Fan: What Was Your Inspiration Behind The Character Of Davos Seaworth? Because He Seems To Have A Lot

Fan: What was your inspiration behind the character of Davos Seaworth? Because he seems to have a lot of qualities of your typical hero — he's strong, morally just, and righteous — but with a definite difference in the sense that he's sort of at the end of his life, though his adventure is just beginning.

George: Well, some people might say the same is true of me. I don't know where the particular inspiration came from for Davos. I needed a point of view into Stannis’ camp… I started out with his maester, but then he dies in the prologue, and Davos seemed interesting. I didn't want to make Stannis himself a viewpoint character. I wanted something external to that because Stannis is a very complex and grey character. I didn't want to give you his thought process — just his words and actions.

- George R.R. Martin, Conversation with John Picacio