Melisandre, known to many as a Red Priestess of R’hllor, was sold as a slave in her youth
to the Red Temple of Asshai. Possibly sold as Lot 7 under the name Melony, the girl was
trained as a shadowbinder, developing into a devout worshipper of the Red God, the Lord
of Light who stood in opposition to the Great Other, the god of darkness. Her skill in the
magical arts granted her many gifts, including the ability to see visions in flames, becoming
convinced she was capable of understanding their meaning and significance.
During her many years in service to R’hllor she learned a number of languages including
Westerosi Common, High Valyrians and the language of Asshai. She also learned of the history
of her faith and the prophecies of Azor ahai, a legendary hero who once saved the world
from the demon armies of the Great Other and who would one day be reborn to again defend
humanity from a coming darkness. After many years in the east, she travelled
to Westeros, believing that the identity of Azor Ahai reborn had been revealed to her
as Stannis Baratheon, the one true King of Westeros.
Stannis, despite having the most legitimate claim, would have to vy for control of the
Kingdom in the War of the Five Kings, which followed the death of his elder brother King
Robert Baratheon, and the execution of the Hand of the King Ned Stark.
In addition, his younger brother Renly had usurped much of his support in the Stormlands,
making Stannis the least powerful and supported candidate for the throne. It was perhaps because
the odds were so against him, that Stannis accepted the help of a foreign priestess,
eventually convinced of her legitimacy by her demonstrations of magic.
As the new advisor to the King, she converted many in the court of Dragonstone to the faith
of R’hllor, including the Queen Lady Selyse and a number of knights who would pledged
themselves as Queensmen, bound by their faith in R’hllor. She also created a flaming sword,
to serve as lightbringer for King Stannis, though the flames of the sword were only a
glamour, while the real light bringer was said to produce authentic heat.
Maester Cressen, the man who helped raise Stannis, was alarmed by the degradation of
his court and the influence of this foreign heretic, and so plotted to kill her and himself
with poisoned wine. However Melisandre’s unique abilities and training allowed her
to survive the poisoning which killed the Maester, further convincing Stannis of her
power. While on the Island, Melisandre performed
a number of sacrifices to her god, burning non-believers in the name of R’hllor.
Although Melisandre was prepared to help Stannis in many ways, her presence in his court also
harmed his public reputation, which saw his opponents in King’s Landing spreading rumors
of his association with a foreign priestess and heresies against the Faith of the Seven.
Nevertheless Stannis allowed Melisandre to use her magic, to conjure a shadow assassin
to kill Renly Baratheon, allowing Stannis to inherit his brother’s army without a
battle. She also gave birth to a shadow creature who killed Ser Courtnay Penrose, to facilitate
the capture of Storm’s End. Despite her role in his early victories, Stannis
chose to keep her at Dragonstone during his invasion of King’s Landing, to avoid having
his victory attributed to her magic. Yet thanks to an alliance between his enemies
in House Lannister and Tyrell, Stannis was defeated at the Battle of the Blackwater and
forced to retreat. Unsure of how to proceed, Melisandre offers
further use of her powers, stating that if they sacrifice young Edric Storm, the bastard
son of Robert Baratheon, they might use his Kingsblood to wake Stone Dragons, who might
help Stannis win the throne. But he refused and so she used 3 leeches to consume a small
amount of the boy’s blood, then sacrificing the creatures and cursing the false kings
Balon Greyjoy, Robb Stark and Joffrey Baratheon. Though it is not known whether the sacrifice
was truly responsible, all three men would soon die unnatural deaths.
With his support in the south waning, and little hope for further success, Stannis followed
the advice of friend Davos Seaworth, who insisted that he must act like a king if he wished
to win the support of the people. And he might accomplish this by sailing with his forces
North to the Wall, to help the Night’s Watch defeat an invading Wildling army. At the Battle
of Castle Black, the forces of Stannis Baratheon come to the rescue of the Black Brothers,
crushing the armies of Mance Rayder and taking the Wildling king hostage. During the fighting
Melisandre uses fire magic to kill an eagle being controlled by the Wildling skinchanger
Varamyr sixskins, causing the man to go mad. After the fighting Melisandre proposes burning
Mance Rayder’s infant son as a sacrifice to R’hllor, but Jon Snow objected and switched
the baby with gilly’s son, which was then sent with the girl and Sam Tarly to Oldtown,
well away from Melisandre’s schemes. Feeling that her powers were strongest at
the wall, Melisandre stayed behind while Stannis and his armies marched south, to confront
the Boltons at Winterfell. Melisandre then used her glamour magic to
make the wildling known as Rattleshirt, appear to be Mance Rayder, burning him, to make all
believe the king beyond the wall was dead. Yet in truth Mance was sent away on a special
mission for Jon Snow, ordered to infiltrate Winterfell and rescue the girl believed to
be Arya Stark. During her time at the wall Melisandre had
a number of powerful visions, and became increasingly uncertain of what she was seeing.
The Red Priestess successfully predicts the death of 3 men of the Night’s Watch, and
claimed to see a corpse white creature with a wooden face and a thousand eyes, next to
a boy with a wolf’s head. Although many believe she had glimpsed the 3 eyed crow alongside
Bran North of the Wall, she believed they were in fact servants of the Great other and
enemies to her cause. When asking for visions of Azor Ahai, expecting
to see Stannis, she is instead presented with images of Jon Snow, surrounded by skulls,
seeing his face, then a wolf, then his face once more. Some have come to believe this
predicted that Jon Snow would be killed, yet his mind would survive by warging into his
direwolf Ghost for a time, then to be resurrected into his body.
She warned Jon Snow of daggers in the dark, sensing the danger that surrounded him, and
predicted that Arya Stark would arrive at Castle Black on a dying horse. And while a
girl did arrive as she described, it was actually Alys Karstark and not Jon Snow’s younger
sister. Melisandre then foresaw a Wildling attack
on East Watch by the Sea, though she admitted that the towers she saw burning did not look
like those of East Watch, making it possible she was seeing something else entirely.
Then again she foresaw disaster, warning Jon Snow to abandon Hardhome, having seen a vision
of a possible White Walker attack and the deaths of all involved.
Despite her ever increasing connection to Jon Snow, Melisandre is absent when Jon receives
the Pink Letter, and announced his plans to march south against the Boltons.
This action led to a mutiny by Jon’s officers who stabbed him and left him to die in the
snow. Yet because of Melisandre’s powers and the
many visions she had suggesting the importance of Jon Snow, many have come to believe she
will have a role to play in his resurrection. Possibly using her magic to bring him back
to life, though likely at a high cost. Because of her strange powers, ability to
glamour and the ruby necklace that never leaves her neck, many believe Melisandre is much
older than her appearance suggests, and that her magic has extended her life possibly for
hundreds of years, allowing her to disguise her withered and frail appearance.