8. Selyse Baratheon Displays Her Sons ("Kissed By Fire")
After his defeat at the Blackwater, Stannis Baratheon returns to his home at Dragonstone and reluctantly pays a visit to his wife. When he enters, he sees her bent over a fire. "The night is dark and full of terrors," she whispers, a fanatical gleam in her eyes. She hears her husband arrive and turns to face him, clearly much more excited to see him than he is to see her. The most honorable man in Westeros this side of Ned Stark, he insists upon confessing his affair with Melisandre. "I've broken a sacred vow. I have wronged you," says Stannis, berating himself as much as he is apologizing to her. Selyse brushes the apology aside and says that Melisandre had already told her, and Selyse had wept with joy when she learned that the priestess had provided him with a son. Of sorts. For his part, Stannis is taken aback at his wife's reaction, but she tells him that any action done in service to the Lord of Light cannot be a sin. Nevertheless, his unease is palpable, and we have barely enough time to wonder if there is more to his discomfort than his own infidelity when the camera pans around... ...and we see just how much Selyse regretted her failure to carry a son of her own to term. In a row of glass containers, she has preserved the bodies of three miscarried infants. "Oh, my sweet boys," she coos to the babies. Stannis flinches and looks away. Whether this is because he is suffering from the stoic Stannis version of heartbreak or because he's remembering why he doesn't visit his wife all that often, this isn't so much a "WTF!" moment as it is "...WTF?"
Fiction buff and writer. If it's on Netflix, it's probably in my queue. I've bought DVDs for the special features and usually claim that the book is better than the movie or show (and can provide examples). I've never met a TV show that I won't marathon. Follow on Twitter @lah9891 .
