Melisandre

Melisandre
A Song of Ice and Fire character
File:Melisandre-Carice van Houten.jpg 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. She is often nicknamed The Red Woman due to the color of her hair and clothes.

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.

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

Personal coat of arms of Stannis Baratheon

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 her 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

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

Melisandre is played by the Dutch actress Carice van Houten in the television adaption of the book series.

Season 2

In a ceremony on Dragonstone, Melisandre burns the statues of the Faith of the Seven, drawing the ire of Stannis' maester Cressen. Cressen attempts to poison her in a murder-suicide attempt; despite drinking the poison, Melisandre is unharmed. She convinces Stannis to impregnate her, giving birth to a shadow demon that kills Stannis' brother Renly, a rival claimant to the throne. However, Stannis' advisor Davos Seaworth counsels Stannis to leave Melisandre on Dragonstone when he attacks King's Landing; when the attack fails, Melisandre claims that his defeat was a result of not bringing her. Stannis attempts to strangle Melisandre in a fit of rage, before she makes him understand his role and Renly's death, and assures him that his betrayals will be worth it in the end.

Season 3

Melisandre travels to the Riverlands to meet up with the Brotherhood without Banners, who have taken Robert Baratheon's bastard Gendry as a blacksmith. During her meeting, Melisandre is astonished when the Red Priest Thoros of Myr reveals he has resurrected the Brotherhood's leader Ser Beric Dondarrion six times. Melisandre purchases Gendry from the Brotherhood, using his blood in a ritual to kill Stannis' rivals. However, before Gendry can be sacrificed, Davos helps him escape. Davos staves off his own execution by showing Stannis a letter from the Night's Watch, claiming that the White Walkers have returned. After burning the letter in the flames, Melisandre corroborates Davos' story, and declares that Stannis will have need of Davos in future.

Season 4

Melisandre accompanies Stannis, Davos and their army to the Wall. Before the Baratheon forces sail north, she convinces Selyse Baratheon to bring Stannis' daughter Shireen to the Wall with them, claiming that the Lord of Light has use for her.

Season 5

Melisandre attempts to seduce Jon Snow, but he rejects her advances. She later joins Stannis and Davos on their mission to take Winterfell. When a large snowstorm strands them, Melisandre suggests that Stannis sacrifice 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 at the stake. 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.

Season 6

Still reeling from Stannis' defeat, Melisandre is further shocked to find that Jon has been assassinated by his officers, as she had had a vision of him fighting at Winterfell. In shock, she returns to her chambers, undressing and removing her necklace and hence revealing her true form of an extremely old woman. Following the retake of Castle Black by the wildlings, Davos persuades her to attempt a resurrection of Jon, which, to her shock, is ultimately successful. Melisandre comes to believe that the "Prince who was Promised" was not Stannis, but Jon.