Game of Thrones Director on Shocking Melisandre Twist

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Warning: Spoilers ahead. Read at your own risk.

The premiere episode of Game of Thrones season 6 featured probably the most shocking secret about Melisandre – her real age. Carice Van Houten's character's true form was revealed when she removed her necklace.

In an interview with EW, Game of Thrones director Jeremy Podeswa was asked about how the twist using striking visual effects was achieved as well as what the scene it means for Melisandre.

Apparently, in order to achieve Melisandre's transformation, the Thrones team used the special effects from Cersei's titular Walk of Shame nude scene. In van Houten's case, the 39-year-old actress wore prosthetics on her face and hair. Meanwhile, her body double was that of an old woman. While previous reports suggested Melisandre's age to be around 100 years old, the premiere episode shows that the character could be as old as 400 years.

Podeswa explained:

The idea is there's an indefinite indeterminate quality that she could be ancient. We were limited by choosing to use a real person rather than a complete CG creation. Because what does a 400-year-old person look like? We don't know.

So if you try to create that, then you're creating something that looks beyond our known reality. Here you feel like she's very old without putting a number on it.

The three-time Emmy nominee further explained how using elements of reality can be beneficial to creating an illusion in a fantasy show:

I think the performance of both actresses helps making her look ageless. There was a question of whether we should add more effects to make [the body double] look older, but I think anything we could have done would have made them look less real.

When doing a fantasy show – or a show with fantasy elements – the more you can anchor an effect to reality the stronger the illusion is.

He added that the scene where Melisandre crawls to bed had become so effective due to the marriage of magic and a relatable and routinary act.

The director adds:

At that moment, it's a telling gestural thing to do. She's questioning her power and ability to prosthelytize. She's at her lowest point, looking at the mirror and her true self. It's a sign of her frailty. You're seeing her at her most vulnerable moment.

It remains unknown whether Melisandre is more or less powerful than audiences know, as well as whether her necklace is where her powers really lie, but it's clear that Melisandre is at her weakest in the upcoming season.

Knowing this though, the revelation of her real age likely holds some greater relevance to future episodes that will be even more surprising.

Game of Thrones season 6 episode 1 airs on Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on HBO.

Read: Carice van Houten on Melisandre's Secret in Season 6 Premiere

Read: Game of Thrones Preview For Season 6, Episode 2: Home

Read: How To Watch Game of Thrones Online For Free