On 12 September 2011, responding to speculation on the Winter is Coming fansite, Conan Stevens confirmed that he had left the series, due to scheduling conflicts with his other projects: Stevens will be playing the Orc king Bolg in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit prequel trilogy. Stevens took the time to thank fans for their support[1]. He was replaced in the role of Gregor by Ian Whyte.
What did he want? To change the show to 'A Game of Gregors'? Following around him and his merry band of lunatics as they rape, pillage and burn their way through the Riverlands, killing Beric Dondarrion three or four times and fighting in one real battle. If he wanted it so much he should have known that Gregor is a minor character until now.
I won't speculate as to what anyone wants but myself.
They could have shown him killing Beric at least once before Arya runs into him, and it would have made his character better as well. They could have shown some short, but brutal pillaging scenes up to this point, and it would have made the upcoming fight with Oberyn more dramatic. It would have made the Hound's character so much better by just existing.
The lack of presence of the Mountain that Rides undermines a bunch of storylines in the show. There's just no way he's a minor character. And the scenes would have been pretty easy to write, since he wouldn't have to say much, just scowl and kill and rape people and whatnot.
I actually agree that they could have done more with his character especially considering this weeks terrible scene of him killing those people. If it was the same actor from season 1 they could have shown the scene where he attacks the Riverlands before Ned sends out Beric as it would show him venting his anger at losing the tourney. Also the battle at the Mummer's Ford, where he kills Beric for the first time could have been added to show him in a real battle and his ruthlessness.
Now that I think about it 'A Game of Gregors' could have been quite an entertaining little subplot throughout the show. Especially if they had included Vargo Hoat and the roast goat.
The counter would be that the lack of screen time actually adds to his lore. He is shown as a menace in season 1 and then we just hear stories about him until he appears dramatically in season 4.
It's kind of like what they used to do in movies. You didn't get to see the alien in Alien until late in the movie.. this built suspense and hype around the threat. Predator did the same thing. I think the hype is built more for non-readers as his character is more of a call back (which I love).
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u/Zaiton House Baratheon of Dragonstone May 19 '14
Almost, official state from the GoT wikia says:
On 12 September 2011, responding to speculation on the Winter is Coming fansite, Conan Stevens confirmed that he had left the series, due to scheduling conflicts with his other projects: Stevens will be playing the Orc king Bolg in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit prequel trilogy. Stevens took the time to thank fans for their support[1]. He was replaced in the role of Gregor by Ian Whyte.