Melisandre

Melisandre
A Song of Ice and Fire character

Carice van Houten as Melisandre
First appearance Novel:
A Clash of Kings (1998)
Television:
"The North Remembers" (2012)
Created by George R. R. Martin
Portrayed by Carice van Houten
Game of Thrones
Information
Aliases The Red Priestess
The Red Woman
Nationality Asshaii

Melisandre of Asshai is a fictional character in the A Song of Ice and Fire series of fantasy novels by American author George R. R. Martin, and its television adaptation Game of Thrones. She is a priestess of the god R'hllor and a close advisor to King Stannis Baratheon in his campaign to take the Iron Throne.

Introduced in 1998's A Clash of Kings, Melisandre originates from the continent Essos and has come to Westeros to propagate her faith in the Red God. She subsequently appeared in Martin's A Storm of Swords (2000) and A Dance with Dragons (2011).

Melisandre is portrayed by Dutch actress Carice van Houten in the HBO television adaptation.[1][2][3]

Character description

Also known as "the Red Woman", Melisandre is a priestess of R'hllor in service to Stannis Baratheon. Originally from Asshai, she has prophetic powers that give her partial knowledge of future events. She is also referred to as a shadowbinder, being able to cast glamours and perform certain feats of dark magic. Melisandra is introduced in A Clash of Kings and serves as the third-person narrator for one chapter of A Dance with Dragons. She is described as a beautiful woman with red eyes, always dressing in red and rarely sleeping or eating. She possesses magical abilities, has prophetic visions from fire and takes a militant stance against the other religions of Westeros.

Overview

Melisandre is not a point-of-view character in the first four novels, so her actions are witnessed and interpreted through the eyes of other people, such as Davos Seaworth and Jon Snow. In A Dance with Dragons, the fifth novel, she has a single POV chapter.

Storylines

Carice van Houten plays the role of Melisandre in the television series.

In the books

By A Clash of Kings, Melisandre has converted Stannis's wife, Queen Selyse, to her religion, and has convinced Stannis that he is "Azor Ahai reborn", the messianic figure of her mythology. She converts many of Stannis's men, but alienates those she does not convert. At the beginning of A Clash of Kings, Melisandre survives a poisoning by Stannis's maester, Cresson, without even flinching. She later births two shadow assassins, one kills Stannis' younger brother Renly Baratheon, who intends to usurp Stannis' claim on the Iron Throne; the other kills Ser Cortnay Penrose, castellan of Storm's End, when he refuses to yield the castle to Stannis. However under Davos Seaworth's advice, Stannis declines to take her with him to the Battle of the Blackwater, a battle where Stannis is defeated by a combined Lannister-Tyrell reinforcement, losing most of his troops.

In A Storm of Swords, Davos attempted to assassinate Melisandre, but she foresees the plan and has him arrested. She also pleads for Stannis to let her sacrifice Edric Storm, the bastard son of the late King Robert Baratheon, for blood magic to "wake the stone dragon". Stannis refuses, but instead let she leech some of Edric's blood, where she then casts the leeches into the flames in cursing of the "three false kings" — Balon Greyjoy, Robb Stark, and Joffrey Baratheon. Later, Balon falls and drowns in Pyke, Robb is murdered at Twins during the Red Wedding, and Joffrey is poisoned at his own royal wedding with Margaery Tyrell. To prevent Melisandre from further harming Edric for blood magic, Davos enlists some of his associates to smuggle the youth from Dragonstone. When Davos is later confronted by Stannis and Melisandre, he reveals the stress message from the Wall, which is threatened by the King-Beyond-The-Wall, Mance Rayder, and the onslaught of the Others' invasion. Melisandre then convince Stannis to head north to the Night's Watch's aid. Stannis's army arrives just in time to surprise and crush Mance's wildling forces, during which Melisandre kills Orell's scouting eagle with her fire magic.

Melisandre remains at the Wall throughout A Dance With Dragons, where she begins to take a special interest in Lord Commander Jon Snow. When Stannis apparently burns Mance Rayder, Melisandre uses a glamour to make Mance exchange appearance with a wildling raider, Rattleshirt, who is burnt at the stake in Mance's place. She later reveals the deception to Jon, who allows Mance to leave the Wall to rescue "Arya" from the Bolton's stationed at Winterfell. Melisandre sees a girl fleeing to the Wall in her fires and believes it to be Arya, but it turns out to be Alys Karstark, heiress to Karhold, whose great-uncle Arnolf Karstark is planning to force her into a marriage with his son Cregan. To protect Alys, Jon imprisons Cregan and arranges Alys' marriage to Sigorn, the Magnar of Thenn, and Melisandre performing the wedding ceremony. She continually warns Jon Snow of danger from his fellow Night's Watchmen, but he refuses to heed her warnings. Later Jon is stabbed by Night's Watch mutineers.

In the show

Melisandre is played by the Dutch actress Carice van Houten in the television adaption of the book series.[4] She is introduced in Season 2, and believes Stannis is the chosen one who will convert the people of Westeros into followers of R'hllor. She convinces Stannis of this by using various methods, including seduction. Many, most notably Stannis' trusted adviser Davos Seaworth, believe she is leading their king astray. She has magical powers which help her survive Maester Cressen's attempt to kill her with poison. She also gives birth to a shadow demon which is sent to kill Renly Baratheon. She is not present during the Battle of the Blackwater, and blames Stannis' defeat on his lack of trust in her.

In Season 3, she tries to convince Stannis to sacrifice Gendry, the bastard son of Robert Baratheon, because he has king's blood, claiming R'hllor will reward the gift with an easier path to the Iron Throne. After Gendry's escape, she intercepts a letter from the Night's Watch, seeing the prophetic "Other" as the force behind the White Walkers' march on the wall, and insists that Stannis takes up the cause of stopping them. She dismisses "this war of five kings" (now actually three) as unimportant and insists that Stannis take the help of Davos Seaworth, despite his betrayal.

In season 4, Melisandre accompanies Stannis, Davos and their army to the Wall, narrowly saving Jon Snow from Mance Rayder. At the funeral of the Night's Watch brothers who fell during the Battle for Castle Black, Melisandre exchanges a knowing glance with Jon.

In season 5, she remains at the Wall with Stannis and shows interest in Jon. She attempts to seduce Jon, but he rejects her advances. Eventually, she departs from the Wall with Stannis and Davos on their mission to take Winterfell. When a large snowstorm strands them, Melisandre suggests that Stannis sacrifice his daughter Shireen, but Stannis refuses. After a Bolton raiding party kills many of the horses and burns their supplies, he eventually gives in and allows the priestess to burn his only child. Melisandre declares soon after that the blizzard has been lifted, but after half of Stannis' forces desert him, dismayed and disgusted, she rides for the Wall, where she is accosted by Jon and Davos.[5]

In Season 6, just after she sees Jon's dead body in one of the store rooms of the Castle Black, guarded by Ser Davos and a few Night's Watches' brothers still loyal to Jon, she is in shock and returns to her chambers, undressing and removing her necklace and hence revealing her true self, an old hag. Following the retake of Castle Black by the wildlings, she is visited by Davos who tries to persuade her that she has the ability to resurrect Jon. Disheartened about her faith by Stannis' defeat and the death of Jon she initially refuses Davos stating that she has never had such power, however, after some persuasion by Davos she agrees to try. During the ritual she cleanses Jons body and with increasing desperation tries to resurrect the former Lord Commander to no avail. Afterwards she, along with Tormund, Edd and Davos, quickly leave the room believing Jon is forever dead, seconds before Jon awakens.

References

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