Old Ivan

	Male
	Hazel
	Grey
	Deceased (died six years 9 months and 26 days from departure aged 84)
	Suicide by hanging
	Tailie
	Pianist (formerly)
	English
	Unnamed wife †
	Andre Layton Josie Wellstead Miles Mama Grandé † Pike † Lights
	Mark Margolis
	Snowpiercer (TV Series) • Season 1
	First, the Weather Changed
	First, the Weather Changed

“	Resistance is never futile, but Wilford's train is a fortress to class. Maybe it is perpetual.	”
	— Old Ivan to Layton, the night before planned rebellion.

Old Ivan is a recurring character in TNT's Snowpiercer. He is portrayed by Mark Margolis.

He was the oldest person on Snowpiercer and a longstanding, respected member of the Tail.

History

Old Ivan had boarded Snowpiercer when he was 78 and that he had a wife before he boarded. During his 3rd year aboard the train the tail revolted but was defeated and he, along with 12 others later, had one of their arms lost as punishment. At some point he was also brought up past the Night Car to tune a piano.

Old Ivan have a decent mathematics knowledge despite his age. He would occasionally tutor Miles. He taught Miles sines, cosines and tangents on the last day of his life. He’s also a decent chess player.

Throughout The Series

Death

He is shown to be one of the leading members of the Tail, and was a member of the Tailie War Council which planned the insurrection. He would stand in the front line, ready to fight in the planned day (which didn't succeed because Layton)

During his birthday, he requested an hour alone with the only phone in the Tail so he could listen to a Rachmaninoff recording. His request was accepted by the other Tailies, and he played music whilst looking at old photographs of his wife. Shortly after, he hanged himself with the phone's electrical cord.

He was found shortly after, and his death was a catalyst for Pike's reaction and enactment of the rebellion.

Legacy

In Smolder to Life, Layton mentioned Old Ivan again when talking to Melanie in The Engine, discussing about Wilford and his plan.

In Born to Bleed, Layton reminded Pike how sorry he is for Old Ivan's death.

Appearances

Appearance	EP1	EP2	EP3	EP4	EP5	EP6	EP7	EP8	EP9	EP10
Season 1	✔
Season 2		M
Season 3						M
Season 4
Appeared			Did Not Appeared				H = Hallucinations
V = Voiced			M = Mentioned				F = Flashback

Memorable Quotes

Old Ivan: "I will never be too old to remember the day they pulled me uptrain to tune a piano. It played beautifully except for one dead key... middle C. I guess no one remembered to bring some..."

Pike: "To bring piano wire, yeah. With all due respect, we heard it before, and this doesn't exactly fill the belly."

―  Ivan talking about the day he got out of The Tail.

“	Here. [Hands Layton a knife] You will do better with this than me. Resistance is never futile, but Wilford’s train is a fortress to class. Maybe it is perpetual. (...) Good luck my boy.	”
	— Old Ivan to Layton as tomorrow The Tail plans to fight.

Trivia

• He hung himself on his birthday.
• He is likely a Russian due to his name.
• He owned a tuning fork, that he held in his hand when hung himself and it dropped.
• He listen to Rachmaninoff, Piano Concerto No 2.
• His character seems similar to Gilliam from the film.

Gallery

•