Stannis could well have turned out to be a noble king. His claim was strong, and Targaryens aside, he was the rightful heir to succeed his brother Robert. Stannis may have been a cold-hearted cynic with all the cheerfulness of a morgue, but he looked and felt like a true leader who wouldn't have looked out of place seated on the Iron Throne. But all of that doesn't hide the fact that Stannis made some facepalm-worthy decisions that ultimately saw him slumped and bloody against a tree, awaiting Brienne to swing a sword through his throat. Melisandra poisoned the Baratheon man's rational mind, and while his siege of King's Landing was almost phenomenal, his mad dash to Beyond the Wall smacked of desperation. The road to Winterfell was never going to end well, but burning his own daughter at the stake, seeing his suicidal wife hanging from a tree, and losing an entire army to the much stronger Bolton forces was the most spectacular disintegration of power in the series. He could have been a good king, but his story couldn't have ended any worse.
What Culture contributor. NCTJ accredited Sports Journalist. Regret-filled Sunderland AFC season ticket holder. Optimism-filled NFL fan. Lover of all things Game Of Thrones, Breaking Bad, Walking Dead & more.
