Game of Thrones Poster #38 FRAMED Lord Stannis Baratheon Stephen Dillane

Description

Stannis Baratheon is the Lord of Dragonstone and the older of the two younger brothers of the late King Robert Baratheon, the youngest being Renly Baratheon. Because of the revelation that Robert’s heir Joffrey is not actually Robert’s son, but a bastard born out of incest between Queen Cersei Lannister and her own brother Jaime Lannister, Stannis has claimed the Iron Throne and proclaimed himself the rightful King. As Robert had no trueborn children, only bastards, Stannis is indeed his lawful heir. Stannis fashions himself as Stannis of the House Baratheon, First of His Name, King of the Andals and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm. “The Iron Throne is mine by right. All those that deny that are my foes.” – Stannis Baratheon.

Game of Thrones is an American fantasy drama television series created for HBO by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss. It is an adaptation of A Song of Ice and Fire, George R. R. Martin’s series of fantasy novels, the first of which is titled A Game of Thrones. The episodes are mainly written by Benioff and Weiss, who are the executive producers alongside Martin, who writes one episode per season. Filmed in a Belfast studio and on location elsewhere in Northern Ireland, Malta, Scotland, Croatia, Iceland, the United States and Morocco, it premiered on HBO in the United States on April 17, 2011. Two days after the fourth season premiered in April 2014, HBO renewed Game of Thrones for a fifth and sixth season. The series, set on the fictional continents of Westeros and Essos at the end of a decade-long summer, interweaves several plot lines. The first follows the members of several noble houses in a civil war for the Iron Throne of the Seven Kingdoms; the second covers the rising threat of the impending winter and the mythical creatures of the North; the third chronicles the attempts of the exiled last scion of the realm’s deposed dynasty to reclaim the throne. Through its morally ambiguous characters, the series explores issues of social hierarchy, religion, loyalty, corruption, civil war, crime, and punishment. Game of Thrones has attracted record numbers of viewers on HBO and obtained an exceptionally broad and active international fan base. It received widespread acclaim by critics, although its frequent use of nudity, violence and sexual violence has attracted criticism. The series has won numerous awards and nominations, including a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Drama Series for its first four seasons, a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Television Series – Drama, a Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation in both Long Form and Short Form, and a Peabody Award. Among the ensemble cast, Peter Dinklage won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series and the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film for his role as Tyrion Lannister.

Lord Stannis Baratheon is the younger brother of King Robert and older brother of Lord Renly. He is portrayed as a brooding and humorless man with a harsh sense of justice and an obsession with slights both real and imagined. He is described as a very tall, lean, and straight-laced man. Stannis is known for his stubbornness and determination and is described by Donal Noye as cold iron: “He’s cold and brittle and will break before it bends.” Nevertheless, he is regarded by many as a capable and skilled naval and military commander. Stannis is married to Lady Selyse of House Florent, a house sworn to House Tyrell, and has a daughter named Shireen. Fifteen years before the events of the series, Stannis fought alongside his brother when Robert rebelled against House Targaryen, though he was torn between his duty to his family and to the realm and only sided with Robert after much soul searching, and took the Targaryen-controlled fortress Dragonstone after withstanding a lengthy siege of the Baratheon seat, Storm’s End, by the armies of House Tyrell. Stannis and his army survived because Davos Seaworth smuggled them enough food to last until the siege was lifted. However, despite Stannis’s efforts to win Robert the kingship, Robert didn’t thank him for it, instead giving credit elsewhere and blaming Stannis for others’ mistakes. To slight Stannis, Robert named Stannis the Lord of Dragonstone while naming Renly the Lord of the wealthier and more powerful Storm’s End, which was Stannis’s seat by right (though admittedly Stannis was better suited to the task of ruling Dragonstone and the lords sworn to it, who had been staunch Targaryen loyalists). Stannis was also named Master of Ships and later served on Robert’s small council after Robert ascended the throne in King’s Landing. As Master of Ships, he played a major part in crushing the Greyjoy Rebellion by decisively defeating their fleet, ensuring that the islands stayed under the control his brother. He proceeded to lead a successful land invasion of Great Wyk, the largest and most populated of the Iron Islands. All this occurred before the events of A Game of Thrones.

Shortly before A Game of Thrones, Stannis had suspected that Queen Cersei Lannister’s children were not fathered by Robert. Suspecting that Robert would dismiss Stannis’s accusations as a self-serving attempt to put himself higher in the line of succession, Stannis brought his suspicions to Robert’s Hand, Jon Arryn. Upon Jon’s death, Stannis resigned from his position and returned to Dragonstone to gather his strength. By the time A Clash of Kings opens, Stannis, at his wife’s urging, begins to consider Melisandre of Asshai, priestess of the god R’hllor, as a trusted adviser. Melisandre tells Stannis that he is Azor Ahai, a messianic figure who will be born again and will end the war between R’hllor and the dark Other. After hearing of Robert’s death, Stannis claims to be the true heir to the Iron Throne as Cersei’s children are illegitimate. He then changes his personal coat of arms from the gold-and-black stag to the burning red heart of R’hllor with the crowned stag in its center. However, most of the Baratheon bannermen support the claim of the more charismatic Renly. When Renly is mysteriously slain by Melisandre’s dark ghost-demon, many of Renly’s bannermen immediately swear allegiance to Stannis, who then attacks King’s Landing by sailing up the Blackwater river from Blackwater Bay. However, the Lannisters are prepared, thanks to Tyrion (who has stockpiled and prepared wildfire, which is used to set the entire river on fire), and bring last second reinforcements with the support of the Tyrells, and Stannis loses most of his ships and men.

In A Storm of Swords, Stannis retreats to Dragonstone with what is left of his army; many of his bannerman having been either slain, captured or defected to Joffrey. Davos, his Hand, convinces him to save the Night’s Watch from the wildling army. Stannis takes most of his remaining army and sails his north just in time to crush the wildling assault, managing to rout the whole host with few casualties despite a 20 to 1 numbers disadvantage, thanks to a variety of factors, including superior equipment and Stannis’ tactics. He stays at the Wall to negotiate with the wildlings, giving them refuge from the Others and allowing them to settle the northern regions of Westeros. In A Dance with Dragons, Stannis wins the clans of the northern mountains to his cause and captures Asha Greyjoy after defeating the Ironborn at Deepwood Motte, earning him the support of two northern houses, the Glovers and Mormonts. After building up a coalition consisting of the Mormonts, Umbers, mountain clans, and his own army, he marches on Winterfell to take it from Ramsay Snow, but his army is stopped three days from the castle by heavy snows. Ramsay later writes a letter to Jon stating that Stannis is dead. However, an excerpt from the upcoming novel The Winds of Winter shows Stannis alive and aware of House Karstark’s intentions to betray him to Roose Bolton; consequently, Stannis has the Karstarks arrested and plans to execute them, though whether they are burned or beheaded depends on their willingness to confess.

Meanwhile, Stannis has brokered a loan from the Iron Bank of Braavos during A Dance With Dragons and will use the money to hire mercenaries from the Free Cities of Essos, which in turn will place Shireen on the throne if Stannis dies. He also plans to execute Theon Greyjoy, another captive of his, to appease his northern allies who want Theon dead for the murders of Bran and Rickon Stark. Stannis is portrayed by Stephen Dillane in the television adaptation of the novels.

Stephen J. Dillane (born 30 November 1956) is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as Leonard Woolf in The Hours, Glen Foy in Goal!, Stannis Baratheon in Game of Thrones and American politician Thomas Jefferson in the HBO miniseries John Adams, a role which earned him a Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie. An accomplished theatre actor, he has also won a Tony Award for his lead performance in Tom Stoppard’s play The Real Thing.

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