I have always been Team Stannis. In all of Game of Thrones, he’s the only lord with both integrity and a commitment to what is right—and the nerve and drive to do what needs to be done (Ned Stark always failed here). And now he’s gone and done something crazy. I’m a book guy, and it came as a shocking surprise when Stannis decided to burn Shireen, despite the telegraphing. It was a dark and terrible moment. But you know what? After a week of thinking about it… I’m still Team Stannis. And you should be too.

Stannis And The Lord Of Light

Stannis has always done what needs to be done. In the first few seasons, his goal was simple enough: seize the Iron Throne that was his birthright from those Lannister bastards. He gave it his all, but did not succeed. But Stannis is a survivor. He retooled, and saved the Seven Kingdoms from the wildlings when no one else would. If not for him, the hills of the North would be swarming with orcs—sorry, wrong series, I meant wildlings.

But for Stannis, both seizing the Iron Throne and saving the Seven Kingdoms from the wildlings are minor matters. That is not his purpose in life, and he knows it. According to Melisandre, Stannis is the second coming of Azor Ahai, the Prince Who Was Promised. When darkness spread over the world, when last the Others came, during the Long Night, all hope seemed lost. But Azor Ahai forged the sword Lightbringer, a sword that could defeat evil. Three times he forged it; the first time, the blade broke when he tried to temper it. The second time, he plunged the sword into the heart of a lion, and the sword broke when he tempered it. He realized that only by the greatest sacrifice of all could he imbue Lightbringer with the power to defeat evil. The third time, he plunged the sword into the breast of his beloved wife, Nissa Nissa, and with her spirit Lightbringer was born.

If Stannis is Azor Ahai reborn—which he isn’t, but thinks he is—then his sacrifice of his beloved daughter is justified. Only by the sacrifice of her royal blood can Stannis become who he is born to be: Not just the winner of the Battle of Winterfell, but the savior of all mankind. What’s more, Stannis—who, I repeat, is not actually Azor Ahai—has a critical role to play, as the one force who has anything close to a shot of resisting the forthcoming invasion by Daenerys Targaryen—or bringing the kingdom together again by accepting her authority. To do that, he needs to rally the North, and to do that, he needs to win the Battle of Winterfell. And to guarantee that—to guarantee victory, when defeat means the possible end of the world—he made the ultimate sacrifice.

Let’s just hope Melisandre’s magic works.