Kill herself? I mean that wasn't explained at all, there was literally no reason for her to do that. I mean was she guided by the lord of light to die after helping defeat the dead? It would have been nice to know why this main character we've had in the show since season 2 is killing herself.
shareThere were a few perplexing sequences in tonight's episode, but I there is actually identifiable rationale behind that. Melisandre was very old, and her singular remaining purpose was to defeat the army of the Dead. Once that was achieved, she had served her purpose and was no longer needed (she said the same thing about Thoros). So, she saved Davos the trouble of having to execute her and punched her own ticket.
shareBut wasn't her original purpose to see the rightful king take the throne? why all of a sudden is her one purpose to see the dead defeated and then commit suicide?
shareI think she believed Stannis was the one who would unite the Seven Kingdoms against the Night King and defeat him, hence putting him on the throne became part of her mission. It was a means to an end.
shareI think initially she thought her purpose was to see the rightful king take the throne...but as the story went on she realized she was wrong about that. I think once the aspect of the dead army coming at them, she realized her purpose was to help defeat that army.
shareShe supported him because she believed he was Azor Ahai reborn, not because he was the "rightful" king of Westeros (which Jon probably actually has the best claim to).
That necklace of hers is what's been keeping her alive for ... who knows how long? It keeps you young, but when you remove it you revert to your natural age. If that's 70 you look old. If it's more like 700 you get really, really old and then decompose on fast forward. Why she didn't die the first time we saw her take it off I don't know. Does anyone remember if the light went out that time? But she's probably been around so long she wants to die - and after fulfilling her mission, she finally can.
shareShe took the necklace off in an earlier episode, and she looked very old without it, but didn't crumble into dust and die. So the necklace alone wasn't keeping her alive, I suspect it was a combination of the necklace and other magic.
She didn't commit suicide, BTW, she just... stopped using magic to keep herself alive. She didn't kill herself, she just let nature finally take its course.
I think (but haven't checked) that the last time she took it off the jewel continued to glow, so the proximity might've been enough to keep her from crumbling into dust and bones. I don't know how you don't call it suicide though. It's the same as disconnecting your own life support because you don't want to go on that way any longer. It probably exacted some kind of price. If she took it off even occasionally, it was to be free for a while - or relatively free - of whatever that was. For all we know she was in constant pain. Or it might've been something more subtle, like an absence of emotion.
shareShe must have been fed up with humans, with their selfishness and blindness to the big picture. I am, and I'm only a few decades now. Someone who'd been playing politics for centuries... I can't imagine how sick of her life she must have been.
And good point about keeping the jewel close, I'd forgotten that.
that's a good answer. You make it sound much more reasonable.
shareShe didnt really kill herself, she was basicly already long dead, just staying alive to defeat the night king. She completed her quest
shareIt would have been much more satisfying if she had to sacrifice herself to light the trenches on fire like she did with a prayer in the middle of the fight. Imagine she went up in flames as she lights the whole thing on fire.
shareShe fulfilled her goal, given to her by the lord of light.
shareJust my theory: She was sent by The Lord of Light to protect the world from the Night King and the Long Night. She has been alive for hundreds of years waiting for the moment he would attack. So she arrived as late as possible (knowing that if she arrived to soon Davos would have killed her) and started using her powers to help the living win the battle. However the Night King was also using his powers to block hers, which is why it took so much strength for her to light the trenches. Once the battle was won and the Night King was vanquished, her mission was completed and she was able to leave this world and move on to whatever afterlife she believes in.
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