MAJOR SPOILERS

Even though it will be in a future book, many of us are still upset about Sunday’s episode of Game of Thrones, specifically Stannis Baratheon’s “sacrifice” of his daughter Shireen. Many GoT-watchers had been pro-Stannis up until that point, but now it doesn’t seem like anyone wants him on the Iron Throne. I personally hope Stannis just lives long enough to kill some major Boltons. Anyway, Carice van Houten – who plays Melisandre – sat down with The Daily Beast to talk about that terrible scene.

Carice on Ramsey Bolton’s assault on Stannis’s camp: “I think the event is pretty shocking to her, and she didn’t see it coming at all—that’s troubling to her, because she’s foreseen most things. But sometimes, I think her visions are a little blurry.”

Why Melisandre wanted to sacrifice Shireen: “She has proven that King’s Blood works. She is, first and foremost, a religious person—a priestess—and follows exactly what the Lord of Light wants her to do. She’s not just superhuman, but sees her missions in the flames and follows the visions. Melisandre is a total believer.”

Playing the scene with Shireen: “It’s a very weird scene to play. I had to close certain parts of my soul. It’s appalling. And the only way I tried to play it, which comes across as purely evil, is to be content with the fact that we were doing this because in Melisandre’s head, it’s the only way to save us all. She can’t show any emotion. She wants Stannis on the throne because she thinks he’s the rightful king she saw in the flames, so she sees the bigger picture—them or us. Melisandre thinks, ‘If we let the girl live, we’re going to die anyway, so we need to make this big sacrifice.’”

Working with Kerry Ingram, the actress playing Shireen: “We had a lot of fun in the tent before, and she is the sweetest girl. She gave me a little present—and she was dying! I felt bad and thought I should have brought her something. She got me an eternal flame, one of those candles with a fake flame on it. Really cute.”

The sexual violence: “It’s tricky. I tend to think we’re doing the right thing because we have a lot of strong female characters, and it’s true what George R.R. Martin says—it’s a mirror of what happens in reality. It’s confrontational. If you made a truly historical series, you’d see even worse things—especially with women. That being said, I can imagine people find a lot of it hard to watch.”

It can’t get any worse? “I get good stuff, man: births with shadow babies, leeches, and this. But this is the worst because it’s a child. You have to always defend your own character, you know? But in this case, it’s not easy. How far do people go for power? It can’t get worse than that.”

[From The Daily Beast]

“The only way I tried to play it, which comes across as purely evil, is to be content with the fact that we were doing this…” That’s a good way to explain it. Because Melisandre looked really pleased that they were burning this little girl alive and I think a lot of viewers turned on Melisandre in that moment. But here’s a question: while Stannis can be killed like a normal person, can Melisandre? Or do you need something special to kill her?

Also – Liam Cunningham spoke to Vulture about the last episode and he was really horrified about what was done with Shireen. He had really lovely things to say about Kerry Ingram too, saying that they exchanged gifts before her character died – she gave him “a beautiful cushion with an embroidered stag” and he gave her a silver stag figurine. He also says she is “a glorious young lady and a beautiful human being, but she’s also fantastically professional and well prepared on set” and that some of his favorite scenes on GoT were with her. Ugh, so sad!!!

Photos courtesy of WENN, HBO.