It Is Known: “The Red Woman”

Note from the author: unfortunately, my Anatomy of a Throne series, which took one scene and broke down its adaptation process from page to screen, is no longer possible, given the fact that Game of Thrones has now managed to surpass the book series that it is based upon.

As such, it is time to return to the original column that I had initially deconstructed the show with, It Is Known, though with a twist: since those original articles also relied heavily on the source material for its analysis, this new round will instead focus on one particular thematic development or another, using it as the prism through which to view the entire episode. Think of this, then, as a hybrid between Anatomy of a Throne and It Is Known, produced exclusively for the enjoyment of all you Watchers on the Wall.

Melisandre exposes herself in "The Red Woman"

If you’d like to see what the original column was all about, I have compiled ebook versions of both the first season and second season installments. (A third – and, also, final – installment has been trapped in the seven development hells since 2013.)

“The Red Woman,” the first episode in Game of Thrones’s history to not have a corresponding novel to (largely) draw from, ended up delving into hitherto unexplored narrative territory for both literary and television fans, but it didn’t end up providing the answers that all and sundry had expected (we’re looking at you, still-dead Jon Snow); instead, it chose to drop something of a bombshell about Melisandre, the titular red woman.

The real Melisandre in "The Red Woman"

That its revelation was small instead of large, intimate instead of grand, character- instead of plot-based, doesn’t at all diminish its substance or, indeed, its impact; no one before last weekend would have perhaps guessed that watching an elderly woman stare in the mirror and then slowly get into bed would be a suitable ending for an episode of television, let alone a season opener, but showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss showed us otherwise (the mundane and the profane, eh?).

There is, however, more to the revelation of Lady Melisandre’s true age beyond the “shock” factor: it reveals in a fundamental and profound way (as opposed to the scattered, furtive hints that George R.R. Martin drops in the novels) that Melisandre’s very character is just that – a character, one maintained by elaborate magical ruses. The young, vivacious, beautiful, seducing figure of prophecy and influence – the woman who has apparently given birth to so many shadow babies to work their magical will – is a charade, another bit of theatricality meant to manipulate the perceptions and, therefore, the behaviors of others. (That the Melisandre of the television series has been a more straightforward affair, relying less on artifice and presentation to sway those around her, makes “The Red Woman’s” ending all the more enjoyable.)

Daenerys and Khal Moro in "The Red Woman"

As it just so happens, this idea of using a disguise is one of Game of Thrones’s most central thematic motifs, touching almost literally every character to one degree or another. Just in this episode alone, we see Ramsay Snow, who was first introduced as a helpful stable boy before being revealed as the demented Bastard of Bolton (in “Dark Wings, Dark Words,” episode 302), have his current identity of Ramsay Bolton be threatened by his father for losing Sansa Stark and Theon Greyjoy (themselves individuals who have gone through their fair share of alternate identities); Tyrion Lannister and Lord Varys disguise themselves as peasants or commoners in order to walk the streets of Meereen unmolested, though the Spider makes the casual observation that the Imp can never fully hide himself, given his lordly bearing (an ironic statement, given just how many different positions – and, thus, identities – Tyrion has had every single season of the series); Daenerys Targaryen cannot escape her former identity as Khal Drogo’s khaleesi, whether that ends up helping (stopping Khal Moro from raping her) or hindering her (forcing her to essentially be imprisoned at Vaes Dothrak).

Identity, then, could be argued to be the very root of the show, even more than the corrupting role of power in both personal relationships and political affairs – for that corruption ends up transforming itself into an individual’s identity, whether as a new personality or as the person s/he was always meant to be. In this way, Melisandre’s grand revelation places her near the thematic heart of Game of Thrones, making the small, seemingly out-of-nowhere scene one of the most resonant thus far.

Blind Arya and the Waif in "The Red Woman"

But if there is one character who could be said to be that very heart, it would be none other than young Arya Stark, who was literally being trained to slip through faces, names, and personalities as if they were no more than masks. That she is currently acting as a poor blind girl is rendered all the more appropriate, since it is not of her own volition and since, at this particular point, she has no idea whether it is meant to be one of her temporary identities or her new, permanent state of being – in other words, the very same existential crisis that the Red Woman is currently undergoing.

Anatomy of a Throne installments

“The North Remembers” (201)

“What Is Dead May Never Die” (203)

“A Man without Honor” (207)

“Blackwater” (209)

“Valar Morghulis” (210) [ebook exclusive]

“And Now His Watch Is Ended” (304)

“Kissed by Fire” (305)

“The Rains of Castamere” (309)

“Mhysa” (310)

“The Wars to Come” (501)

“High Sparrow” (503)

“Sons of the Harpy” (504)

“Kill the Boy” (505)

“Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken” (506)

“The Gift” (507)

“The Dance of Dragons” (509)

“Mother’s Mercy” (510)

“Mother’s Mercy” (Bonus) (510)

167 Comments

  1. I believe that the Red Woman may have taken poison before she went to bed. In the opening shot the camera was focused on vials of what looked like tears of lyse etc. Comments?

  2. I don’t think the Red Woman took any poison before going to bed. I think she has a lot more to do before she dies and I can’t see her killing herself now. If she was going to do that it would have been after leaving Stannis. Besides she has to resurrect JS. Wink lol

    Where is my SPIDEY? It’s disappeared.. ugh

  3. Marc, seriously.
    Your text is beautiful. But I think you read too much into this.
    I wouldn’t be as cynical as to quote the future Septon Meribald, but it still is a TV show.
    This is almost reading “itsy bitsy spider” as a retell of the Sisyphean Myth.
    I still loved your text though, don’t get me wrong.

  4. Does Khal Moro and his Kalassar use different bladed weapons than previous Dothraki we’ve seen. Seems like before the Dothraki mostly used a curved weapon (Arakh?). But in this picture and, as far as I can remember in E1 Moro has a straight blade. And I’m thinking the other Dothraki they showed also had straight blades.

  5. Ice Spider,

    You mean your avatar? It seems like other people’s are working. That may be an issue for Gravatar. If you didn’t use the correct email/spelling, if they momentarily glitched, etc. Gravatar is part of WordPress, not really something we control.

  6. Sue the Fury:
    Ice Spider,

    You mean your avatar? It seems like other people’s are working. That may be an issue for Gravatar. If you didn’t use the correct email/spelling, if they momentarily glitched, etc. Gravatar is part of WordPress, not really something we control.

    Yes my avatar… thanks. I didn’t change anything but have been having big issues getting to the site lately. I will figure it out thanks!!!

  7. Okie.. not sure why the fields didn’t automatically populate but I have multiple emails and used wrong one ….. oops. Thanks for your help!!

  8. jewels,

    I think its the potions she used in the bath from Season 4 to make her look young without the necklace. The vials look like the same one she used.

  9. I enjoyed reading this, the question of identity is a strong theme through the books and thus the show. We can assume we know a character very well only for our assumptions to need re-appraisal (e.g Jaime) because there is much transformation and even complete metamorphosis. Some are obviously much more significant to the “bigger” story than others and it’s spotting which ones are more than just simple character development that makes it fun.

  10. What a pretentious, insecure windbag. To write well, you must set your ego aside. Acrolecticism is a paper mask for poorly considered ideas.

  11. Deesensfan:
    Ice Spider,

    Mine aren’t automatically populating today.

    Ok.. thanks. I had a hell of a time trying to get online the night of the premier (after the premier to be exact) so much so that I had to just quit for the night and try the next day to get on. Seems like Im still having a few issues. Mayhap the ppl online for the site has quadrupled? Thanks Deesensfan

  12. Interesting comments, Marc, as usualy well done (tho I still wish you’d do some more Anatomy of a Throne, using other scenes from previous seasons that relate to this season, but that you hadn’t written about yet. Just a thought)

    Ser Not Appearing in this Series,

    the question of identity is a strong theme through the books and thus the show. We can assume we know a character very well only for our assumptions to need re-appraisal (e.g Jaime) because there is much transformation and even complete metamorphosis. Some are obviously much more significant to the “bigger” story than others and it’s spotting which ones are more than just simple character development that makes it fun.

    Then there are the Harpies, with their gold masks and secretive identity

  13. SomeWordsAreWindier,

    Speaking of pretentious. “Acrolectisism?”
    I enjoyed the above topic and observations of its author. You have the ability to scroll past whatever you find beneath your towering intellect.

  14. Great piece, Marc! I enjoyed your insights into how the final scene grounds the episode, sheds light on the situations that several characters find themselves in, and ties into one of the key underlying thematic threads of the show as well.

    I’m glad that you’ve found a way through which to continue your series of analyses, even with the show having mostly surpassed the source material. Looking forward to the rest!

  15. ash:

    Then there are the Harpies, with their gold masks and secretive identity

    And Quaithe (MIA since season 2), why did she have this apparent connection with Dany?

  16. Yeah, “Still-dead Jon Snow”, we’re getting impatient :X There is plenty of dead folks walking around Westeros. What’s your excuse?

  17. Tywin of the Hill,

    Deesensfan,

    Quaithe was such a remarkable character, even if we saw her for like 2 minutes. Even I remembered her, and mind you I am the Obama type of viewer (“My favourite character is…ahm… I don’t recall his name… the dwarf”).

  18. Im confused. How is arya acting blind? She was just entertaining the waif? Just dont get it. She sure appeared to be blind.

  19. Sou,

    Yes, it’s a word, or at least “acrolectic” is, so adding an “ism” onto it is probably valid. However, I’m not sure how it applies to what Marc wrote, given the articles on this site are all written in standard English.

    Beyond that, I think Blanche Holstein and A Man Grown covered what I would have said to SomeWordsAreWindier.

    As always, a beautifully written piece, Marc.
    Thank you!

  20. Deesensfan:
    Ice Spider,

    Omg, I could barely get on after the premiere. Everyone wanted to come on her and discuss the episode.
    Anytime ?

    I was so frustrated.. tried like 50 times to get on and finally just said screw it. I had been up driving over 11 hours and then stayed up all day so I was too tired to really try much more than that.. I figured I would get back on and read them later… lol… boy was I wrong. Oh well… hopefully this Sunday will be better? What say you Sue? Was it system overload? That is why we were having such a hard time getting on Sunday night?

  21. Lord Allen Conway:
    Im confused. How is arya acting blind? She was just entertaining the waif? Just dont get it. She sure appeared to be blind.

    I don’t think he meant acting as in pretending, but acting as in temporarily ( we assume) doing. There is no doubt that Arya is presently without sight.

  22. Jack Bauer 24: Same here. Been doing that since yesterday for me.

    Im wondering if the system is being overloaded by too many ppl trying to post? Never had this problem before during the last 9 months.. of course now that the show is back on the amount of comments are going to go out the roof I imagine.

  23. Deesensfan:
    Ser Not Appearing in this Series,

    so true.

    actually, in the tyrion varys scene, the person spying on them looks like they have a mask on, and Quaithe popped in my mind

    I hope so… I thought that was a character that could be explored and would be extra cool to have regularly. I’m def a Quaithe fan.

  24. Ice Spider: I hope so… I thought that was a character that could be explored and would be extra cool to have regularly. I’m def a Quaithe fan.

    I just hope Quaithe isn’t a “loose end”. She is in some way analogous to Melisandre.

  25. SomeWordsAreWindier,

    Acrolectisism?”

    “I do not think that word means what you think it means” – Inigo Montoya.

    Perhaps you meant sophistry? Casuistry? Or ignoratio elenchi? Or had no clue as to how to elucidate your disapproval of the author’s writing?

  26. Ser Not Appearing in this Series: I just hope Quaithe isn’t a “loose end”. She is in some way analogous to Melisandre.

    I have a feeling she will be back even if just for a short piece bc she does seem to be important enough to be brought to the series out of the books. I just really loved her portrayal and the mystique behind her. Sometimes LESS is more!!

  27. I don’t know…..
    Did any spoilers leak this time ?
    Because I might have saw something being shown on a Facebook comment section.

  28. Ser Not Appearing in this Series: I just hope Quaithe isn’t a “loose end”. She is in some way analogous to Melisandre.

    While I personally don’t really care much one way or the other whether Quaithe returns, I think you may be on to something.

    This is not a spoiler as it is based totally on an observation from previous episodes. But I’ll (try) to spoiler cover it anyway:

    One of the recaps/reviews from the past episodes pointed out that the octagonal shapes that make up Melisandre’s choker and the Mereen Red priest sash/robe are the same shapes that make up Quaithe’s mask from a previous season.
  29. Blanche Holstein,

    I looked it up. It’s not a word. And in google search this post is the only thing that comes up. The identity of the word remains a mystery! Just like the many secret identities in Game of Thrones – who are Jon Snow’s parents? Who is Coldhands? Is Tyrion a secret Targ? Who is this ‘false dragon’ Aegon T?

  30. ash,

    And the parentage of certain people – Jon, Tyrion. Other identity questions regarding Aegon, Coldhands etc. Game of Thrones is full of it!

  31. Rodrigo,

    Well then….this isn’t good news at all.

    That’s it, I am sold, I do not believe that Jon is coming back at all now. Oh well….

  32. jewels,

    I think that may have been more indicative of the magic at work with her glamor. She’s in at least one of the shots HBO released, and it was a scene we haven’t seen, so I don’t think she’s drinking the kool-aid.
    In fact, it’s possible the focus on the vials was meant to answer the question of why she didn’t appear old the last time we saw her without the necklace.

  33. I really enjoy the idea of character identity as a running theme throughout this show, especially as the majority of fan theories extend from the identity of the characters. I look forward to next week!

  34. Rodrigo:
    Spoiler news from Carice herself:

    https://omelete.uol.com.br/series-tv/noticia/game-of-thrones-carice-van-houten-diz-que-melisandre-nao-vai-trazer-jon-snow-de-volta-a-vida/

    It’s obviously in portuguese but you guys could try to google translate it.

    Well, I don’t speak Portuguese but sometimes headlines can be deceiving when you read the actual quotes in the article. For example

    There is a very similar article in the Independent from a interview she did with the Examiner. The headline says the same thing but if you read the actual quotes from her, they really do not say that outright.
  35. Deesensfan,

    Someone mentioned Varys, which hadn’t occurred to me but it would be a possibility. He didn’t show up to the pyramid till later – where was he?

  36. OK… many GOT theories but mine is that The Waif is Arya’s Master Teacher Syrio Forel who was never confirmed as dead or as The Hound said: “Any boy whore with a sword could beat three Meryn Trants” (on claims that Meryn killed Syrio.

  37. Ice Spider,

    I sure hope so! I want to do a Quaithe costume for Halloween this year. 🙂

    Connor,

    It is R’hllor, the Lord of Light, who brings people back. He works through her so she could not possibly take the credit. Either that…or someone else will do it. 🙂

  38. Sullied by Knight:
    Ice Spider,

    I sure hope so!I want to do a Quaithe costume for Halloween this year.

    Connor,

    It is R’hllor, the Lord of Light, who brings people back.He works through her so she could not possibly take the credit. Either that…or someone else will do it.

    You could be right! Faith restored! 😀 😀

    She is just messing with us, I bet. 😛

  39. There are some bizarre theories on Quaithe. From Melisande’s mother, to Asahra Dayne, to even Daenerys from the future. I don’t know if any of those will be true in the books and just dropped on the show or if none of them are even true to begin with. The Daenerys from the future sounds insane but I do admit it is amazingly bizarre how Quaithe manages to randomly appear to Dany and know everything Dany has done and tell her what she’s going to do. And then like clockwork it happens and Dany does it.

    In a way, it’s quite similar to Jon having Melisandre around him. Both seem to pop up and give them advice and warnings that neither ever seem to heed. Warnings that both seem to be amazingly knowledgeable on. So there’s something odd going on here with both of them. It’s a character I wish to see explored more.

  40. Deesensfan:
    Connor,

    I didn’t read it. I refuse to believe anything else lol

    My faith is restored now, lol. She might just be throwing us off, there was an article very similar to the one posted here on this post, before the show started.

    R’hllor works through Mel, so basically the Lord of Light does it, and that’s what she probably means. (hopefully)

    Don’t worry! 😀

  41. Connor,

    Yeah it’s for sure the Lord of Light through Mel.

    Anyway it’s hard to believe anything else. They’ve set it all up to happen But who knows

  42. Connor,

    I wouldn’t really trust the GOT interviews 100 %, or take anything as gospel.
    They Can lie if they want, just look at Kit XD

  43. Connor: You could be right! Faith restored! ? ?

    She is just messing with us, I bet. ?

    I just can’t believe his storyline is done. Why even do TOJ? Besides there are more ways to bring him back then just Mel.. Hell even Thoros is still alive so he could do it if he’s in the area…. lol not that I think he will but IJS… there are more ways to bring him back then just Mel.. its just been the most talked about.

  44. orange:
    There are some bizarre theories on Quaithe. From Melisande’s mother, to Asahra Dayne, to even Daenerys from the future. I don’t know if any of those will be true in the books and just dropped on the show or if none of them are even true to begin with. The Daenerys from the future sounds insane but I do admit it is amazingly bizarre how Quaithe manages to randomly appear to Dany and know everything Dany has done and tell her what she’s going to do. And then like clockwork it happens and Dany does it.

    In a way, it’s quite similar to Jon having Melisandre around him. Both seem to pop up and give them advice and warnings that neither ever seem to heed. Warnings that both seem to be amazingly knowledgeable on. So there’s something odd going on here with both of them. It’s a character I wish to see explored more.

    Agreed.. I want to know more of her character as well. She was very intriguing in the show. I would believe that magic has a lot to do with her storyline or so I hope.

  45. orange,

    The sorceress game is strong on Thrones. I just wish there was room for one more…

    The Ghost of High Heart who Arya meets in the Riverlands. She’s got a badass prophecy but we pretty much covered it already. I also that like Cersei gets reports that Tyrion is the Ghost
  46. Alt-x on youtube was wondering about hexagons–Mel’s necklace is made up of hexagons, the red priest in Meereen has hexagons on his robe, and Quaithe’s mask is hexagonal, made up of hexagons.

    What does the hexagon represent? Seven is the magic number on Westeros, so is six the magic number on Essos? Is hexagon tied to fire somehow?

  47. Connor,

    Dude, could you kindly spoiler tag your responses to a spoiler tagged link? I am really trying to remain in the dark, as are many other people, and even knowing you read the link and formed the opinion based on an insider’s quote is… a bummer, man.

    And for the record, I don’t share your sentiment… but then again, I didn’t click on the clearly spoiler tagged link either…

  48. Maria,

    I have noticed the hexagons since Quaithe first showed her face… mask. Not sure about what’s happening with R’hollor, or Essos- but in “our reality” this shape is fundamentally intertwined with life.
    Carbon atoms have six protons, with six orbiting electrons- as energy passes through and is exchanged between groups of molecules, exciting the atoms within these groups, resonances can be observed. Carbon chains, absolutely essential to life, exhibit these “hexagonal” resonances.
    My first thought was Life! (I’ve always seen R’hollor to represent life, to the WW’s death). But, to my knowledge, there are no other references to “special numbers” or their meanings, in Planetos, other than the Faith’s obsession with 7. A nice artistic motif from the art directors/costume department, maybe?

  49. Connor,

    Word up! Definitely didn’t mean to come off as a dick, and I realize your reaction doesn’t exactly constitute a spoiler- just really don’t want to get spoiled in that way.

    edit: I realize even lurking here is dangerous. This is the only site I will even entertain for GoT news/speculation/geekout etc… So just trying to tread lightly and politely remind others to do the same…
    Thanks dude

  50. JustanotherSchemer,

    well technically for us he will be rising on a Sunday, so how long has he been dead ?
    if he comes back on the third day….
    I hope to point it out XD

  51. Did someone actually notice that during briennes vow to lady catelyn and sansa it’s the same music playing? Nothing major obviously but i love details like that!

  52. Ser Not Appearing in this Series: We can assume we know a character very well only for our assumptions to need re-appraisal (e.g Jaime) because there is much transformation and even complete metamorphosis.

    Nikolaj recently said that when we meet Jaime in the story, he had just done the worst thing he’d ever done. He wasn’t a bad guy. He was a good guy who had just done a bad thing. He wasn’t a worm that turned into a butterfly. He was a butterfly who lost a wing.

  53. Sister Kisser,
    Thank you! In favor of six as life would be the Seven: Six aspects involve life. The seventh, Stranger, is death.

    Having said that I’m not sure about fire as life and ice as death, as both have potential for life and death: fire kills as surely as ice, while ice extends life (Master Aemon).

    After all that, it’s most likely an artistic motif, as you say 🙂

  54. Maria,

    The seventh is the Stranger… I had not put that together- very nice!

    And yeah- nothing in ASOIF is so cut and dry, black and white- but

    it is widely expected that the Red Woman (fire) will offer the kiss of life to Jon (ice)
  55. Rygritte,

    well i’m more interested in the episodes he won’t be a corpse, well unless he’s a walking talking corpse.

  56. Rygritte:
    Matthew The Dragon knight,
    For some reason Kit refused to say how many episodes he played a corpse. Why would it matter?

    LOL, why would anyone refuse to say how long they’re playing a corpse for?

    Doesn’t make sense to me. Also, I noticed that during interviews with some of the cast during the premiere, when asked the Jon Snow question, they’re acting was getting terrible lol. Especially Nikolaj, he let it slip a little.

  57. Rygritte,

    I wish he did, that would make waiting so much easier XD
    but why make it easier on poor old us, they get off on our suffering 🙂

  58. Jack Bauer 24,
    Hair & make-up did a perfect job of making him look dead. It was horrible. What I didn’t understand was when we first see him, there is a ton of blood like in the finale, but when they pick him up, there’s only a little blood in the shape of a turkey:

    http://12840-presscdn-0-47.pagely.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/dragon-blood-650×360.jpg

    http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/04/27/05/3392E40F00000578-3560824-image-a-18_1461732832882.jpg

  59. Sou: is that a word?

    Kellie is Coming,

    SomeWordsAreWindier:
    What a pretentious, insecure windbag. To write well, you must set your ego aside. Acrolecticism is a paper mask for poorly considered ideas.

    The poster SomeWordsAreWindier who wrote this is a moron! Perhaps one of Lindaaaa’s trolls and trying to be clever! Acrolecticism is a non existent word. Can’t find any reference to it on Google. Only to the original post on this page.

    I think it should have been Eclecticism? I don’t have the fucking Oxford Dictionary stored in my head, but this definition from Wikipedia seems to fit the bill?

    Eclecticism is a conceptual approach that does not hold rigidly to a single paradigm or set of assumptions, but instead draws upon multiple theories, styles, or ideas to gain complementary insights into a subject, or applies different theories in particular cases.

  60. Rygritte,

    I thought it looked like a nice, crispy Thanksgiving turkey. Kinda made me a little hungry even. Then I turned it a little and it looked like a Spanish bull in a bullfight (someone’s footprints are the horns). Never saw a dragon, but I tried…

  61. Atlas: Syrio Forel who was never confirmed as dead

    Maisie just gave an interview two weeks ago saying she asked D&D if he was dead, and they said “yes, he’s dead”. Apparently, she also thought he might be alive.

  62. Sullied by Knight, Ha, I see the bull. Now that I look at Davos’ feet in the shot, the blood does look bigger and more like the first pic, but it’s still a bit off. I guess it froze quickly. I don’t think he was there for long before Davos found him.

  63. JustanotherSchemer:
    Did someone actually notice that during briennes vow to lady catelyn and sansa it’s the same music playing? Nothing major obviously but i love details like that!

    And it’s the same music when she says goodbye to Jaime after naming her sword Oathbreaker.

  64. JustanotherSchemer:
    Did someone actually notice that during briennes vow to lady catelyn and sansa it’s the same music playing? Nothing major obviously but i love details like that!

    wow
    how do you notice stuff like that?
    I am amazed!

  65. Miles,

    I don’t think so. I imagine he’d have to look relatively human for the glamor to work. And anyway, there’s no evidence in the show at all that Jon warged.

  66. LatrineDiggerBrian: And it’s the same music when she says goodbye to Jaime after naming her sword Oathbreaker.

    I am replaying that scene in my head where Jaime asks Brienne what does she want to name the sword, and she, in all seriousness replies “Oathbreaker” 🙂

  67. orange:
    There are some bizarre theories on Quaithe. From Melisande’s mother, to Asahra Dayne, to even Daenerys from the future. I don’t know if any of those will be true in the books and just dropped on the show or if none of them are even true to begin with. The Daenerys from the future sounds insane but I do admit it is amazingly bizarre how Quaithe manages to randomly appear to Dany and know everything Dany has done and tell her what she’s going to do. And then like clockwork it happens and Dany does it.

    In a way, it’s quite similar to Jon having Melisandre around him. Both seem to pop up and give them advice and warnings that neither ever seem to heed. Warnings that both seem to be amazingly knowledgeable on. So there’s something odd going on here with both of them. It’s a character I wish to see explored more.

    Now this is it, I am not a GRRM worshipper but it would just feel very off if Quaithe was simply a plot convenience (like a contrived coincidence) to be in the right place at the right time to say the right thing. If she is then it would be very disappointing writing to say the least, so I feel that we will learn more about the Shadowbinders and maybe Asshai in connection with R’Hllor in the TWoW and ADoS.

  68. ghost of winterfell: I am replaying that scene in my head where Jaime asks Brienne what does she want to name the sword, and she, in all seriousness replies “Oathbreaker” ?

    Woops haha. Maybe I’m looking a little bit ahead? :p

  69. Connor,

    The headline is clickbait. She just reiterates what she said in previous interviews: that she knows fans want her to do it, but she has never resurrected anyone before & that she doesn’t see why she has to be the one to do it and that she will end up disappointing people.

    She could very well try at some point, but imo Jon is coming back (whether Mel brings him back or not).

  70. In case you haven’t heard it before:

    Title of Episode 5 will be “The Door”, according to HBO Asia: Link.

    Another cryptic one after Episode 4 being called “Book of the Stranger”…

  71. Redxgod:
    So ‘The Door’ ?

    I have drawn a blank any ideas?

    It just becomes weirder! Book of the Stranger and now The Door?

  72. its obviously about the house with the red door…but they cant say red cuz everyone will know

  73. Redxgod,

    Some door that Bran wants to go through, in a vision? The only other thing I can think of is the house with the red door. I don’t see why would they bring that up now though, Dany has never even mentioned it once on the show so far.

  74. Green Chili:
    In case you haven’t heard it before:

    Title of Episode 5 will be “The Door”, according to HBO Asia: Link.

    Another cryptic one after Episode 4 being called “Book of the Stranger”…

    What on earth could that mean?

  75. Kit Harrington still listed in the main cast for episode 8.

    Must have played a corpse for a really long time to be able to get paid like one of the main cast!

  76. HelloThere,

    Could be, I guess. Its too vague to really say anything with certainty. IIRC as per filming info though

    Arya, around this time, will be hanging out with the mummer’s troupe, so she maybe away from the HoBaW in this episode.
  77. Rodrigo:
    Spoiler news from Carice herself:

    https://omelete.uol.com.br/series-tv/noticia/game-of-thrones-carice-van-houten-diz-que-melisandre-nao-vai-trazer-jon-snow-de-volta-a-vida/

    It’s obviously in portuguese but you guys could try to google translate it.

    Game of Thrones | Carice van Houten says Melisandre will not bring Jon Snow back to life
    “She made some potions and some other magical little things in the past but never brought someone back from the dead,” the actress said in an interview with Omelette

    Giving birth to a murdering shadow deamon is a little thing?

  78. Rygritte:
    Jack Bauer 24,
    Hair & make-up did a perfect job of making him look dead. It was horrible. What I didn’t understand was when we first see him, there is a ton of blood like in the finale, but when they pick him up, there’s only a little blood in the shape of a turkey:

    http://12840-presscdn-0-47.pagely.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/dragon-blood-650×360.jpg

    http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/04/27/05/3392E40F00000578-3560824-image-a-18_1461732832882.jpg

    I don’t think there is less blood. The view with the body is close up so it looks like a lot of blood in comparison to the size of his head. After they have taken him away the blood is still there but the shot is zoomed out so that a whole body would fit in the frame…so the blood area looks smaller. They also seem to have dragged him and scraped some of the blood and ice together which makes it less of a contrast.

    Personally I’m not convinced there is anything significant to how the blood looks.

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