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| “ | You are more ignorant than a child, ser knight. There are no shadows in the dark. Shadows are the servants of light, the children of fire. The brightest flame casts the darkest shadows. | „ |
| ~ Melisandre to Davos Seaworth. |
Shadows, also known as shadow children, shadow assassins, and living shadows, are minor antagonists in the A Song of Ice and Fire novel series and its television adaptation, Game of Thrones. They are a form of magic used by shadowbinders of Asshai in Far East Essos. Red Priests believe they are servants of the Lord of Light, as light is what casts shadows.
Biography[]
Renly's death in the TV series.
Melisandre and Stannis Baratheon had sex, with Melisandre promising to give Stannis 'a son.' After the failed parley between Stannis and Renly, Melisandre is revealed to be pregnant. She gives 'birth' to a shadow that infiltrates Renly's camp and cuts his throat in front of Catelyn Stark and Brienne of Tarth. Renly's Rainbow Guards, Ser Loras Tyrell, Ser Robar Royce (initially), and Ser Emmon Cuy blame Brienne for the murder of the king. A few houses from the Reach and almost all of the stormlands go in support of King Stannis I, while Loras flees back to the Reach with Randyll Tarly, Mathis Rowan, Arwyn Oakheart, and their respective military forces.
In the novels, Shadow Assassins are literal shadows and extremely quick, being more unlikely to be noticed immediately (image: Stannis' shadow in Renly's tent).
After Renly's assassination, Storm's End is besieged by Stannis and his army. During the siege, Stannis and Melisandre kept having sex in the camp. Ser Cortnay Penrose, who was left in charge of the castle, refuses to yield Storm's End and Robert Baratheon's legitimized bastard, Edric Storm. Ser Davos Seaworth arrives after delivering Stannis' message to the realm and, at night, sails with Lady Melisandre into a cave under the stronghold. She disrobes, and Davos watches in horror as a woman gives birth to a shadowy creature. As the shadow emerges, Davos recognises the man who cast it, Stannis. The shadow goes to slay Penrose, allowing Stannis to take Storm's End.
Davos is so disturbed by the appearance of the shadow creature, and he and another knight convince Stannis not to bring Melisandre along when their fleet and army attack King's Landing. The king agrees with them, as he doesn't want people to think he won the throne via sorcery. He sends Melisandre back to Dragonstone with Edric Storm.
Catelyn and Brienne were the only witnesses ot Renly's murder. The event had scared them for a long time and keeps haunting Brienne's dreams. In Riverrun, Catelyn writes a letter to her son Robb, warning him about Stannis being a bigger threat than the Lannisters, as Stannis had promised Catelyn, during the parley that he would come for Robb Stark too. Catelyn was shocked and left immediately, abandoning any idea of talking with Stannis, thinking he had made a deal with "dark evil forces".
In the novels, it is unknown what Stannis was doing in private during his depression after losing the Battle of the Blackwater, but in the TV adaptation, during the events of Season 3, Stannis is extremely depressed as well as angry, and he asks Melisandre to make him another "son" to slay Joffrey Baratheon as well as Robb Stark. However, she refuses him, explaining that creating a shadow creature drains some of a man's life energy, and she fears that if Stannis attempts to create another with her, it will kill him. Instead, she has Gendry brought to Dragonstone, since he also has king's blood, being the son of Robert Baratheon.
In season 5, she tries to make a shadow assassin with Jon Snow, but he refuses. In the third book, Melisandre admits to Davos that Stannis' fires now burn so low that she dares not draw off any more to make another son, as it might well kill him. She indicates she can make more shadow assassins with another man, implying Davos, but the prisoner rejects her offer, believing their union would only result in horror.
The creation of two shadow assassins drained some of Stannis' life force, making him look prematurely old (he was already described as old-looking despite being in his thirties), his hair turning grey, and aging about 20 years. Further, the creation of the shadows caused Stannis to have repetitive dark nightmares that only Melisandre can appease with sex (causing Stannis to have some kind of "addiction" to sexual intercourse with her). Stannis often dreams of killing Renly and Penrose through the eyes of the shadows.
Quotes[]
| “ | The shadows come to dance, my lord, dance my lord, dance my lord. The shadows come to stay, my lord, stay my lord, stay my lord. | „ |
| ~ Patchface singing |
| “ | She heard Renly begin a jest, his shadow moving, lifting its sword, black on green, candles guttering, shivering, something was queer, wrong, and then she saw Renly's sword still in its scabbard, sheathed still, but the shadowsword... | „ |
| ~ Catelyn Stark realizing Renly's own shadow turned into someone else's, as the pavilion suddenly grows very cold and the candles gutter out one by one. |
| “ | "Cold," said Renly in a small puzzled voice, a heartbeat before the steel of his gorget parted like cheesecloth beneath the shadow of a blade that was not there. He had time to make a small thick gasp before the blood came gushing out of his throat. | „ |
| ~ Stannis Baratheon's shadow kills Renly Baratheon. |
| “ | The shadow. Something dark and evil had happened here, she knew, something that she could not begin to understand. Renly never cast that shadow. Death came in that door and blew the life out of him as swift as the wind snuffed out his candles. | „ |
| ~ Thoughts of Catelyn Stark, right after Renly's death |
| “ | Catelyn: I swear it, you know me, it was Stannis killed him. Robar: Stannis? How? Catelyn: I do not know. Sorcery, some dark magic, there was a shadow, a shadow. A shadow with a sword, I swear it, I saw. |
„ |
| ~ Catelyn trying to convince Ser Robar Royce to stop his comrades from attacking Brienne Tarth. |
| “ | Catelyn: I saw a shadow. I thought it was Renly's shadow at the first, but it was his brother's. Brienne: Lord Stannis? Catelyn: I felt him. It makes no sense, I know... |
„ |
| ~ Catelyn and Brienne of Tarth |
| “ | His throat was opened from ear to ear by a blade that passed through steel and bone as if they were soft cheese. | „ |
| ~ Varys to the small council, reporting Renly's mysterious death, with shadows being capable to kill all their designed targets against all non-magical protections, such as heavy plate armor. |
| “ | Stannis has made common cause with a power greater and darker. | „ |
| ~ Thoughts of Catelyn Stark |
| “ | I dream of it sometimes. Of Renly's dying. A green tent, candles, a woman screaming. And blood. I was still abed when he died. Your Devan will tell you. He tried to wake me. Dawn was nigh and my lords were waiting, fretting. I should have been ahorse, armored. I knew Renly would attack at break of day. Devan says I thrashed and cried out, but what does it matter? It was a dream. I was in my tent when Renly died, and when I woke my hands were clean. | „ |
| ~ Stannis Baratheon to Davos Seaworth, telling him how no one could wake him up until the very moment Renly's assassination was done and the shadow vanished, implying he saw himself committing the deed when it happened. |
| “ | Panting, she squatted and spread her legs. Blood ran down her thighs, black as ink. Her cry might have been agony or ecstasy or both. And Davos saw the crown of the child's head push its way out of her. Two arms wriggled free, grasping, black fingers coiling around Melisandre's straining thighs, pushing, until the whole of the shadow slid out into the world and rose taller than Davos, tall as the tunnel, towering above the boat. He had only an instant to look at it before it was gone, twisting between the bars of the portcullis and racing across the surface of the water, but that instant was long enough. He knew that shadow. As he knew the man who'd cast it. | „ |
| ~ Davos Seaworth sees Stannis's second shadow child being birthed by Melisandre, also wearing the King's crown, shortly before departing to kill Ser Cortnay Penrose. |
| “ | Varys: It is said that he threw himself from a tower. Tyrion: Threw himself? No, I will not believe that! Varys: His guards saw no man enter his chambers, nor did they find any within afterward. Tyrion: Then the killer entered earlier and hid under the bed, or he climbed down from the roof on a rope. Perhaps the guards are lying. Who's to say they did not do the thing themselves? |
„ |
| ~ Varys and Tyrion Lannister discussing Ser Cortnay Penrose's alleged "suicide". |
| “ | Varys: My lord, do you believe in the old powers? Tyrion: Magic, you mean? Bloodspells, curses, shapeshifting, those sorts of things? [snorts] Do you mean to suggest that Ser Cortnay was magicked to his death? Varys: Ser Cortnay had challenged Lord Stannis to single combat on the morning he died. I ask you, is this the act of a man lost to despair? Then there is the matter of Lord Renly's mysterious and most fortuitous murder, even as his battle lines were forming up to sweep his brother from the field. |
„ |
| ~ Varys and Tyrion Lannister, the former suggesting he believes Cortnay was killed through sorcery. |
| “ | And for Ser Cortnay's death, well, we know Stannis hired sellsails from the Free Cities. Perhaps he bought himself a skilled assassin as well. | „ |
| ~ Tyrion Lannister to Varys, refusing to believe Ser Cortnay was killed by sorcery. |
| “ | The dark arts have provided Lord Stannis with his armies and paved his path to our door. For a man in service to such powers to sit on the Iron Throne, I can think of nothing worse. | „ |
| ~ Varys to Tyrion Lannister |
| “ | A Lannister victory was ill tidings, but Catelyn could not share her brother's obvious dismay. She still had nightmares about the shadow she had seen slide across Renly's tent and the way the blood had come flowing out through the steel of his gorget. | „ |
| ~ Thoughts of Catelyn Stark, after Edmure told her about Stannis's defeat in the Battle of the Blackwater. |
| “ | "It was her work," Davos said again, more weakly. Her work, and yours, onion knight. You rowed her into Storm's End in the black of night, so she might loose her shadow child. You are not guiltless, no. | „ |
| ~ Thoughts of Davos Seaworth, feeling as guilty as Melisandre for Ser Cortnay Penrose's murder. |
| “ | Brienne: Lady Catelyn was there when His Grace was murdered, she saw. There was a shadow. The candles guttered and the air grew cold, and there was blood— Jaime: Oh, very good. [laughs] Your wits are quicker than mine, I confess it. When they found me standing over my dead king, I never thought to say, ‘No, no, it wasn't me, it was a shadow, a terrible cold shadow.’ |
„ |
| ~ Jaime Lannister mocking Brienne of Tarth's claim about Renly's death, believing she's the culprit. |
| “ | I dreamt I saw a shadow with a burning heart butchering a golden stag, aye. | „ |
| ~ The Ghost of High Heart to Lord Beric's outlaws. |
| “ | Davos: You are the mother of darkness. I saw that under Storm's End, when you gave birth before my eyes. Melisandre: Is the brave Ser Onions so frightened of a passing shadow? Take heart, then. Shadows only live when given birth by light, and the king's fires burn so low I dare not draw off any more to make another son. It might well kill him. With another man, though... a man whose flames still burn hot and high... if you truly wish to serve your king's cause, come to my chamber one night. I could give you pleasure such as you have never known, and with your life-fire I could make... Davos: ... a horror. I want no part of you, my lady. Or your god. May the Seven protect me. |
„ |
| ~ Melisandre and Davos Seaworth |
| “ | The gorget was cut through. One clean stroke, through a steel gorget. Renly's armor was the best, the finest steel. How could she do that? I tried myself, and it was not possible. She's freakish strong for a woman, but even the Mountain would have needed a heavy axe. And why armor him and then cut his throat? If not her, though... how could it be a shadow? | „ |
| ~ Loras Tyrell to his Lord Commander, discussing Brienne's involvement with Renly's death. |
| “ | All the candles were guttering out and the cold was thick around her. Something was moving through green darkness, something foul and horrible was hurtling toward her king. She wanted to protect him, but her limbs felt stiff and frozen, and it took more strength than she had just to lift her hand. And when the shadow sword sliced through the green steel gorget and the blood began to flow, she saw that the dying king was not Renly after all but Jaime Lannister, and she had failed him. | „ |
| ~ Nightmare of Brienne of Tarth |
| “ | She was stronger at the Wall, stronger even than in Asshai. Her every word and gesture was more potent, and she could do things that she had never done before. Such shadows as I bring forth here will be terrible, and no creature of the dark will stand before them. | „ |
| ~ Thoughts of Melisandre |
Gallery[]
Melisandre giving birth to a shadow assassin.
Renly Baratheon's own shadow turns into Stannis Baratheon's shadow.
Stannis's shadow kills Renly.
Renly's death (comic version).
Davos helping Melisandre to summon Stannis's shadow again to kill Cortnay Penrose.
In the TV show's version, shadow assassins are portrayed as smoke-like monsters. While in the novels, Renly's own shadow casted by the candles' light suddenly turns into Stannis's shadow, in the show Stannis's shadow enters from outside and appears mid-air to kill Renly. In the novels, shadows are inky only during birth, while forming.
_by_acazigot.jpg "Cortnay Penrose (and Stannis's shaddow assassin) by acazigot.jpg (726 KB)")
Stannis's shadow assassin preparing to kill Ser Cortnay Penrose, the castellan of Storm's End, who defiantly continued to hold the castle after Renly's death to protect the late King Robert's bastard son Edric Storm.
As a result of the makings of shadow assassins, Stannis began to age quickly and grow gaunt.
Trivia[]
- Melisandre and Quaithe are both shadowbinders. Mirri Maz Duur also studied with shadowbinders in Asshai, so it is presumed she is one as well. Mirri is at least able to perform a bloodmagic rite of sacrifice that can summon shadows to dance. The creation of shadow assassins through sex is not considered bloodmagic, however.
- Daenerys does not see Mirri's rite when it happens. However, in the House of the Undying, she has a vision of Mirri's summoned shadows dancing within Drogo's tent, and she describes them as "boneless" and "terrible".
- In general, occult practices such as black magic, bloodmagic, and shadowbinding are all deemed dark arts/evil sorcery by many cultures, including Westerosi.
- A shadow assassin is always part of the man who conceived it. Stannis is asleep when a shadow made of his own being reaches Renly's tent. And it is possible he fell asleep or was in a state of trance when he used a second shadow to assassinate Renly's castellan in the castle of Storm's End. Stannis sees himself committing the deeds, not in the form of a shadow or a demonic figure, but as himself in flesh and bone.
- In the novels, wind enters the tent, and Catelyn, Renly, and Brienne feel a sudden, unnatural cold presence, which extinguishes some candles. Renly's own shadow behind him, visible in the tent, suddenly moves and turns into Stannis's own shadow. While Stannis's shadow drives a blade and makes a slicing gesture behind Renly, all Catelyn and Brienne see is a horrifying scene: Renly's own throat opening out of nowhere by itself, while he is wearing full green plate armor, also protecting his neck. The shadow cuts through it "as if it were soft cheese," showing that nothing can stop a shadow assassin from committing their kill.
- While Renly's death is happening, Stannis is dreaming and seeing everything through his own perspective, as he is the shadow. He sees himself walking and entering his brother Renly's tent, going past Catelyn (who, in her POV, she thinks somehow can feel Stannis near her), then he drives a blade and proceeds to slice his own brother's throat. Stannis hears Brienne screaming before suddenly waking up, shaken. Throughout the entire event, Stannis's squire, Devan Seaworth, is unable to wake him up, no matter how violently he tries, while Stannis is thrashing in his sleep. Only after the assassination is complete, Stannis is awake.
- The first thing Stannis does upon waking up is check his hands to see Renly's blood, only to find that they are clean. Because of this, Stannis is convinced he killed his brother in person through dark magic, so he became haunted by it.
- Presumably, Stannis, in his POV, saw himself throwing Renly's castellan, Ser Cortnay Penrose, down Storm's End's battlements.
- In the TV series, this was changed with Renly being unarmored and being stabbed from the back by a smoky black figure resembling Stannis, and both Brienne and Catelyn are able to see it. Brienne recognizes Stannis, while Catelyn does not. It also happens at night, while Renly is preparing to rest and removing his armor.
- In the novels, Brienne does not immediately accuse Stannis of Renly's death, as all she sees is Renly's own throat opening by itself through his own plate armor. It is Catelyn who tells her and Ser Robar Royce that the unnatural coldness in the tent was Stannis's presence, and that she knows it was him who used sorcery. This happens at dawn, when Stannis's offer expires, and Renly armors himself in order to lead his ready troops against Stannis in battle.
- During the parley outside Storm's End, Stannis gives Renly time to reconsider everything and come to him before dawn to bend the knee to him and accept him as king. The offer would expire at dawn. In the book version, the shadow assassin appears to kill Renly at dawn, while in the show version, it appears at night.
- In the novels, Davos has nothing to do with Renly's assassination. In fact, Davos is not present at all during the majority of Stannis's siege of Storm's End. When Stannis at Dragonstone sends ravens and messengers across Westeros and the Nine Free Cities to expose Cersei's secret, Davos and his eldest sons are sent to spread word via ship along with literate knights. By the time Davos and the others are done with the mission and join Stannis's army outside Storm's End's castle, Renly is already long dead.
- No one smuggles Melisandre under any cave to make a shadow to kill Renly. There is no need, as Renly is camped out in the open with no magic around him. The only thing that can stop a shadow assassin is defensive magic.
- In the novels, Stannis commands Davos to aid in the assassination of Renly's castellan, Ser Cortnay Penrose, who refuses to yield out of fear that Stannis will kill Edric Storm, Stannis's bastard nephew.
- Melisandre can feel that Storm's End's walls have been made with ancient and powerful defensive spells, long forgotten and still active, from the age of the First Men, under House Durrandon. Because of that, she cannot send a shadow assassin to pass through the castle. Stannis sends Davos to use the same secret boat route he once used to deliver food to Storm's End's garrison. Davos escorts Melisandre to a now barred cave passage that leads straight to Storm's End's moat. As the bars are not made of magic, Melisandre births hers and Stannis's second shadow. When the shadow is freshly made, it appears in a smoky, demonic form, like in the TV series, and Davos recognizes Stannis's face and physique on it.
- This second shadow assassin doesn’t use a blade to murder Penrose. Instead, it throws Penrose down the castle's walls while he is standing atop the battlements at night, making him fall to his death. When word of Storm's End's fall and Penrose's sudden, mysterious death reach Riverrun, Catelyn already guesses how the castellan died.
- Melisandre can feel that Storm's End's walls have been made with ancient and powerful defensive spells, long forgotten and still active, from the age of the First Men, under House Durrandon. Because of that, she cannot send a shadow assassin to pass through the castle. Stannis sends Davos to use the same secret boat route he once used to deliver food to Storm's End's garrison. Davos escorts Melisandre to a now barred cave passage that leads straight to Storm's End's moat. As the bars are not made of magic, Melisandre births hers and Stannis's second shadow. When the shadow is freshly made, it appears in a smoky, demonic form, like in the TV series, and Davos recognizes Stannis's face and physique on it.
- Cortnay's death as the shadow assassin is deemed suicide by the public. Varys, however, correctly tells Tyrion that the castellan did not seem lost in despair at all, as he wanted to challenge Stannis in single combat. Due to the two ominous and convenient deaths of Renly and Cortnay, which granted Stannis's strength at the right time, Varys concludes that Stannis is serving himself with the dark arts, and thus he stresses that Tyrion must stop him, as he believes there can be nothing worse than sorcerers sitting on the Iron Throne and associates powers like firemagic with demons and other dark forces.
- In the novels, while none of Stannis's men dare to publicly claim that either Renly or Cortnay's mysterious deaths are the work of their king, most of his war council at Storm's End speaks against bringing Melisandre along in the assault of King's Landing. Lord Bryce Caron especially advises Stannis to ship the Red Woman back to Dragonstone with Edric, or else history will forever claim it was sorcery that won Stannis the Iron Throne. And Stannis immediately agrees with such thoughts, although he later regrets caring about this.
- In the TV series, it is only Davos, having witnessed the shadow assassin, who advises Stannis not to bring Melisandre along to King's Landing. In the novels, Davos never speaks against bringing Melisandre and only opposes her after the Battle of the Blackwater.
- In the TV series version, Selyse is aware of Stannis cheating on her, and Melisandre herself tells her she made a shadow assassin with him. In the novels, there is no evidence that Selyse even knows that Melisandre is her husband's mistress, and she might not even suspect it due to Stannis's public reputation of not being interested in sex. Selyse knows that Melisandre had a hand in Renly's death, and possibly Cortnay's as well, but it is not said if she knows what kind of sorcery was used for the kills or if she knows how shadow assassins are made.
- While it is strongly implied they are still having sex regularly, even at Castle Black, Melisandre tells Davos she no longer dares trying to do shadowbinding mating with Stannis for a third shadow assassin, as she fears it will kill him. She offers to make one with Davos, who fearfully turns said offer down. It is hinted that conceiving two shadows drained some of Stannis's life force, and his hair has gone gray, even though he is in his mid-thirties. Stannis's followers and allies believe this was caused by stress over his defeat in King's Landing.
- The shadow assassin that killed Renly kept haunting Catelyn and still haunts Brienne.
- Catelyn became terrorized by Stannis and claims he made a deal with dark, evil forces. Renly's death caused her to instantly flee from Storm's End with Brienne and her escort party, no longer even trying to negotiate with Stannis for an alliance and not wanting to stay with him. Catelyn ended up associating Stannis with sorcery and demons, picturing him as a "dark sorcerer," Tywin Lannister, and warning her son Robb and her brother Edmure not to try seeking an alliance with him. A chill went through her mind as she remembered Stannis's cold promise to her that he would come for her son too, picturing the chance of a shadow visiting Robb as well. When learning about Stannis's defeat in the Battle of the Blackwater, Catelyn felt more relief than sadness, thinking that Stannis was a friend to Robb as much as Tywin was.
- In Brienne's recent nightmares, she sees herself desperately trying to defend Jaime from various threats, such as the Brave Companions. But in the end, Stannis appears in the form of a shadow and slices Jaime's throat.
- In the House of the Undying, Daenerys has a vision of a "blue-eyed king" raising a red sword and casting no shadow. The description matches Stannis, who wields the magic red sword Lightbringer and has deep blue eyes, darker than the typical Baratheon eyes. He is said to look like night itself and is compared to hollow pits. It is unknown if the lack of shadow is meant to be literal and a reference to Stannis's use of shadowbinding powers, or if it has a different significance.
External Links[]
- Shadow Assassin on the A Wiki of Ice and Fire
- Shadow Assassin on the Wiki of Westeros
