'Game of Thrones' Star on That Shocking Reveal
The premiere ended with quite the twist.
— -- If you haven't seen the season 6 premiere of "Game of Thrones," it might be best to click away -- now.
SPOILERS AHEAD!
If you have seen the episode, then you know the ending was something you can't unsee. So let's dive in.
The Red Witch Melisandre, played by Carice van Houten, was revealed to be really, really old, though her magical necklace apparently keeps her young and beautiful. It's like "The Picture of Dorian Gray," but with a stylish necklace instead of a painting (and a lot more violence).
Van Houten spoke to Entertainment Weekly about the reveal, telling them that she believes a lot of fans were probably shocked.
"I don’t think a lot of people will see that coming," she said. "It makes her immediately more vulnerable, but also more wise and even more mysterious."
Though the night is still dark and full of terrors, van Houten said the age reveal will also humanize her, something she is desperately in need of, given that she did compel Stannis to burn his daughter last season. The idea is she's seen a lot, so one child's death isn't the end of the world to her.
"[Her age] makes everything even more meta. Definitely, that’s where all that stuff comes from," she said.
The biggest shocker from the EW interview is the actress says that her character's powers might be more limited than she's let on. (She's basically been wrong about a lot lately like Jon Snow and Stannis being king.)
"She has no idea how she does it. A magic necklace? Wow," van Houten said.
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