“Game Of Thrones” Original Stannis Death Scene Played Out Differently In TV Version: Why Did Showrunners, HBO Cut It Out?

There is a growing discussion about Stannis Baratheon’s death on the fantasy drama series “Game of Thrones.” In the Season 5 finale, we saw Stannis (Stephen Dillane) meeting the end of his life (and the show) at the end of Brienne of Tarth's (Gwendoline Christie) sword.

A Reddit user said that comparing the pivotal scene from the script, some dialogue was missing. The script revealed that Brienne and Stannis had a dialogue first about the latter’s deeds, especially his hand in his daughter Shireen’s death. He then should have teared up thinking about his daughter, who was burned on the stake, but at the last second would deliver his final words defiantly to his opponent before he is to be struck dead.

But the episode didn’t show Brienne delivering the final strike to Stannis, leading to many speculating that Stannis was given a reprieve. HBO has since denied this speculation.

Michael Walsh for Nerdist writes why he thinks the showrunners cut out the line. He said, “The obvious answer is that it might have felt like a betrayal of the character we knew. Even if Stannis did feel all of those things, and was spending his final moments thinking about the wrongs he had done, he wasn’t the type of person to share something so personal. There’s a dignity and sense of duty to holding them in even in that moment, because to spill your guts would in some ways be like abdicating your own responsibilities and the many burdens that come with them, especially to a stranger. Ned Stark, another man with a strong sense of duty, faced his own death with the same quiet dignity.”