So I have this character, Brandac. Brandac is an old teacher from a warrior culture, the Talanari. He went into self-exile decades ago until a young boy named Dranolin came to him and begged him to train him in his ways, being part of that same heritage. Dranolin went on to become a successful assassin. So in the first chapter of my book, right after the prologue, my protagonist, Dranolin's son Scalba, is infiltrating a fortress in order to get close to his father's killer and assassinate him. Brandac has helped him get in. But Scalba isn't able to exact his revenge before they are both caught and thrown in prison. They're in different cells, so they don't see each other or know where the other is. Scalba escapes with a group of prisoners. The problem is that Brandac doesn't fit into the plot going forward. So I don't know what to do with him. He's introduced in one chapter and appears only in that chapter. I could kill him, but there's no emotional weight to it. Of course there's the problem also that there's no emotional weight to his character anyway because we've only been told the backstory and there is literally no time to show it because it's the first chapter. This guy is a total problem character. I can't cut him, but he literally serves only one purpose.
What if Brandac kills himself in Prison, and part of the story arc is to figure out WHY? Could be a nice secondary plot.
Who said there has to be emotional weight? He sounds like a very minor character. I think you could just kill him and have no problems. More than likely he will have no emotional weight with him, whatever you do. If you really want a little emotional weight, try making the MC reflect on happy times he spent with this character. Make him miss him. That might make the reader feel something. Probably not much, but like I said before, it's hard to feel much for minor characters.
I figured it out. I have a character he meets in prison. With some adjustment, I can have him take the character's place and turn the mentorship dark.
Make him a shapeshifter. https://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/archetype-of-the-shapeshifter/ http://www.betternovelproject.com/blog/shapeshifter/