I think it’s more than possible that Arya and Melisandre could meet, for several reasons:

Arya’s future is very fluid at the moment (a bit of a copout, but it’s true)

However, I’m sure her destiny will eventually intersect the Northern/Others storyline, and Melisandre’s heavily involved in that right now

Arya is also very connected to Jon Snow, and I think Melisandre will be deeply significant to his resurrection

Mind you this meeting would depend on Mel not dying before Arya returns to the North, and I can’t guarantee that. (I am pretty damn sure Melisandre will die well before the end of ADOS, if not in TWOW.)

As for the show, idk if you care about spoilers, but in there Melisandre vaguely took the role of the Ghost of High Heart re Arya. That is, prophesying that Arya would be connected to death, though Mel was far more aggressive in their interactions and basically said Arya would kill lots of people rather than the Ghost’s sorrow and fear of Arya’s connections to death and grief. (The show is not subtle.) Though that wasn’t what put Mel on Arya’s list – that was her purchasing Gendry from the Brotherhood to serve as a replacement for Edric Storm in the king’s blood/leeches/sacrifice subplot. (And the less said of what this did to the characterization of the Brotherhood, not to mention the sheer GoTness of the Mel & Gendry scenes, the better.)

So, we can totally ignore the show interactions of Melisandre and Arya in reference to their potential interaction in the books, since it’ll be for extremely different reasons as well as (almost certainly) handled much better. Not to mention the fact that Arya’s list is about three times as long in the show (and both added to more freely among its mishandling in general surprise surprise), and I think Arya’s list will be irrelevant to her by the time she gets deeply involved in the ice-and-fire plot. (Beyond her emotional need for the list becoming a thing of the past, I figure everyone left on it will be dead anyway.)

Anyway! If nothing kills off Mel before Arya’s return, their interactions should be interesting for all the reasons you say. Certainly if Melisandre were aware of the philosophy of the Faceless Men, she would believe they were servants of the Great Other and therefore entirely evil; but whether Arya would still be connected to the Faceless Men (or even let on that she ever was) on her return is an entirely different question. I definitely don’t expect Arya to freely share her experiences with weird strangers like Mel.

Also, the fact that the Faceless Men use glamours in addition to their own unique face-changing magic, and it’s possible Arya may learn how they work before she leaves them… that’s another possible connection, as well as something that may let Arya literally see right through Melisandre. (Though Mel’s other major glamour, the one on Stannis’s Lightbringer, may already be irrelevant by this possible meeting, due to Dany as the “slayer of lies” and/or Jon wielding a real flaming sword.)

@wiz-kauliflower asked:

Hey I’ve just started asoiaf after the shows, loving the books even more, I’m on ASOS2 and I stumbled across your blog looking for someone to answer my question :) (I’ll put it in a separate ask)

The religion of R'hllor seems to be the only religion with actually tangible power, it has direct effects (shadows, visions, resurrection), yet it is painted as the ‘bad guy’, corrupting Stannis and resulting in human sacrifice.

What role do you think R'hllor’s religion will have on the overall plot and could it be absolved? As, if it does have a role in saving the realm, it seems unsatisfactory considering everything bad that has come from it beforehand.

The religion of R’hllor is much more than its effects on Stannis Baratheon. Notably, in the Riverlands: Because of the influence of Beric Dondarrion and his red priest Thoros of Myr, R’hllor has become a viable alternative for many after their prayers to the Seven failed. Thoros doing magic that worked, combined with the Brotherhood as the only ones who apparently cared about the suffering of the smallfolk, has led to a small but fervent group of followers of R’hllor, lighting nightfires against evil and singing their prayers to the Lord of Light. (This is part of a general return to religious fundamentalism in the Riverlands after the authority there collapsed during the War of the Five Kings; for those who didn’t give up on the Faith of the Seven, this led to the rebirth of the Faith Militant.)

Also, in Essos, the religion of R’hllor is the faith of slaves and the poor. Their doctrine of equality is very attractive to those who have little else, as is their belief that Azor Ahai will return and bring an end to corruption, cleansing the world. In Volantis in particular, the high priest Benerro preaches every night, urging his thousands of followers to support the slave-liberating Daenerys Targaryen as Azor Ahai reborn. This deeply worries the rulers of Volantis, who would send an army against Benerro and his followers if they could (though they can’t use their own as half the Volantene soldiers follow the Lord of Light)… but it’s a sure sign that if Dany returns west via Volantis, chaos in the city will follow as slaves rise against their masters, in her name and in the name of R’hllor.

(BTW, I know it’s a little strange to think about, but I’m not sure how much we can trust that Melisandre’s interpretation of the faith of R’hllor is pure doctrine. She’s an Asshai shadowbinder in addition to being a priestess of the red god, so it’s possible she may have taken the shadow magic she learned and associated it with R’hllor rather than it being a normal part of their faith – and this may also apply to her belief in human sacrifices. It should be noted we don’t see any human sacrifices anywhere else R’hllor is followed – not with Thoros, not in Braavos, not in Volantis – except where there are new converts/mixed faiths, such as Victarion Greyjoy’s sacrifice of the bedslaves to R’hllor and the Drowned God. But since Melisandre is the only priestess of R’hllor in the North at this time, even if she’s following a version of the religion all her own, then her doctrine is what has and will spread among her converts, so it probably makes no difference right now whether it’s a pure or corrupted one.)

Regarding the overall plot, I expect things to go on much as they have so far, just more intensely. In “the game of thrones” political plot, the religion of R’hllor will continue to be a bogeyman, especially considering the rise of the Faith Militant. Those who follow the Seven are far more likely to support the claim of Aegon Targaryen (raised by a septa), rather than the “heretic” “demon-god” follower Stannis Baratheon. If Victarion returns to Westeros, and perhaps attempts to claim the throne, then his mix of faiths will also be militantly opposed by the Faith of the Seven. And if Daenerys is converted to the faith of R’hllor or even if she isn’t but gains a large number of R’hllor-following supporters nonetheless, then this clash of religions and rival claims to the throne should be all the more intense once she arrives in Westeros.

As for “the song of ice and fire” magical plot… that’s where things will be more complicated. Jon Snow may be resurrected via the R’hllorian funeral tradition of the “last kiss”, which among other things may lead Melisandre to finally realize Stannis is not the Azor Ahai Reborn she thinks he is. The practice of nightfires may be one of the few things that helps protect against the Others and their wights, and if that is effective it may lead to additional converts. (Once the Wall falls and wights begin appearing further south, this is where Thoros’s converts and practices will turn out to be very necessary.) But Melisandre (and the Queen’s Men)’s reliance on human sacrifice to appeal to R’hllor will also cause much division, especially if she begins to sacrifice young innocents rather than criminals. (And especially if that is not effective in repelling the Others, or performing the miracles she claims will result from such sacrifices.) And the question of who is the true Azor Ahai Reborn / the Prince that was Promised may lead to some initial conflict between Jon and Dany, or at least among their followers. (Personally I believe it’s both of them, both fulfilling various elements of the prophecies, but it may not be something they realize themselves right away.)

But I don’t think the faith of R’hllor, as a religion, will be what ends up saving the world from the Others. The beliefs of its worshipers may be what spurs Jon and Dany and the third head of the dragon to realize their destiny, but neither the religion nor the god is going to be what motivates them or powers them. We may even discover that R’hllor itself is not a real god as such, just an aspect of fire magic (of the song of ice and fire); or perhaps it’s an Elder God (and if the Great Other actually exists it may be one as well), or something even stranger. At the very least we’ll learn the falseness of the dualistic beliefs that R’hllor is the only true god and all others are demons of the Great Other, that Melisandre is extremely wrong about Bloodraven and Bran, and that the true sides of the conflict are life against death – and the followers of R’hllor may be on the side of life, but some of their practices are definitely not.

As for the possible “absolution” of the faith of R’hllor, whether its role in saving the world will be worth the evil things done in its name… no, I don’t think it will be. But then I don’t think any of the religions of ASOIAF are meant to be absolved on that subject. They’re just GRRM’s commentary on organized religion in general, that just like an individual person they’re capable of doing both great good and great evil, not to mention all the shades of grey; and that the good does not absolve or erase the evil or vice versa, that they must be looked upon as a whole. And in the end, some may still look upon the religion of R’hllor and see nothing but evil, and a few may see nothing but the good, and yet others will realize it’s only what humans have made of it. That this is the same kind of judgement that in the end will also be applied to the characters… well, it only goes to show, the religions of ASOIAF are just one more aspect of GRRM’s favorite theme, “the human heart in conflict with itself”.