From script to final cuts, there can be action and lines that will be cut out for the final reel. This seems to be the case for Stannis Baratheon, the intensely fanatic man blindly following the Lord of Light, wasn't as heartless during his final moments—at least in the script.
Game of Thrones fans know that he died pretty much the stoic and sad man that he was in the hands of Brienne of Tarth. However, as per the script (obtained by Watchers on the Wall), he showed a little more regret at what he had done to his own heir and child at the stake in that shocking episode in season 5.
His original last words actually acknowledged the evilness of what he had done and how he had felt sorry for his daughter. Instead of directly asking Brienne to "do her duty," he says the following words with their respective actor direction from the script:
"Stannis: Do you believe in the life to come?
[Brienne nods]
Stannis: I don't. But if I'm wrong, and you're right… tell Renly I'm sorry when you get there. I don't imagine I'll see him wherever I'm going. (beat) And my daughter. Tell her… tell her…
[‘Sorry' doesn't even begin to cover what he feels about Shireen. The thought of it brings tears to his eyes, and he's not going to die weeping in front of a woman he doesn't know.
Stannis stares up at her.]
Stannis: Go on, do your duty."
Well, this cut just made Stannis a little more human for fans. Granted, that doesn't erase what he had done, nor does it explain why he let her die just for some blind ritual.
I personally feel that it was cut for this reason. We've lived with the fact that Stannis is just a blind followed who's just as blind for power. And Shireen's death was proof of that—and humanizing Stannis at the end would lessen that blow.
Game of Thrones' seventh season will be out in July, though Stannis is long far gone where he's far from Shireen, we'd wager.
Read:Beauty and the Beast may get spin-offs.
Spider-Man spin-offs won't have Kevin Feige onboard.
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