The Murder of Shireen Baratheon

Initial Reactions: Edit
I learned that the sacrifice of Shireen was GRRM'S idea, and that D&D were horrified at the suggestion, but understood it. I decided to post my initial reactions anyway, so it was not a complete waste of time.

Originally, I wrote this post about my feelings regarding the burning of Shireen. I did not post it because my entire argument was based on another poor writing choice of D&D. I saw other options that would have kept Shireen alive, but now it is a moot point.

I could understand why Stannis would kill his own daughter, because he is not a man who is capable of love.  However, Book Stannis specifically tells another character, that if he hears of his death, Shireen is to be crowned Queen, as she will be the last of House Baratheon. He is also nowhere near the Wall, but stuck in 40 ft of snow at the end of ADWD.  But we also probably have about 2000 pages during which Book Stannis will come to this decision, or who knows, GRRM might change his mind. 

However, we also know that Val tells Jon to kill her, because she is unclean, and greyscale sleeps, but never goes away. Greyscale has been a huge presence this season, so perhaps it will play a larger role than I had thought in the books. Shireen may be killed because of her greyscale; and not because she is kings blood. I do not remember Mel considering that Shireen must be sacrificed, but the portrayal of this murder, crossed the line for me. 

I know why Shireen was specifically reading The Princess and the Queen, in this episode.  It is a bloody and violent story, that includes the murder of a child, as an act of vengeance, in front of his mother, after a "Sophie's Choice", type scenario. It reminds us of the ruthlessness of ASOIAF, and the motivations of the characters who commit these atrocites.

The original post is below:

Initial Reactions 
The murder of Shireen Baratheon is the first time, that I have ever considered to stop watching the show.  We all have our limits of what we can tolerate, and listening to a screaming child as she burns to death, was mine. I have already read around the web, that this is Game of Thrones, what did I expect? I am a book reader, and I am well aware of the brutality in this world.  But that does not mean that I should "expect" the violence on screen, as this is the series, with huge changes, and it is not the books. The story that Shireen is reading, "A Dance of Dragons", by Archmaester Gyldayn is recounted in a story called "The Princess and the Queen" (and in the book Dangerous Women and The World of Ice and Fire), is a bloody, and violent tale of mass murder, the killing of children, and many more atrocities. So, my reaction to Shireen's murder, is not due to a lack of understanding of the world of ASOIAF.

It is one thing to tell the story as it was written, but to deliberately make choices like the consistent brutality of women, and now the burning of Shireen, for shock value, is unacceptable. These events are not in the books, and I, both personally, and as a reader, find them offensive, and in this case, traumatic.

I never want to watch Stannis on screen again, and that is so disappointing. He is the best written non POV character in the series, and I just dedicated 5.04 to him. I never thought that he would kill his own daughter, even if all of the recent scenes between them, could possibly suggest otherwise. Selyse has repeatedly said that she is ashamed of Shireen and Stannis has always made it clear, at least to me, that he would most likely kill her, if she touched his daughter. I really enjoyed his relationship with Jon, albeit a short one,  but it really worked for me.

There were also many options to move this storyline along, without the death of Shireen. We know that Mel has to be at the Wall when Jon is stabbed, and Davos is not with Stannis at this point in the books. I said in my earlier recaps that Selyse would do it, at the behest of Mel, and Stannis would kill her.  Mel would need to escape and would choose to go to the Wall, and Davos, knowing of the plan, would sneak away with Shireen.

However a decision was made to destroy Stannis, a three dimensional, complex man, brilliantly brought to life by Stephen Dillane, and redeem crazy Selyse. We all remember Selyse, right? She has jars filled with her unborn sons, and relished in the cleansing fires of her burning relatives, and many others who were deemed traitors by Stannis. He took no pleasure in these acts, but he believes that it is his destiny to sit on the Iron Throne.

Do you know what made this decision, even worse? The fact that we watched Dany fly away on Drogon, and that was meant to make up for it. I had trouble caring about Dany in this series, because I had just finished ADWD, and I no longer loved her. She flew off on Drogon, leaving behind a mess,  of her own making. It included two rogue dragons, who took up residence on the pyramids of Meereen, a plague and a war, without being accountable for any of it.

Will I stop watching the show? I have no desire to watch Stannis fight for Winterfell. He doesn't deserve it, or anything else for that matter, and certainly not anything to do with Ned Stark. The Boltons and the Lannisters have done enough disgusting things to Ned and his family, without adding Stannis to that list.

Finally, putting that aside, this was not a good episode. I have felt that way about more than one this season, and that in itself is depressing enough.  I have been trying really hard to love the series, as they go off book, and sadly, it has become more and more difficult to do so.