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Greyscale Could Still Come Back To Haunt Jorah On 'Game Of Thrones'

by Mariella Mosthof

We're nearly halfway through Game of Thrones Season 7, thanks to a truncated final two seasons, and that means the action is moving at lightning pace. But is it just me or did Ser Jorah Mormont's greyscale seem to clear up a little too quickly? Sure, Samwell Tarly is a gifted student, but Jorah was discharged from the Citadel by Archmaester Marwyn with suspicious haste considering his once fatal skin disease had only undergone a single treatment. So does greyscale return? Iain Glen, who plays Ser Jorah, told Vulture that finding a cure for Jorah's greyscale on Game Of Thrones would be his character's singular objective throughout this season, so it's possible that he may only be in some kind of remission. "It’s very advanced," he said in at interview at the Los Angeles premiere. "I’m in trouble. No doubt about it, I’m in trouble."

And it's true that when we first saw Ser Jorah, greyscale had taken over his entire arm and had begun to spread across his torso. The archmaester gave him a prognosis of only six more months' worth of mental acuity before the disease overtook his mind. But Samwell spent all night reading up on possible cures and decided to take matters into his own hands. Late one night, he snuck into Jorah's chamber at the Citadel and attempted a surgical procedure with only rum and Jorah's self-control as anesthetics. Sam proceeded to slice off Jorah's top layer of infected tissue and then applied an ointment to his raw skin.

It's an extremely dangerous procedure because greyscale is highly contagious. Sam could have infected himself and everyone at the Citadel, as Archmaester Marwyn reminded him during his swift scolding. But the procedure seems to have gone off without a hitch. The next morning, Jorah was looking pretty pink and raw, but ultimately cured of the disease, and the Archmaester told him he was free to go. But could it really be that easy? Jorah came to the Citadel on Daenerys' order, looking for a cure. Glen stated in the same Vulture interview:

And the last moment of our time together last season she said, 'I need you, I need you to look after yourself, find a cure, so you can come back and be beside me when I occupy the Iron Throne.' That’s my route, really, this season — to see if I can find a cure.

Uh, seems like that route was pretty short, no? There is evidence in the books that greyscale may be a disease which goes into remission, rather than one that can be totally cured all the way. In A Dance With Dragons, Jon Snow talks to a wildling about Princess Shireen's cured case of greyscale and the wildling insisted: "The maesters may believe what they wish. Ask a woods witch if you would know the truth. The grey death sleeps, only to wake again. The child is not clean!"

Of course, wildlings are a superstitious people, but it's possible that all is not as it seems with Ser Jorah's miraculous recovery. Fans will just have to wait and see how this all plays out.