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Stannis is not iron.


hollowcrown

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Many say Stannis would rather break than bend...like iron...but he's proven one of the most flexible characters in the novels so far



Stannis gave Davos, a baseborn man, a lordship and eventually made him Hand of the King. This was after Stannis sentenced him to death. If Stannis was iron he would've stuck to his words and killed Davos, but instead Davos was saved and elevated to a position of great power. Stannis also takes Davos' advice, as well and Jon's and even Asha's.



He has frequently proven that he is not iron, and something more akin to steel. The characters who never took advice have arguably been broken - Ned, Robb, Theon, even Dany is down a pretty dark path, however the characters who are more flexible, such as Stannis and Jaime, willing to adapt and change their gameplan, are surviving and thriving.



So Stannis isn't iron, he's prove now he is able to bend before he breaks.



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So, you're saying Donal Noye lied to us? Heresy! ;)



Changing your gameplan and being adaptable doesn't really go against the idea of breaking before you'll bend. It's not a question of not deviating from a set path so much as being unable to rethink who you are and what is important. Stannis hasn't reached a crisis point where he has to decide whether or not he can bend in his overall goals. He still plans to be king, he's just going about it a different way. I have a feeling that his crisis point will come and it will have something to do with Shireen. If he has to choose between his daughter's life and being king, we'll find out whether or not he is truly the "brittle iron" Donal said he is.


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I wouldn't put much stock into Donal Noyes description of any of the Baratheon boys. Robert wasn't some great "steel", Stannis seems to be more and more flexible, and Renly seemed to have more to him then just being nice to look at "copper"

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Breaking = dying

Bending = subduing to your enemies, a.k.a giving up.

Not sure how one could misinterpret that.

Bending could also = refusing to compromise your beliefs or morals. Ned and Robb and even Renly refused to bend. Stannis has bent several times already.

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Stannis is not iron, Renly was not copper, and Robert was not true steel.

If you ask me, Noye was full of shit.

Agreed, it's just such a poignant quote, so people love to, well, quote it. But Donal Noya is 1) A blacksmith and 2) haven't seen any of the Baratheons for 15+ years when he gives this quote, at which point Robert was a war hero, Stannis the grim defender of Storm's End and Renly a child.

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Ah the disappointment ahead for the Stannis groupies.

He is going to meltdown in spectacular fashion, at the moment of greatest impact. That's what his character arc is building towards.

It is certainly not building up to him being the one true savior of Westeros. That's what Jon and Dany's threads are for.

One could argue that at the current point, nobody has done more for the salvation of Westeros than Stannis, the only contender would be Jon and the Night's Watch, but at this stage their efforts and Stannis' are thoroughly mixed.

The "Stannis groupies" as you dub it (now there's a loaded term if ever I saw one) are largely aware that the odds of Stannis triumphing in the end are very slim though, so no it won't come as much of a disappointment or surprise to anyone.

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Ah the disappointment ahead for the Stannis groupies.

He is going to meltdown in spectacular fashion, at the moment of greatest impact. That's what his character arc is building towards.

It is certainly not building up to him being the one true savior of Westeros. That's what Jon and Dany's threads are for.

Not one single Stannis fan would believe he's the one true savior. He even says he expects to die.

You have missed so many points...

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Then Stannis is a diamond in the rough...

Stannis is not exactly as attractive as a diamond, even an uncut one.

If anything, he was some sort of titanium alloy, but such a comparison would have been extremely out of place in the context of the series, calling him true steel is good enough for me.

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One could argue that at the current point, nobody has done more for the salvation of Westeros than Stannis, the only contender would be Jon and the Night's Watch, but at this stage their efforts and Stannis' are thoroughly mixed.

The High Septon and his "Feed and Protect the smallfolk" campaign might want to disagree with that.

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