Game Of Thrones: 5 Plot Contrivances In A Song of Ice And Fire That Were Passed Off As Realism

5. The Death Of Renly

renly-baratheon-1024 Ah, Renly. Readers of Martin€™s novels barely got to know him before his death. Viewers of the TV series got a bit more of him, but he was taken away too soon. About that. In book two, Renly looked to be the hero of the series. Young, gallant, charismatic, he had attracted numerous supporters in his fight against the Lannisters. He ran into a bit of trouble with his older brother Stannis€”who had a better claim to the throne but less gravitas€”but Renly€™s superior forces seemed able to take care of that. But then Melisandre, a priestess following Stannis, gave birth to a shadowy creature that snuck into Renly€™s tent and killed him suddenly. And Renly€™s forces fell apart. I guess it was supposed to highlight the mystery surrounding Melisandre€™s religion, and the magical forces gradually awakening as the series went on. And I agree Renly might have been too conventionally heroic a character to fit into Martin€™s world. But it feels a bit like cheating. In this supposedly hyper-realistic world, a woman can give birth to a shadow that resolves the difficulties in the plot?
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