Stannis and Why He is the Mannis: Part I

Stannis Baratheon

King of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men.

Lord of the Seven Kingdoms, and Protector of the Realm.

Recently on HBO's Game of Thrones, this aforementioned character did something awful. I mean, gut-wrenchingly awful. Like Red Wedding minus the awesome build-up awful. On the show, Stannis burned his daughter, Shireen, alive to melt the snows that entrapped his army. If you think that's ok, you're probably a piece of shit. So you might be asking yourself; why would someone ever make a post on their super-popular blog about how he is the Mannis?

         

Before we proceed any further, I must establish that this will be an argument for the Stannis Baratheon of the books! The series upon which Game of Thrones is based (George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire) is becoming increasingly different from it's televised counter-part. Stannis' storyline is one in which these changes are especially apparent. In the show, Stannis burns his daughter the day after the food supplies for his entire army get destroyed by a band of twenty men. In the books, Stannis refuses to burn anyone in his army after weeks of starvation in a Northern blizzard. In the show, Stannis is clearly lustful towards Melisandre, whereas in the books, he usually avoids intimate contact of any sort. 

Clearly, book Stannis and show Stannis are different characters. The former is far from the monster the latter has been made into. However, even some well-informed book-readers live under the delusion that book Stannis is not a fit ruler. I will now tell you, lucky reader, why he is possibly (definitely) the best living candidate for the Iron Throne.

I will start, as any decent apologist would, by addressing Stannis' perceived sins. The first (although not foremost) among these is his maiming of Davos Seaworth. Davos was a lowborn smuggler who saved Stannis and his garrison from starvation during the Siege of Storm's End. He smuggled a shipload of onions past the Redwyne blockade, thereby saving the men in the castle. In return, Stannis raised him to knighthood, and gave him wealth and lands... but also ruled that Davos would have to lose the first joint of each finger on his left hand as punishment for his years of smuggling. Some presumed Frey-sympathizers out there say that this is unfair; Davos saved the entire castle! He should be treated like a hero, not a criminal!

          

These objections, however, ignore two pertinent facts. Firstly, Davos was in the castle with the rest of the men. Smuggling the onions wasn't some sort of heroic sacrifice, it was self-preservation. Now, obviously, Davos acted with valor and deserved a reward, which Stannis gave him. But that doesn't erase all the crimes he's committed in his life! Which brings me to my second point: Davos' punishment. Now, many (most) would say that cutting off one's fingers is a pretty extreme punishment for any crime, and I would agree. But it's not recognized as such in Westeros, where someone could be beheaded for cheating on the king. More importantly, Davos found the punishment just; he agreed with Stannis' sentence (albeit under the condition that Stannis do the cutting himself [which he did cause he's a badass]). Davos' penalization was not, as some detractors might say, a cruel injustice forced upon a selfless hero. Rather, it was an agreed-upon penance for years of crime.

Another, more common sin that Stannis is faulted for is the, "murder" of his brother Renly Baratheon. After the death of King Robert, his brothers (Stannis and Renly) both declared themselves King on the Iron Throne. Stannis summoned what power he could to Dragonstone (approximately 5,000 men, not really conquest material). Renly, having received the lordship of the Stormlands (which should also have been Stannis') and an innate charm from Robert, forges an alliance with the Tyrells and forms a host of 80,000 men. Stannis, being the rightful king, met with Renly and told him to surrender his false claim. Renly refused. Shortly thereafter, Stannis sent a shadow demon from Melisandre's womb to stab Renly in the neck (yeah... don't fuck with Stannis). Many of Renly's men then swore to Stannis, which allowed him to march on King's Landing.

Now, again, there are two main facets of this situation that the anti-Stannis, anti-Jesus folks ignore. They say that, although Renly was not king by rights, he would have been a better ruler than Stannis. This claim is not only unprovable, but also probably false. At the time of the conflict, Renly had gathered 80,000 men. That's the largest army we've seen in the entire series (except possibly that of the White Walkers). All he had to do to win the throne was march to King's Landing. He could've stormed the city and executed Joffrey in an hour. But what does he do instead? He holds a month-long tournament in the middle of the Stormlands. This gives Stannis time to arrive and later kill Renly. If Renly hadn't been screwing around, he could've won the War of Five Kings in a week. But he didn't take the war seriously; he made a game out of it, and it cost him everything. Who's to say that he wouldn't make a similar mistake with the kingship? Renly may have been more charismatic, but at least Stannis takes his job seriously. 

The second issue people take with Renly's assassination is the cold-heartedness it seems to suggest in Stannis; How could a man kill his own brother for a crown? How evil of Stannis! While this is a fair objection, it is one that must be borne by all contenders for the Iron Throne. Joffrey would kill Tommen to be king in a heartbeat, and Renly was planning to kill Stannis the day after he was murdered. It's easy to forget the fact that Renly was preparing to destroy Stannis and his army. Although his method would have unquestionably been more honorable, Renly was aiming to kill Stannis just the same. He would have been far less justified as well, since Stannis is in fact the king by law. Furthermore, Stannis himself is haunted by his actions afterwards, realizing how he had loved his brother. It is doubtful that Renly would've reacted similarly to Stannis' death.

Some other problems people have with Stannis are his burning of the sculptures of the Seven at Dragonstone and his murder of Cortnay Penrose. These acts cannot be justified; they are moral failures through and through. However, Stannis did not perform them entirely of his own volition. He committed both sins on the advice of Melisandre of Asshai. Melisandre manipulates Stannis (perhaps unknowingly) with promises of what he's always wanted: significance, recognition, glory. Stannis has been living in Robert's shadow his entire life, and Melisandre's prophecies give him a way out of it. This desire, coupled with the fact that his queen and over half of his men had converted to the Lord of Light, leads Stannis to do likewise. One condition of his conversion was that he had to burn the ancient statues of his former religion that were kept on Dragonstone. This was wrong, but Stannis was partially manipulated and strong-armed into doing it by circumstance. 

The murder of Cortnay Penrose is less understandable. Stannis demands that Penrose surrender Storm's End and Robert's bastard son, Edric Storm. Penrose refuses, knowing that Edric Storm might very well end up burned by Melisandre. Stannis then sends another shadow-monster to kill Penrose, whose successor gives Stannis the castle and the boy. Clearly, Penrose was right to defend the fortress and, by extension, Edric Storm. But, again, Melisandre's influence is the driving force behind Stannis' consideration of killing Edric. She tells him that burning Edric is the only way for him to become Azor Ahai, which he believes to be his destiny and duty. Even then he refuses to do it, wrestling with the decision for days on end. Fortunately, Stannis' other influence, Davos, kidnaps/rescues Edric and sends him far away from Dragonstone, saving him from possible burning. Does Stannis execute Davos for this? Does he exile him or torture him as an example? Almost. But in the end Stannis listens to Davos and ends up saving the Night's Watch from the wildlings under Mance Rayder. Stannis has made mistakes, but so has every character, even those we love (R.I.P Robb Stark), and most of those didn't have to resist a creepy shadowbinder on top of it.

Stannis is constantly referred to as one of the greyest characters in A Song of Ice and Fire. I contend that this greyness does not come from a moral neutrality, but rather from a moral dichotomy. Stannis has one of the most sinister characters advising him, and one of the most virtuous. He has done things most people wouldn't even come close to doing, both terrible and great. But, as this post has shown, he is a far cry from the cold, ruthless villain that some people (FREYS) view him as. In part II, I will deliberate on what exactly earned Stannis the title of Mannis.