Game of Thrones Director is Reported Dead

Stephen Dillane as Stannis Baratheon

David Nutter, the director of the season five
Game of Thrones finale, has confirmed that a key
character from the show really “is dead” – but,
rather refreshingly, he wasn’t talking about Kit
Harington’s Jon Snow (who was left for dead at
the end of the episode).

Instead, Nutter was referring to Stannis
Baratheon (Stephen Dillane). The unfortunate
ruler was last seen staunchly awaiting his death
at the hands of Brienne of Tarth (Gwendoline
Christie), but the death blow itself was never
shown on screen, leading to speculation that a
last minute reprieve might have been in store for
the character.
Nutter has now made it clear that Stannis will
definitely not be making a comeback.
From the very beginning, and [through] the script
process, that was the intent – he’s dead,” Nutter
said, during a panel at San Diego’s Comic-Con
2015.
 The director also added that he felt showing the
death itself would have been “gratuitous” – a
concept some might find surprising, given Game
of Thrones’s reputation for not holding back on
violence.
In the most recent season of Game of Thrones,
viewers saw poor Stannis lose everything, driven
to desperation by his conviction that he was the
rightful leader of Westeros.
The character even hit a new low for Westerosi
parenting standards, after he sacrificed his
beloved daughter, Princess Shireen, to the
mysterious Red God.
Carice van Houten, who stars on the show as
Melisandre, the Red Priestess who convinced
Stannis to burn his daughter alive, admitted that
playing such an evil character has its downside.