros itself?”
Personally I wouldn’t have even suggested a lot more scenes in Braavos as I assume that he will indeed be IN Westeros. I wouldn’t be surprised if there weren’t ANY Braavos scenes. At most perhaps an interior scene of his discussions to go collect from the crown. The thing is, neither Daenerys nor Jon need to go to Braavos in search of loans at this time. It would surely be a waste of valuable time to squeeze financials into their storyline(s). Cersei is the only one he needs to deal with immediately and she’s certainly not going to Braavos.
Money first, yes: but they are Bravosi, and that means abolitionism #2. At any rate, they will not support Cersei: they are involved solely because she has stiffed them. IF they do not choose a side, then they will send a Faceless Man to kill Cersei. Given that this is a story, not a history, that is not going to happen. So, they’ll side with Daeny unless Jon somehow presents himself as a credible alternative very (very!) quickly.
Weirdly, some viewers refuse to do that. Hence, LF has a “jetpack”: instead of using the distance to infer that many days, or even weeks have elapsed (as film and TV makers always intend), they decide that we are watching it in real time or something.
Of course, they could show it in real time. Hundreds of hours of people sitting around doing nothing (or, more realistically, training at weapons and sewing) would make such stimulating TV…..
If she still has Meereen it sure is implied. She was able to outfit more ships that were besieging her. The Doorne and Highgarden ship looked out numbered by Targ ships , by a lot, where did those come from?
Boojam,
Yunkai, Astapor, and Volantis. She did not buy them; she took them after their attempt to sack Mereen. Tyrion even kindly thanked them for the armada, as his Queen does love ships. 🙂
Mr Derp,
The iron bank enforces nonpayment by financing usurpers.
Wimsey,
Don’t bring MacBeth into this!
I’m sorry. I meant to write “The Scottish Play-ish.” That’s a thing. Now.
And strategically placed horse heads.
Wimsey,
You tend to over-complicate things. Jon and Dany will team up by mid-season, and the Iron Bank won’t have to choose between them. The most interesting thing is how the Iron Bank will fit into the big picture of the Great War.
IMO, you haven’t realized what Tywin said about the Iron Bank: it’s not a bank, it’s a temple. And if the Iron Bank is a temple – I guess it’s a subsidiary of the House of Black and White – then it should be aware of everything, including the WW.
However, it’s hard to tell, what goal it pursues. On the one hand, if the WW prevail, the Iron Bank will have to write off the entire debt of Westeros; hence, it should be interested to support those, who fight for the living. But on the other hand, the Iron Bank may simply leave Westeros to its doom as a lesson to Essos.
One way or another Jon and Dany will have to promise to pay back all the loans granted to the Crown and Stannis and whomever else, if they want to prevail over the WW which represent death: dues are an inevitable part of life, after all, and this might be one of the messages of the entire GOT/ASOIAF.
Yay, more snark from the loan shark.
Also, it’s Gatiss – G A T I S S – (one t, two s, spoken gay-tiss), not Gattis. And in case you think “who cares?” – he does. He’s mentioned this in several interviews.
I never get why people think that whoever say dany or Jon for instance should pay for the debts made by Robert or stannis baratheon ..
They are not the heirs of Robert to inherit his debts nor did they got any help from IronBank for removing baratheons so that they promised they will pay in their return..
didi,
that’s why i always prefer Mycroft to gatiss
dragonbringer,
The loans aren’t made in Robert’s name fam. They’re made in the name of the Iron Throne and whoever sits on the chair needs to pay up. Cersei isn’t Robert’s heir, but the bank is still knocking at her door.
Flayed Potatoes,
No I would have agreed if it was a democracy and people elected who sits on the IT but its not ..
Cersei is taking the throne as widow of Robert the only memeber alive from the Royal family and she herself and her family has received credit from Ironbank so she is entitled to pay it ..
But I don’t think dany or Jon needs to pay and I don’t think it’s just to ask from them either ..of course iam sure both of them will indeed try to pay if asked but I think they don’t need to
dragonbringer,
Cersei isn’t taking the throne as Robert’s widow. She is taking it as Cersei Lannister. She isn’t crowned Cersei Baratheon.
Flayed Potatoes,
Is she ..she always kept her name even when Robert was alive ..but it doesn’t matter like I said she herself and lannisters have borrowed money from IB so they must pay ..but I don’t want someone like dany who had nothing to do with IB to pay for what Robert cersei and stannis did..
The IB simply must accept that this mission is failure and sustained huge loss and pray it doesn’t happen again ….
dragonbringer,
In fact, that’s how it works in our world too: you may have a corrupted autocracy, you may dethrone it with fire and blood, but then you have IMF and EBRD representatives knocking on your door and telling you what “liberal reforms” you have to introduce, what “experts” you have to hire, and what salaries you have to pay them, not to mention that the fisrst thing you do after any successful revolution is proclaiming that you will pay out all the debts made by the former government. No surprise, that people extrapolate this practice to Westeros too.
dragonbringer,
The Iron Bank isn’t going to accept that just because you don’t want your favorite character to suffer consequences like everyone else is. They’re a financial institution first and foremost. That’s the entire point of the Iron Throne: everyone wants it, but it’s a thankless position filled with nothing but debt and trouble. Look at how many are paying for the War of the Five Kings and Red Wedding even when they had no involvement in it: all the people Arya and the Hound meet in the Riverlands, Jon and Sansa when they were trying to rally troops (it’s not their fault Robb made mistakes), Edmure (not his fault either). Tyrion is going to suffer too if/when he’s made Lord of Casterly Rock because he has no idea the Lannister mines and wealth are kaput. All the survivors will have to sadly pick up the pieces and it will be bittersweet.
(leaks)
The Iron Bank is a bank. They’re in the business of making money.
If Jon or Dany claimed rule over Westeros they wouldn’t just slap them with the Crown’s bill and say, “pay it or die”.
If you take over a failed business and its debts along with it, you may have to pay off a proportion of your creditors immediately and arrange some sort of repayment strategy for the rest, or write off the remainder entirely.
The Iron Bank, like all such institutions, is more likely to prefer an honourable customer who will keep up repayments and with whom they can do business in future, ahead of the futile pursuit of debts run up in somebody else’s name. Especially if that pursuit will cost them money (e.g. financing Stannis’ campaign) and leave the business (the Seven Kingdoms) in such turmoil that it’s unproductive and can’t repay anything at all.
As I wrote in an earlier comment, the Iron Bank has probably made a substantial proportion of their money back already. And as Mace Tyrell told Tycho Nestoris, the Iron Bank are “the world’s best gamblers”. And good gamblers know when it’s best to fold, rather than throw good money after bad.
If Cersei refuses to honour the debts that the Crown and House Lannister owe, then the Iron Bank would be best off making an example of her to show what happens when people don’t pay their debts, take whatever they can get (e.g. maybe they could be given Casterly Rock, since it’s the Lannisters who claim to always pay their debts) and then move forward productively with whoever takes Cersei’s place.
Flayed Potatoes,
Again you mistake my intent iam not speaking this because its about dany …
Iam speaking this for anyone else..
Say if aerys left the kingdom in debt and Robert overthrow him with no help of IB ..I don’t want him to pay the debts of aerys either ..
I only mentioned dany because she is the only one who doesn’t deal with IB or need IB help ..jon already got help from them So I didn’t mention it ..
I just don’t like when people talk of Ironbank or faceless men as good guys ..you would think with all their suffering they would have put an end to the slavery with their power but they only used it to advance themselves ..
dragonbringer,
Nobody here is speaking of the Bank as good guys. They’re a bank, not a charity.
Flayed Potatoes,
I know as I was saying they can’t expect debts made by one to be paid by another who had nothing to do with that loan..
They can ask but they can’t demand them to pay and it must be entirely upto the new ruler to decide ..
dragonbringer,
Yes they can expect and they can demand. If the ruler decides he/she does not want to pay, the bank will act. Just like how in the books Cersei stops all payments and the bank retaliates by calling in all the debts in Westeros, refusing new loans and plunging the whole kingdom into economic chaos. This entire issue with debts and tax policies and economic turmoil is exactly the stuff GRRM is not going to shy away from tackling no matter who ends up on the throne.
A country’s debts for example don’t just magically disappear when it has a new president who had nothing to do with the previous debt. It’s still there to be paid. This is exactly how Westeros’ debt to the Iron Bank functions. I don’t know what’s so difficult to understand.
Yeah, it isn’t a personal loan situation without a co-signer. The Crown has a debt to the Iron Bank, as stated several times on the show and books. It’s not Robert Baratheon’s debt in their books. Besides, this isn’t real banking laws, it’s a fictitious world and were speaking of a bank that fancies itself greater than any royalty. The Iron Bank is likely to go after anyone they FEEL should pay due, regardless if it’s just. Part of the stipulations for Stannis’ loan, for instance, were that he honor the debts of the Crown. They essentially loaned him money with the trust that he could take the iron throne and pay back all of the loans.
Mr Derp,
Well, remember this is all from a story, not any fact whatsoever. If you take a loan from the Iron Bank and do not repay the loan it is simple – they will have you killed. How you are killed is determined based on the case. Basically the two options are by funding another army/Usurper or by hiring a the Faceless Men.
Now clearly in the history that we know of the Iron Bank I don’t believe any King’s of Westeros borrowed money from the Iron Bank until Stannis Baratheon. The Targaryen’s were in power for such a long time, wealth was not a problem. ( i could be wrong on that issue). So, I don’t believe the Iron Bank has loaned out money to such a powerful entity in it’s history until Robert Baratheon took the throne. The Iron Bank did not fund Robert Baratheon to take the throne but they loaned out lots of monies once he took the throne.
So my point here is I believe the Iron Bank is in uncharted territory for collecting money as an entity. If there is one thing for certain it is the Iron Bank does their own research. I am sure they have spies to see the character of the type of people who could potentially ascend the throne after Robert, Joffrey, Tommen, Cersei. Notice how they never asked for dues under Robert. Probably because Littlefinger always paid his interest to ensure they were pleased. Well that changed, Joffrey became King and they knew how incompetent he was and basically Tywin was running things. Well Tywin could be trusted to repay loans. Well Joffrey died and Davos used the fact that Tywin will most likely die soon as well, either by war or age, to get a loan for Stannis. do they trust Cersei to repay the loans. The Iron Bank hedged their bets and agreed to loan Stannis the money, not support him in winning the war, just money to attempt it, as long as he accepted Robert’s and Joffrey’s debts. He did. Not a terrible banking decision cause if the war wages on through years of winter the Iron Bank could make many returns from both parties.
Well that didn’t happen. Stannis died and the Iron Bank called in for payment of half the debt to Cersei. Since they somewhat trusted Tommen and lost Stannis, and the Iron Throne’s debt is being handled by the Tyrell’s money now they were able to renegotiate terms of payment.
Tycho is now coming to Kings Landing most likely because the money repaying the loan King’s debts (Tyrell money) is now gone because Cersei killed off the Tyrell heads. Also, a trusted push over of a King in TOmmen is dead now too. My guess is Tycho is going to deal with Cersei on what is going to be done with the debts now.
If I had to guess – if Cersei says no payment until the war with Dany is concluded then i wouldn’t be surprised if Tycho may throw the Iron Bank’s backing some place else. Well I don’t believe the Vale, Dany, or the North need any assistance currently so that kind of limits Iron Banks options. He could go to Dany and say I will kill Jamie or Cersei Lannister and maybe all remaining Lannister’s via Faceless Men to assist in your war? I will do this if you take on the crown’s debts. Well Dany will say no, she can do it herself no reason to go millions in debt just for a few dead. So the Iron Bank may actually be in trouble in getting repayment from the Baratheon/Lannister debt. They will have to find a way to ensure Cersei/Jamie win or that Dany will accept their debt if she takes the throne.
My whole point is I believe this is the first time the Iron Bank has loaned money to such a powerful entity that is not repaying. That makes things difficult. You kill Cersei via Faceless Man then the Lannister’s believe it to be a Tyrell assassin. More war occurs which delays payments even more. So you can’t continue to kill kings and queens via faceless men to force repayment because those assassinations could lead to wars which could delay repayment of loans even more.
Tywin Lannister was known as the richest man in the world. The Iron Bank has access to more gold then the Lannister’s ever have. The Iron Bank is an entity however, not a man. Yes, could you attack Braavos, sure. You will lose many men and ships and even if you got to the Iron Bank you have to get it opened. I don’t think one can attack the Iron Bank.
Clob,
Ofcourse stannis does that because he claims the IT through Robert and he also needed the money ….he can’t shy away from the debts
Flayed Potatoes,
OK let me ask this will the new ruler be asked to pay for the stannis loan as well..
By the Old Gods and the New, so mote it be! And NY’s own Kirsten Gillibrand can be her Missandei and ride one of them into battle against the Long Night.
dragonbringer,
That I don’t know. I suppose it depends on what they negotiate with the bank. I assume some of Stannis’ assets could get repossessed by the bank (starting with his ships). I don’t remember the sums, but his loan can’t be bigger than what the Iron Throne currently owes. We will have to see what happens when he dies in the books.
This is delightful news! Gatiss really brings that role to life, and I’m so glad to see the Iron Bank remaining an important player in the Game.
Though I’m basically a numerophobe whose eyes tend to glaze over anytime anyone tries to explain the more complex lending practices of modern high finance to me (I can never keep all those acronyms straight), I’ve long felt that the inclusion of macroeconomic forces in the political picture is a big part of what elevates ASoIaF/GoT above the common run of medieval fantasy stories. The ‘Aragorn’s tax policies’ quote is strong evidence that GRRM is committed to this, and I’m relieved that it wasn’t written out of the TV version as being too abstract for the average viewer to grasp. The financing subplot is also very pertinent to Varys’ riddle about the nature of power, which was kept in for a reason.
It is no coincidence that the Iron Bank and the Temple of Black and White are neighbors. They constitute a power bloc that monarchs ignore at their peril. I hope they play a role in Cersei’s downfall (though I’ve never really bought the notion that Arya would be the one sent to assassinate her; she has other fish to fry in the North).
It will indeed be interesting to see what financial package is left in the lap(s) of whoever ends up holding the Throne, if anyone. There will be no happily ever after.
dragonbringer,
you’re attempting to bring modern concepts of contract law to the Iron Bank’s lending practices. If you must, here is how it may go:
Take, for example, a house (with a mortgage – secured debt). If I sell it, the buyer takes title subject to the mortgage. Even though the buyer was not a party to the contract between myself and the mortgage company. So, unless the buyer pays off the prior mortgage, the lien that secures the mortgage debt will remain on the property’s title.
The Crown has a debt to the Iron Bank, which is secured by the Iron Throne and all its attendant rights and privileges (i.e., the Iron Bank could force the lords of Westeros to pay their tithe directly to them, instead of the king/queen). Unless the new holder of the Iron Throne pays off the debt, the Iron Bank’s “security interest” will continue to encumber the Throne and the Iron Bank will hound and levy on the Crown’s incomes until it’s paid off.
dragonbringer,
Actually she is taking the throne as a conqueror not as the widow of Robert. She had no right to the throne through marriage – only any legitimate offspring she bore to the late King would have had that right. She blew up her enemies and anyone who would have opposed her and took the throne so it’s hers through right of conquest.
Won’t the Iron Bank be wary of supporting Dany because – even though she is all about breaking chains and ending slavery – her power is derived from her dragons. And the Braavosi do not like dragons. Perhaps they’re in cahoots with Oldtown, although the Citadel conspiracy against magic theme from the books does not exist in the show ?
I think that what might be more important is that it does show a “Tory” vs. “Whig” tension in Westerosi society: the people who inherit wealth hold a dim view of people who create their own wealth. The concept of “entitlement” goes back to the basic etymology: having a title is the only “proper” way for someone to hold financial or political power.
I doubt that this exact sociopolitical issue is ever going to be important: it is too late to make one of the major protagonists a republican or an anti-republican Tory. However, it does put this general issue on the table, and it is tied to Jon’s dealings with the Wildlings and Daenerys’ dealings with slaves & commoners. In some way, these should in turn be relevant when it comes time to make that choice regarding the Walkers (whatever it might be).
At this point, I don’t think that Arya is on their payroll!
The Crown already had a substantial debt to the Iron Bank before Stannis ever borrowed any gold from them. On the show, Olenna & Tywin discuss this: she calls his bluff about not being worried about the Iron Bank because everybody with half a brain worries about the Iron Bank!
heh, I do the opposite: I tend to demand simplicity! (You will note who my icon is, I hope!) However, I also insist on exploring the reasonable alternatives.
One, that was a figure of speech: Tywin was saying that the Iron Bank is run by people who view money as a god. Two, temples are much more apt to be strongholds of ignorance, not knowledge. Now, if you got lucky and this particular temple was one that believed that there was an enemy like the White Walkers (as does the Red Church), then there is a chance that they’d buy these stories. However, we have no indication that the “Long Winter” is a part of the mythology of the House of Black & White (as well as no indication that they run the Bank). Nonbelievers tend to dismiss all mythologies as superstition: but believers insist that all mythologies other than their own are false.
(This probably is going to be an issue with the Church of the 7, although I doubt that the show will get into it much; the Long Winter is not part of their mythology, so they tend to dismiss stories about the Long Winter as 999 parts fable for every 1 part history.)
At any rate, given what we have seen of the Iron Bank, if someone asks them for money to fight White Walkers, then they might pause for a moment (if they have any idea what White Walkers are), and then get down to business of asking what sort of collateral is available, what the terms of repayment might be, etc. The only way in which it might affect negotiations is if it makes the Iron Banker decide that the loan applicant is a nut-job and that nut-jobs make for poor returns on investments. Otherwise, it’s down to explaining why the actual amount of interest you pay is more than the stated rate of interest…..
Ah, but his last “S” was already used up by all the times people spelled Keith Richard’s name as Keith Richards. (Keith later just changed it.) Remember, only a letter can pay for a letter.
See, for me this is an open question in both the books and the show. Jaqen gave Arya an abbreviated version of how the HoBaW and Braavos came about in the Hall of Faces – perhaps that was to give us, the audience, that background info. Jaqen highlighted the removal of the Masters and the granting of freedom to slaves (though initially this was through death); this anti-slavery campaign has been a huge part of Dany’s arc, particularly since season three. I cannot recall if their hatred of dragons has been mentioned in the show (I will need to go back and re-watch the scene).
The Iron Bank and the Faceless Men (and I do think the two are affiliated, though it is hinted at more than confirmed in the books) will need to decide what they view as more important when picking sides – Daenerys having dragons (something they hate) or Daenerys freeing slaves from the Masters (something their city was founded upon).
The big difference is that the Valyrians of old used dragons to enslave people; Daenerys is using them to free slaves. The Bravosi dislike dragons as a tool of oppression: but many people in their position would relish the semi-irony of seeing the same tools used for liberation.
The Iron Bank certainly is a client of the Faceless Men. And, let’s face it: the Faceless Men probably keep their wealth in the Iron Bank. However, the IB almost certainly has similar relationships with many Bravosi institutions: there is no indication that the affiliation between the FM & IB goes beyond that. Of course, the FM might basically be on retainer for the IB in the same way that repo men are on retainer for some loan agencies!
This is exactly why I think there is potential for real conflict within the Iron Bank itself – do they support Daenerys because she freed slaves (albeit with the assistance of creatures previously used to oppress slaves) or do they deny her support because she has dragons (in spite of how they are being used)? Not sure we will see such conflict play out as I don’t think there is enough time for it, but it would be interesting to see.
Alba Stark,
Now that I think about it, I don’t think the Iron Bank has been shown to particularly hate dragons the way they explicitly do in the books.
The Iron Bank seems to be pretty apolitical. There is no reason to think that they hate dragons per se: they hate what Valyrians did with dragons. After all, dragons never enslaved anybody on their own. They do not make light of dragons, but that is because of how they felt about the dragonlords; as nobody is going to bring back Valyria, three dragons are not really an issue.
Do not confuse the views of one person with the views of his institution! Moreover, in the book, recall that it’s not the dragons that Tycho hates: it is that dragons represent the Valyrians who enslaved their ancestors. He notes that they simply do not make light of this because of this.
For context, this is the entire statement that we get from Tycho:
(Excerpt From: George R.R. Martin. “A Dance with Dragons.” iBooks. https://itun.es/us/3ADrz.l)
I am a little late to this article but my guess (also linked to a spoiler article from this site) is:
Hell Yeah!!! Wooo hooo! Bank debts baby!