Stannis time, bitches!
We last left off speaking about one of Stannis' greatest traits, his strict sense of justice. However, we also began to explore one of his weaker traits, his uncomfortableness and devaluing of women. We're going to kick this next part of our daily Stannis Treatise on another one of Stannis' weaker traits, starting with his jealously and pettiness.
Part V The Grinding Jealous Pettiness of Stannis
As I've long prefaced, Stannis is not a perfect man. Nobody is in this series. But, one of Stannis' defining weaker traits is his latent jealously that spills into pettiness. Remember, Stannis was never loved. Robert was bigger, stronger, more handsome, easy with the ladies, and just generally a personable guy. Everyone loved Robert, even his enemies. During the Rebellion he'd defeat his foes, then invite them in his tent for drinks where they'd suddenly turn into allies. This is not something Stannis was ever good at, he's not what you call a people person.
Again, Stannis is honest, too honest. If a women were to ask the age old, "how does this dress make me look?" Stannis would give the most brutally honest answer without a hint that he thought he was doing anything wrong. He never learned or cared to learn how to speak with a gentle grace or tact. He just tells people straight up what he thinks of them, even in the presence of others which might easily embarrass them and turn them, unintentionally, into enemies. It's something even Stannis recognizes as a fault of his:
The fact that others, especially Robert, are so easy at making friends and being loved causes Stannis to have a lot of deep-seated resentment. Also, recall that Robert slighted Stannis at every opportunity which only further intensified his often just feelings of resentment and jealousy towards Robert and others. Nowhere can you see Stannis' underlying jealousy of others more apparent than in his descriptions of Ned Stark.
Now, you'd think a man like Ned Stark would be Stannis' #1 friend. Ned Stark was honorable, honest, noble, virtuous, and loyal. He wasn't some ladies man nor was he some great boaster or man full of japes. Yet, whenever Stannis refers to Ned Stark it's done in a very clinical manner without any hint of warmth. Here's how he refers to Ned the first time he encounter Jon:
Later on, when still measuring Jon Snow, he once again mentions Ned Stark not being his friend:
And, when Jon refuses to be legitimize as Jon Stark, Lord of Winterfell:
But, why would Stannis have such bitterness towards Ned fucking Stark? Well, we get an early glimpse of his feelings towards Lord Eddard Stark in the second book when he treats with Catelyn Stark. Amidst their exchange we begin to understand why he never was friends with Ned:
And now things begin to make sense, Stannis was jealous of Ned Stark because he had what he always wanted. The love of his older brother and the love of the people. Ned Stark was similar to Stannis in terms of loyalty, honesty, and being virtuous. Yet, he managed to avoid being a prickly, unfun scowl that Stannis was resulting in him earning the love of many individuals. Of course, worse of all is how Robert basically treated Ned Stark as his real brother, showering him with all the rewards that Stannis believed should have rightly gone to him, the next youngest brother.
Ned Stark even managed to get credit for lifting the siege at Storm's End, not Stannis the man who held the family castle for over a year when they were down to eating rats. It's because of all this that Stannis was never friends with Ned Stark and still holds a bitter jealousy towards him even after he has long past. Think about that, Ned and Robert are both dead in the grave and yet Stannis is still harboring an old wound from years ago. He just can't let it go.
And, letting things ago is something Stannis precisely has a hard time with. If you slight Stannis or refuse him in some way, he won't fucking forget it. He'll bring that shit up every fucking time he sees you. He's that friend where if you promise to do something for them and then forget to do it, they bring that shit up every single time you go out with them. Hell, they'd probably bring it up at your funeral. Of course, even Jon Snow can't fail to recognize this. After Jon declines his offer to rule Winterfell, Stannis can't help to bring up his refusal at every encounter:
All in all, Stannis harbors a deep resentment at all the love he was denied in his youth and all the favor that went towards Robert. As a result, he's still a very jealous and petty man to this day, even though he often recognizes it.
Part VI The Irreligiosity of Stannis Baratheon
Moving on from one of his primary faults, let's now examine an aspect of Stannis that show watchers may not have realized about real Stannis, the fact that Stannis is no religious fanatic. It's only the show that paints Stannis as some fanatical follower of the Lord of Light and Melisandre's prattling. The real Stannis is one of the few, practically open, atheists in the series. Stannis has no use for religion. He lost any faith he had in the Gods when his parents died. He explains his views of religion to Davos directly and why he keeps Melisandre around:
And there you have it, straight from the man himself. Stannis is no religious fanatic, he barely believes the Gods exist. But, Melisandre inspires fear in others and that's something he can use. Now later on, as Melisandre's prophecies become more and more true and she performs other feats, Stannis becomes more a believer in the Lord of Light, or at least the prophecy of Azor Ahai. Yet, even then he is skeptic. Stannis was never loved or chosen by anyone for anything, why would a God choose him as his warrior? He asks this very same question when letter from the Night's Watch calling for aid reaches Dragonstone and Melisandre proclaims him as the Chosen Warrior:
Once again, despite all of Melisandre's words, he remains skeptical. Which brings us ever closer to the burning of Shireen, an event which has not occurred in the books just yet. But, you should know very well that Stannis, even at this late stage, does not believe in burnings to appease some God for better weather. Several times his own men, followers of R'hllor implore Stannis to burn some criminals or captives. Stannis rarely obliges.
Stannis has burned a number of individuals, but rarely because they were simple unbelievers. To him, burning is just another method of execution that is practiced by everyone. The only exception is that his method of execution has a chance to result in magic, at least according to Melisandre. The only time he burns individuals for not believing is when he demands the idols of the Seven Gods be torn down on Dragonstone and given to the flames. A number of nobles refuse and attempt to block this act, as a result they are burned.
But, this is less because Stannis is a believer but more likely a result of his non-belief. Stannis doesn't really understand why people cling to religion so fervently as he was never a religious person. To him, burning the Seven means nothing, so why are others so upset about it? In the end, they burned because they defied an order from their king and not because they worship the wrong faith. After all, Davos is a fervent believer in the Seven and Stannis never slights him for it.
All in all, Stannis is not some religious fanatic that believes in fairy tales easily. He's a deeply skeptical man that continues to question religious faith and prophecy even after bearing witness to some pretty strange shit.
