10 questions Game of Thrones season 8 needs to answer

Image: Game of Thrones/HBO
Image: Game of Thrones/HBO /
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Who is this Lord of Light guy?

Melisandre is one of the show’s more mercurial characters. Wrapped in red mystery, she’s flitted from outright villain (burning Shireen) to nominal hero (resurrecting Jon, bringing Ice and Fire together). But the question remains: just whose side is Melisandre actually on? In her heart she might believe herself a heroine, but is the Lord of Light she serves really just a servant of the darkness she is eternally warning us about?

We’ve seen Melisandre profess to serve the living in the great war with the dead. On the other hand, we’ve seen her birth a shadow demon, burn a child alive, and use blood magic to curse Stannis’ enemies. Melisandre could simply be a “the means justify the ends” type of person, but many of her actions seem directly motivated by this mysterious Lord of Light. And as Davos once mightily roared, “If he commands you to burn children, your Lord is evil!” As a matter of policy, we tend to not disagree with Davos except in matters of pickled crab, so could R’hllor actually be a servant of darkness?

R’hllor would not be the first fictional deity to con willing followers to commit atrocities in their name, but the fault could also lie with Melisandre if she was willing to commit heinous crimes in service to her lord. Of all the questions on our list, this one may have the least likelihood of getting answered, but we hope we learn at least a little more about the Lord of Light before the end of season 8.

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