0:03 How powerful is Melisandre of Ashai?
0:05 What is she capable of? And what else
0:08 might we see her do? Hi everyone, this
0:10 is Robert. Welcome to In DeepgeGeek. On
0:12 this channel, we dive deep into the
0:14 world of A Song of Ice and Fire as well
0:16 as the Lord of the Rings and The
0:19 Witcher. Welcome. This is another
0:21 collaboration with the wonderful history
0:23 of Westeros. Please do check out their
0:25 YouTube channel and podcast. There's a
0:27 link in the description.
0:29 The Lord of Light has many followers,
0:31 but only the most skilled among them
0:33 become red priests and priestesses.
0:35 We've seen them seeing visions in the
0:37 flames, bringing people back to life,
0:40 and more. Melisandre clearly has all
0:42 those abilities. Indeed, she believes
0:43 she has learned them beyond the ability
0:46 of everyone else in her order. This is
0:48 what she thinks when we finally get a
0:50 POV chapter from her perspective in A
0:53 Dance with Dragons. Melisandre had
0:55 practiced her art for years beyond
0:58 count, and she had paid the price. There
1:00 was no one, not even in her order, who
1:02 had her skill at seeing the secrets half
1:05 revealed and half concealed within the
1:08 sacred flames. Based on what we've seen,
1:10 there is no reason to doubt her in this
1:12 regard. But what makes her stand out is
1:14 that she has learned magics outside the
1:17 purview of her religion as well. Unlike
1:19 other red priests like Thoros of Mir
1:22 Mako the dark flame or even Banero the
1:23 high priest at the red temple in
1:26 Volantis as far as we know Melisandre is
1:30 a shadowbinder trained in Ashai. This is
1:32 an easy distinction to miss given that
1:35 Ror is the god of flame and shadow.
1:37 Nevertheless, it appears that while
1:38 there is at least some conceptual
1:41 overlap, shadowbinding is a different
1:43 style or perhaps even source of magic if
1:46 you will. Melisandre learned it in Ashai
1:48 instead of from the red temples as far
1:50 as we can tell. Melisandre may well
1:52 claim that shadows come under the
1:54 purview of the lord of light. I suppose
1:56 there are no shadows without light, but
1:58 still shadow babies seems like
2:01 shadowbinder rather than law magic.
2:03 Ultimately, however, red priestess and
2:06 shadowbinder are just titles. They give
2:08 a general idea, and one day I'll do a
2:10 video setting out how I think all these
2:12 types of magic tie together. But in
2:15 reality, most people in Westeros would
2:17 just view them as magic and leave it at
2:20 that. And to get this out of the way,
2:22 yes, Melisandre is an expert in using
2:25 showmanship, artifice, and reputation to
2:27 enhance or complement her true magical
2:29 abilities, but that shouldn't take away
2:32 from the fact that she has powers. She
2:34 uses powders, for example, which have a
2:36 potent effect when burned and inhaled,
2:39 and can look impressive, turning flames
2:40 different colors and the like. According
2:42 to her, she has one for lust, another
2:45 for fear, another for truth, and another
2:47 that can kill outright. We don't know
2:49 which, if any, of these have a magical
2:52 origin, but they are certainly powerful.
2:54 We've seen a powder for fear used by Mir
2:56 Mazdur, incidentally. It drove away
2:58 Dany<unk>y's handmmaids, although Dany
3:00 herself impressively resisted its
3:03 effects. Perhaps the best example is how
3:06 Melisandre intimidates nearly everyone
3:08 she meets, even those who have never
3:10 seen her demonstrate any power at all.
3:12 What they've heard about her is
3:14 terrifying enough. She knows how
3:16 superstitious Westeros is, and makes
3:19 great use of it. And of course, those
3:21 who meet her are very often struck by
3:23 her appearance as well. Both her size,
3:26 she stands 6 ft tall, that's over 180
3:30 cm, and her beauty. She is stunning but
3:32 with an accompanying unnatural red
3:35 quality. This is where the power of her
3:37 appearance meets the power of rel. She
3:39 is almost certainly using glamours to
3:42 alter her appearance. This goes well
3:44 beyond cosmetics and dressing to
3:46 impress. In fact, it goes beyond the
3:48 realm of sight as we've also witnessed
3:50 her utter a word that is heard
3:52 differently by multiple listeners. We've
3:55 even seen her fool ghost's senses, which
3:57 probably means she can manipulate the
4:00 sense of smell as well. So although we
4:02 may wish to downplay her power by
4:04 pointing to her tricks and misdirection,
4:07 even those are supplemented by her
4:10 magic. Speaking of, much if not all of
4:12 her magic seems to be focused through
4:14 the ruby she wears around her throat.
4:16 The more powerful the magic, the more
4:18 power seems to pass through it, the
4:20 brighter it shines, and the more it
4:23 burns her. Rubies do not seem to be a
4:25 requirement of rel magic, however, as we
4:27 don't see any other red priest using
4:30 rubies at any point, but rubies can
4:32 apparently be used for other magic as
4:34 well. Mance Raider is not merely
4:36 disguised by a glamour. He is compelled
4:38 to do her bidding via the ruby bracelet
4:41 on his wrist. We do not know the extent
4:43 of this power. How much control does she
4:46 really have over him? She probably can't
4:48 order him to kill himself, but she can
4:51 send him on a very dangerous mission.
4:53 Jon observes their ruby's pulse and
4:56 union, and when Melisandre removes
4:58 Mance's glamour, the ruby darkens. A
5:00 brightly shining ruby is therefore a
5:03 sign for us to look for, such as the one
5:05 Melisandre attached to the hilt of the
5:07 sword she claims is Lightbringer. It
5:10 blazes brightly, but gives off no heat.
5:13 This is a bit curious as she certainly
5:15 demonstrates control over heat as her
5:17 own body emanates excess heat even at
5:19 the wall. She wears no cloak or extra
5:22 covering whatsoever. Perhaps glamours
5:24 are easier for her than manipulation of
5:27 heat and fire. Melisandre also claims
5:29 that the battle of the Blackwater would
5:31 have had a different result had she been
5:33 present. This is perhaps a boast that
5:36 she alone would have changed the result,
5:38 but she might actually be right. if her
5:40 command of fire allows for control over
5:42 wildfire. That is a test we have yet to
5:45 see. Of course, we did see her in battle
5:46 against the free folk when Stannis
5:48 launched his sneak attack on the far
5:51 side of the wall. There was little fire,
5:53 let alone wildfire, but she did emulate
5:55 the eagle controlled by Vladimir
5:58 Sickskins, who was once bonded to Oral.
6:00 It's a rare case where we get the
6:02 victim's perspective on it. Varameir
6:05 recalls, "One moment he had been soaring
6:07 above the wall, his eagle's eyes marking
6:09 the movements of the men below. Then the
6:11 flames had turned his heart into a
6:14 blackened cinder and sent his spirit
6:16 screaming back into his own skin. And
6:20 for a little while he'd gone mad." A big
6:22 question is whether Melisandre can do
6:24 this to any being, or was she targeting
6:27 the skin changer bond. She doesn't
6:28 reflect on the battle at all during her
6:30 POV chapter. So, our understanding
6:32 remains limited. But by now, it should
6:34 be pretty clear that one of the most
6:36 impressive things about Melisandre's
6:39 magic is its breadth. Fire destruction
6:42 magic, glamours, protection from poison,
6:44 shadow babies, and of course, the art of
6:47 seeing the future or what is far away in
6:50 the flames. Melisandre has had mixed
6:52 results in this area. Makoro, at least
6:54 so far, has provided us with an example
6:56 of someone that is particularly skilled
6:58 at this. Regardless, Melisandre
7:00 undoubtedly has the ability, but she
7:02 admits to others and to herself that
7:04 seeing the visions is one thing.
7:07 Interpreting them correctly is another.
7:09 As we read earlier in her POV chapter,
7:12 we find her reassuringly self-aware.
7:14 Melisandre had practiced her art for
7:17 years beyond count, and she had paid the
7:19 price. There was no one, even in her
7:21 order, who had her skill at seeing the
7:23 secrets half-revealed and half concealed
7:27 within the sacred flames. Yet now she
7:29 could not even seem to find her king. I
7:32 pray for a glimpse of Azor Ahai, and Ror
7:36 shows me only snow. That may actually be
7:37 a matter of her asking the wrong
7:39 questions, incidentally, rather than
7:41 misinterpreting the vision as usual. She
7:43 asked to see Azor Ahai, thinking that
7:46 meant Stannis, but saw only snow with a
7:50 capital S. Jon Snow. Still, she does
7:52 learn a lot from the flames. It's
7:53 possible this is how she knew to
7:55 surprise Jon Snow with the line, "You
7:58 know nothing, Jon Snow." After using her
8:00 glamour to appear as a greet to him. How
8:02 else could she know what a greet looked
8:05 like, let alone anything she had said?
8:07 We read that Melisandre looks into the
8:09 flames each morning and the first thing
8:11 she does is look for danger to her own
8:13 self. This is likely how she knew
8:15 Maester Cressen would attempt to murder
8:17 her with poison. Thus, we must ask the
8:20 question, did she take an antidote in
8:22 advance? Or was her immunity of
8:24 sorceress origin, the ruby at her neck
8:26 pulsed when she consumed the poisoned
8:28 wine? Perhaps it makes little
8:30 difference. Either way, she was saved by
8:32 her magic. As an aside, because I
8:34 covered this in more depth in another
8:36 video, we should note that she does not
8:40 need to eat or drink nor sleep. She is
8:41 very likely already well beyond the
8:44 lifespan of a typical human and surely
8:47 is the oldest POV character. So, poison
8:49 simply might not affect her at all.
8:51 Simply put, she doesn't appear to be a
8:54 normal human anymore. Anyway, another
8:56 good example of Melisandre using real
8:58 power mixed with charlatanism comes in
9:01 the case of the king's blood leeches.
9:03 She tells Stannis that by saying some
9:05 words and throwing three leeches gorged
9:07 on Edrictor Storm's blood into the fire,
9:10 three kings will die. When those named
9:13 three kings do die, Melisandre gains
9:15 considerable credibility with King
9:17 Stannis, who in turn agrees to burn
9:20 Edric Storm. More likely, however, she
9:23 foresaw the deaths of Renley, Joffrey,
9:24 and Rob in the flames, and then
9:27 manufactured a way to claim credit.
9:29 Otherwise, are we to believe that the
9:31 red wedding was caused by an enchanted
9:34 leech or the purple wedding? That would
9:36 be power indeed. The case of Renley,
9:38 however, while we cannot pin it on a
9:41 leech either, we can absolutely accuse
9:44 Melisandre and her shadow baby assassin.
9:47 And this is very likely where we pivot
9:49 from the powers of Ror to that of the
9:52 shadowbinders of Ashai. She has sent two
9:54 of these shadow baby assassins that we
9:56 know of. One to kill Renley and the
9:58 other to kill Sir Courtney Penrose.
10:00 Catelyn was partial witness to the
10:02 former, but Davos got a very close look
10:05 at the latter as he was the one to row
10:07 her close to Storm's End. She becomes
10:09 pregnant in the span of a single day or
10:12 so, and her skin shines brightly as the
10:14 shadow is born, almost as if the
10:16 darkness leaving her allows this
10:18 illumination to emerge. We learn that
10:20 she sleeps with Stannis to create these
10:23 shadows, and it draws some of his life
10:25 fire, as she calls it, away. In the case
10:28 of Sir Courtourtney, she tells Stannis
10:30 she saw his death in the flames, which
10:32 convinces Stannis to sleep with her
10:33 again, which is what enables her to
10:35 create the shadow baby that kills Sir
10:37 Courtourtney. Her own version of a
10:39 self-fulfilling prophecy, perhaps
10:41 deception, seduction, and genuine
10:45 sorcery all combined. It should be said
10:47 the shadow killed Renley with a sword
10:49 that cut through his armor as if it were
10:51 cloth and threw Sir Kourtney from a
10:53 tower to make it look like suicide.
10:57 These are ridiculously powerful shadows.
10:58 She thinks about creating more shadows
11:00 at the wall as well and believes that
11:03 they will be great and terrible because
11:05 the wall is what she calls a hinge of
11:08 the world, which means quite simply it
11:10 makes at least one of her spells more
11:12 powerful, if not all of them. The wall
11:15 is known to block magic and shades like
11:18 the others. That Melisandre is more
11:20 powerful there, especially in creating
11:23 shadows is surprising in that light. So
11:25 why? What is going on there? It's a
11:27 compelling question, but one for another
11:30 day. Melisandre propositions Davos to
11:32 help her create another shadow, but he
11:34 declines. She may have had Jon Snow in
11:37 mind for that as well. It could explain
11:39 why she appeared to him as a greet, his
11:41 dead lover. An extremely creepy way to
11:43 attract someone, but it's hard to see
11:45 another motivation for her doing that.
11:47 So, it seems likely we'll see one or
11:50 more of her great and terrible shadows.
11:52 But who will sleep with her to create
11:54 it? And who will it target? Can these
11:56 enhanced shadows kill more than one
11:59 target? Can they last longer and perhaps
12:01 accomplish tasks other than murder?
12:03 Could they be sent against the others?
12:05 The others are creatures of shadow
12:08 themselves and are described as such.
12:11 Send a shadow to kill a shadow
12:14 perhaps. Going from ice to fire, one
12:16 power she seems to believe she has is
12:18 the ability to wake dragons from stone.
12:21 as per the prophecy of Azor Ahai reborn.
12:23 But we know Dany has already
12:25 accomplished this and given George R.
12:27 Martin has referred to it as miraculous,
12:30 we can be sure it won't happen again. So
12:31 she may not be able to raise dragons
12:34 from stone, but she may be able to raise
12:37 a dragon from the dead. That is if you
12:41 count Jon Snow as a dragon and dead.
12:42 Though Melisandre has never performed
12:44 the kiss of life, the fact that Thoros
12:47 of Mere raised Beric Dondarrion shows it
12:49 is possible for a red priest. However,
12:52 Thoros did not expect it to happen. He
12:54 had given the kiss a thousand times with
12:56 no result. He is unable to explain why
13:00 it worked on Beric. It is a courtesy, a
13:02 burial tradition of the Lord of Light,
13:05 not a ritual with an intended result, at
13:07 least until the events of the books.
13:09 It's safe to say magic works differently
13:11 than it did only a few years prior.
13:14 Melisandre may find herself in a similar
13:16 position, and that would be an ironic
13:18 moment for a woman who exaggerates her
13:20 powers to discover that she can
13:21 resurrect people without even knowing
13:24 it. An enormously powerful ability. The
13:26 obvious possibility is for her to use it
13:29 on Jon Snow, and presumably it will
13:31 work. Or perhaps it will be in an even
13:33 more dramatic way, like I suggested in
13:35 another video, and she will just claim
13:37 the credit. And though we're heading
13:39 into the realms of speculation now,
13:41 after that, will she still try again to
13:43 sleep with him to make another shadow or
13:46 two? Would he feel compelled in some way
13:48 this time since he'd be in her debt?
13:50 Would that even work after he's been
13:52 raised from the dead? Crossing multiple
13:54 types of sorcery and death does make
13:57 this a rather theoretical matter. The
13:59 shadow assassins she made with Stannis
14:02 both had his face. Davos and Catelyn
14:04 both recognized Stannis in their brief
14:06 moments as witnesses. Miriam Mazdur,
14:08 another shadowbinder, danced with
14:10 shadows in her tent when she performed
14:13 that spell on Cul Drogo. One of those
14:15 shadows had the head of a wolf. We've
14:17 seen a man with a wolf's head in the
14:19 corpse of Rob Stark. But a shadow baby
14:22 fathered by Jon Snow could have a wolf's
14:24 visage, too. Especially if Jon enters
14:26 ghost to begin his second life, which
14:29 would make him even more wolfish. There
14:32 are a lot of possibilities here. Though
14:34 a lot of mystery remains, deliberately
14:36 so by George R. Martin, it's clear that
14:38 Melisandre's magical abilities are quite
14:40 substantial. Despite her charlatan
14:42 tendencies, and perhaps even more so
14:44 because she is now based at the wall. A
14:46 Song of Ice and Fire is about many
14:49 things, but a major theme is power.
14:52 Power comes in many forms from political
14:54 to personal. But in terms of
14:56 supernatural power, Melisandre is
14:58 perhaps only matched in the story by
15:01 Blood Raven and perhaps eventually Bran.
15:03 There are red priests who can perhaps
15:06 match her skills attributed to Ror, but
15:08 none of the other red priests we know of
15:09 are shadowbinders, meaning she has
15:11 access to an entire magical discipline
15:15 that they do not. So, let's pull all
15:17 this together. Melisandre can use
15:19 glamours to change the appearance of
15:21 people like herself and Mance Raider or
15:24 objects like Stannis's Lightbringer. And
15:26 these are not just visual manipulations.
15:28 We've seen her perform sonic
15:30 manipulations and fool the senses of a
15:32 direwolf. She can see the future and
15:34 most likely the past and present at far
15:36 distances in the flames, though has
15:39 trouble interpreting what she sees. She
15:41 can emulate targets from distance and
15:43 birth shadow assassins. She has lived
15:45 beyond a normal human's lifespan. is
15:48 possibly immune to poison and needs no
15:50 food or water or sleep. She can use
15:52 rubies in her spells in ways we have
15:55 seen no one else do. And this includes
15:57 controlling others who wear so-called
15:59 slave rubies like the one she gave to
16:01 Mance. She might just raise Jon Snow
16:03 from the dead. And surely the power of
16:05 flame and light is useful against the
16:07 others and the armies of the dead, not
16:09 to mention the cold itself. Facing down
16:11 the cold and darkness is what she has
16:14 dedicated her life to. And perhaps
16:16 crucially for the next part of the plot,
16:17 she does seem to be able to affect some
16:20 aspects of the weather, too. She burned
16:22 Sir Alistister Florent to death before
16:23 heading to the wall, which enabled her
16:25 to boost the winds in favor of their
16:27 ships. So perhaps she might try to
16:30 intervene to help Stannis, whose army
16:31 has been snowed into a Coffter's village
16:33 by the winter that has descended upon
16:35 Winterfell. It is not just a matter of a
16:38 bit of snow. The army cannot move, and
16:40 soldiers are dying from the cold every
16:42 day. Unless something changes, Stannis
16:46 will die there. Perhaps that is how and
16:48 why Shireen will get burned. Burning Sir
16:51 Alistister created some favorable winds.
16:52 Might burning a king's daughter at the
16:54 wall be enough to turn back winter for a
16:58 time. Could she really be that powerful?
17:00 Well, don't discount it, particularly
17:02 given her apparent willingness to be
17:04 hurt herself in the cause of her magic.
17:06 In an interesting moment that showed
17:08 both her limits and how far she is
17:11 willing to go, when she used glamours to
17:12 effectively swap Mance and the Lord of
17:16 Bones, we read this. They need never
17:18 know how difficult it had been or how
17:20 much it had cost her. That was a lesson
17:22 Melisandre had learned long before
17:25 Ashai. The more effortless the sorcery
17:28 appears, the more men fear the sorcerer.
17:29 When the flames had licked at
17:32 Rattleshirt, the ruby at her throat had
17:34 grown so hot that she had feared her own
17:36 flesh might start to smoke and
17:40 blacken. So she does have limits to her
17:41 power, not not just her ability to
17:44 interpret her visions, for example. But
17:46 still, it seems that her greatest tests
17:48 are ahead of her. It seems likely that
17:50 the White Walkers will be who tests her
17:52 the most. That the battle for the dawn
17:54 is what will bring her to the maximum
17:56 extent of her abilities, perhaps even
17:58 beyond. And that may give us the best
18:01 answer yet to the question, how powerful
18:05 is Melisandre? For now, we can just say
18:08 very, and getting more powerful. In
18:10 fact, let's give her the last word on the
18:10 the
18:13 subject. She was stronger at the wall,
18:16 stronger even than in a shy. Her every
18:18 word and gesture was more potent, and
18:20 she could do things that she had never
18:23 done before. Such shadows as I bring
18:26 forth here will be terrible, and no
18:33 them. If you'd like to see more videos
18:35 like this, diving deep into the world of
18:37 A Song of Ice and Fire, there's a link
18:38 to my playlist on the left of your
18:41 screen, or to support this channel,
18:42 thank you. There's a link to my Patreon
18:45 page on the right of your screen. That's
18:47 all for this time. Thanks for watching.
