Pate

Pate is a novice at the Citadel in Oldtown. He always dreamt of becoming a maester but got angry and frustrated when he failed to earn any maester link in five years. When a strange man brought him a proposal, Pate willingly accepted, hoping the money earned would give him a chance with Rosy. However, reality dawned on him after the deal got completed as he realized the man he dealt with was an assassin of the deadliest order in the known world.

Pate Personal Details

• Name: Pate.
• Year of Birth: 281 or 282 AC in the Westerlands.
• Title: Novice.
• Allegiance: The Citadel.
• Alias: Cressen.
• Culture: Westerlands.
• Year of Death: 300 AC at Oldtown.

Appearance and Character

Pate is a pale-looking boy with a soft chalky face. He always dreamed of becoming a maester of the Citadel but failed to gain any link after five years in Oldtown. Being a novice, he looks after Archmaester Walgrave and tends to the ravens in the Ravenry. He fears Maester Gormon, who once accused him of being a thief.

Biography

Pate was born in the Westerlands and was named after a hero, Spotted Pate, the Pig Boy. He disliked people referring to the story of the Pig Boy as he felt like a failure because he could not demonstrate his knowledge of the heavens to Archmaester Vaellyn and his knowledge of healing to Archmaester Ebrose.

Relevance in A Song of Ice and Fire

A Feast for Crows

Pate sits at the Quill and Tankard with his friends Alleras, Armen, Roone, and Mollander, who celebrate getting their copper link. He admires Rosey, the youngest serving maid at the inn. Without any link after five years at the Citedel, he accepts his fate and decides he will get Rosey’s maidenhead with the gold dragon coin a mysterious alchemist promised.

While with his friends, a discussion about dragons comes up as Mollander says he hears different stories from sailors about the return of the dragons. The group argues about the Targaryens’ return and the death of dragons. 

Leo Tyrell appears and confirms that a beautiful young Queen, Daenerys Targaryen, is alive and has three dragons. His story gets confirmed by Archmaester Marwyn, and Lazy Leo tells the group there is a glass candle burning. 

Pate stays back after everyone leaves. While waiting, Leo mocks him, stating he will marry Rosey; this angers the novice, who wishes he could kill Leo. Realizing the alchemist will not show, he leaves and wanders the streets of Oldtown. Pate walks down the street and almost gets run down by a cart. He turns to see the alchemist standing over him. The man tells him he did not want to intrude on his conversation, so he had to let him finish with his friends. 

When Pate asks for the golden dragon coin in exchange for Maester Walgrave’s keys, the alchemist tells him they should retreat to a more hidden place. He hands it to him and asks for the key. The novice asks to see his face, and the man obliges. He notices nothing special as the alchemist has a young man’s face with full cheeks, the shadow of a beard, and a hooked nose. The man had a mat of dense black hair and a scar on his right cheek. 

When Pate asks the alchemist for his identity, he gets no definite answer. After handing the keys, he feels light-headed, and his legs weaken. He falls to the ground, and the last person he thinks of is Rosey before he dies. After Jon Snow sends Sam to the Citadel, he meets a young man calling himself Pate.

Pate: The Reality of Life

Pate is one of the characters who witnessed just how hard life could get. He was untalented and not good-looking, and though he tried for five years to make a name for himself, he failed at every task; this made him frustrated. 

Pate saw a possible way out, and though he did not want to become a thief, he felt it was necessary because, without the gold dragon coin, he would never have a chance with Rosey. He died, and no one ever knew because someone else stole his identity. He became a forgotten shadow, a ghost of a brutal world.

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