Post by Dornish Neck Tie on Sept 21, 2016 15:01:48 GMT
I've been thinking a lot about GRRM's description of Melisandre as "misunderstood," so when I re-watched this episode, her reaction to Jon's resurrection really stood out to me.
As soon as Mel saw Jon was alive, she swooped down and immediately questioned him on what he saw after he died. Now, we all know the show isn't exactly subtle, but I think the fear and uncertainty in Mel at this moment are unmistakable, and offer a key to understanding who she is. In this moment, it becomes clear that her greatest fear and concern is not the War for the Dawn or the Others, but the fact that death offers an absolute end to one's existence.
Many have already guessed from her "Melony, lot seven..." memory that Melisandre was sold into slavery as a little girl, or otherwise suffered some similar trauma. However, whether this is her specific memory of being sold to the Red Priests is not what's important IMO. To get to the heart of her motives, we have to make jumps in geography and logic to another character, one who was also sold into slavery at a very young age, only to rise to power across the Narrow Sea using an extraordinary set of skills. This character goes by the name of Varys, though of course we have no idea who he truly is. Here is how he describes his own personal "rebirth" to Tyrion:
"The mummers had sailed by the time he was done with me. Once I had served his purpose, the man had no further interest in me, so he put me out. When I asked him what I should do now, he answered that he supposed I should die. To spite him, I resolved to live. I begged, I stole, and I sold what parts of my body still remained to me. Soon I was as good a thief as any in Myr, and when I was older I learned that often the contents of a man's letters are more valuable than the contents of his purse."
- Tyrion X, ACoK
Melisandre, in her desire to spite those who treated her as if she were an expendable animal or dead piece of flesh, was offered a path which promised the opposite. Like Varys and his late manhood, I believe she was sold for the use of her body, though in her case it was most likely to a brothel. Once Mel's youth and beauty faded, she was cast out by her masters and left to die. This is when she turned to the Lord of Light, path which offered not only a way to cheat death, but a way to keep the fires of her youth and beauty ablaze, a way to avoid experiencing the horrible rejection she endured once others' desire for her had faded.
In short, I believe we need to sympathize with Melisandre a lot more than we do. At times she seems to still be a scared, sad, little girl who has been taught all the wrong lessons about love and the value of human life. She may have won her freedom from the pillow houses, but she is still a slave to the lessons learned from her upbringing there.
So, what do y'all think? Can we root for Melisandre a little bit more, or am I just a sucker for hot redheads?
As soon as Mel saw Jon was alive, she swooped down and immediately questioned him on what he saw after he died. Now, we all know the show isn't exactly subtle, but I think the fear and uncertainty in Mel at this moment are unmistakable, and offer a key to understanding who she is. In this moment, it becomes clear that her greatest fear and concern is not the War for the Dawn or the Others, but the fact that death offers an absolute end to one's existence.
Many have already guessed from her "Melony, lot seven..." memory that Melisandre was sold into slavery as a little girl, or otherwise suffered some similar trauma. However, whether this is her specific memory of being sold to the Red Priests is not what's important IMO. To get to the heart of her motives, we have to make jumps in geography and logic to another character, one who was also sold into slavery at a very young age, only to rise to power across the Narrow Sea using an extraordinary set of skills. This character goes by the name of Varys, though of course we have no idea who he truly is. Here is how he describes his own personal "rebirth" to Tyrion:
"The mummers had sailed by the time he was done with me. Once I had served his purpose, the man had no further interest in me, so he put me out. When I asked him what I should do now, he answered that he supposed I should die. To spite him, I resolved to live. I begged, I stole, and I sold what parts of my body still remained to me. Soon I was as good a thief as any in Myr, and when I was older I learned that often the contents of a man's letters are more valuable than the contents of his purse."
- Tyrion X, ACoK
Melisandre, in her desire to spite those who treated her as if she were an expendable animal or dead piece of flesh, was offered a path which promised the opposite. Like Varys and his late manhood, I believe she was sold for the use of her body, though in her case it was most likely to a brothel. Once Mel's youth and beauty faded, she was cast out by her masters and left to die. This is when she turned to the Lord of Light, path which offered not only a way to cheat death, but a way to keep the fires of her youth and beauty ablaze, a way to avoid experiencing the horrible rejection she endured once others' desire for her had faded.
In short, I believe we need to sympathize with Melisandre a lot more than we do. At times she seems to still be a scared, sad, little girl who has been taught all the wrong lessons about love and the value of human life. She may have won her freedom from the pillow houses, but she is still a slave to the lessons learned from her upbringing there.
So, what do y'all think? Can we root for Melisandre a little bit more, or am I just a sucker for hot redheads?