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Stannis is a serial Deus De Machina


Fanless Mace

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Submitted for debate: Stannis is not going to be King; rather, his literary purpose is largely as a serial Deus Ex Machina, and he will continue to play that role without ever sitting on the Iron Throne (deserved or not).

Lets start with this:

de·us ex ma·chi·na
/ˈdāəs eks ˈmäkənə,-ˈmak-/
An unexpected power or event saving a seemingly hopeless situation, especially as a contrived plot device in a play or novel.

Stannis is a great man who eschews belief in any god or gods, and yet he seems to be a force that perhaps does the will of this world's god/s. His destiny seems to be as the mechanism for victories, not the benefactor of such. (In no way here am I trying to belittle Stannis or say hes merely a contrivance; however, I do argue that he's a vehicle for big change, but almost never the beneficiary of such.) Some examples of this:

First, from the Wiki article about Stannis: "He successfully held the Baratheon castle of Storm's End against Mace Tyrell's siege, which lasted the majority of the war, unintentionally ensuring one of the largest loyalist forces did not take the field against the rebels. And by extension, significantly helping to secure a Baratheon victory."

After this battle, another Machine of God action: Stannis cuts off Davos fingers. Davos, perhaps the most upright moral man in all of Westeros, now has his own sort of inspiration and motivation as a direct result of that mixed moral message from Stannis (Basically, "You are a hero and a thief!") As a sign of how Davos is indeed almost holy and certainly honorable, GRRM has him survive a virtual baptism after the Battle of Blackwater bay. This all tis back to how Stannis treated Davos.Stannis set Davos' wheels in motion, and Davos will be a huge player in the end, I'm sure.

Later, despite his disdain for any gods, RHoller not least among them, Stannis foments the murder of his brother via Melisandre. And who gains? Short-term, its the Lannisters, as a horde of Tyrells run to Kings Landing to make quick peace and arrange a marriage to young King Joffrey. The murder of Renley seemingly did more to help the Lannisters secure power rather than give any significant edge to Stannis.

And more recently of course, Stannis plays a classic Deus Ex Machina role when he arrives just in time at the Wall to save the day. And he is equally poised to make major contributions in the North's battles in the next book.

All this to say (weakly, but what the heck) that it seems Stannis is a great man who is always acting in manners that often, and most significantly, actually benefit other challengers for the throne. And as such, I suspect we won't see this change; he won't sit on the throne because something he does will be the turning point that enables someone else to rise to the throne.

Poorly argued, lame examples, I admit - but this is how and why I feel Stannis matters; he's a game changer, not a winner. And ironically, if there ARE god/s in this land of Ice and Fire, they are using the most atheistic guy they can find to effect some pretty major activities.

And in a story that consistently pits modernity versus antiquity, believers versus atheists, etc., this aspect makes Stannis all the more interesting!

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And in a story that consistently pits modernity versus antiquity, believers versus atheists, etc., this aspect makes Stannis all the more interesting!

And he was already one of the most interesting characters in the story.

Not to mention, in saving the folks of Westeros from the Wildlings and protecting his lands and people as any King should, he has given the White Walkers a bigger potential army. They must be rubbing their hands together looking at Hardhome. The bitter consequences of a noble action.

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Not to mention, in saving the folks of Westeros from the Wildlings and protecting his lands and people as any King should, he has given the White Walkers a bigger potential army. They must be rubbing their hands together looking at Hardhome. The bitter consequences of a noble action.

And if the wildlings has gotten through, the Others would have gotten what they wanted. The Others intentionally pushed the wildings south to that they could destroy the NW.
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