As much as he might be devoted to anything else Stannis is devoted to Stannis' image of Stannis and to Stannis becoming king more than Stannis gives a shit about anything that is not Stannis.
I can't believe that fucking George RR Martin took time out of what should be a busy writing schedule to be on Saturday Night Live tonight. :)
I think it also has to do with the "romanticism" of the character by the Stannis the Mannis fanboys. Maybe I'm biased from having watched thru season 3 before I read the books, but I just don't get the lovefest for Stannis. He comes off very one dimensional to me: he believes he's the rightful ruler and will do whatever is necessary to accomplish that goal. End of story.
I think it's because at this moment he's seemingly the only one that's fighting for the good of the realm
I disagree. I don't remember the exact quote, but that was his moment when Davos convinced him that he needed to stop worrying about being king and start acting like one who protects his kingdom.
Yes, that is what Davos said, but if there was a more direct way for Stannis to try and get to the Iron Throne he never would have done it. Davos is a far cooler and more honorable character than Stannis. Stannis' best moments are when he listens to Davos.
I don't understand your point. Stannis is the rightful king of Westeros and you're bashing him for wanting to claim what's his?
I look at Stannis through this lens - he's a guy who has been second fiddle to Robert his whole life but now by rights should be king. Meanwhile a clearly powerful priestess is telling him he's part of some prophesy and he's destined to save the world as King. I don't think he has a lust for power as much as he's bound to this sense of duty to the realm. Keeping all that in perspective makes some of the shady shit he's done seem less shitty.
By his point of view he is the rightful king. In reality, the rightful king is whoever is able to grab it. When Stannis was born his family was not even in control. It was his brother whom he resents tremendously that was able to grab the throne. Anyway, I am not even faulting him for thinking he is the rightful king. I fault him for being completely full of shit. He likes to pretend he is such a principled man of high character when in reality Stannis is the only thing that matters to Stannis.
I guess you could look at it either way. If you already don't like Stannis, it's easy to disregard. But there's very little I've seen in the books that leads me to view Stannis as selfish or power hungry. Tywin Lannister definitely was both of those things and it was quite obvious. It's harder to come to that conclusion with Stannis, although it's possible that it's correct.
Yeah, if there were some way to DNA test Joff/Tommen, and the results showed that they were actually in fact Robert's kids, Stannis would turn himself in for treason.
The," you could look at it either way " idea is, at least in my opinion, the whole point to just about every character You could look at stannis as a self righteous hypocrite or a man trying to do right by the realm, which will mean his ascension.
Book Stannis will do his duty for the good of the realm, even if that means he has to sacrifice his daughter. He'll think it's his Azor Ahai/Nissa nissa moment. I don't buy that book Stannis would be much different than show Stannis in that aspect. I suppose it is possible that Mel and Selyse do it without his blessing, but I don't think that would be as powerful/moving. I also don't think they sacrifice her until well after the battle of Ice, and I think the stakes will be much higher than they were in the show. I don't think he does it just to save his army. I think it'll be after the white walkers invade Westeros and he does it as kind of a last ditch effort to save humanity. That's all speculation, though.
I can see all of this. I don't hate the idea of Stannis doing it, and think he definitely would under the right circumstances. But they'd have to be much more dire than the ones on the show, and I just didn't like how they executed it.
i think this is where a lot of the confusion about the character comes up. davos has always been the moral compass of stannis, and has always been more important to the story than stannis. there's a reason all the POVS are through davos and not stannis. yes stannis has the power and the right to the throne but he , just like ned and robb, had one glaring flaw and that was the reason he was never going to be king.
It is just too bad for Shireen, that he is egomaniacal enough to believe that no matter what for the "good of the realm" is equivalent to Stannis being king.
The laws of Westeros make Stannis a king, Mel and her visions have made him believe he's Azor Ahai reborn and the savior of humanity.
IIRC lord and land inheritance always followed the UK laws (vertically until you have to go horizontally) since the First Men and the lands had 1000+ kingdoms. It's not like the Targs wrote new groundbreaking stuff. Although they did break those rules a few times (Maegor, Rhaenyra's claim, etc.)
But they did make seven kingdoms into one. And it is that one kingdom of which he would claim to be rightful king. However, since it was his brother in the very recent past that acquired the throne through conquest which there isn't exactly any laws about it is still very much a matter of perspective to people other than Stannis as to "rightful" king. Thus at this point there is no one answer to who the rightful king is which is why there has been wars over it. Maybe all of those wars will reveal who should be king or maybe they will reveal that no one should be. Maybe Westeros is better off as 7 actual kingdoms or some other arrangement. Anyway before too long the details of all of that will not be the most important thing happening.
The books make it pretty clear that Roberts rebellion is thought of as a one off and that, outside of dorne, oldest brother is the inheritor in lieu of a son. They never really get into what persuaded renleys peeps to rebel against stannis (assuming they believe the incest charges)...vanity and greed I guess.
I mean in practice the king is whoever takes the throne and holds it. But by Westrosi law, the rightful king is Stannis. That isn't really up for debate. Robert was rightful king by force of conquest, following the precedent of Aegon. Tommon has no blood of Robert and didn't conquer shit so by law he's not king. That matters very little other than giving Stannis and his men a cause to fight for, but it's still a fact.
I wonder what would happen if Tom Tom just decreed that the old succession laws for king weren't legal anymore. Because he is currently king, so what he says is law. Does tradition trump a royal order?
I don't know what caused it, probably Season 6 arriving here with no book, but I've come to the realization that we're never getting another book.
yea, we never gonna see those books. Anyone else worried about a drop off in the writing since there aren't books to go off of?
Well considering it's already happened, not sure "worried about" is the right terminology. "Annoyed by" is a better fit. Also we're definitely going to see TWOW. I'd listen to arguments about ADOS but saying we won't see TWOW is just being a drama queen
Was at a dinner on Saturday night and benioff's college roommate was there. Strongly believes there will not be a book based on her conversations w him
Family dinner. Never met this woman before, but we were talking about shows we watch and talk turned to the upcoming premiere. She then mentioned that benioff was her roommate when he attended UCI and would stay up all night furiously writing screenplays. I was like, uh-huh. She still talks to him occasionally. I then said that it's interesting that there will only be a couple more (half) seasons left. Then she says that's because benioff says there won't be any books forthcoming and Martin has been content doing nothing and getting paid (I believe this part was her opinion but not sure). Nothing more specific than that and basically confirms what I've thought for a while. Talk ended abruptly because my bro in law said that he hates the show, so the guys started talking about ufc.
There may never be another book, but that woman knows as much about the liklihood of it being completed as you or I. He will finish The Winds of Winter, but my major doubt has always been whether or not he can wrap the story up in 7 books. If he can't, and I don't believe he can, then there's a very real chance the series is never completed.
I would like to, on behalf of the ASOIAF fan base, offer GRRM a deal: we'll stop giving him shit for not finishing the books, and he'll agree to allow a mutually agreed upon author to finish the series in the event of his passing, and sell the rights to a mutually agreed upon studio for any and all future spin off movies.
I am in favor. The final sentence: "And then, Harry woke up to the depressing realization that Westeros and Hogwarts was all a dream"