Stannis Baratheon/Synopsis

Early Life
Stannis was born in year 264 AC, he was the second born child of Lady Cassana Estermont and Lord Steffon Baratheon. He developed completely differently from his older brother Robert, who was scarcely one year older than him. He was considered a dour and humourless child.

When he was no more than 4 year old, Steffon Baratheon took him and Robert to court, in King’s Landing. Stannis met Lord Tywin Lannister, who was serving as Hand of the King, and mistook him for King Aerys II Targaryen, seeing him sitting on the Iron Throne. Tywin and Steffon were friends, and later Steffon corrected Stannis and explained him the king was not present that day.

Stannis’ childhood was not a happy one. He lived under the shadow of Robert. Whatever Stannis did, Robert had done first and better. The two brothers were incompatible, and sometimes Robert mocked him. Stannis’ feelings towards Robert remained until adulthood. As a child he was introverted, lonely, precociously mature, smarter than the average child, solumn, and joyless. Later, Lord Steffon’s youngest child, Renly, was born. A happy boy who loved games and bright colors, looking a lot like Robert. This alienated Stannis from his family even more, being ignored most of the time. Maester Cressen, who had cared for the three brothers upon their parents' deaths, came to care deeply for Stannis, as he felt Stannis, being the unloved boy, was the one of the three brothers who needed him the most.

From an early age onwards, Robert has been fostered in the Eyrie by Lord Jon Arryn, together with Eddard Stark. The two became friends during this time, and Robert loved Ned as his true brother while he had no love for Stannis and Renly (the latter due to them being separated most of the time), and Jon Arryn as a second father. While he was fostered, Robert visited Storm’s End on multiple occasions, and at some point he was knighted.

In 278 AC, Lord Steffon and Lady Cassana were sent on a mission by King Aerys II to Volantis to find a bride for Stannis's cousin, Prince Rhaegar Targaryen, but in this they failed. The two had found a slave fool in Volantis, and bought his freedom in order to bring him to Storm’s End, believing he would delight Robert, and might even teach Stannis how to laugh, in time. They wrote this to Maester Cressen and were both ready to return home. The day they were expected to return to Storm’s End, Robert and Stannis were on the parapets of Storm’s End, looking for the ship Windproud. When the ship came in sight, a sudden storm arrived, and the two brothers witnessed their parents death, watching as the ship was destroyed at Shipbreaker Bay. Steffon and Cassana drowned, and from that moment Robert became Lord Paramount of the Stormlands. The same day of his parents’ death, the 13 years old Stannis lost his faith in the Seven, saying that gods so monstrous to take his parents’ lives in front of him would never have his worship. He stopped believing the existence of any god, and developed an indifferent disdainful behaviour towards religions.

After the death of their parents, the Baratheons were being watched by Cressen, while Robert continued to live in both Storm’s End and the Eyrie at the same time. Stannis found an injured goshawk, and nursed it back to health. He took it as his pet and named it Proudwing. Robert mocked Stannis for his bird, and called it Weakwing, because it was unable to fly higher than the treetops. Stannis’ s great-uncle, Ser Harbert, told him he was making a fool of himself and conviced him to abandon the bird. Growing up Stannis disliked being reminded he was not as strong as Robert. Later, in the year 282 AC, the same year Prince Aegon Targaryen was born, the supposed abduction of Lyanna Stark, the disappearance of Prince Rhaegar, the deaths of Rickard and Brandon Stark at the hands of King Aerys II, and his order to Jon Arryn to deliver him the heads of Eddard and Robert caused the war known as Robert’s Rebellion. Jon Arryn refused to obey the Crown and raised the banners of the Vale.

Robert’s Rebellion
Unlike Jon Arryn and Eddard Stark, Robert Baratheon had Targaryen blood in him, as his paternal grandmother was Rhaelle Targaryen. Because of this he became the head of the revolt, claiming the Iron Throne. After killing Marq Grafton and taking Gulltown, Robert could finally reach the stormlands, and he arrived to Storm’s End meeting Cressen, Stannis, and Renly. Robert was gathering his banners at Storm’s End, separated from his allies and surrounded by the loyalists of the Reach, Dorne, and the crownlands. Some of Robert’s bannermen remained loyal to the Crown and started gathering at Summerhall. However, Robert defeated them all at Summerhall, winning three battles in a day. Later, he was defeated by Lord Randyll Tarly and Lord Mace Tyrell in the Battle of Ashford, and was forced to retreat. Mace Tyrell headed to Storm’s End. Robert told Stannis to held the castle, no matter what cost. According to Stannis, choosing between his family and his king was the hardest choice he ever made. At the end he choose his brother, as “the younger brother must bow to the elder” is a more ancient law.

Stannis's stubbornness and determination are legendary and served him well during the rebellion. Mace Tyrell was besieging Storm’s End for a year, with all the power of the Reach, led by himself and his closest bannerman, Lord Paxter Redwyne. Mace surrounded the castle with his vast host, while Lord Redwyne took the Redwyne fleet of the Arbor and closed Shipbreaker Bay, making impossible for Storm’s End to receive any kind of supplies. Stannis was left with a small garrison of 500 men. He refused to give up, no matter what, and let himself and his men starve at Storm’s End. Renly was six years old during the war, and suffered starvation at Storm’s End too, witnessing the desperation of the garrison. While Robert, Ned Stark, Jon Arryn, and Hoster Tully were fighting the war against the Mad King, Stannis and his garrison had to eat their horses, cats, and dogs in order to survive. They were forgotten during the year, and at some point they had to eat rats and boots. Meanwhile Mace Tyrell and his bannermen, such as Paxter Redwyne and Mathis Rowan, feasted within sight of the walls, earning permanent enmity from Stannis Baratheon.

The garrison had to face many problems, such as conflict and rage in Storm’s End, along with problem with discipline, such as the time were the master-at-arms, Ser Gawen Wylde and three knights tried to sneak out a postern gate and surrender. They were captured, and Stannis was going to hurl Ser Gawen out with a catapult. He was dissuaded by Maester Cressen and locked Gawen and the other traitors into a cell, where Wylde died later during the siege.

The siege was not going to end anytime soon, and Stannis remained stubborn. Renly recalls Stannis and Cressen talking about having to eat their own dead, but before that could happen a notorious smuggler named Davos had come to save the garrison of Storm’s End. Davos had noticed that everyone had forgotten about the men defending the castle from the might of Reach, and those who remembered didn’t care. He knew the horrors of starvation from his childhood in poverty, so one night he took a risk that many would have considered madness. He slipped through the Redwyne fleet’s lines and entered Storm’s End with his ship full of onions and salt fish. Stannis refused to eat until every single man had eaten before him, and when he did, his portion was the same as everybody else’s. The food allowed Stannis and his garrison to survive longer until the arrival of Lord Eddard Stark after the Battle of the Trident and the Sack of King’s Landing. With King Aerys and his heir Prince Rhaegar both dead, Mace Tyrell dipped his banners when Eddard and the rebels appeared on the field. There was no battle that day.

Although only a boy, Stannis Baratheon successfully held the seat of House Baratheon against all the power of the Reach, giving victory to the rebels against the Crown: the Reach and the Tyrell’s vast host could not join Rhaegar Targaryen’s army. This allowed Robert’s forces to win the rebellion thanks to the fact that Stannis had prevented the Reach and the powerful Redwyne fleet from destroy the rebels on the battlefield. After the siege ended, Stannis took Davos into his service as a landed knight with his own keep and allowed him to found his own house: House Seaworth. However Stannis demanded a payment from Davos for his past crimes as a smuggler, so he removed with a cleaver the first joint from each finger of Davos's left hand. Davos accepted the punishment, with Stannis carrying it out himself. In addition to his titles and keep, Davos was also given his own lands and his own war galley, Black Betha, and later two more galleys to be commanded by his eldest sons. Davos’ younger son Devan would be later taken as squire by Lord Stannis. The majority of the Reach’s lords and knights were later pardoned by King Robert, much to Stannis’ resent, who would keep his enmity towards House Tyrell and House Redwyne until the current story.

End of the Rebellion and Lord of Dragonstone
King Robert I Baratheon was now Lord of the Seven Kingdoms. He charged his brother Lord Stannis with building a new royal fleet at Storm’s End, to seize Dragonstone, who was still loyal to House Targaryen. Aerys’wife and sister, Queen Rhaella Targaryen was hiding there with her son Prince Viserys. Queen Rhaella died nine months later, giving birth to Daenerys Targaryen while Stannis was buildling Robert’s fleet. A ferocious storm raged that night and destroyed the Targaryen fleet while it lay at anchor. Stannis took it as an opportunity to take the castle unopposed by the former royal fleet, now lying under the sea. The garrison at Dragonstone planned to sell Viserys and Daenerys to Lord Stannis, so he could either bring them to Robert or kill them. However a loyal old knight and former master-at-arms of the Red Keep, Ser Willem Darry, with several other retainers and a wet nurse rescued the Targaryen children and smuggled them into exile, outside Westeros, and sailing to the Free City of Braavos. The children were smuggled just before Stannis sailed.

Stannis successfully took Dragonstone from the Targaryens, conquering the island in the name of King Robert I Baratheon. House Targaryen lost every holding in the Seven Kingdoms. Robert granted Dragonstone to Stannis, making him Lord of Dragonstone. The island castle was traditionally the seat of the crown prince, the Prince of Dragonstone, so Robert honored Stannis by granting him the seat of the heir to the Iron Throne. However, Robert was also furious that the Targaryen children had escaped before Stannis arrived, and he granted the ancestral Baratheon seat of Storm's End to the youngest brother, Renly Baratheon, which Stannis resented as an intentional slight. Renly was named Lord Paramount of the Stormlands, upsetting Stannis, who felt that, as the elder of the two, Storm’s End was his by right. Although it was an injustice, Robert also needed a strong men to hold the island of Dragonstone, who was full of former supporters of the Targaryen at the time. Dragonstone had the advantage of taking Stannis away from the mainland, and Stannis became an effective and efficient administrator, head of the new cadet branch of House Baratheon: House Baratheon of Dragonstone. Maester Cressen followed Stannis to the ancient castle.

Stannis was appointed to Robert’s small council, as the master of ships, the commander of the royal fleet, and the King’s main general.

During year 286 AC Prince Joffrey Baratheon was born, making him the new heir of the Iron Throne instead of Stannis. Around year 287 AC, Stannis married Lady Selyse Florent. During the wedding, King Robert deflowered Selyse’s cousin Delena Florent on the wedding bed made for Stannis and Selyse. Later Robert told Stannis he was too drunk to know whose bed it was, claiming to have entered in the wrong room, but Stannis never forgave him. Later the pregnant Delena gave birth to a boy, Edric Storm, the only acknowledged bastard of the king, beside Mya Stone, the first daughter of Robert from the Vale. Stannis insisted that Edric was a blight upon the honor of his wife's house and promptly shipped him off to his other uncle, Lord Renly, at Storm's End.

Greyjoy's Rebellion
In the year 289 AC Lord Balon Greyjoy rejected his father’s wishes to strengthen the ties of the Iron Islands with the rest of the Seven Kingdoms, and declared the Iron Island independent. House Greyjoy remained neutral during most of Robert’s Rebellion and their Iron Fleet was still intact, the greatest fleet in Westeros, commaned by Balon and his brother Victarion. Balon declared himself King of the Iron Islands, thinking that Robert, who was still called “the usurper” by many, didn’t have the support of many lords like a Targaryen king and that he could defeat him at sea. While the houses were gathering under the orders of Robert, Balon and his fleet were already attacking and raiding the western coast, being responsible of many strikes, such as the Raid on Lannisport, planned by Euron Greyjoy and commanded by Victarion Greyjoy. The anchored Lannister fleet was destroyed by Victarion.

Robert charged Stannis to succeed were his father-in-law Tywin had failed. Stannis started to prepare the royal fleet, as well as Lord Redwyne with his Redwyne fleet. Meanwhile the raids of the surrounding coasts of the Sunset Sea were going on, and Balon’s eldest son, Rodrik Greyjoy, was killed by Lord Jason Mallister at the Battle of Seagard. After that, Stannis Baratheon dealt with the Iron Fleet in the sea battle off Fair Isle. Stannis, the master of ships, commanded the force made of the royal fleet, and the warships from the Reach, the Arbor, and Oldtown. With him also Paxter Redwyne and other lords of the Reach. Stannis lured the ironmen into a trap in the Straits of Fair Isle, with the island of westerlands to their west and the mainland of the westerlands to their east. Stannis's ships trapped them from the north and the south, smashing Victarion's fleet off Fair Isle. In the battle Aeron Greyjoy’s ship, the Golden Storm, was destroyed by Stannis’s flagship, Fury. Lord Rodrik Harlaw lost his sons in this battle.

After defeating Victarion and making him flee, Robert was now free to attack the Iron Islands, as Stannis had destroyed the Iron Fleet. Robert and Eddard led most of the royal army to subdue the island of Pyke, the main of the Iron Island. Meanwhile Stannis subdued Great Wyk, the largest of the Iron Islands, while Ser Barristan Selmy, the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, took Old Wyk. Balon was outnumbered, so he lost the war, as well as his second son, Maron. Balon was forced to bend the knee to King Robert I and the Iron Throne. In return he was forgiven for his treason to the Crown, and allowed to remain Lord of the Iron Islands, much to Stannis and Cersei Lannister’s disapproval. Stannis says if it was him ruling the realm, Balon would have been executed without a second thought, as he does not forgive or forget. Cersei thinks Robert should have destroyed all of the Iron Islands, and remake them from the beginning with new rulers.

Master of Ships
Lord Stannis kept serving King Robert I as the master of ships for years in King’s Landing, visiting Dragonstone a few times. His marriage with Lady Selyse was not a happy one. There was no love between them, and Stannis was not a person to give or show feelings. He dislikes her for both look and personality, and rarely sleeps with her. The two had hoped for years to have sons, but every child they had died as stillborn. Only a female child managed to remain alive: Shireen Baratheon, born shortly before Greyjoy’s Rebellion. A lonely sad little girl, she’s considered by most a sweet but ugly child. She inherited both of her mother and father’s physical traits. When Shireen was an infant, she suffered from greyscale, a mortal disease known to affect mostly children. It makes the skin hard, black and grey, stony to the touch. Greyscale had almost claimed Shireen’s life, but she survived and was rendered immune to every fatal form of greyscale. The disease left her disfigured. She was educated by Maester Cressen, and she was mostly seen in the company of the mad fool Patchface. The fact that Shireen, a deformed ugly little girl, was the only child Selyse could give to Stannis, caused him more anger. Stannis resents Selyse for not being able to give him an healthy strong male son, while Renly mocks both Selyse and Shireen, and wonders how Stannis ever fathered his daughter when he goes to his marriage bed like he is marching to a battlefield to do his duty. While Stannis lived at court in King’s Landing for many years, Ser Axell Florent, uncle of Selyse, controlled Dragonstone as its castellan.

Robert was the king, but he never bothered to rule the Seven Kingdoms. He passed the time drinking, hunting, and whoring, as Robert cared only about alcohol, killing and having sex. The Hand of the King, Lord Jon Arryn was the one who actually kept the King’s peace, along with Stannis, both making sure the realm was well fed. As commander of the royal fleet, Stannis once led a fleet to Sisterton, a town located on the island of Sweetsister, in the Vale, and suppressed smuggling from the Three Sisters. Stannis and Robert’s relationship remained cold during these years, Stannis was more serious and responsible than the elder brother, and Robert did his best to avoid giving him too much power. Stannis always resented Robert for the slights he suffered. He feels Robert has given him little in return for his loyal service, thanking Ned Stark for lifting the Siege of Storm’s End, rather than thanking him for holding the castle against the power of the Reach. Instead of thanking him for capturing Dragonstone from the Targaryens, Robert blamed him for the escape of Viserys and Daenerys, even though they left Dragonstone before Stannis had sailed with his fleet. Among Stannis’ household in King’s Landing there was Ser Davos Seaworth, who also lived in the capital, visiting Dragonstone with Stannis sometimes, as well as visting his youngest sons and his wife in the stormlands. During the years Lord Renly Baratheon grew up and was eventually given a place in the small council as master of laws. He left Storm’s End at command of Ser Cortnay Penrose, and arrived at King’s Landing with his household and his former squire and lover Ser Loras Tyrell.

At court Stannis had no love or trust for anyone: he saw immediately through people such the Queen, Grand Maester Pycelle, Petyr “Littlefinger” Baelish, Varys, Janos Slynt, and his own brother Renly. None of them helped Jon Arryn to rule the Seven Kingdoms, as everyone only cared about their own personal desires and gain. He disapproved how Jon Arryn, who was a trusting man, allowed Lord Baelish to have a place in the small council, and how Robert let the city be full of Lannister men, even in the Kingsguard there were Cersei’s men. Stannis had a desire to get rid of most nobles in the capital and punish them all, but Robert cared little about justice, and Renly was even worse in that regard, as he never took things seriously and would laugh and jests about everything with Littlefinger. Jon Arryn found out that Janos Slynt, the commander of the City Watch of King’s Landing, was taking bribes and selling positions and promotions. Lord Arryn had two men, willing to testify against Janos, but were found dead a short time after. Robert let Janos mantain his position thanks to Littlefinger. Stannis stated that Baelish undoubtedly knew of Slynt's corruption and made sure the crown profited from it as much as Janos. He also swore that if he had been king, Slynt would have lost more than his office for such corruption. Renly recalls that once Stannis, who dislikes whores, proposed outlawing brothels, but Robert just laughed and asked him if he wanted to outlaw shitting, eating, and breathing as well.

Robert I had become a broken man, fat, old, unhealthy, and unhappy. He beggared the realm with the expense of his tournaments and feasts, despite the fact Aerys II had left treasure vaults overflowing with gold. While Robert bankrupt the realm, leading the Crown to be six million golden dragons in debt with the Iron Bank of Braavos, Tywin Lannister, Mace Tyrell, and even the Faith, Stannis helped Jon Arryn in ruling the kingdoms with an iron fist, avoiding the realm to revolt against the King, but Stannis received little or no acknowledgment or thanks from Robert. Stannis never complained publicly since service without expectation of reward was required of him in his positions, although he often did so privately to Robert and Cersei. According to Cersei, he would come very often asking Robert about his rights to have the castle of Storm’s End, and everytime he was dismissed by Robert who had the same excuse. She agrees that Robert meant to insult his younger brother and claims she could hear Stannis grinding his teeth after he was done talking to his brother, and would never stop complaining. Jaime thinks no one in the world can possibly stomach Stannis Baratheon, and even Robert’s children, Joffrey, Myrcella, and Tommen avoided him.

Some years before the events of the main series, a mysterious woman called Melisandre arrived In Wsteros, after travelling from Asshai, from Far East Essos. A red priestess of a foreign religion, Melisandre met Selyse Florent and the latter brought the red woman to Dragonstone. Lord Varys informed the small council about Melisandre, but Stannis decided to simply ignore her, not taking seriously any kind of religion, and having a disregard for the Faith of the Seven. According to Stannis, the fat High Septon, leader of the Faith in the Seven Kingdoms, would prattle at him of how all justice and goodness flowed from the Seven, but all he ever saw of either was made by men. On the year 298 AC, Lord Stannis attended at the tourney on Prince’s Joffrey’s name day, along with him were present Robert, Renly, Jon Arryn, Tywin Lannister, Walder Frey, Yohn Royce, and Davos Seaworth.

Before A Game of Thrones
Just prior to the events of the first book, Stannis had suspicions about Robert’s children, thinking that Cersei’s sons and daughter were not actually Robert’s. However Stannis never bring such suspicions to King Robert, as he knew Robert would not believe the charges coming from him, making him look self-serving because Robert had no love for Stannis, and he would be seen as making himself heir of the Iron Throne. So Stannis confided his suspicions to Jon Arryn, because he felt Robert would listen if the charges came from the Hand of the King, whom Robert loved as a second father. Meanwhile Stannis came to know that Renly and Loras Tyrell secretely plotted to have Robert spurn Cersei in favour of Loras’ 14 years old sister, Margaery. Renly was helping his lover to make House Tyrell the second most powerful family in Westeros, overthrowing the Lannisters. Renly also felt that he would have made a better king than the other members of the royal family, in line before him, including Stannis.

Stannis and Jon investigated the case of Robert’s children together. They were often seen riding together in the city, and visited many places and houses, including brothels, much to the surprise of the people. They visited several of the king’s bastard children, and Stannis pointed out that all of them had black hair, and looked like Robert, while Joffrey, Tommen, and Myrcella looked more like Jaime and Cersei in their younger years. Even Mya Stone and Edric Storm had Robert’s traits, both Edric and Gendry looking like a younger Robert and Renly. Stannis and Jon did not fear spies, therefore their visits didn’t go unnoticed by Cersei, the Spider, and Littlefinger. Jon Arryn went to Grand Maester Pycelle and consulted the book The Lineages and Histories of the Great Houses of the Seven Kingdoms.

After reading the book Jon Arryn had no doubts anymore: Cersei’s children were not actually Robert’s, instead they are all products of incest between Cersei and her twin brother Jaime, thus Stannis Baratheon was Robert’s true legal hair of the Iron Throne. Jon meant to act and planned for his son Robert Arryn to be fostered with Stannis on Dragonstone. This was something that his wife Lysa would not have liked at all. However, Jon’s life was now in danger because he was being watched by the Queen’s men, Littlefinger, and Pycelle, who was protecting the Lannisters. Varys came to Jon, warning him about his life being in danger, and begging him to use a taster for his drinks, but Jon refused to have others risking their lives for him. Shortly after that, in 298 AC, Jon Arryn died, poisoned by his own wife Lysa, who was instructed to do so by Petyr Baelish. While he was dying he kept saying “The seed is strong.” in front of Robert and Lysa. Pycelle sent Jon’s master, Colemon, away from the room. Maester Colemon was trying to save Jon’s life, and could have succeeded, but Pycelle wanted to protect House Lannister. Stannis immediately blamed Cersei for the death of Lord Arryn, and now his plan had failed. Robert wanted Robert Arryn to become a ward of Lord Tywin Lannister at Casterly Rock, as he feared that being raised by his mother would make his namesake weak. Lysa refused the suggestion brusquely and, against the wishes of the king, fled from King's Landing with her son, master Colemon, and her household back to the Vale of Arryn  without bidding farewell. Only Jon’s squire Hugh, and some other remained in King’s Landing. Jon’s death is what will trigger many events who will lead to the War of the Five Kings.

With Jon Arryn dead, the King needed a new Hand. Robert started his journey to Winterfell, bringing with him a huge party. Stannis felt slighted again by his brother, because he believed that the position of Hand of the King was his by right. He always resented Ned Stark for being considered more by Robert. The Lord of Dragonstone would often remind everyone that he was NOT his friend, however he also understood that it was beyond Ned’s control that Robert liked him more than his brother and respected him as an honourable man. Tired of Robert’s constant slights, Stannis abandoned his duty for the first time of his life. He took with him his household, Ser Davos, and most of the royal fleet of King’s Landing, without the permission of the King, and fled to Dragonstone to gather his strength, preparing for a future war. In the old Targaryen fortress, Stannis begins to plan his next move.

A Game of Thrones
Stannis flees to Dragonstone and isolates it from the world. He closes the port and its surrounding waters. As master of ships, he’s joined by most of the royal fleet, with only some ships remaining at King’s Landing. Robert and the small council are not worried about this, and officially declare that Lord Stannis has taken an indefinite leave of absence to visit Selyse and Shireen. Dragonstone is now hostile to everyone outside, with armed men, ready to receive any ship that approaches the island. No ship that has come within sight of Dragonstone has been allowed to leave.

With the threat of the possibility of Khal Drogo and the Targaryens leading a Dothraki horde across the Narrow Sea, Eddard Stark advise his friend King Robert to name Stannis Warden of the East. An uncomfortable Robert only replies with vague words and avoids talking about Stannis. Ser Jorah Mormont thinks that the men Daenerys should be more worried about are Stannis, Tywin, and Eddard, also known by Viserys and Daenerys as "the Usurper's dogs".

Stannis is still missing for months. Ned had sent a polite letter to Lord Stannis requesting him to return to his seat, but he never received any response. Eddard finally discovers the truth Jon Arryn died for and that Stannis Baratheon is Robert’s lawful heir to the Iron Throne, but he makes the serious mistake of warning Queen Cersei about it, telling her to flee with her children before Robert returns from his hunt. King Robert I Baratheon is mortally wounded by a boar, after drinking too much wine during his hunt in the kingswood; a strong wine that Cersei gave to her cousin Lancel, squire of the King, in order to have Robert drinking too much and slow him down, allowing the boar to gut him. While Robert is still dying, Lord Renly warns Ned that Cersei is surely preparing to secure the Iron Throne for her family, and offers him a plan to take the Red Keep, seize the royal children, and holding them as hostages to neutralize House Lannister from the Iron Throne. Eddard refuses the plan, as he doesn’t want to shed blood in the castle while Robert is still alive. Renly doesn’t know that Joffrey, Tommen, and Myrcella are all Jaime’s children, and he’s planning to become the new king, thinking that the line of succession doesn’t matter anymore since the Targaryens were overthrown and ignoring the fact that Stannis still has a better claim to the Iron Throne. Knowing that Joffrey is considered a “monster” by many, Renly believes that Stannis is not born to be a king, and takes advantage of the fact that Tommen is a child, and Myrcella a female with a lesser claim than a male.

Ned writes a letter for Lord Stannis, only for him to read. He offers the Iron Throne to him as the rightful heir of King Robert I. Petyr Baelish does not want Stannis on the throne, as he would punish him for his unloyalty and corruption. Stannis is no friend with Ned or Baelish, and even his brothers can barely stomach him. Stannis will send Ned back to his home, Winterfell (which Ned would love it), appoint his own Hand and small council, and his ascension will mean war and dark times for the realm, also most see him as a just person, as Varys testimonies: "There is no creature on earth half so terrifying as a truly just man." Stannis will seek the heads of Cersei, Joffrey, Myrcella, and Tommen to secure his position on the Iron Throne (an act that will incite Tywin Lannister and the houses sworn to Casterly Rock to an uprising). According to Littlefinger, anyone who stood by the Targaryens during Robert's Rebellion or rose with the Greyjoys will have cause to fear Stannis' ascent to the throne, because people believe that Stannis would have killed anyone who fought for his enemies.

After Robert’s death, Stannis immediately rallies his strength at Dragonstone, while the war is starting. He’s joined by the few houses sworn to Dragonstone: Bar Emmon, Celtigar, Sunglass, and Velaryon. They come to the island with their fleets, while Stannis starts to hire mercenaries and pirates of the Free Cities. As Lord of Dragonstone and master of ships, Stannis has a great amount of naval power, but the sparse population of the rocky, volcanic islands surrounding Dragonstone leave him without the strength to risk openly contesting the Lannisters. Stannis sends Ser Davos Seaworth as an envoy to the Lysene pirate Salladhor Saan, to recruit his fleet.

Stannis, Selyse, and Shireen are mentioned among the many nobles King Joffrey commands to do him fealty or be named traitors. Cersei Lannister, as Queen Regent, is seated in the small council in place of Stannis Baratheon. ther against Joffrey. Varys reveals to Ned that Cersei would have killed Robert anyway, if it had not been the boar. She needed Robert dead to deal with Stannis, who was already gathering his strength at Dragonstone before, and Renly, who was already plotting with Ser Loras. The paranoid queen is frightened by everybody, she fears Eddard, Hoster Tully and his river lords, Lysa Arryn, the Martells, who lust for vengeance for years, the Tyrells, Robb Stark with his forces of the North, and Renly Baratheon. However the man who truly terrorizes Cersei is Stannis Baratheon, who has a true claim to the throne, is a skilled military tactician, and is utterly without mercy. Cersei’s biggest fear is that while her father Tywin battles the Starks and their army, Stannis will descend on King’s Landing, kill her and her children, and proclaim himself king. She desperately needs the peace between her family and the North, so her father can serve her son as Hand of the King and prepare to fight Stannis. Ned refuses to give up his honor and betray Stannis, but Varys says that the realm needs peace, a peace that will never be with Stannis sitting on the Iron Throne. Varys wants Ned to admit his treason, command Robb to lay down his sword, denounce Stannis and Renly, and carry Cersei’s secret to the grave.

Right after the first battles between the Starks and the Lannisters, Eddard Stark confess his treason to the crown in front of the High Septon and the population of King’s Landing. However King Joffrey I has him executed, despite having promised to Sansa mercy for her father. Cersei fails to stop her son from doing the reckless act. Ned Stark loses his head.

Stannis sends Davos to a secret mission in the stormlands, to rally the storm lords to Stannis’s cause. The mission results to be a complete failure, as Davos is either refused or ignored by the storm lords. They won’t raise. Not for Stannis. Instead they choose to follow Renly, hoping to bring more glory to the stormlands. Maester Cressen warned Stannis about this, as he knows that the nobles have no love for him. Soon Stannis receives news about King Renly Baratheon and that the stormlands have decided to support him, although Stannis, as the eldest son of House Baratheon, should have held claim to the loyalty of his House's ancestral seat, Storm's End. Stannis is infuriated by this, and considers it blatant treason. The news about Renly shock everyone in the Seven Kingdoms, including Tywin and Robb, who had always expected it to be Stannis, instead he’s been missing for a year at this point, vanished between the walls of Dragonstone. Tywin is surprised that Stannis still has done nothing, and only knows that he’s been building another fleet during the year, hiring sellswords, and starterd seeking the counsel of a shadowbinder from Asshai. Tywin considers Stannis to be more dangerous than all the other enemies combined. He sends his son Tyrion to King’s Landing, to rule in his stead, preparing the city to defend against Renly and Stannis, and clean up the mess Cersei, Joffrey, and the small council have created.

A Clash of Kings
It’s now the year 299 AC. The 10 years long summer is finally over. It’s now autumn, and Stannis Baratheon now styles himself as King of Westeros, making Selyse Florent his queen and Shireen Baratheon his princess. Ser Davos Seaworth returns from his failed mission from the stormlands, as an envoy of King Stannis I. The king is not happy to learn about it, as the other lords at Dragonstone want to sail and enter the War of the Five Kings. Stannis now finds himself with his back to the wall. His men are not enough to take King’s Landing, and Renly is now his enemy and a traitor. He finds himself having to listen to the red priestess Melisandre, talking about her god, R’hllor, and her visions in the flames. Queen Selyse has been entirely converted to the worship of R’hllor, the foreign god, she’s the most fervent supporter of Melisandre, followed by her uncle, Ser Axell. Believers of the Lord of Light in Dragonstone think that the red comet in the sky is an omen for Stannis’s victory.

Stannis is unable to win the war, and frustrated by this, starts ranting and calls Renly a thieving child  who has never done anything to deserve the throne, jested with Littlefinger during his job and allowed better men to unhorse him in tourneys, while he (Stannis) was helping Jon Arryn to keep peace in the realm. Stannis wonders why the gods inflicted him with brothers, and doesn’t know what to tell to his bannermen. Cressen and Davos tried to make suggestions to their king, but each one has made him angry. Cressen immediately yielded when Stannis refused to join with Renly to defeat the Lannister, or a partnership with Robb Stark, now King in the North and the Trident, commanding the power of the North and the riverlands. Stannis declares he won’t make peace with Renly, not until he calls himself king, and calls Rob a green boy and another false king that seeks to steal half of his kingdom. When Cressen mentions helping Robb to avenge Eddard’s death, he provokes Stannis’ easy anger again. He rants again that Ned was nothing to him, how much he had to hear from Robert that Ned was a brother to him, and how the position of Hand of the King was his by right. He sees Joffrey, Renly, and Robb as nothing but thieves, and he will destroy them.

Cressen proposes a marriage pact between Shireen and Robert Arryn, but Stannis don’t see how they could bring the boy to Dragonstone when the paranoid Lysa hides him in the Eyrie. Then he considers the idea of sending Shireen to the Eyrie with the fool, Patchface. Selyse, however, objects this, saying that Stannis should not treat or beg for what is his by right. He’s the one true king and they all owe their allegiance to him. Selyse tells Stannis that her family, House Florent, can provide him 2,000 men. However, the Florents are too close to Highgarden, and they are supporting Renly, but Selyse thinks that R’hllor will provide Stannis all the might of the Reach and the stormlands. Selyse then suggests her husband that if Renly should die, his army would join Stannis. She says that Melisandre has seen into the flames a vision of Renly dead. Much to Cressen’s horror, Stannis listen to Selyse and the two have a talk that might imply the planning of the murder of Renly Baratheon.

The thought of Stannis committing fratricide horrifies the old master Cressen, since he raised the Baratheon brothers after Lord Steffon died. He decides that Melisandre is trouble and her religion is evil. He wants to end it, before the red priestess can convert Stannis to her evil schemes and spread her religion beyond Dragonstone. Cressen joins Stannis’s feast and its lords, captains, knights, and sellswords. Without any alternative, Stannis keeps pressing his claim, refusing to give up, and all they can do now is talking about how Melisandre has seen Stannis’s victory in the flames, refusing any kind of alliance with anyone who doesn’t show absolute obedience to King Stannis. Horrified by what he’s going to do, Cressen tries to poison Melisandre with the Strangler. The woman and his friend Davos try to stop the old master, but he insists he is doing what he must for the sake of the realm and his lord’s soul. Thanks to her magical ruby at her throat, Melisandre survives, while Cressen dies after drinking the poison himself.

Later Salladhor Saan informs King Stannis that his brother Renly has left Highgarden with his army and his queen, Margaery, to march on King’s Landing. The biggest army of the War of the Five Kings. Renly also thinks that Stannis will join him with his fleet and his 5,000 men, and accept him as king. He’s spending a lot of time in the Reach, marching incredibly slowly, hosting tourneys and melees, waiting for the right moment to attack the capital while the Starks and the Lannisters are fightning.

Since the poor lands of Dragonstone don’t help him much to support his claim, Stannis focus on Melisandre’s magic and religion. He allows Selyse to destroy the sept of Dragonstone, where Aegon I Targaryen knelt to pray before his conquest. Selyse’s men, all converted by the faith of R’hllor, overturn the altars, pull down the statues, and smash the stained glass. The septon of Dragonstone, Barre tries to protest and curse them. Ser Hubard Rambton and his three sons try to defend the sept and kill four of the Queen’s men, but eventually Ser Hubard and one of his sons are defeated and killed by the soldiers. Lord Guncer Sunglass is a pious man, devoted to the Seven, who annoyed often Stannis about his devotion. After the sept of Dragonstone is burned by Melisandre and Selyse, he learns that King Stannis allowed it and he’s not going to punish anyone for this. Sunglass approaches Stannis and withdraws his support for him. Stannis has him promptly thrown into the cells, alongside Septon Barre and the two surviving sons of Hubard Rambton. The other lords immediately get Stannis' message and don't dare to speak against him anymore, they are also afraid to speak Melisandre's name. Davos is both surprised and disappointed that Stannis allowed this heresy to happen, he strongly dislikes Stannis’s conversion to the Lord of Light. In fact the King has now officially denied the Faith of the Seven and embraced R’hllor as the official religion of House Baratheon of Dragonstone. He changes the original crowned Baratheon stag and takes his own personal banner: a crowned stag within a red heart surrounded by a blaze of orange fire on a field of sun yellow. Stannis however, only seeks the power that Melisandre promises him. He doesn’t really care which god his followers want to serve, as long as they serve their king.

That day, hundreds of men watch Lady Melisandre burning the old statues of the Seven as an offer to R’hllor. The statues were originally carved from the masts of the ships that carried the first Targaryens from Valyria, but that did not saved them from Stannis’s indifference. Davos watches with his two eldest sons, Allard and Dale, while feeling ill for the heresy that Stannis and Selyse are committing. The lords are wordless, while Lord Velaryon keeps looking at Stannis. The King of Dragonstone watches impassively as the statues are burned. Melisandre recounts an ancient prophecy that at the end of a long summer, when the stars bleed and darkness falls over world, Azor Ahai will be reborn and draw the burning sword Lightbringer from the fire and destroy the darkness. The Red Woman proclaims Stannis to be the prophet and savior Azor Ahai come again to save the world from darkness and the dead, who will rise again. Stannis tries to take the mantle of Azor Ahai by plunging a sword into the pyre of the burning relics of the Seven. He marches forward to take his sword, Lightbringer, and when he pulls the sword out, it glows with a magical light, but it's not actually hot, and the sword of Azor Ahai should both be shiny and radiate heat.

Later Salladhor Saan brings more news for Stannis; Tyrion Lannister now controls the capital as Hand of the King and Janos Slynt has been driven out, sent to the Wall. The city is only mainly defended by the few inexperienced goald cloaks of the City Watch. Stannis agreed to pay Salladhor with gold, but the pirate also wants the Queen to warm his bed for at least one night. Lord Salladhor urges a surprise attack on King’s Landing, but both Stannis and Davos know that they couldn’t hold it for long, alone against both Tywin Lannister and Renly Baratheon. The King refuses to sail until his god shows the right moment.

Finally Stannis Baratheon officially declares to the world that he’s the rightful king, and that King Joffrey, Tommen, and Myrcella are the product of incest between Cersei and Jaime Lannister. He has hundreds of letters distributed throughout all the Seven Kingdoms, from the north to all the south. Stannis wants all of their 117 ravens to carry the letters across the realm, knowing that most of the letters will just be burnt by those who support other kings. Stannis has Davos carry the message to Gulltown, the Fingers, the Three Sisters, and White Harbor, while Dale Seaworth has to carry the message past Cape Wrath and the Broken Arm, all along the coast of Dorne as far as the Arbor. Stannis also plans to send Allard Seaworth to carry his claim to the Free Cities, so all the world will know about his claim. However Davos reminds that they have no proof. All of Robert’s known bastards are now dead, and nobody knows how many of his bastards might be alive. Stannis says there’s a proof at Storm’s End, and it’s Edric Storm, who’s the very image of a young Robert Baratheon, while Joffrey and Tommen look nothing like him.

Davos tries to warn Stannis about his new religion. Burning statues of the Seven and destroy septs won’t help his cause. People will never accept Stannis if he takes away their gods in favour of a foreign one. Stannis doesn’t care, stating that people have never loved him anyway. Stannis is not devout to any god, all he knows is that Melisandre has power and he means to use it. There will be no more begging or laughing. The throne is his, and Stannis knows that half of his men are afraid of Melisandre. He wants to find out what she can do and give to him.

Stannis’s message becomes known to everyone in the realm. Every castle, port, town, and village receives it, like Bran Stark at Winterfell, his brother Robb at Riverrun, Tywin Lannister at Harrenhal, Balon Greyjoy at Pyke, and Renly in the roseroad. Letters arrive in the crownlands, and this infuriates Queen Cersei, who demands the letters to be destroyed. She rages about being accused of incest, adultery, and treason, all of the accusations being all true. Tyrion decides to use the Lord of Light and Melisandre as propaganda against Stannis, and says that they must do nothing about Stannis’s letters, avoiding to show that they fear the truth. They let people talk about what they want until they will grow bored. As a response to Stannis’s message, the Lannisters spread a false rumor that Stannis’s daughter, Shireen, is a bastard of Queen Selyse and the fool Patchface. With this rumor, lack of proof, and having no support nor love of nobles and smallfolk, Stannis’s proclamation ends as little more than tavern gossip, made up to excuse the rebellion of a jealous uncle. When Lord Bran receives the letter in which Stannis proclaims himself King of Westeros, he declares that his brother Robb will defeat Stannis.

Still at Dragonstone Stannis and Melisandre talk about Renly. Melisandre has seen two futures in her flames: one in which Stannis is defeated in King’s Landing by Renly, and one in which he sails to Storm’s End, where his brother shall die, and his men to flock to Stannis. Finally the king makes a decision, while he and Melisandre start to get closer. Stannis sails for Storm’s End, leaving Selyse and Axell to control Dragonstone.

 Stannis arrives in the stormlands and besieges Storm’s End, unwilling to let the storm lords and Renly’s treason go unnoticed. He encircles the castle with his small host and blocks it from the sea with his superior naval force. Ser Cortnay Penrose, castellan of Storm’s End, holds the Baratheon fortress and sends a message to seek help. King Renly had just met Catelyn Stark when a messenger arrives at Bitterbridge with news that Lord Stannis is at the gates of Storm’s End and calls himself King Stannis. Renly’s original war plan changes, and he rides with his stormlords and a few Reach lords, leaving at Bitterbridge most of his force from Highgarden. Soon King’s Landing receive the news as well, making Cersei and Tyrion happy. The two celebrate the fact that Stannis and Renly are most likely going to battle, so whoever loses it’s a victory for them. Tywin is also made aware of this at Harrenhal.

 Stannis meets his brother Renly and Catelyn Stark outside Storm’s End. His men already started to build more siege weapons. Catelyn sees how insignificant Stannis’s army his, 5,000 men against Renly’s 20,000 men and the garrison of the castle. At the parley Stannis brings with him Melisandre as well, he’s surprised to find Catelyn in the stormlands and he promises justice for Ned Stark’s death and that he will find Sansa and Arya in King’s Landing, alive or dead. Stannis demands loyalty and obedience from Renly, as the latter owes it to him as the elder brother and rightful king. He also despises the fact that Robb and Catelyn are siding with Renly, when Eddard Stark died for Stannis’s claim. Catelyn tries to tell that Robb is King in the North by the lords and people, and can be a friend and ally to both Stannis and Renly. Stannis coldly replies that kings have no friends, only subjects and enemies, showing that he has no desire to have friends or be loved, but only wants absolute obedience. The parley between Renly and Stannis doesn't go anywhere and fails to reconcile them. The two only insult and mock each other until they agree to start the battle at dawn.

 That night Melisandre gives birth to a shadow creature known as “shadow assassin”, or just “shadow”. The creature is Stannis’s “son”, as it’s born from a sexual intercourse between him and Melisandre. The shadow appears in Renly’s tent, Catelyn Stark and Brienne of Tarth with him at the moment. At the same time Stannis had gone to sleep. A breeze seems to fling open the tent flap and suddently Catelyn sees the shadow being that cuts Renly’s throat in front of her and Brienne. At the very same time, Stannis witness the event as well through a dream, and he perceives the assassination of Renly as his own action, seeing himself opening Renly’s throat while Brienne screams. The shadow disappears. Stannis awakes and finds himself to have been fallen from the bed, sweating. Brienne is publicly blamed for Renly’s murder and Catelyn thinks how all of Renly’s power will now belong to Stannis, won in a single evil stroke;  a chill goes through her as she recalls Stannis's threat that Robb's time will come. The lords present have no choice but to side with the last Baratheon.

 With Renly’s death, all of the storm lords are now terrified of Stannis’s revenge, and immediately go over to the merciless king. The first one to do so is Lord Alester Florent, the uncle of Queen Selyse and head of the Florents. Nearly all of the stormlands and several lords of the Reach join with King Stannis. Blinded by grief and rage, Ser Loras wants to fight Stannis and avenge the death of his lover, but Stannis’s host is now huge, so he flees back to Bitterbridge with a fifth of the cavalry and some nobles, with them Mathis Rowan, Randyll Tarly, and Arwyn Oakheart, not wanting to serve Stannis Baratheon. With the support of House Florent, Selyse’s influence on Stannis becomes greater. The King sends two knights, Ser Parmen Crane and his brother-in-law Ser Erren Florent, to Bitterbridge to recruit the Reach and stormlands infantry still camped at Bitterbridge, the better part of Renly’s army. Stannis commands Ser Cortnay Penrose to yield Storm’s End, but the castellan doesn’t believe Renly’s death and demands they show his body to him, but Renly’s corpse has gone missing. Old Penrose decides to resist out of fear of what Stannis might do to Robert’s bastard, Edric Storm, as Cortnay sees him as a son. Stannis refuses to leave Storm’s End to sail for King’s Landing, because Melisandre’s flames show him taking Storm’s End and the bastard. He keeps besieging Storm’s End, losing patience every day as he want to take the Iron Throne soon. He starts having terrible nightmares every time, and dreams again about killing Renly. Only Melisandre can soothe him to sleep, and Stannis finds himself to having sex regularly with Melisandre in his tent.

 Meanwhile the Greyjoys officially enter the war and invade the North, raiding the coast, pillaging, and raping. With this rebellion, King Balon Greyjoy provokes Stannis Baratheon, who was already planning to deal with the Iron Islands, by invading the North and weakening Robb Stark’s power. Stannis makes himself an enemy to almost all of the Seven Kingdoms and now, out of the Five Kings, he’s the one who leads the biggest army.

 While Stannis keeps besieging Storm’s End, Lord Tywin leeaves Harrenhal with his host, meaning to attack Edmure Tully and Robb Stark. People of Riverrun ask Catelyn if there’s hope of aid from the south, but Catelyn doesn’t know what to say about Stannis, as he declared himself as an enemy. She simply states that Stannis has made a common cause with a power greater and darker. Edmure receives a letter from the castellan Ser Cortnay Penrose, who fears for Edric’s life and asks for help against Stannis. Catelyn wants to warn Robb, who’s in the westerlands, about Stannis being hostile to them. Meanwhile King’s Landing falls into chaos as a result of Renly and Robb’s actions, that led the capital to starve. There’s hatred against King Joffrey, the Lannisters, and the High Septon, the latter is killed during a furious riot that occurs right after Princess Myrcella and Ser Arys Oakheart leave the city for Dorne. King’s Landing is now full of conspirators who plan to have the population and the sellswords fighting for Stannis Baratheon, when the time comes.

 Ser Davos Seaworth arrives in the stormlands, having delivered his message throughout the realm. The siege of Storm’s End keeps going on until Stannis runs out of patience and meets Cortnay Penrose for a parley. Stannis makes him notice that no one will come to help him, and orders him to surrender the castle and kneel to him. Penrose, who’s also angry at Melisandre and the lords who supported Renly, refuses and challenges Stannis to a single combat. Stannis rejects him and replies that he will take the castle if he must. The king however respects his loyalty, unlike the other lords in his army, especially his new Hand of the King, Lord Alester Florent, who changed not only sides, but gods too, being now a follower of R’hllor. Stannis’s new bannermen, such as Bryce Caron, Ronnet Connington, Eldon Estermont, and Guyard Morrigen, try to make themselves look good in front of him, and offer several ideas, like offering themselves to duel against Penrose, leaving a force to storm the castle, or threaten to kill Cortnay’s old father, Lord Penrose. Annoyed by the false courtesies of Renly’s former supporters, Stannis doesn’t fall for them and dismisses them for Davos.

 Stannis refuses to leave Storm’s End until he takes it, otherwise the lords will consider him defeated there. He wants the boy Edric, as Melisandre saw Cortnay’s death and Stannis’s victory in the flames. Stannis makes it clear that the only reason he’s after the Iron Throne is because of his duty as the last trueborn Baratheon. He fights for his duty to Shireen, to clean the name of his family from Joffrey’s deeds and Cersei’s lies, and liberating the realm from all those usurpers and traitor that made his kingdom bleed. Stannis refuses to forgive and forget, and promises he will avenge the deaths of Jon Arryn, Robert Baratheon, and Eddard Stark by killing Cersei and her children. After that he plans to execute every noble in King's Landing, which Davos considers a merciless thing to do.

Stannis orders Davos to smuggle Melisandre beneath Storm's End, as its walls are warded against magic. In a cavern under the castle Melisandre gives birth to another shadow assassin, kills Cortnay, making him fall from a wall. Lord Elwood Meadows, surrenders the castle.Stannis leaves Ser Gilbert Farring as his castellan, with Elwood as his second and 200 men at his command. He burns the godswood as an offering to R'hllor. Unaware that Parmen Crane and Erren Floren failed to recruit the rest of Renly's army and were captured by the Tyrells, Stannis marches north towards King's Landing as his fleet prepares to join him in an amphibious assault. To avoid people think that he won the throne via sorcery, Stannis sends Melisandre back to Dragonstone, with her the bastard Edric Storm.

Stannis splits his force in two armies: his host, led by Ser Guyard Morrigen, marching in land to King's Landing; his fleet, sailing to the capital.

At King's Landing Tyrion and Cersei strengthen the defense of the city. The city watch is tripled in size, hundreds of sellswords are hired, Rosby and Stokeworth send contingents of soldiers, and over thirteen thousand jars of wildfire are found or manufactured and then loaded on to ships. Hundreds of scorpions, spitfires, and catapaults are constructed and placed on the walls to support the gold cloaks, many of whom are acting as crossbowmen. Most importantly, the manufacture of chainmail, axes, daggers, and swords for the new recruits, to bring them up to par with the other 2,000 equipment-wise, is put on hold before the project is complete. Instead, Tyrion orders the blacksmiths to devote all their time and steel to constructing a massive chain which would allow the defenders to close off the Blackwater Rush. The new High Septon warns the population about Stannis being an heretic who means to burn the Great Sept of Baelor. Tyrion sends out his remaining 150 Vale mountain clansmen to harass Stannis's flanks and kill his scouts in the kingswood.

Thanks to Edmure Tully, Tywin Lannister is made aware of Stannis' fleet sailing for the capital, and marches with his host to engage him. The army of the westerlands joins later with Lord Randyll Tarly and Mace Tyrell's army from Bitterbridge and Highgarden.

Stannis's vanguard, led by Ser Guyard Morrigen, arrives early, and Joffrey's war galleys are dispatched to exchange arrows with his forces. Ser Guyard's force remains in the kingswood, waiting for Stannis' fleet to arrive.

Treacherous waters and inclement weather delay Stannis's fleet on its northward journey from Storm's End. About a dozen ships are lost on the journey to Blackwater Bay and the troops on land suffer days of harassment from Tyrion's clansmen and skirmishers in the kingswood, despite burning swaths of the forest trying to ferret them out. Stannis' fleet regroups along Massey's Hook after being scattered across the narrow sea by a storm.

Stannis gives command of the fleet to his brother-in-law, Ser Imry Florent, who commands from Stannis' galley, the Fury. Stannis himself is on the south side of the Blackwater with his host, making them create arrows and rafts.

Stannis' fleet sails up the Blackwater Rush with almost all their strength, made of 200 ships. The commander of the fleet, Ser Imry Florent, ignores Ser Davos' advice, and refuses to send scouts to see the defences of the garrison of King's Landing and leaves behind, at Blackwater Bay, Salladhor Saan and his 30 Lysene ships as rearguard.

At Blackwater Rush they have a naval fight with Joffrey's fleet, then they face wildfire, a river-spanning chain, and many other defenses. Stannis destroys most of Joffrey's ships, but also loses most of his own ships thanks to wildifre and Tyrion's chain. The chain, raised between two winch towers at the mouth of the river, pulls the burning ships towards the mouth  and against the chain, which results in the destruction of much of Stannis' fleet and the entire destruction of Joffrey's fleet.

Stannis refuses to give up and attacks the city, while his other army attacks from the kingswood. Eight ships manage to land troops to the northern bank, and forty or so galleys remain ready to row Stannis's main force across the river. Many of the Myrish galleys also manage to land thier men on the south bank, using a bridge of burning ships. Lord Tyrion leads the defense of the capital with its outnumbered force made of the gold cloaks, knights, squires, mercenaries, and men-at-arms from the crownlands. Kingsguards Sandor Clegane and Ser Balon Swann lead the forces against Stannis armies, but they suffer too many casualties.

<p class="MsoNormal">Stannis is winning the battle and his men attack two gates, the King's Gate and the River "Mud" Gate ", at King's Landing, while many other men and sellswords start to land from the Blackwater. The wildfire is raging across the river and Sandor Clegane loses his courage and deserts the Iron Throne, while the Kingslanders rally to clear the riverbank one last time, until Cersei has her son Joffrey retire from the battlefield and return to the Red Keep. This causes the men's morale to break and they begin throwing down their spears and flee by the hundreds, leaving the walls and killing their officers, including Ser Jacelyn Bywater, the commander of the City Watch, in the process. Tyrion Lannister leads the rest of the Iron Throne's forces in battle, and they manage to disperse Stannis's men at the King's Gate, but before they manage to reach the Mud Gate they are attacked by a large group of Stannis' soldiers, arriving from the Blackwater. Tyrion is seriously wounded and Kingsguard Ser Mandon Moore dies. The bridge of burning ships collapses and Tyrion's army is forced to retreat back to the city walls.

<p class="MsoNormal">Stannis still keeps fighting, almost winning the war. The battle seems to be lost for the Lannister until the surprise relief force arrives from the kingswood, commanded by Tywin Lannister, and with him Mace Tyrell, Garlan Tyrell, Randyll Tarly, and Kevan Lannister. Tyrion's wildlings in the kingswood created a blind spot for Stannis by killing his outriders and scouts, and allowed the Tyrell vanguard to take Stannis's smaller and partially crossed host unaware from the side. Lord Tywin leads the right, on the north side of the river, Mace Tyrell the left, and Randyll Tarly the center, but much of the fighting is done by the vanguard, led by Ser Garlan Tyrell.

<p class="MsoNormal">Ser Garlan is dressed in Renly Baratheon's armor and causes panic and confusion amongst Stannis's ranks, terrified by "Renly's ghost". Garlan personally kills Guyard Morrigen and fights Stannis's vanguard. Many storm lords and Stannis's main commanders are killed. Divided and surprised, Stannis's host breaks, with many of his lords bannermen switching allegiance mid-battle. Stannis is furious and insists to fight, but he's dragged away by Ser Justin Massey and Ser Richard Horpe. Ser Rolland Storm leads a rearguard action involving thousands of men that allows some Stannis loyalists, chiefly Florents, to escape, along with Stannis himself on the Lysene galleys left in Blackwater Bay while the rest of the fleet burned. Due to the lack of space, many are left behind and keep fighting. The battle is lost. Many men loyal to Stannis are dead, among them his brother-in-law Imry Florent, Monford Velaryon, Guyard Morrigen, Bryce Caron, and four sons of Ser Davos: Dale, Allard, Matthos, and Maric. Stannis survives, but the battle is a heavy defeat for House Baratheon of Dragonstone and his claim. He finds himself back at Dragonstone, cut off from the war and forced to hide. Most of the captured storm lords and men of the Reach bend the knee to King Joffrey, including Ardrian Celtigar, Alesander Staedmon, Eldon Estermont, Mark Mullendore, the Fossoways, Ronnet Connington, Bonifer Hasty, and Aurane Waters. The captives that remain loyal to Stannis and refuses to kneel to Joffrey are executed. The Battle of the Blackwater is the largest battle of the War of the Five Kings and Stannis's defeat signs the end of the first phase of the war, the Lannister-Tyrell alliance, and the failure of Robb Stark's cause, who was counting on Stannis to defeat the Lannisters, leading to the imminent defeat of the northmen. The Florents are stripped of their lands, titles, and their seat, Brightwater Keep, for supporting Stannis, however the family keeps holding the fortress in the Reach.

While Stannis and his remaining force return to Dragonstone, Salladhor Saan and his Lysene pirates stay behind at Blackwater Bay to search for survivors and rescue them. They find Devan Seaworth, one of the 3 remaining sons of Davos, and bring him back to Dragonstone.

A Storm of Swords
Stannis is at Dragonstone, furious, with his host broken. He becomes depressed, completely withdrawn and refuses to see anyone, not even his wife and daughter. He has mainly the Florents, while most of the stormlands are under control of Joffrey Baratheon. Stannis doesn't eat anymore, leaving his food untouched outside his door. Dragonstone is now ruled by Queen Selyse and Lord Alester Florent, the Hand of the King. Stannis sees only Melisandre and spends a lot of private time with her. She tries to explain that Stannis is Azor Ahai and needs to become king before winter comes. The Long Night That Never Ends will devour everyone, she says, and Stannis is the one who will defeat the Others and save the world from darkness.

Davos is found still alive at Blackwater Bay, he's rescued by Salladhor Saan, and brought back to Dragonstone. After meeting Shireen playing with his new friend Edric, Davos starts plotting to murder Melisandre, blaming her for the deaths of his sons and Stannis's defeat at King's Landing. Melisandre sees this in her flames, and has Ser Axell Florent arresting him and throwing him into the dungeons.

The realm, under the power of houses Lannister and Tyrell, is now ruled by Hand of the King, Lord Tywin Lannister, who is unable to attack Dragonstone and kill Stannis without a new fleet. Tywin knows that the war will go on until Stannis lives but, at the moment, he must focus to House Stark and House Tully. Also, the wildlings threaten to invade the North, still occupied by the ironborn rebels. Robb Stark is furious and forced to retreat back to Riverrun, having lost his hopes for Stannis winning and ending the War of the Five Kings.

Stannis is still brooding at Dragonstone. Melisandre tells he's too weak now, and the creation of another shadow would draw too much life-energy from him, killing him in the process. R'hllor's religion has divided Stannis's army: the men who still mantain the Faith of the Seven are called "King's Men", while the men who now follow R'hllor are the "Queen's Men". Melisandre keeps preaching her religion, she talks about the Great Other, the god of darkness, cold, and death, eternal enemy of the Lord of Light, and how the white walkers are all his servants, but Stannis remains stubborn and indifferent, not blindly trusting Melisandre's visions anymore after his recent failure, and wants to meditate and reflect more. Meanwhile Melisandre visits Davos to convince him that they're both allies. She's sure Davos will keep serving R'hllor, and plans to give dragons to Stannis by awakening the stone dragons, the many dragon statues in the castle.

The Hand of the King, Alester Florent, realizes that Stannis's cause is now hopeless, and he secretely attempts to make peace with the Lannisters, hoping of having back Brightwater Keep. He secretely offers Princess Shireen as an hostage to the Lannisters and betroths her to her legal cousin, Prince Tommen Baratheon. Alester asks the Lannisters to let Stannis remain Lord of Dragonstone and Storm's End, provided he accepts Joffrey as his true king. However, Alester's plan fails when he's discovered by his brother, Ser Axell, who denounces him as a traitor. Stannis has his former Hand imprisoned with Davos. Alester thinks his intentions were for the best of his own family and Stannis, but Davos says that Stannis would die before bend.

A lot of time has passed and now King Stannis looks like a shadow of his former self: his hair is almost completely gray and his eyes are like dark blue bruises in the hollows of his face. Now looking like an old man, Stannis finally means to resume his war and rebuild his strength. His enemies, the other three kings are still alive. Balon Greyjoy's ironborn are still invading the North, blocking the kingsroad from Moat Cailin, and holding castles and towns; Robb Stark is negotiating with the Freys and means to return in the North and retake it from the ironmen, in order to give back hope to his bannermen. Stannis has Davos to be finally released from his long time imprisonment, while Lord Alester is sentenced to die. Ser Axell Florent plans with Lord Salladhor Saan to attack Claw Isle as a reprisal against Lord Ardrian Celtigar, former bannerman to Stannis who has submitted to Joffrey after he got captured at the Blackwater. Davos advises Stannis to not attack Claw Isle, calling the plan evil because is held only held by women, children, and old men because the warriors of the island were killed fighting for Stannis on the Blackwater. Stannis, who wants to scout the realm from corruption, agrees, and names Davos Lord of the Rainwood, Admiral of the Narrow Sea, and his new Hand of the King, since Davos is one of the few men who have the courage to tell his king the truth, even when he knows the truth will not be well-received.

Stannis and Melisandre tell about Stannis's vision in the flame, a "great battle in the snow". According to Melisandre, this is the future War of for the Dawn, a prophesied conflict that might see the end of the world. Melisandre thinks that King Stannis will lead humanity, with old races like giants and children of the forest, against the Others. Stannis has also seen a vision in the flames, of men in black with torches on a high hill in the forest during snow, while all around them shapes were moving. This was the Fight at the Fist of the First Men, happened shortly after Stannis's defeat, were the Night's Watch fought the walking dead raised up by the Others. Melisandre believes that Westeros must unite under King Stannis before winter. Stannis, who had refused to sacrifice Edric Storm, takes three leeches filled with blood of the bastard child, and tosses them into a fire brazier, naming a false king for each one: the usurper Joffrey Baratheon, the usurper Balon Greyjoy, and the usurper Robb Stark.

Balon Greyjoy dies in a fall while crossing a bridge during a storm. His death seems to be masterminded by his exiled brother, Euron, who timely returns to the Iron Islands and claims the Seastone Chair, proclaiming himself the new King of the Isles and the North.

Robb Stark is betrayed by his bannermen at the Twins in the massacre known as the Red Wedding. Robb, his mother Catelyn, and most of his companions from the North and the riverlands are killed by the Freys, the Boltons, the Karstarks, and the sellswords. The survivors are captured and imprisoned. Robb's death was orchestrated by Tywin Lannister, Walder Frey, Roose Bolton, Lothar Frey, and Ser Rolph Spicer, uncle of Robb's wife.

Two kings are now dead, Selyse and Axell declare it was R'hllor who killed the usurpers. Stannis remains unmoved, saying it was Walder Frey. Melisandre warns that two new kings will pick up wehre the old ones died. She needs a sacrifice of someone close to Stannis's family to liberate the power of R'hllor, awake the stone dragons, and save thousands of life, but Stannis won't agree with Edric's sacrifice until all of the three kings are dead.

Lord Davos and Maester Pylos read a letter for Stannis from the Night's Watch. The letter tells about Jeor Mormont's death at the hand of the mutinners, the Night's Watch heavy defeat at the Fist of the First Men, and Maester Aemon's desperate call for help against Mance Rayder's army of wildlings.

The first day of the new year 300 AC, Joffrey dies during his royal wedding feast, after drinking poisoned wine. Tyrion Lannister is arrested by the Queen, while Sansa Stark flees the capital. Joffrey's assassination was orchestrated by Olenna Redwyne and Petyr Baelish.

With Joffrey dead, Davos, Pylos, and a few King's Men loyal to Stannis have Edric Storm secretely shipped away to the Free Cities, aboard a ship of Salladhor Saan. Edric sails to the Narrow Sea with his guardians Andrew Estermont, Gerald Gower, Triston of Tally Hill, Lewys the Fishwife, and Omer Blackberry, to avoid being burned alive by Stannis and Melisandre.

Davos faces Stannis and Melisandre, who learned about Joffrey's death. Stannis is now the last and only surviving king out of the original five. However there are new kings who still challenge his claim: Tommen Baratheon and Euron Greyjoy. Stannis finally agrees to kill Edric Storm, stating that if he must kill a child to save the realm, he will do it, regardless if the child is related to his family. He promises that he'll kill Melisandre if she's wrong. Davos however, tells Stannis and Melisandre that Edric is gone. He tells Stannis that a king must protect his people or he is no king at all. When Stannis draws Lightbringer to personally behead Davos, the Onion Knight shows him the letter from the Night's Watch.

Stannis decides to take his remaining forces north to defend the Wall from the wildlings. The king had formerly refused to ask the Iron Bank of Braavos for support, stating that he will not beg for money. He allows Melisandre to burn alive Lord Alester Florent in order to obtain favorable winds for their journey to the Wall. Stannis sails to Eastwatch-by-the-Sea with a host of over 1,000 mounted soldiers. He also brings with him Selyse, Melisandre, Lord Davos, Axell, Shireen, and Salladhor Saan. Ser Rolland Storm is made castellan of Dragonstone and holds the fortress with Maester Pylos and the garrison.

Stannis arrives at Eastwatch-by-the-Sea where he leaves Selyse and Shireen. Accompanied by his host of 1,500 knights, the commander of Eastwatch, Cotter Pyke, and the rangers from Eastwatch, they travel along ranger roads beyond the Wall. They take Mance Rayder's host, in the flank as it besieges Castle Black. Mance's host is made of almost 30,000 fighters and more than 100 mammoths. The scouts warn Mance of the approaching ranger, unaware that they are just scouts sent as bait to draw the wildlings out of the woods. Melisandre burns Orell's eagle and Stannis's forces arrive in time to crush Mance Rayder's army at the Battle of Castle Black. Three groups of riders emerge to smash the wildling groups, the giants, and the mammoths, while other men burn the wildling camps. Mance Rayder, his newborn child, and many of his wildlings are captured, while many other wildlings and giants die or flee. After the battle, some wildling women are raped by Stannis's men. He has them castrated for their crimes.

Angered by the fact that the Night's Watch is taking too long to select a new Lord Commander, Stannis occupies the King's Tower of Castle Black and starts negotiating with the wildlings and Jon Snow, Ned Stark's bastard son. He confides that Jon may have a big role in the upcoming battle against the Others. He offers to legitimize Jon and name him Lord of Winterfell, a goal he considers especially important due to all the strife occurring in the North. He also intends to let the wildlings through the Wall, and settle them in the Gift, should they pledge fealty and accept the Lord of Light as their god. He also presumes to marry his loyal Lord of Winterfell to the wildling princess, Val, to solidify his peace with the wildlings, however Jon would have to adopt Stannis' faith and burn the godswood of Winterfell.

Stannis advises the Night's Watch against electing Janos Slynt as Lord Commander and plans to take all the abandoned castles along the Wall for himself. He also plans to take the Gift. Maester Aemon warns Samwell Tarly that Melisandre must be informed that Stannis is not the true Azor Ahai and that following him as a false prophet might bring them all to darkness. Sam tells King Stannis about dragonglass and how killed an Other. Stannis sends a message to Rolland Storm, to begin mining obsidian at Dragonstone.

Jon Snow becomes the 998th Lord Commander of the Night's Watch and has to refuse Stannis's offer. As a payment for Stannis's assistance against the wildlings, Jon gives him the Nightfort, the former seat of the Night's King. Stannis is the only king who acknowledges the threat of the Others and means to fight them and defend the Wall, however chaos is still going on the south and the North is ruled by House Bolton. To avoid attack to the Wall from the south, Stannis wants to retake Winterfell, give it back to House Stark, and have one of his bannermen marry Arya or Sansa to control the North for him. He also plans to take the North back from the Boltons, as first step to take the Iron Throne.

A Feast for Crows
King Stannis sends ravens to all the northern houses asking them to declare for him. However he receives silence or refusal from the nobles, the latest to refuse him being Lyanna Mormont. Only House Karstark declares for him, but in reality Arnolf Karstark has made a deal with Roose Bolton to betray Stannis.

A Dance with Dragons
The new High Septon declares that Stannis has turned from the truth of the Faith of the Seven to worship a red demon, and his false faith has no place in the Seven Kingdoms.

Davos Seaworth and Salladhor Saan are sent by Stannis to a secret mission to White Harbor to treat with Lord Wyman Manderly. Although he's refused by most of the northern lords, Stannis wins the support of House Karstark and a portion of House Umber led by Mors Umber, under the conditions of killing Mance Rayder and pardoning Hother Umber, who fights for the Boltons. While the wights starts to attack many places beyond the Wall, Stannis demands the Gift and the castles of the Night's Watch, but Jon Snow has already given the Gift to the wildlings and refuses to give Stannis more castles besides the Nightfort. Angry, Stannis threatens to behead Jon while Melisandre tries to warn him about his enemies at Castle Black.

Fearing for the life of Mance's son, Jon forces Gilly to give up her own child and disguise Mance's baby as her own, than she sends her with Samwell Tarly to Oldtown, in the Reach. He sends Aemon Targaryen with them, fearing he might be burned alive as well.

After the execution of Janos Slynt, Stannis has Mance Rayder burned alive. He then offers the remaining free folk a choice - bend the knee or go back to the wild. Given the severe threat posed by the Others in the wild, nine of every ten wildlings bend the knee. Unbeknownst to Stannis, however, the burned Mance was actually a glamoured Rattleshirt.

Tension starts growing between the Night's Watch, the wildlings, and Stannis's men, the Queen's Men start provoking Jon Snow. Jon helps Stannis, advising him with many ways to win the support of the North. Stannis intially plans to take the Dreadfort from Ramsay Bolton, a trap set up by Arnolf Karstark in which the Bolton soldiers wait for Stannis to arrive when Ramsay will start marching south to take Moat Cailin. Thanks to Jon however, Arnolf's plan fails as Stannis discards the plan. Stannis decides to leave the wildlings to Jon and allows him to let them occupy the abandoned castles at the Wall, except the Nightfort. Jon helps Stannis with a new plan to liberate Deepwood Motte from the ironborn and advises him to leave Melisandre at the Wall.

Stannis leaves Castle Black and marches to win the support of the northern mountain clans. With him his small army made mainly by House Florent, House Velaryon, House Bar Emmon, and his remaining men from the stormlands, the crownlands, and the Reach. He leaves Melisandre at the Wall with some of the Queen's Men and Devan Seaworth.

Stannis wins the support of many northern mountain clan chiefs, who are deeply loyal to the memory of Eddard Stark and take pride in receiving King Stannis. He wins the support of House Wull, Flint, Norrey, Liddle, Harclay, Burley, and Knott adding 3,000 men to his small army.

After Moat Cailin falls to the Boltons, Stannis attacks Deepwood Motte with the help of Alysane Mormont. Asha Greyjoy, who had previously left the Iron Islands after Euron was made king, is taken captive, as well as several other ironborn. Stannis frees Lady Sybelle Glover and returns Deepwood Motte to House Glover. The liberation of Deepwood Motte wins Stannis much popular support in the North, with House Glover and its vassal houses as well as House Mormont declaring for him afterwards. Asha Greyjoy is forced to bend the knee to King Stannis, hoping he will spare the lives of her ironborn companions, which he does, throwing them into the dungeons of Deepwood Motte.

Meanwhile Salladhor Saan left Stannis, tired of losing ships and not being payed. Davos is imprisoned at White Harbor. The small council orders Wyman Manderly and the Freys at White Harbor to execute the Hand of the King, Davos. A prisoner disguised as Davos is killed and Lord Manderly sends him to find Rickon Stark at the island of Skagos.

After remaining at Deepwood Motte for a short time, Stannis starts marching to Winterfell. During the march he gains the support of survivors of the Battle of Winterfell, the previous battle that saw the Boltons betraying Bran Stark and Ramsay capturing Theon Greyjoy.

Stannis learns that Ramsay Bolton is going to marry Arya Stark. He sends a letter to Jon Snow, informing him about his progress and promising to save Arya if he can. At Castle Black Melisandre had previously sent Mance Rayder and six wildling spearwives to rescue the Stark girl. The girl with Ramsay is not Arya Stark, but a northern girl named Jeyne Poole. Stannis marches from Deepwood Motte with the captive Asha Greyjoy chained and guarded by Alysane Mormont. He plans to show off Balon's daughter as a sign of his strength.

Roose Bolton and his son Ramsay arrive at Winterfell with Arya Stark, many northern lords and their force of the Iron Throne made of houses Bolton, Frey, Karstark, Ryswell, Dustin, Umber, Hornwood, Cerwyn, Manderly, and Locke. Winterfell is suffering from both a hard white frost and the looming menace of the coming of Stannis Baratheon's troops.

During the march on Winterfell, Asha Greyjoy tries to treat with Stannis, saying good words about his older brother, King Robert, and how he was known for turning his foes into friends. She soon learns that talking about Robert or Renly only fills Stannis with angers.

Stannis's march is delayed by a sudden hard snowstorm. According to Roose, the northern gods are against Stannis. Many men and horses die of starvation or to the cold. Lord Harwood Fell tries to save three teamsters and four horses that fall through a hidden pond's ice, falling through himself. His knights save him from drowning, but he dies of a fever soon after. Only the northmen, used to the weather, proceed quickly. The queen's men try to convince Stannis to burn some people alive as a sacrifice to the Lord of Light to improve the weather, but the king refuses, as he refuses pleads to make camp and wait for the snow storm to end. The march continues with an angry and stressed out Stannis giving sharp orders to his men. After fifteen days, the estimated time of arrival, they have only made half the distance through nine days of storm. After thirty days, they have yet to reach Winterfell.

Stannis's army reaches a crofter's village, three days west of Winterfell, where they make camp and try to catch some fish from the lake. They are encamped and locked in by snow, unable to move, with almost no provisions, and starving.

Stannis is eventually joined by the forces of  Arnolf Karstark and Mors Umber.

Queen Selyse arrives at Castle Black with Shireen, Ser Axell, Patchface, and many of her knights from Eastwatch-by-the-Sea, meaning to occupy the Nightfort. They are accompanied by Tycho Nestoris, an emissary from the Iron Bank of Braavos. After Tywin's death the Iron Throne refused to pay all of the debts owed to the Iron Bank, leading the bank to support Stannis. Jon Snow learns from Alys Karstark about Arnolf Karstark being in league with Roose and his plan to betray Stannis at Winterfell in order to become Lord of Karhold, while the Lannisters kill Harrion Karstark, Rickard's heir. Jon let Alys stay in Castle Black under his protection, and writes a letter to Stannis to warn him about Arnolf. Cregan arrives at the Wall with his men and they are all imprisoned. Jon offers Cregan a choice to take the black or wait until Stannis returns at Castle Black and hangs him.

Winterfell is overcrowded with forces, low on supplies, and on edge due to a series of murders with no confirmed suspects. Suddently Mors Umber and his vanguard arrive at Winterfell before Stannis. Using the snowstorm as cover, Mors has his lads dig pit traps near several of the Winterfell gates. The heavy blizzard allows Mors's boys to do this without the castle sentries seeing them. Mors then has his men sound horns hoping to draw out several of the castle forces in the traps, but the castle garrison is put on alert and mans the walls of Winterfell. However, after the death of Little Walder Frey and a violent conflict between the Freys and the Manderlys, Roose sends out Aenys Frey and Hosteen Frey with 2,000 Frey soldiers to engage Stannis's host. With the fight between the northern nobles and the Freys, Mance Rayder uses the confusion to help Theon Greyjoy and the false Arya Stark to escape Winterfell. Their escape forces Ramsay to remain at Winterfell. He captures Mance Rayder and flays his six spearwives.

Aenys Frey is killed by one of Mors Umber's traps. The command of the vanguard passes to Hosteen Frey.

Stannis and his host are still stuck at crofter's village. The storm keeps going strong and the snows have kept the army stranded for 19 days. Stannis's squire, Bryen Farring, died and four men from House Peasebury were caught eating parts of a dead man from House Fell. Stannis allows them to be burned alive as a sacrifice to improve the weather. There are growing tensions between the queen's men that Stannis brought with him from Dragonstone and the other people present, both local northerners and the king's men that Stannis brought from Dragonstone and the stormlands with him. The cannibals are burned alive by queen's men Ser Godry Farring, Ser Corliss Penny, and Ser Clayton Suggs, a cruel man who used to torture people in the cells of Dragonstone. The northmen, like Artos Flint and Hugo Wull, watch in disapproval the sacrifice.

During all these days Stannis remained isolated in his tower, while Asha Greyjoy stay close with Queen's Man Ser Justin Massey. Stannis arrives with the main general of his army, Ser Richard Horpe, and Arnolf Karstark to watch the sacrifice until its end. The men are no in conditions to fight the Bolton forces and many think they are likely to die soon, but Stannis remains stubborn and refuses to retreat again, like he did at King's Landing. Tension, frustration, and disagreements increase while Asha is bullied by the sadist Ser Clayton Suggs, when the army is surprised by the sudden arrival of riders.

Tycho Nestoris arrives in the camp with his group made of two men of the Night's Watch and seven ironmen ransomed from Deepwood Motte, friends of Asha, including Tristifer Botley. They were found by Mors "Crowfood" Umber outside Winterfell, and brought with them Theon and Jeyne, who were escaped from Winterfell with the help of a singer named Abel. Shocked, Asha almost fails to recognize her white-haired and mutilated brother, Theon.

At Castle Black Jon had previously opened the gates to let thousands of wildlings and giants on their side of the Wall. Jon is now preparing for an impending ranging to Hardhome, to save Cotter Pyke with his men and many other wildlings that are currently under attack of the wights. However Jon receives a surprise letter from Ramsay Bolton. Ramsay claims that King Stannis is dead after a seven day battle, that he captured Mance Rayder and flayed his spear wives, and that he wants Arya Stark back, along with Theon, Melisandre, Val, Mance's presumed son, and Queen Selyse and her daughter Shireen. Tormund remains skeptical about the pink letter. Jon declares he will march on Winterfell and many wildlings agree to accompany him, while Tormund prepares to go to Hardhome. Before this however, Jon is stabbed in the mutiny at Castle Black.

While marching on Winterfell, Stannis lost Dragonstone to the Iron Throne at the end of a siege led by Paxter Redwyne and Kingsguard Loras Tyrell, the latter now most likely deadly wounded fighting the garrison. Rolland Storm surrended the island to the Iron Throne. At the same time Storm's End is besieged by the Iron Throne's forces led by Mathis Rowan, after Mace Tyrell left the siege to return to King's Landing. The Golden Company, led by Aegon VI Targaryen and Jon Connington are marching to Storm's End, planning to take the castle and meet there Princess Arianne Martell. It's implied that Storm's End might fall in the upcoming sixth book, making the Nightfort the new seat of Stannis.

The Winds of Winter
Stannis is still alive  efficiently preparing for the looming battle against the Boltons. At the crofters' village, Stannis receives the Braavosi banker Tycho Nestoris and the two sign a contract. Stannis plans to send the banker back to the Wall so he does not get caught up in the fighting. Theon Greyjoy is now his captive and chained, desperate to have escaped Ramsay only to end up with Stannis.

Stannis is made aware of Arnolf Karstark's planned treachery due to the message Jon Snow gave the banker. Stannis has Arnolf, his son Arthor and three grandsons arrested and plans to execute them, though whether their death will be quick beheadings or by fire depends on their willingness to confess. Stannis prepares his position to battle the coming vanguard of Lord Roose Bolton's army led by Ser Hosteen Frey. He's pleased that Ser Hosteen is the one who leads the van now, since he's known as a short-tempered idiot. Stannis sends Alysane Mormont to escort "Arya Stark" back to the Wall to reunite the girl with her half-brother, Jon Snow, in gratitude for Jon warning him to amass the northern mountain clans rather than march straight into the Karstarks' plans.

Stannis orders Justin Massey to go with Tycho Nestoris to Braavos, where Justin will use the money given to him by the Iron Bank of Braavos to hire sellsword companies till he has a force no less than twenty thousand strong and then sail back to Westeros. Stannis has a secret plan to deal with the Frey vanguard. He doesn't want to march against it, instead he says they are going to wait for the van to arrive at crofter's village. It's believed that he might be planning to fake his death, so the world will believe him defeated and gone permanently, giving him time to prepare a surprise attack against the Boltons and the Iron Throne.

Stannis' last known words are part of an order that if he is slain in the coming battle, Ser Justin is still to do as instructed, with the intention of using the army to place his daughter, Shireen Baratheon, on the Iron Throne.

Stannis plans to have Theon Greyjoy executed, hoping to gain favor with his northern allies by exacting justice for the murders of Bran and Rickon Stark. To spare her brother more pain, Asha convinces Stannis to not burn him alive, but instead behead him at the weirwood tree on the small lake island at crofter's village, to please the northmen.

Game of Thrones
Starting from season 3, Stannis started burning people alive, first criminals, then unbelievers. Ser Axell Florent does not support R'hllor like his book counterpart and he's the one who's burned instead of Lord Alester Florent, for refusing to burn idols of the Seven. Also, in the show Ser Axell is one of Selyse's brothers instead of one of her uncles.

Davos Seaworth is never made a lord after season 2,  like in the books. Instead of going to White Harbor to convince Wyman Manderly to join with Stannis, he marches with Stannis to Winterfell, and he's sent back to Castle Black at the end of season 5, to avoid his certain execution, since he would have attempted to save Shireen and attacked Melisandre. Season 6 casting implies that Davos's storyline from the fifth book might begin in said season.

Edric Storm is cut from the show and replaced with Gendry, who's also in the books but never goes to Dragonstone. Melisandre finds him in the riverlands and buys him from Lord Beric Dondarrion, while in the books Gendry stays with the Brotherhood Without Banners, being also one of the men who stay with the outlaws even after Beric's death, following now Lady Stoneheart. In the books Gendry has converted to R'hllor and doesn't pray the Seven anymore.

When it comes to the god R'hllor, Stannis has the same indifferent attitude but he follows Melisandre's power with more impulsiveness and trust. Although he's not devout to R'hllor, Stannis believes he exists and considers himself a servant who must do his duty and follows his god's will, no matter what. In the books Stannis doesn't seem to have strong feelings about R'hllor religion, and he's still a bit confused about it. He seems to be convinced that he's the hero who will unite and lead the races of the world against the Others. Stannis is strongly annoyed by his new official religion and he doesn't care what god his men have. His actual army is made by believers of R'hllor, the Seven, and the Old Gods, with also those who don't really pray at all. He doesn't enjoy R'hllor in both novels and TV series anyway.

In the books Stannis goes to the Wall with his remaining forces and he's later supported by the Iron Bank of Braavos, while marching to Winterfell. In the show Stannis swallows his pride and goes to Braavos to ask the Iron bank for money and makes a bargain with Tycho Nestoris before sailing for Eastwatch.

Stannis brings Selyse and Shireen at Castle Black, while in the books they stay at Eastwatch with Davos Seaworth, Salladhor Saan, Axell Florent and their retainers and fleet. Davos and Salladhor go to White Harbor, and later Selyse, Shireen, and Axell arrive to Castle Black while Stannis is marching to Winterfell, to occupy the Nightfort, Stannis's new seat.

Mance Rayder is actually burned for real. The wildlings don't bend the knee to Stannis like they do in the books. In the books Stannis leaves them at the Wall, because he doesn't want to anger the northmen.

Stannis's march on Winterfell was entirely changed in the TV series: his fight at Deepwood Motte and him winning the support of the North are cut, while his sellswords replace the northmen. He brings with him Selyse, Melisandre, and Shireen instead of leaving them at the Wall. Like in the novels, he has trouble with the snow. His host suffers a surprise attack by Ramsay's men and all the siege weapons are destroyed and all the food supplies burned. This raid doesn't happen in the books.

In season 5 Stannis sacrifices his daughter Shireen to the Lord of Light, burning her alive on the pyre, crossing the Moral Event Horizon, and doing something that even someone like Cersei would not. After this act, many fans of the show rejected Stannis, even if his action was intended to be for the greater good.

In the novels Stannis doesn't burn Shireen, and it seems unlikely he will do it. It's also phisically impossible for him to burn his daughter, as he's already fighting the Boltons, while Shireen is at the Wall with Selyse and Melisandre.

After Shireen's death he's deserted by nearly half of his army and loses all the horses. His wife Selyse takes her own life and is found hanging from a tree. Realizing that Stannis's cause is lost and that he's not Azor Ahai, Melisandre flees back to the Wall to avoid Stannis's wrath.

Stannis dies early in the show and is cut from season 6: broken by the pointless death of his daughter, he insists to march on Winterfell with 1,300 men, without horses, siege weapons, or any plan. He's attacked by a large Bolton cavalry made of 2,000 men, while many of his men flee in panic. He loses his battle at Winterfell, his leg injured, and he's killed by Brienne of Tarth, who desired to avenge Renly. In the books Brienne is nowehere near the North.

With Stannis and Shireen dead, House Baratheon is now extinct and only officially lives by Tommen Baratheon's name, the boy king being a fraud and a bastard of the Lannisters. The Iron Throne is unchallanged and can deal with the ironborn and the Faith. Stannis's arrival at Winterfell manages to give enough time to Theon and Sansa to escape Winterfell.