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 (also called the Red God or the Lord of Light) from the continent Essos 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, and has mysterious powers over fire and shadow. She is a prominent example of Martin's use of magic within the story and is the source of several important prophecies that guide the narrative. Introduced in A Clash of Kings (1998), Melisandre 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 not a point-of-view character in the first four novels. Her actions are witnessed and interpreted through the eyes of other characters, such as Davos Seaworth and Jon Snow. In the fifth novel, A Dance with Dragons, she has a single point-of-view chapter. George R. R. Martin stated that she will return as a viewpoint character in future novels. In the HBO television adaptation, Melisandre is portrayed by Dutch actress Carice van Houten who received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for her performance.
Character
Background Melisandre was born an unknown number of years before the series began, possibly under the name "Melony". As a child slave, she was sold to the Red Temple and trained for the priesthood. Believing Stannis Baratheon to be the reincarnation of Azor Ahai, a messiah prophesied by her faith, she travels to his island stronghold, Dragonstone, during the events of A Game of Thrones. Tywin Lannister indirectly mentioned her as "a shadowbinder from Asshai" during a private conversation with Tyrion Lannister after the Battle in the Whispering Wood. Also known as "the Red Woman", Melisandre is described as an exotically beautiful and voluptuous foreign woman with red eyes and red hair, always dressing in red robes and wearing a red gold choker set with a large, shiny ruby. She rarely sleeps or eats, possesses magical abilities that can cast glamour and manipulate fire and shadow, has prophetic visions by looking into fire, and takes an aggressively militant stance against the other religions of Westeros.
Storylines
Melisandre is introduced in the prologue of the second book, A Clash of Kings (1998), and reappears in the third book, A Storm of Swords (2000), as a background character mostly narrated through the viewpoints of Davos Seaworth and, later, Jon Snow. She becomes a point-of-view character in A Dance with Dragons (2011), with a single viewpoint chapter. Author George R. R. Martin, at its publication, confirmed that Melisandre would return as a viewpoint character in the upcoming sixth book, The Winds of Winter.
A Clash of Kings
Melisandre converts Stannis's wife, Selyse, to her religion, along with several other members of Stannis's court. Stannis's maester, Cressen, fearing Melisandre's power and her influence over him, tries to assassinate Melisandre with poison in a murder-suicide; despite drinking most of the poison, her powers allow her to survive. When Stannis's brother Renly also declares himself king, Melisandre has a vision of Renly defeating Stannis's host at King's Landing. She convinces Stannis to impregnate her, giving birth to a shadow demon that kills Renly. She also gives birth to another demon that kills Storm's End's castellan, Ser Cortnay Penrose, when he refuses to yield Storm's End. Ser Bryce Caron convinces Stannis to leave Melisandre at Dragonstone during the Battle of the Blackwater, which ends in Stannis's defeat. During the battle, Ser Garlan Tyrell dons Renly's armor and leads the Tyrell-Lannister vanguard, thus fulfilling Melisandre's earlier prophecy.
A Storm of Swords
Stannis's advisor Davos Seaworth blames Melisandre for Stannis's defeat and plans to assassinate her, but Melisandre sees the plot in her flames and has him arrested. She attempts to persuade Stannis to sacrifice his bastard nephew Edric Storm to awaken stone dragons beneath Dragonstone. Stannis only allows her to leech him and burns the leeches to curse Stannis's rivals: Balon Greyjoy, Robb Stark, and Joffrey Baratheon. All three die in various circumstances soon after. Davos smuggles Edric to Lys to prevent his sacrifice. Melisandre then accompanies Stannis and Davos to the Wall to defeat Mance Rayder's wildling host.
A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons
Jon Snow swaps Mance Rayder's infant son with Gilly's baby and sends the baby with Gilly, Samwell Tarly, and Maester Aemon to Oldtown to prevent Melisandre from burning the baby to perform fire magic. When Stannis orders Mance Rayder to be burned alive for deserting the Night's Watch, she uses her magic to secretly switch Mance's identity with Rattleshirt's, another wildling raider, resulting in Rattleshirt being burned instead. She later reveals this to Jon Snow and sends Mance to Winterfell with six spearwives to rescue "Arya Stark" (actually Sansa Stark's handmaiden, Jeyne Poole) from Ramsay Bolton. Melisandre remains at the Wall while Stannis marches on Winterfell. Noting that her powers are stronger at the Wall, she asks R'hllor for a vision of Azor Ahai, but only sees "Snow". She also warns Jon that she has seen "daggers in the dark". Jon ignores her warnings and is later stabbed by mutineers led by Bowen Marsh.
TV adaptation
Season 2 Melisandre is introduced during a beachside ceremony on Dragonstone, where she burns the statues of the Faith of the Seven, drawing the ire of Stannis's maester, Cressen. Cressen attempts to poison her in a murder-suicide; despite drinking the poison, Melisandre is unharmed. She convinces Stannis to impregnate her, giving birth to a shadow demon that kills Stannis's brother Renly, a rival claimant to the throne. However, Stannis's advisor, Davos Seaworth, counsels Stannis to leave Melisandre on Dragonstone when he attacks King's Landing; when the attack fails, Melisandre claims that Stannis's defeat was a result of not bringing her to the battle. Stannis attempts to strangle Melisandre in a fit of rage before she makes him understand his role in Renly's death and assures him that his betrayals will be worth it in the end.
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