Tycho Nestoris

"Across the Narrow Sea your books are filled with words like 'usurper' and 'madman' and 'blood right'. Here our books are filled with numbers. We prefer the stories they tell. More plain. Less... open to interpretation."

- Tycho Nestoris to Stannis Baratheon

Tycho Nestoris is a recurring character in the fourth, fifth and seventh seasons. He is portrayed by Mark Gatiss and debuts in "The Laws of Gods and Men".

Background
Tycho Nestoris is a representative of the Iron Bank of Braavos. He is a rational man, more interested in numbers than in words, reasoning that the former are less likely to deceive than the latter.

Season 4
Shortly after Tommen Baratheon's coronation, Tycho and two of his colleagues receive Stannis Baratheon and his Hand, Ser Davos Seaworth, who ask them to fund their continuing campaign in Westeros. Tycho points out their weak position and is ready to dismiss them when Ser Davos speaks up, relating how he came into Stannis' service, how the latter is a just man who keeps his word, and how he is the best chance for the Iron Bank to get its money back upon the chaos that would follow the death of the elderly Tywin Lannister. This seems to convince the banker and his colleagues, as they agree to fund Stannis.

Season 5
Tycho receives Mace Tyrell when the latter arrives in Braavos to renegotiate the kingdom's terms with the Iron Bank. Though polite, Tycho seems to dislike Tyrell, whose bumbleness clashes with Tycho's polite dignity. On the way to the bank, Mace offers him fine wines from the Arbor as a token of esteem but Tycho politely declines. After negotiating with Mace for some time, Tycho leads his guest outside to bid him farewell, but Mace keeps talking, stating that singing is a skill that anyone can learn. To prove that, he immediately starts singing a song, much to Tycho's disapproval.

Behind the scenes

 * On the Season 4 Blu-ray, Tycho narrates the Histories & Lore videos on "The Iron Bank of Braavos".

In the books
In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, Tycho Nestoris is described as a tall, stick of a man with long legs. He has a gaunt face with a thin rope of a beard growing from his chin which hangs down to his waist. He wears expensive robes of a sober dark purple color, trimmed with ermine fur. He is not introduced until the fifth novel, A Dance with Dragons.

Tycho Nestoris travels to Eastwatch-by-the-Sea with three ships and then travels to Castle Black with Queen Selyse and Shireen to meet Stannis, whom he does not know has already left. He meets Jon Snow, who negotiates with him for a loan to purchase food for the winter. He also borrows Tycho's ships for the mission he assigned Cotter Pyke - bringing the wildlings from Hardhome.

Shortly afterwards, Alys Karstark (the daughter of Rickard Karstark) arrives and tells Jon that her great-uncle Arnolf, the castellan of Karhold, pretends to be Stannis's ally but collaborates with the Boltons. Jon sends Tycho with guides to find Stannis and warn him of the traitor in his host. He eventually reaches Stannis in a crofters' village. In a sample chapter from The Winds of Winter, Stannis and Tycho reach an agreement, and Stannis makes plans to send Tycho back to Castle Black to ensure his safety under Jon's watch.

With regards to Stannis visiting the Iron Bank of Braavos, the series producers stated that they thought it was important to physically introduce Tycho earlier instead of later. One of Bryan Cogman's initial ideas for "The Laws of Gods and Men" was to have Tycho come to Dragonstone to treat with Stannis, not the other way around: this was also changed to have Stannis visit Braavos, because they realized it was also important to physically introduce the city of Braavos and the Iron Bank itself as soon as possible. Cogman also felt that it made more dramatic sense for Stannis to have to come to Braavos to essentially beg for money, because at the moment he is losing the war, so logically the Iron Bank doesn't think he is significant enough anymore to go through the bother of sending an envoy to meet with him in person. As a result, Tycho's scenes in Season 4 have no direct counterpart in the third novel, though they are a condensation of running subplots involving the Iron Bank which are discussed at council meetings.

​References
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