'Game of Thrones' Season 5 Episode 9 Review: Showrunner Dan Weiss Says Horrible Character Death in 'The Dance of Dragons' Was Justified

Avid viewers of "Game of Thrones" are no stranger to the HBO series' brutal deaths and shocking twists. The most recent episode of the fantasy drama titled "A Dance of Dragons" once again stunned its audience when it featured a disturbing character death in its penultimate hour.

Episode 9 saw Shireen (Kerry Ingram), the young daughter of Stannis Baratheon (Stephen Dillane), burned at the pyre alive as a sacrifice by the urging of priestess Melisandre (Carice van Houten). For few seasons now, Stannis has been heavily influenced by Melisandre, and now, viewers finally saw the extent of her power over the Iron Throne contender.

Showrunner Dan Weiss discussed the latest episode, which, as expected, gained outrage on the Internet. Indicated below are some excerpts of Weiss' interview with Entertainment Weekly.

"Horrible things happening to people in this show, and this is one that we thought was entirely [narratively] justified," the "Game of Thrones" creator said. "It was set-up by the predicament that Stannis was in. It will be awful to see, but it's supposed to be awful."

Earlier in Season 5, Stannis assured his only daughter that he loves her, but it seems that love wasn't enough to trump his ambitions of becoming the king of Westeros. In his losing military campaign, he gave Shireen to the Lord of Light as an attempt to turn the odds in his favor, the news outlet noted.

Weiss also said that the religious fanaticism present in Stannis' troop couldn't be viewed in the same way by the audience.

"People who watch 'Game of Thrones' don't see the same world as Stannis and Melisandre," the showrunner told Entertainment Weekly. "To those characters, magic is real and it works. So in a strange way, fantasy is a cock-eyed window into the heads of people who would do something terrible for an irrational reason."

For those demanding answers how the creators did that to an innocent and young child, Weiss urged viewers to "flip that question" into a larger discussion about the audience choosing which character deserve their empathy.

"It's like a two-tiered system," he explained to the news outlet. "If a superhero knocks over a building and there are 5,000 people in the building that we can presume are now dead, does it matter? Because they're not people we know. But if one dog we like gets run over by a car, it's the worst thing we've ever seen."

Fellow showrunner David Benioff admitted that Shireen's death was "one of the most horrible moments" they shot in the show, adding that the decision wasn't an easy feat for Stannis as well.

"It's obviously the hardest choice he's ever made in his life and for Stannis it comes down to ambition versus familial love and for Stannis sadly that choice is ambition," Benioff explained on HBO's behind-the-scenes video.

There was a moment in the episode when Stannis' wife, Selyse (Tara Fitzgerald), attempted to save her daughter from the fire, but the change of heart was too late and the woman sank on the ground crying as her child's anguished screams penetrated the air. 

Season 5's finale episode, titled "Mother's Mercy," will air on Sunday, June 14. Watch the trailer below.