Game Of Thrones: 10 Ways Season 5 Spoilt The Winds Of Winter
9. Shireen Is Sacrificed
As it stands in the books, Shireen Baratheon is still safely ensconced at Castle Black while her father Stannis has headed to war with the Boltons. The show, however, decided to go down the route of having this innocent little girl burnt at the stake at the order of her dad.
The show did do more to flesh the character out in season 5, and the rather sinister reason became clear in episode 9 when Stannis made the choice to sacrifice his daughter in order to help him win the war. That worked out really well for everyone involved.
While Stannis and Shireen have taken different courses in the books, meaning that her sacrifice at his hands is unlikely, she is still set be killed off (Weiss & Benioff confirmed that it was Martin who told them about Shireen's impending death). If Melisandre hears of Stannis death, then she could well see that as an open invitation to make use of Shireens Kings blood, and sacrifice her to the Lord of Light in order to bring back Stannis, or perhaps more likely now, Jon Snow.