Shireen Baratheon

Princess Shireen Baratheon is a minor character in A Song of Ice and Fire and a supporting character in Game of Thrones. She is the only child of King Stannis I Baratheon and Queen Selyse Florent. In the television series, she is their only surviving child and the younger sister of Petyr, Tommard and Edric Baratheon. She is 9 years old during the beginning of the novel series, and currently 11.
In Game of Thrones, she was played by Kerry Ingram, serving as a supporting character in Seasons 3, 4, and 5.
==Personality==
===In the Novels===
She is considered a sweet and gentle but sad girl. She is very intelligent thanks to the education she received. She constantly suffers from nightmares, ever since her early childhood. She always listens to Patchface's ominous songs, which are often seemingly prophetic (including one about the Red Wedding).
===In the TV series===
She is very benign and good, always ready to help others no matter what the conditions may be. She is seen singing one of Patchface's songs during her first appearance.
==Biography==
===Background===
Shireen is the only daughter of Lord Stannis Baratheon and Lady Selyse Florent. She was born in Dragonstone in 289 AC, and contracted the disease greyscale as an infant, almost getting killed from it. The disease is always fatal for adults, whilst children can be saved from it by skilled healers. Although he managed to save Shireen, Maester Cressen, feels that her sadness is a mark of his failure to save her life before the disease could leave a huge stony scar across the left side of her face. In the television series Game of Thrones, Stannis called on all the best healers he knew to assist Cressen in saving her, and through a combination of efforts they were able to cure her. In the novels, it is implied Cressen himself managed to cure Shireen.
Shireen is 9 years old during the beginning of A Song of Ice and Fire. She is a gentle and sweet child, but also a sad and gloomy one. She suffers from constant nightmares since infancy. She lives in Dragonstone and her father never brought her to court in King's Landing, where he served as the master of ships for Shireen's uncle, King Robert I Baratheon, for over fourteen years. While spending most of these years in the capital, or away somewhere else at sea, Stannis's letters to Shireen and Selyse have been few, and his visits to Dragonstone even fewer. Shireen lives with her mother and has been educated by Maester Cressen, who before coming to Dragonstone had served as the maester of Storm's End for many years. Shireen's uncle, Lord Renly Baratheon, makes fun of her appearance. After Cressen's death in a failed attempt to assassinate Melisandre, Shireen is educated by his young successor, Maester Pylos.
Her father is the head of House Baratheon of Dragonstone, ruler of the islands of Blackwater Bay, and former master of ships, who during the War of the Five Kings has declared himself the true King heir to the Iron Throne and Lord of the Seven Kingdoms. Her mother is a daughter of Ser Ryam Florent, a knight of House Florent, younger brother of Lord Alester Florent, the Lord of Brightwater Keep and the head of House Florent. In the television series Game of Thrones, Shireen has older stillborn siblings; Petyr, Tommard and Edric Baratheon. Shireen is Stannis' only living daughter because her siblings are all stillborn. In A Song of Ice and Fire, Selyse has not been able to give birth to any child except Shireen, despite hers and Stannis's hopes to have multiple sons.
Shireen is usually seen in the company of Patchface, the insane fool of Dragonstone (and formerly Storm's End), whom she and Selyse call "Patches", who manages to terrify even the red priestess Melisandre, and his ravings sometimes frighten Shireen. The fool is the last unsettling and "broken" gift of Shireen's late grandparents, Lord Steffon and Lady Cassana Baratheon, who both drowned at Shipbreaker Bay right in front of Stannis and Robert, as they were reaching Storm's End from a mission in Volantis for King Aerys II Targaryen. Patchface was the sole survivor of their ship's entire crew, returning mentally damaged after washing up among the dead three days later. Many times Melisandre has glimpsed Patchface in her flames, sometimes with his lips red with blood and skulls around him, and declared him to be dangerous. Despite the unsettling nature of Patchface and is apparent prophetic powers, Stannis, Selyse, and Cressen allow him to be Shireen's companion.
Shireen's mood has been the brightest during the time her handsome and charismatic cousin, Edric Storm, who is two years older than her, came at Dragonstone after the first siege of Storm's End during the War of the Five Kings. Edric did not judge Shireen by her looks and spent his stay at Dragonstone playing with her. She and Edric were sometimes joined by the squire Devan Seaworth, the fifth son of Lord Davos Seaworth, who is the same age as Edric. She was also excited upon seeing the giant Wun Weg Wun Dar Wun when she arrived at Castle Black. The giant bent the knee to her to pay respect. The free folk are terrified of Shireen due to her greyscale scars, as they do not have the medical knowledge to treat the disease on children and simply call it the "grey death".
===Game of Thrones===
In the TV series, Selyse Florent dismisses Shireen as sinful and stubborn and resents her for her own failure to have a male child, as she only gave birth to stillbirths, and when it came to being a sickly little girl, she successfully gave birth to her. Shireen, on the other hand, avoids her mother because she is frightened by her fanatical devotion to the Lord of Light. Shireen loves her father deeply, and he loves her too, she is also close to Ser Davos Seaworth to whom she is like his own daughter.
====Season 3====
She shows up at Dragonstone and helps Ser Davos Seaworth learn to read while he's in prison. That's when she reveals for the first time that she has a twisted relationship with her mother.
====Season 4====
Selyse accuses Shireen of being sinful and naughty, but Stannis disapproves of that by saying she's just a child. She helps Davos write a letter to the Iron Bank of Braavos and go with her mother and her father to the Wall.
====Season 5====
At Castle Black, she spends time teaching the wildling Gilly to read, then goes with her father in his army's march to Winterfell. The red priestess Melisandre persuades Stannis to burn his daughter at the stake, which he does. Although she did not love her in her lifetime, her mother hangs herself afterwards.
==Gallery==
Shireen Baratheon Francy Sketches.png|Princess Shireen in A Song of Ice and Fire, with the typical raven-black hair and deep blue eyes of the Baratheons.
Sara Biddle Shireen face.png
Shireen sad.jpg|Shireen's common mood in the novels.
Shireen Baratheon by worshipanimation.png
Shireen Baratheon reading about the Dance.jpg
Patchface Shireen Davos.jpg|Shireen with Patchface in Aegon's Garden in Dragonstone, as Davos watches them.
Sara Biddle Shireen BaratheonII.png
Davos attending Pylos' lesson.png|Shireen attending young Maester Pylos' lesson with Edric, Devan, and Lord Davos, who wants to study to become a better King's Hand. 
Stannis and Shireen ASOIAF.png
Stannis and Shireen Baratheon by laurellerual.png
Stannis Selyse Shireen Melisandre and Davos.jpg
House Baratheon of Dragonstone gang by laurellerual.jpg|From left to right: Patchface, Devan and Davos Seaworth, Stannis and Shireen, Selyse Florent, Edric Storm, and Melisandre.
==Trivia==
*It is implied that Shireen has feelings for her bastard cousin, Edric Storm. Everyone says that she is very happy with him and sees him every day, and Stannis complains about his comely appearance and charisma, and comments how Shireen has "fallen for him". While Shireen usually has a saddened face and rarely laughs, Ser Davos Seaworth notes she is much happier with Edric. Also, in the fifth book A Dance with Dragons, Shireen talks about her cousin and misses him. Davos thinks her sadness is nothing compared to how she would have felt at Edric being burned alive. Selyse does not approve of Edric, who is her first cousin once removed, and favors sacrificing to the pyre, with the support of her uncle Ser Axell.
**Shireen's sentiment may be reciprocated, because when in A Storm of Swords, the then Lord Davos Seaworth and his group of the king's men decide to take Edric from Dragonstone to Lys, to prevent his uncle from burning him alive, Edric himself says that without him , Shireen will be sad and wonder why he suddenly left her. Edric asked Davos if Shireen was going to come along with him to Lys, demanded that Davos let him go see her, bid farewell, and explain why she won't be able to see him or play with him anymore, but Davos annoyed him by denying it, as Shireen was attending a nightfire (a bonfire night for R'hllor) with her parents at the time. Davos told Edric that he would be able to write to Shireen during his stay at Lys, and also promised to personally explain to Shireen why Edric vanished from her life without a word of farewell, finally promising that he will also tell her that Edric was thinking of her before departing from Dragonstone.
*In the third novel, her great-uncle Alester Florent attempted to hand her over to Tywin Lannister as a hostage and have her married to Tommen Baratheon in order to prevent Stannis from contuining fighting his war. Davos believes Stannis would sooner see Shireen dead than letting her live to marry Tommen, because he is the product of incest.
*In the novels, it is unknown what kind of relationship she has with her parents.
**It is known that Stannis is not really close to her in both novels and the TV series, although in the latter version, Shireen loved him and was comfortable hugging him the few occasions she was alone with him, mostly throughout the war. In the novels, none of the POV characters know how Stannis and Shireen interact. It is apparent that Stannis is a distant parent to her, as it is mentioned that throughout Shireen's whole life prior Jon Arryn's death, Stannis's letters from King's Landing for her and her mother have been few, while his visits to Dragonstone even fewer, mostly only once or twice a year. After his defeat at the Blackwater, Stannis refused to see anyone, including Shireen, except for Melisandre, who was never too far from him.
***One known fact is that Stannis cares about securing the Iron Throne for her and sees her as his heir over her cousin Edric. But how Shireen feels about her father in the book version is a complete mystery.
**While in the version of the TV series, Selyse always showed contempt for her daughter until the latter's final moments, there is no indication she feels the same way in the novels. One of TV show's producers, Bryan Cogman, admitted that Selyse's poor treatment and abusive behavior was made up by the screenwriters, and not part of George R. R. Martin's writing.
***In the novels, it is unknown how Shireen and her mother interact, but Selyse is very protective of her only daughter and demands everyone to show her respect and kneel to her. Selyse is also upset about Maester Cressen's suggestion to negotiate an alliance with Lysa Arryn by offering Shireen as Robert Arryn's wife. Selyse argues that Stannis should never use their daughter to bargain and beg for legal rights that already belong to them. When Val suggests killing Shireen, claiming she is already a walking corpse, Jon Snow is horrified and relieved that Selyse nor her household guards heard her.
*In Game of Thrones, Shireen teaches Davos Seaworth how to read during the third season, whilst in the novels it is Maester Pylos, Cressen's successor, who teaches him how to read during the third book, after Davos is named Hand of the King. As Davos felt the importance to become literate, if he had to be so strongly involved in politics with so much administrative power, he took part in Pylos' lessons along with Shireen, Edric Storm, and his fifth son Devan.
*In the novels, Shireen and Jon Snow interact (Jon also interacts with Selyse many times, as she remained at the Wall as his guest), while in the TV series this never occurs. She might be shy around strangers bending the knee to her, as she blushes in silence when Jon bends the knee, although it may simply be Jon's comely appearance, as he is only a few years older than her (16, and supposed to turn 17 at the end of the year).
*In the television series, Shireen teaches Gilly how to read and spends time with her second cousin by her mother's side, Samwell Tarly. In the novels, this never occurs, as Sam and Gilly depart from Castle Black early, while Shireen is still at Eastwatch-by-the-Sea with her mother, their household, Davos, and the Lysene pirates. However, Sam, Gilly, and Maester Aemon do travel to Eastwatch, where Shireen was at the time, in order to take one of the Night's Watch's ships to Braavos with Dareon, but it is not said if Shireen exchanged some words with them, before they departed.
**Shireen's mother, Selyse Florent, is a first cousin to Sam's mother, Melessa Florent, now Lady Tarly. Selyse is the daughter of Ser Ryam Florent, who is one of Lord Alester Florent's younger siblings. Melessa is one of Alester's children.
**In the novels, Shireen was at Dragonstone when Sam's maternal grandfather Alester was burned alive by the order of King Stannis. It is unknown if Sam has learned that Stannis killed his grandfather, although it does not seem he was close to him.
*Shireen's uncle, Lord Alester Florent, is also the father of Lady Rhea Hightower, born Rhea Florent, fourth and current wife of Lord Leyton Hightower, and sister of Melessa Tarly and cousin of Selyse. It is unknown if any of Leyton's 10 living children are Shireen's close relatives through Rhea. Leyton is also the father-in-law of Mace Tyrell and paternal grandfather of Willas, Garlan, Loras, and Margaery Tyrell. 
**Perhaps due to their family relations, the Hightowers are hiding Shireen's first cousin once removed and Selyse's cousin, Lord Alekyne Florent. Alekyne is the older brother of Melessa and Rhea, making him Leyton Hightower's brother-in-law. Likely for that reason, the Hightowers did not hand him over to the Iron Throne, nor to their own Tyrell relatives, despite the fact that Leyton's grandson, Lord Garlan Tyrell, could need any additional hostages to claim Brightwater Keep against the Florents.
***Shireen's maternal younger uncle, Ser Erren Florent, is currently being held captive at Highgarden by the Tyrells.
*In the television series, Shireen dies during the ninth episode of Season 5 during the march on Winterfell, burned alive by Melisandre and Stannis's household knights as a sacrifice to R'hllor, with the consent of her own parents, although her mother has a last-minute change of mind, which results with her suicide the following episode.
*Shireen's fate and the direction of Stannis's storyline in the television series have been very polarizing and a source of constant debate, due to how much Stannis's whole role and importance in the TV series were downplayed in contrast to the ongoing novel series. In the novels, Stannis's story as a whole is widely different, much longer, and currently still ongoing, whilst in the television series it is a smaller storyline, even in the early seasons. A similar but still highly altered version of his storyline in the fifth book has been given to Jon Snow during the sixth season.
*It is claimed by the screenwriters David Benioff and D. B. Weiss that George R. R. Martin "told them" that Shireen will die by fire. However, Martin himself did not confirm anything and does not spoil his own story.
**As of now, it is impossible for Stannis to do anything to his daughter, as they are leagues apart from each other. In the novels, Stannis is told that to placate the snow blizzard, a simple sacrifice of a non-believer is sufficient, but Stannis turns down the suggestion, as he will only execute criminals and half of his entire army do not believe in R'hllor.
**Later, Stannis allows his men to burn four offenders sworn to House Peasebury alive for cannibalism, in order to placate the snow blizzard. As of now, Stannis is in possession of two captives with king's blood; Asha Greyjoy and Theon Greyjoy, the latter whom Stannis has already decided to burn alive to appease the North.
**Currently, Stannis is already about to face a cavalry made of Freys and Manderlys in the Battle in the Ice, and as he and his host (which includes a northern army) are getting ready for battle, he sent Ser Justin Massey back to the Wall to take a ship to Braavos to hire an army of sellswords, instructing him to keep fighting to put Shireen on the Iron Throne if he dies.
*Currently in the novels, Shireen is alive at Castle Black with her mother Selyse, her great-uncle Axell, surrounded by her household knights and retainers, her lady companions, Patchface, and Melisandre. Patchface's presence is deemed a danger by Melisandre, and some believe there might be a connection between the jester, the Drowned God, and the Great Other. The wildling princess Val is frightened of Shireen and wishes for her to be killed, as she considers her to be a walking corpse, and declared her to be a danger to everyone at the Wall.
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