Mycah is a butcher’s boy and Arya Stark’s friend. He followed his father as a part of King Robert Baratheon’s party, who rode to Winterfell from King’s Landing. When Robert travels to Winterfell, a retinue of many servants accompanies him. Mycah is among those servants as he was a butcher’s son. He is an unattractive red-haired boy with a rough face and freckles. He and Arya became friends and practiced sword fighting with wooden swords. When Joffrey stumbled across them, an accident happened, and he ran away. However, the Hound got sent after him.
Mycah Personal Details
- Name: Mycah.
- Year of Birth: 285 AC.
- Year of Death: 298 AC.
- Father: An unknown butcher.
- Allegiance: House Baratheon of King’s Landing.
- Hair Color: Red.
Relevance in A Song of Ice and Fire Novels
A Game of Thrones
When Lord Jon Arryn suddenly dies, King Robert travels to Winterfell and asks Lord Eddard Stark to become the Hand of the King. Ned Stark agrees and plans to take his son Bran Stark and daughters Arya and Sansa as Sansa gets betrothed to Joffrey Baratheon. However, Bran has an accident and slips into a coma. Unable to take his son, Ned travels with his daughters.
On the ride to King’s Landing, Arya befriends a thirteen-year-old boy, Mycah. He takes her on many adventures showing her a lizard lion and teaching her many things about the kingsroad. When they reach the Ruby Ford, Mycah and Arya plan to look for the rubies on Prince Rhaegar Targaryen’s armor.
While in the Trident, Arya and her new friend try sword-fighting when Prince Joffrey and Sansa stumble across them. Amused by the scene, Joff realizes the girl with Mycah is Arya. On seeing the Prince, Mycah gets scared and does not answer when he asks for his identity. Joff mocks the boy and says he is a pretend knight. However, Arya defends him, stating she requested the duel, but the Prince does not listen and brings out his sword Lion’s Tooth. He places it on Mycah’s cheek.
Arya uses a stick to hit the Prince on the head. She tries hitting him again, but he goes after her. Arya hurls a stone at Joffrey, but she misses, and before he can attack, her direwolf Nymeria maims his sword arm. Mycah, Arya, and Nymeria flee the scene as Joffrey winces in pain.
When Arya gets found, she comes before King Robert and Queen Cersei Lannister. She gets accused of hurting Joffrey, as he stated. Arya calls Joffrey a liar and recants what happened to put the fault on the Prince. Lord Renly Baratheon mocks his nephew, saying he let a girl overpower him. With contrary stories, Sansa gets called as a witness, and scared Joffrey will hate her if she betrays him, she lies about having no idea what happened.
Robert asks for both Joff and Arya to get disciplined. However, Cersei asked for Sansa’s direwolf Lady to get killed because Nymeria went missing. Ned agreed to end the direwolf. He sees Sandor with Mycah’s body wrapped in a cloak. The Hound had slaughtered the boy so brutally that he almost cut him from shoulder to waist. Ned Stark’s disdain for Sandor increases because of his foul deed.
Arya and Sansa fight over the event as she learns from Jeyne Poole a different story of Mycah’s death. According to Jeyne, Mycah’s corpse got cut into so many pieces that his father thought it was a slaughtered pig. Guilt grips Arya as she narrates what she heard to her father., However, Ned consoles her, stating Mycah’s death is not her fault.
A Storm of Swords
When Sandor gets captured by Lord Beric Dondarrion, who leads the Brotherhood without Banners, he gets tried for his actions and the crimes of the Lannister army. When he denies the charge, Arya Stark, who is also in the company of the Brotherhood, accuses him of Mycah’s murder and calls him a coward. Sandor protests against the accusations, stating he was only carrying out orders. He gets forced into a trial by combat and gets freed after winning.
When Arya tries escaping, he captures her and takes her to Robb Stark. However, Robb gets killed at the Red Wedding. After getting into an altercation with some of Gregor’s men, Sandor gets severely wounded. When Arya tries to abandon him, he tries provoking her to kill him by explaining how he used his weapon to cut Mycah in half. He states how the boy begged for mercy and how he does not have the slightest remorse for his actions. However, Arya abandons him on the road to die a slow death.
Appearance in Adaptation
In HBO’s Game of Thrones, Rhodri Hosking portrayed Mycah. He appeared in season 1 and starred in one episode. After getting injured in an altercation with Mycah, the butcher’s boy gets killed at Joffrey’s orders. After Prince Joffrey’s recovery, the King’s party heads to King’s Landing. When the remorseless Hound gets confronted for his actions, he remarks the boy was not fast enough.
When Sandor wins a fight against Lord Beric, he mocks Arya stating R’hllor likes him more than Mycah. After a fight with Brienne leaves him severely injured, Sandor tries to make Arya kill him. He tells her he did not regret killing her friend, and his saddle smelled like the boy for weeks. However, she abandons him on the road.
Mycah: A Sad Tale
Mycah is one character that had a brutal life. He was born poor and lived a somewhat contented life with his father. However, he got killed for something he had no hand in. He was an innocent bystander who got murdered because he was poor. His death showed how skewed power is in Westeros, as the crown felt it could control who lived and died. His death is a shame on Joffrey, Sandor, and Cersei Lannister.
FAQs
Why did Sandor kill Mycah?
When Cersei learned her son got injured, she ordered Sandor Clegane to find Mycah and kill him. Following orders like a dog, Sandor carried out the mission.
Would Sandor have killed Arya Stark if he found her with Mycah?
Yes. Sandor had no empathy for anything or anyone. He would have killed Arya and her friend without remorse. However, he saw Mycah only and sent the boy to an early grave.
What did Mycah look like?
Mycah was an extremely unattractive boy. He had red hair and a freckled face. He smelled like meat and irritated Sansa Stark.
What did Mycah’s father do after his son’s death?
No one knows what happened to the butcher when he got his son’s corpse. He would have buried his boy and retired.
