The Internet is dark and full of Game of Thrones spoilers, including one character who’s surprisingly on the move and another who’s allegedly returning home for the first time in awhile. But we’ll leave those rumors alone for something more concrete: definitive casting.
Freddie Stroma, who played Cormac McLaggen in the Harry Potter film series and starred in Lifetime’s excellent UnREAL, will portray Dickon Tarly, Samwell’s brother, on the show next season. Book readers know little about Dickon, other than kids made fun of his name in middle school and he’s younger with less of a Jack Black physique than Sam. He’s also the heir to Horn Hill, which is located near Oldtown, where Sam’s studying to become a maester. Presumably, they’ll meet along the way, and Dickon will try to steal Gilly, because that’s how these things work for Sam. One minute, you’re having sex; the next, you’re back to your wizard fan fiction.
YER A WIZARD, SAMMY.
(Via EW)
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Who Is Melisandre? Five Important Facts About The Red Priestess From ‘Game Of Thrones’
by Ryan Harkness
The Red Priestess Melisandre is a mysterious figure throughout George R.R. Martin’s A Song Of Ice And Fire books and the Game of Thrones series. Where she comes from and what she wants are two topics shrouded in shadows, which may be why so few characters seem to trust her. Well, that or her penchant for burning people alive.
But with the revelation from the most recent Game of Thrones season premiere that she is much older than she presents herself, we figured it would be a good time to take a closer look at what we do know about this servant of R’hllor who could know the secrets behind the return of the Others … and hold the key to Jon Snow’s return.
She was a slave from Asshai
Not much is known about Melisandre’s origins. What we do know comes from A Dance with Dragons, book five of George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire. Melisandre is a POV character in that book, where she reminisces about her early days as a slave girl named Melony in the Far Eastern lands of Asshai. She was sold at a young age to the Temple of the Lord of Light in Volantis and eventually rose to become a powerful priestess of the religion. The rare times that she does allow herself to sleep, she is plagued by nightmares about her time as a slave.
As for how old she is, there are no further hints given in the books past a passage claiming she had “practiced her art for years beyond count.” But Melisandre actress Carice van Houten has claimed during interviews in the past that the Red Priestess is “way over 100 years.” Oliver Ford Davies, who plays the maester that tried to poison Melisandre in season two, says Carise told him Melisandre was 400 years old. And in an interview following the season six premiere, show runner David Benioff said she was “several centuries old.”
Melisandre’s exact age could help settle speculation amongst fans as to her possible lineage. Was she just a random slave girl from Asshai? Or is she, as some book readers suspect, the daughter of the Three Eyed Raven and Targaryen sorcerer Shiera Seastar? There’s not much going for this theory other than physical similarities shared by Shiera and Melisandre, but it is interesting to speculate that the Three Eyed Raven is using the connection with his daughter to feed Melisandre visions and manipulate her into doing his bidding.
She is obsessed with fulfilling the prophecy of Azor Ahai
Melisandre’s loyalty to Stannis Baratheon had nothing to do with Stannis personally but rather her interpretation of the ancient prophecy of Azor Ahai. There’s a lot to it (which you can read about here), but here’s the gist: Azor Ahai is the key to defeating the Great Other in the battle between the light and darkness. Throughout the books and show, Melisandre proclaims Stannis to be Azor Ahai. But as we learn, the Red Priestess can see the future in her flames but often interprets her visions incorrectly.
By the end of season five she seems to have realized that she was wrong about Stannis. And now her unfulfilled visions of Jon Snow have left her feeling pretty confused, considering Jon Snow is lying dead in a cell under Castle Black. But whenever you’re wondering what Melisandre’s motivations may be or what she may do next, consider how it plays into the prophecy of Azor Ahai and his battle against the Great Other. That is her fight, and she’s willing to do whatever it takes in its service.
She is not like other humans
Her powers seem to remove her from many of the typical needs a human body has, such as eating and sleeping. According to Melisandre, she mainly eats so “mortal men” aren’t overly suspicious of her. And sleep is something she never does for more than an hour. She doesn’t feel the cold like others and seems to radiate an intense heat that others around her can feel. While at the Wall, she continues to wear her Red Priestess garb without the need for any extra clothing.
The true extent of her magical abilities are unknown
It’s clear that Melisandre controls powerful magic, but that doesn’t mean that R’hlorr exists and is the source of it. The Red Priestess attributes her magic to the Lord of Light, but what’s to say she isn’t tapping into mystical but non-divine powers? In Game of Thrones, magic can be cast by a wide variety of people, not just the servants of R’hlorr. The most powerful spells are associated with fire and blood.
On that note, Melisandre burns people to push the odds of the universe in her favor, like in the books when she burned Alester Florent to ensure swift winds for Stannis’ army as they headed north to the Wall. And she uses King’s blood when attempting particularly powerful spells, burning Stannis’ daughter Shireen in season five to end the blizzards that were keeping his forces from reaching Winterfell.
Life and death are also tied up in her ability as a Shadowbinder to birth demons that do her bidding. These creatures require not only the seed of a man but a part of his life essence as well. The shadow of Stannis took years off his life and afterwards Melisandre said his fire burned so low that she dared not make another for fear of killing him.
As shown in the books and in the most recent episode of the show, Melisandre also uses glamours, which are magical items that create an illusion surrounding the wearer. In the books, she changes Mance Rayder’s appearance using a ruby bracelet. The magic sword Melisandre gave Stannis also had a ruby in the hilt. And now in the shows, it is revealed that Melisandre’s ruby necklace is a glamour that hides her true age and appearance.
The full extent of Melisandre’s powers beyond this are unclear. In A Dance With Dragons, she reveals that her powers have grown greatly (as have those of the pyromancers and warlocks and other magic users, coinciding with the birth of Daenerys’ dragons), but not so much that she wasn’t still concerned about dwindling potion and powder supplies. Melisandre isn’t above admitting that many of her spells has more to do with these materials than magic. In season four of the show, she told Selyse she often uses “deceptions to make men think they witnessed our Lord’s power.”
One key power she hasn’t had up until this point is the ability to bring people back from the dead. But she may have a closer connection to that art than she realizes.
She may have been resurrected
While the Game of Thrones series has fewer resurrected characters running around than the books, there are still some examples from both, like Lord Beric Dondarrion. Dondarrion was resurrected by Thoros of Myr several times, and like Melisandre, he doesn’t need to eat or drink and never sleeps. That also describes Lady Stoneheart, another resurrected character from the series.
But if Melisandre was resurrected on the show, she doesn’t seem to be aware of it. When Mel meets with Thoros of Myr in season three, she says it’s impossible to bring people back from the dead. Thoros admits that he was just as surprised when it happened. “I knelt beside his cold body and said the old words,” he explained. “Not because I believed in them but because he was my friend, and he was dead, and they were the only words I knew. And for the first time in my life, the Lord replied. Beric’s eyes opened.”
If Melisandre was resurrected in a similar fashion to Beric, it could play a large role in another character’s return to life. In the books, Beric Dondarrion finally dies when he passes his life force on to bring Catelyn Stark back as Lady Stoneheart. So there is a precedent that ties into the most burning question people have as the news season of Game of Thrones unfurls: Can Melisandre bring Jon Snow back to life? And will she be able to do it as Thoros did with Beric, or will she have to sacrifice herself as Beric did for Catelyn?
