Stannis had the best quotes. "A good act does not wash out the bad, nor a bad act the good" and "I will not become a page in someone else's history book"
"His claim is the true one, he is known for his prowess as a battle commander, and he is utterly without mercy. There is no creature on earth half so terrifying as a truly just man."
Tiberius campaigned in northern Germany to secure the frontier, similar to how Stannis went north to the Wall to secure the Kingdom. Also both were known as great military tacticians :)
Steve Ross This George R.R. Martin's interview regarding his BOOK CHARACTERS, you idiotic showpleb. The TV series has no business in the real story. I'm so sick of imbeciles like you, who go on videos about the novels, knowing shit about what's going on in those, bringing up made up shit from the show that GRRM had no involvement with.
Gooby nice to see a fellow book reader, a voice of reason. The show is fanfiction and irrelevant. "I defeated your uncle Victarion and his Iron Fleet off Fair Isle, the first time your father crowned himself. I held Storm's End against the power of The Reach for a year, and took Dragonstone from the Targaryens. I smashed Mance Rayder at the Wall, though he had twenty times my numbers. Tell me, turncloak, what battles has the Bastard of Bolton ever won that I should fear him?"
This is a video about George R R Martin's view of his own character Stannis Baratheon, and there is plenty of evidence proving that he is a great tactician; Ned Stark, Tywin and many others always acknowledge Stannis' great military prowess in the books anyway. If this was a D&D video then your comment may have the smallest amount of validity, but instead you just appear ignorant and irrelevant to the point.
Steve Ross , only reasons why Stannis lost at Blackwater were the wildfire and the Tyrells helping the Lannisters , I mean especially the Tyrells joining them saved them
Mathias Eriksson Well, your reaction to Stannis's words is clearly different to mine. I regard them as tempting fate. Of course, we'll have to wait until the eternally-delayed next book comes out (if it does) to see whether Theon's warning is justified. It's a while since I read, but as I recall, when last seen, Stannis's army was stuck and starving, on the route to Winterfell.
He might in the books but in the books, the character development will be done with pacing care snd love. Justifying it's choices. A big deal on this out-of-character plots is the execution of the plot. Isildur for example, in the books he didn't ran away cowardly with the ring he held untill the very last desperate choice to keep the ring save was running, his son insisted that he should use it to escape. While.in the movies you just see him die because plot reasons. We'll see what happens... Mr George also said multiple times that GoT needeed more seasons, which I agree
I don't know about that. He may kill her if Asha escapes and he has no other royal sacrifice. Stannis already proved with the murder of his Renly, Courtney Penrose (However you spell it), and the attempted murder of Robert's bastard (think about that, he was gonna kill an innocent boy just to have that guarantee of victory against a capital that was supposed to be easy to take if it wasn't for Tyrion). He did all those things because he saw in the flames that it was what was required to win. Before the murder of Courtney, he madly told Davos that he would take Storm's End because the fires told him to even when it made no real strategic sense at the time. So if those same fires tell him that a royal sacrifice is what's required to end the blizzard and save his chances at taking Winterfell and keeping his claim alive, he may just be desperate enough to do it. Rationalizing the same way he did with the others that thousands of lives outway one. You gotta remember that his men are dying and/or abandoning him by the hundreds during the march and he's about to lose everything. (also, if Ramsey destroys his supplies like in the show. It may bring the situation to a head and make Stannis feel he has no choice)
@@Conns2239 You should reread the books- that's not his situation at all. He is on the edge of battle with Ramsay Snow, the Freys, and the Manderlys (who are secretly on his side). His army is divided between northmen and southerners, and unlikely to abandon him now. It's too late for anyone to "destroy supplies"- they're getting into a straight up battle in the middle of a blizzard. And Shireen is still up at the wall, as is Melisandre. He does not have the capacity to burn her even if he wanted to. Which he doesn't- he's actually been ending burnings and making plans to protect Shireen should he die.
@@The_Byzantine_Ottoman You're right, I'm currently rereading the books have just finished the Battle of Blackwater. I didn't remember that Shireen and Melisandre were still at the wall. I actually read one of the promo chapters for Winds of Winter and (Spoiler) was pretty shocked to see that Stannis sends someone to escort Jane Poole to Castle Black, where he is later instructed to got to Braavos and work with the Iron Bank. He then tells him that, if he dies, to still use the money and army to seat Shireen on the throne in his place. So ya, Stannis doesn't look like he has any intentions of burning her and I was wrong. That doesn't mean Shireen won't be burned or killed some way by Malisandre, of course.
@@Conns2239 No worries, there's a lot to keep track of. And yeah, I think Mel still burns Shireen. It'll be a horrific moment, but Stannis will retain his moral character and be either dead or away.
My favorite teacher throughout all my schooling was a Latin teacher who was simply a brilliant human. We spent a month watching I Claudius in class. She got sick my senior year and passed shortly after. I can’t share this clip with her but just hearing the name of that show made me smile and think about her and the positive influence she had on my life. Thanks Bee.
Stannis went from meh to absolute legend the second he arrived at the Wall and revived the Jon plot. Then he allowed us to return back to the actual north and became an important cog in the northern politics which was my favourite part of ADWD. He's bad ass, principled and I find his bad moods super funny. Complete legend.
Yeah, when Tiberius complained about Augustus not recognizing his efforts, it sounded just like Stannis complaining about the way Robert treated him. Similar with how both complained about people not liking them in general. Just like Tiberius envied his more popular stepsons and later his nephew Germanicus (all of them younger and much more charming men), Stannis envied his younger brother Renly. Also both Tiberius and Stannis lived almost as a hermits on islands off the coast: Tiberius on Capri and Stannis on Dragonstone.
I always found similarities between Stannis and Constantine the Great. Both were underdogs in their life, having the weakest army between their enemies and most importantly practising different religions.
@@tommerker8063 That wasnt uncommon at the time. Since there was no formalized sacrament of Confession yet, it was common for believers to wait as long as possible to be baptized so that they could be absolved of as many sins as possible with baptism. St Ambrose of Milan, for example, was a lifelong believer of Nicene/Orthodox Christianity, but wasnt baptized until his nomination as bishop, which required him to receive baptism before he could be ordained. Constantine was a believer in Nicene Christianity for many years before that, as his interactions with St Athanasius made clear. But being an emperor (which comes with needing to make difficult and often bloody decisions), he wanted to wait until his deathbed to be baptized and receive absolution. He also wanted to make a final pilgrimage to Jerusalem so he could be baptized in the River Jordan after the campaign he was on, but his health took a downturn before he could even make it very far on the campaign, so he had to be baptized in Nicomedia on his deathbed instead
even if jon didnt want it. he had no right to throne. nobody but stannis. Jon was a tagaryan and they lost the throne, so either fight for it, or bend the knee.
I've always thought of Aurelian the Soldier Roman Emperor as an inspiration for Stannis.Both follow fire customed gods(Sol Invictus-R'hllor),Both demand discipline and are hard administrators of their armies and both have a daughter as their only child.Let's hope Stannis is not betrayed by his own men 🤔 Edit:Stannis perspective of unity,on his campaign against the several independent factions of Westeros is very similar to Aurelian's back on the days(at least on the planning). Concerning a conflicted brotherhood or family rivals there is not much similitude.
Quique Márquez I agree with your points... Also both fight for their rightful throne, Aurelian fought during 3th Century Crisis against pretenders and usurpers as well as Stannis fights in the War of the Five Kings against pretenders and usurpers.
Yes that is a better comparison than Tiberius who ended his reign with corruption and debauchery and his cruelty molded one of the most psychotic rulers in history Caligula.
Not nearly enough attention is given to Aurelian in my opinion. The War of the Five Kings does remind me somewhat of the Crisis of the 3rd Century, which Aurelian had a huge part in fixing.
Stannis: the ultimate underdog in ASOIAF. Finds out about Arnolf's betrayal and ensures his men are held captive. Convinced the mountain clans in the North to join him to save fake Arya and reclaim Winterfell. Saved Jon and the Nights Watch from the Wildlings. Wisely stayed in Dragonstone to heal from his defeat from Kings Landing. Actually has a good friend in the form of Davos who gave him great advice to help out the Nights Watch. Unintentionally murdered his gay brother who would have been a terrible king since he would have been manipulated by the Tyrells, and possibly even Littlefinger. Comes up with the most awesome battle plans such as smashing the Greyjoy fleet in sea with his own ships. Stannis kept order within Storms End during the siege. If it was anyone else in charge of keeping that castle, they would have surrendered to Mace Tyrell and beg for mercy. Stannis doesn't do that. He knew his duty, and upheld it until Davos showed up with onions and fish. He may have a trick or two up his sleeve in the battle of Ice in TWOW. Stannis is the embodiment of Justice and Duty. Robert was lucky to have a brother like that. He was unwise to treat him so poorly after the rebellion. At least Stannis is trying to restore peace in Westeros, in his own way.
Stannous as McBeth: 1. MacBeth is told by the weird sisters, (supernatural forces,) that he will be king. /Stanis Baratheon is told by the Red Priestess, Melisandre, (supernatural being) that he will be king. 2.MacBeth kills the man who stands in his way, King Duncan. /Stannis has Melisandre kill the man that stands in his way, "King" Renly. 3. MacBeth "wades in blood" to keep his status. /Stannis fights, kills and executes till he has waded in blood. 4. Macbeth's wife, racked with guilt from the violence and death takes her own life. /Stannis' wife racked with guilt from the violence and death takes her own life. 5. MacBeth, in his final fight, is killed by an agent, (Macduff), of King Duncun whom he originally murdered. /Stannis, in his final fight, is killed by an agent, (Brienne of Tarth) of "King" Renly whom he originally had murdered. Parts of all of Shakespeare's plays are to be found in many cultures. I still have a chill when I think of the end of WWII in Europe, with Hitler hulking down in his bunker, hearing the Russians coming closer and closer, and crying against fate. /And MacBeth, at the end, hulking down in his castle Dunsinane, with his enemies coming closer and closer, crying "Tomorrow, and tomorrow and tomorrow..."
@Matt S You seem to miss all of Melanie's points. There is no indication she is a nut job. There are plenty of indications that you are a prick and a moron. You may be right about GRRM discussing his Stannis and Melanie is obviously just comparing MacBeth to D&D's GOT Stannis. The WWII comment is clearly about abogous recurring thenes in history across cultures and times.
Also Agamemnon, the king grounded by storms on the eve of a war, who’s told by an oracle that he can only appease the gods and be victorious in battle by burning his own daughter in sacrifice; he agrees, only for his wife to abandon him and seal his demise.
He’s also definitely inspired by Elias, the villainous king from Tad Williams’ Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, who was corrupted by his advisor, an evil priest of a demonic deity in red robes who offers him the power to take the crown with dark rituals and a magic sword. GRRM has mentioned those books as strong influences in the past.
I’ve recently read both The Dragonbone Chair & A Clash of Kings, & your observation is spot-on. The endowment ceremony that grants Stannis “Lightbringer”, felt heavily inspired by the dark MS&T scene Simon observed, that bestows the cursed horcrux-sword Jingizu (Sorrow) to mad King Elias
I watched IClaudius, (freaking amazing show) and the one line from Tiberius stuck out to me _"Why do they hate me so huh?!"_ _"What did I ever do to them"_ This is the core of Stannis' chatacter.
true, but i don't think it makes them easier to like, it's just some people are drawn to these characters cuz they suscitate some sort of catharsis. the fantasy of wanting to achieve what you want without ever backing down
Stannis is extremely likeable but in watchmen your not supposed to like Rorschach he’s supposed to show why having superheroes in the real world wouldn’t be a good idea also he’s a fascist
@@marcustaylor6829 how is rorschach a faschist ? he barely has any powers, he's just some sort of psychopath vigilante, in a dexter way, he carries his vengeance on criminals
@fantasticmoose Comedian was a fascist. I disagree with you that Rorschach was one though. And hating ''degenerate'' behavior or certain negatives of society isn't automatically a fascist trait.
Fun Fact: Randyl Tarly in the books will betrayed The Tryells but only to join FAegon and The Golden Company (and possibly The Dornishmen when they gather an army) and depose The Lannisters.
Richard III was how I interpreted the character, the three Baratheons and their 3 Plantagenet brother counterparts really, (Edward=Robert, George=Renly, Stannis=Richard)
P Atkinson Well Richard III is a hybrid between Eddard (honourable lord of the North), Stannis (the ruthless commander and tactician) and Tyrion (the cunning).
I'm a history guy but not quite on the same level as George, (he is much older than me) I genuinely believe there's a lot of Edward I "The Hammer of the Scots" in Stannis, and Stephen Dillane went on to play Edward in Outlaw King.
I once heard someone call Stannis a modern day Saturday morning cartoon villain. He lives on an island in a creepy castle, he worships a pagan god, he's brutally strict and efficient and driven, he's got a great sense of dark comedy, and he's always trying to take over the world which he believes is rightfully his.
manband20 funnily enough the red god is the only god in GOT that actually acts within the real world... there is proof the red god exists but no proof for any other.
Niccolò Ivarson Their is no "proof" that R'holler actually exists, in both books and show it is more up to the reader/viewer if he does exist, certainly there's more evidence that R'holler does exist more so than (Old gods, Seven etc.) Due to some of his followers having magical abilities (Mel&ToM) but whether thier magic comes from a God or something else will probaley never be answered.
Niccolò Ivarson Do we ever see R'h'llor? Do we ever hear R'holler, do any of the characters? Nope they do not, what did Beric remember in death? Nothing but darkness. It's sort of the same with reality, some believe the universe was created by neutrons and protons colliding and then making (well more shit) while others believe it was a guy with a white beard to do it all in seven days (or was it twelve?) Anyway my point is that people will say or make things up to explain the way everything works and why everything is the way it is (like R'hollor followers believe in him due to the fact their is no other explanation) Unless George confirmes the existence of any Gods it will always be up to the reader if they do or do not exist, i highly doubt he will, (or release another book) due to the fact he likes to give a real sense of realism in this world of Dragons and Ice zombies:)
I watched I, Claudius like 30 something years ago when I was just a kid. My parents were watching it and it was good stuff. John Hurt has some classic great moments as Caligula and also Patrick Stewart has a role in it as Sejanus
I would say the Japanese Warlord- Oda Nobunaga. Both were younger sons, both were brilliant military tacticians, both were quite ruthless when they needed to be, both promoted people on merit and had a working class second in command. While Stannis is still alive, Nobunaga was killed when he was so close to becoming shogun, I think Stannis will follow the same fate.
keep that up and you are getting called entitled, even though hes been saying hes going to finish yet has proven time and time and again hes lying meaning the so called entitlement is irrelevant UNLESS he says he cant finish the books and the fans keep demanding he does
He reminds me a little of oliver cromwell. A strict honourable person whose application of his religious beliefs and ideals of honoir are completely horrific but undeniably successful.
If you want to learn about a person in history that is quite similar to Stannis, i recommend you to watch the napoleonic series from Epic History. There you will find a general/marshall called Davout. The most capable, the less/fewer charismatic.
I recently thought Robb Starks marriage to Jeyne Poole could be inspired by Edward IV's marriage to Elizabeth Woodville (marrying a minor noble out of love, instead of doing a strategic marriage with a more powerful noble house) after watching a "Timeline" documentary.
Honestly, after doing a research paper on Andrew Jackson, the only thing I could think of while writing it was "Holy shit, this dude is just American Stannis."
Both were laser beams. Hard as steel and never waiving from their objectives. Although Jackson was honest to a fault whereas Stannis has the flaws of getting advices from a witch.
irish rover, the funny thing is most Americans don't care about American history. But some people do care, some of us love history of all kinds. Jon Snow, you've got me curious about AJ. I don't know much about him. I will say that his wife was definitely not a Selyse though.
@@AnitaClue Nah I'm with the Irish,the story of the americans is one of usurpers. "Put those damn natives to the narrow".So yeah with all due respect I know things about it but my interest does not lie on it.
Quique, the story of all peoples and nations could be said to be of usurpers: everybody grabbing everybody else's land; the culture with superior fire-power or tactics almost always winning; the bad guys winning way too often; the good people not making it into the history books for the most part. Some of my ancestors were those natives.
Jackson seems to me like a far more emotional type of person though. Not to say that Stannis is unemotional, but he's more reserved than Jackson was reputed to be.
I thought Stannis was based on Pyrrhus of Epirus to some extent. The latter was both a great warrior and a brilliant commander that often suffered from bad luck and made poor strategic decisions on the grand scale.
Lewis Taylor I would actually argue that choosing to go to Sicily to fight Carthage instead of defending Macedon from Celts was his downfall. Antigonus Gonatas defeated the barbarians, became king and later fought with Pyrrhus which ended with the head of the last brought to him. Macedonians respected Pyrrhus and often defected to his side. He could’ve started a new dynasty in Macedon and finally have the resources he always lacked as the king of small Epirus in all of his campaigns.
I´ve read the dance on the dragons/princess and the queen, the rouge prince, the 3 dunk and egg books and the sons of the dragon a few times aldready...
Series is the key. Stannis was ruined for series purpose tp give his Northern Campaign to Jon Snow. Book Stannis is most likely going to take the North, having a large backing of its lords, half of Bolton forces caught in trap and men inside Winterfell walls.
@@sharadowasdr I was referring to his actions and the his northern campaign. Both failed to conquer the northern are of their respective worlds due to the harsh winter.
@@bobafett9348 I think book Stannis's army was in an even worse condition than that of show Stannis. Although it's been a while since I read the books, so you may be right.
Curious trivia. The actor for Mance Rayder, Ciaran Hinds also played Caesar in the series „Rome“… so the inspiration for Caesar burned Caesar at the stake
Mance Rayder was never burned in Martin's work. Know you characters, showonly. Mance is alive in the books. The show's writing and changes aren't Martin's doing.
I always think of Faust when I think of Stannis. With him figuratively selling his soul/humanity for his ego's sake, while having a devil and an angel (Melisandre and Davos) influencing his actions.
TFEA Is it though? Perhaps I'm being cynical, but I like to think the whole duty thing was all really about his self-rightceous indignation, and ego. :)
“I just wanted to write a character everyone would love, appreciate, admire, want to emulate and want to f*ck.” - GRRM on the creation of Stannis (probably)
Always thought Macbeth was an inspiration for Stannis' character. Guided by prophecy, helped by a witch, kills his kin if you're going off of the show. His wife commits suicide, his men desert him. It all collapses.
Oh my god, showpleb. That's D&D's Stannis. The Stannis you saw on the TV series, A SECONDARY NONCANON PRODUCT, has nothing to do with George R. R. Martin's Stannis. I'm sick of casual normies being clueless and always bringing up those false ruined TV version of the characters that aren't created by Martin. Stannis isn't even ambitious or power hungry in the books, and he's not even dead in Martin's works. The show got rid of him prematurely to give his storyline to Jon Snow. Stick to the TV show and look for showrunners' interviews, if you don't know Martin's characters.
@@gooby214 well yeah dude I judge Got character I haven't read the book, but still my opinion is correct. Based on what the show was he resembled macbeth
I always thought of him as being a sort of Richard, Duke of York because he fought tooth and claw to take the throne because he felt it was his duty. There's no analogue for the whole line of succession there and Richard wasn't a humorless prick like Stannis, but still they seem somewhat familiar, especially considering that the story loosely parallels the wars of the roses.
I know there is probably a parallel between he and Robb Stark as well because of a similar situation and also the fact that he was eventually killed by Margaret of Anjou, who has qualities much like Tywin (ruthless, cunning). Also the fact that "Stark" and "York" are parallels as well.
