With Cersei finally taking the Iron Throne in the Season 6 finale of Game Of Thrones, it may be hard to remember how the season started. So let me remind you: Jon Snow was still dead and Melisandre was looking to bring him back with a bit of her Red Priestess magic. But, before doing so, Melisandre had a big moment in the Season 6 premiere that was all her own. In the final moments of the episode named "The Red Woman," it was revealed that the woman in question is actually a few centuries old.
The shot of Melisandre removing her necklace to reveal she's actually a frail old woman was shocking but important, as Carice van Houten, who plays Melisandre, told Entertainment Weekly. "It makes her immediately more vulnerable," she said, "but also more wise and even more mysterious. There’s also a vulnerability in her age.” What was more shocking, though, was the fact that her secret was never revisited. It was almost as if it never happened. But since Game Of Thrones isn't a show that would tease something so big for no apparent reason, it's to be assumed Melisandre's backstory will be revisited in Season 7. Clearly, there's more to her than meets the eye.
This is something Melisandre teased way back in Season 2 when she told Stannis Baratheon that he should take her advice about war since "I’ve been fighting far longer than you." It was hard to know how much longer that actually was back then. Now that we know that she's been using her necklace to glamor herself into being someone far younger, that offhand remark seems like something more — like a clue that she may actually be helpful in taking on the White Walkers.
With Jon Snow teasing the great war is upon us in the Season 7 trailer, it seems that Melisandre's past could play a crucial role in the next season to understand how a battle like this could play out. Who wouldn't want to see a flashback of her that shows how she got here? Perhaps, even our new Three-Eyed Raven Bran could be the one who shows us?
Of course, first we'll have to figure out where she's going, since Melisandre was banished from Winterfell in the Season 6 finale after Davos Seaworth found out she was the one who burned Stannis' daughter Shireen at the stake. After Jon Snow spared her life, she was seen heading towards the South. The guess at the time was that she's not just going to find warmer winds, but others who can help her prove that she's an asset to any fight with the White Walkers.
On her journey Melisandre's likely to run into other Game Of Thrones characters that are on the move, including Thoros of Myr, who is also able to perform resurrections, courtesy of the Lord of the Light. But, as we learned in Season 6, there is another Lord of the Light priestess named Kinvara in Meereen, who backs Daenerys. Would Melisandre be willing to join this team to stop the White Walkers and help the Mother of Dragons succeed? I would say yes. Knowing that Dany and Jon Snow are set to meet this season, Melisandre could be the one who brings them together knowing that they would make for a pretty unstoppable pair. Especially with two Lord of Light priestesses on their side.
There's also the possibility, though, that the Red Woman could be on her way to fulfilling the prophecy she told Arya that they would meet again. Knowing how frightened Melisandre seemed to be of the young Stark when she met her in Season 3 — "I see a darkness in you," Melisandre said — it's possible that Arya could be the one who unveils Melisandre's past. After all, the Red Woman is on her kill list.
However, Arya may be willing to forgive Melisandre if she knows that she raised Jon Snow from the dead and could actually help them reunite. Becoming Arya's ally could be the only way that she gets in the good graces of the new King of the North, Jon Snow. And if that doesn't get you excited about Season 7, I don't know what will.
