Game of Thrones season six episode one had a shocking twist for Melisandre
Contains spoilers that may or may not involve Jon Snow
Many fans tuned in to Game of Thrones season six’s first episode last night expecting a shocking display of magic from Carice van Houten’s Melisandre – and the show very much delivered.
However, the Red Woman’s intriguing spell wasn’t the resurrection of Kit Harington’s Jon Snow that we were all expecting and hoping for. Instead, the priestess revealed that her magic choker necklace had been hiding a secret – despite her youthful exterior, she was secretly a much older woman in disguise.
Now, naturally this raises a lot of questions.
How old is Melisandre really – just a few decades more, or genuinely ancient? Does she hide her true appearance out of vanity, or is there a darker reason for the deception? And does this mean she’s supposed to be an even more significant character, perhaps someone we’ve heard referred to in the history of Westeros?
For now, we’re not sure – she could be some sort of secret Targaryen, but apart from that we can’t think of any semi-mystical GoT characters previously referred to. Most likely she’s just been around for a while, and saw Stannis as her last hope to see her God rise ascendant again. Unless of course she has some sort of connection to the similarly shape-shifting Faceless Men...
Hopefully we’ll find out more next week, but one thing’s for sure – whatever darkness is in the Red Woman’s past, we’re sure we can find SOME way to get past it... Know what we mean?
Hint, hint…
Game of Thrones airs on Mondays on Sky Atlantic
Authors
Huw Fullerton is a Commissioning Editor for Radio Times magazine, covering Entertainment, Comedy and Specialist Drama.
