Stannis - His Arc in Context

Knowing Stannis' full arc (well at least his ending point) perhaps now as we're reintroduced to Stannis we might want to look at things in context. Stannis in the show is much more of a religious man--true he is not an outright zealot, but he eventually becomes a believer. He is a man who wants to believe that there is more than life has given him, that it might be a heavy burden but that burden makes him special in a way he never felt.

So let us consider Stannis' story as we are reintroduced to him here in Season 2.