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aegor-bamfsteel · 6 years

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i know you really don't like shiera seastar, but do you have any thoughts about the theory that melisandre is her and bloodraven's child?

Thanks for the question, El! I did a very cursory search for arguments on this theory, so I admittedly don’t know all of its ins and outs. The evidence I’m referencing comes from the comments section of Shiera’s SSM:

Melisandre is described as having full breasts, a narrow waist, and a heart-shaped face while GRRM described Shiera in the SSM as “slim of waist and full of breast” with a heart-shaped face. She has red eyes and “pale, unblemished skin” while Brynden Rivers has albinism and red eyes. By contrast, the people of Asshai have a “dark and solemn” appearance, maybe indicating her foreign origins. Her original name Melony could be a combination of Melissa Blackwood and Serenei of Lys, Brynden and Shiera’s mothers. Melisandre practices shadow magic and sees visions in the flames, while Brynden Rivers has an affinity for shadows and prophetic green dreams. Both of them possess magic jewelry, a Ruby choker and a moonstone brooch. Brynden Rivers and Shiera Seastar had a sexual relationship; Brynden asked her to marry him “half a hundred times”, perhaps because he felt a duty to their newborn child while she refused to give up her independence. Serenei of Lys was implied to be much older than Aegon, and Shiera allegedly used the dark arts to keep her youth, so maybe Melisandre is much older than she appears and uses magic to keep her youth just like her putative mother and grandmother.

I dislike this theory, but not because I think it lacks evidence. Although I don’t find any of these pieces of information convincing. Firstly, Melisandre and Shiera are both considered great beauties in Westeros, so it makes sense that they share the features Westerosi men deem attractive. The appearance-based parallels to Brynden Rivers are even more spurious, as Melisandre has “pale, unblemished skin” but does not have albinism (we know the Ghost of High Heart does, so it would’ve been obvious with Mel) while Bloodraven has albinism and a pronounced crimson birthmark. Neither Brynden nor Shiera has red hair, but silver-gold or white hair. On the other hand, if Melisandre can alter her own appearance with magic, she might not even look the way she is described. Melony isn’t a straight portmanteau of Melissa and Serenei (Melenei would be), but even if it was, this series isn’t Twilight where parents give their daughters amalgamations of their grandmother’s first names; I did a meta on the names of Aegon IV’s children, and these names come from their mothers’ culture. If Shiera had a daughter (which does not seem likely to me given her selfish and abusive character), then she would’ve given her a Lysene name, but Melony doesn’t sound like any female Lysene name we know of (Larra, Serra, Serenei, Mysaria, Doreah, Shiera), lacking a vowel diphthong or a double r. She might not be native Asshai'i, but slave ships kidnap children from certain lands (like Naath or beyond the Wall) and sell them to slaving cities like Asshai, so it doesn’t mean that her parents were two Westerosi nobles. Sure, Melisandre has supernatural abilities: she can’t be poisoned, can make swords glow, births shadow assassins, has visions in the flames, and can glamor people to look like others; but she does not have any abilities that we know must be inherited through the blood of the First Men, like skin changing and green seeing (which would confirm an at least part-Westerosi heritage, if not that Bloodraven was her father). Shadow binders such as Quaithe and Mirri Maz Duur learned their magic in Asshai, doubtless where Melisandre learned to create shadow assassins. Thoros of Myr can light swords afire and see visions in the flames like she can, so her powers also come from being a priestess of R'hllor. It seems that her abilities were learned, not something born to her.

And that brings me to why I don’t like the theory: it denigrates Melisandre’s character and abilities in a way that I find rather unsettling. Speculation is a fun way to pass time until the next book comes out and causes people to read the available books more closely. I don’t mind coming up harmless theories and headcanons without much evidence (I’ve done it myself), but the theory that Melisandre is Bloodraven and Shiera’s daughter isn’t that to me.

Think about it: Melisandre has impressive magical abilities, but she uses tricks to make herself seem more powerful (powders that she conceals in her robes) and pretends working magic takes less of a toll on her than it actually does. She likes to project an air of calmness and certainty, but her aDwD chapter shows that she is wracked by doubt; it also gives us a clue as to why: she was a child named Melony who was sold at auction to a red temple. She was in a horrific condition at an incredibly vulnerable stage in her life, so she is afraid of appearing weak or less knowing in front of others. She spent “years beyond count” honing her abilities to never be vulnerable again, and her devotion to R'hllor is for giving her a better life outside slavery. I believe that making Brynden and Shiera her parents undermines her story. She didn’t spend lifetimes studying to be so powerful, she inherited her abilities from her parents! Notice how while Quaithe and Melisandre are popularly speculated to be secret Targaryens, none of the male sorcerers like Thoros or Moqorro are, no matter the likelihood of any of them being so; it feels like a fandom example of the “Never a Self-Made Woman” trope, where men can become respected practitioners on their own merits whereas women only get their abilities because of their family heritage. Furthermore, GRRM has already been criticized for his lack of well-developed Essosi and ex-slave characters, and this theory makes an Essosi ex-slave, a PoV character with significant development for four books, the child of two Westerosi nobles. That makes me incredibly uncomfortable. And as someone who appreciates Stannis Baratheon having a common born smuggler and a foreign priestess as his closest council in a noble society that looks down on the “smallfolk” and foreigners, it undermines one of his positive traits as well. So while I don’t believe this theory, I also think it’s problematic (I don’t like using this word, but it conveys my meaning since I’m sure the theorizers don’t have bad intentions, but the implications are still very much present) because of its underlying sexism, classism, and xenophobia.

(If you’re still here after that somewhat overly dramatic conclusion, the final paragraph gets even more wanky, so might want to check out now.)

One of the most prominent supporters of this theory has an elaborate headcanon where Maekar banishes Shiera from court for getting pregnant by Bloodraven because it would “be too many bastards”, is spurned by Bittersteel when she offers to become his lover again in exchange for shelter, and then dies in childbirth with Melony in the Free Cities. She makes posts that get hundreds of notes about how GRRM uses women as “wombs with legs” in his writing and helped popularize the term “Dead Ladies Club” in fandom. She also took turns with another prominent member of the fandom mocking certain speculators as being “drunk”, “crazy”, and how “not having new books in so long addled their brains” because they came up with an improbable theory based on scant textual evidence. So please don’t think I’m being too harsh in my criticisms about this particular theory, since it’s coming from such an overrated hypocrite. At least I bothered to do some research before disagreeing.

#Ask #Asoiaf theories #melisandre #asoiaf #shiera seastar #brynden rivers #fandom critical

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