I was re-watching seasons one to six and noticed in season three when Stannis leaving Dragonstone, she was taking a bath without her necklace on. She never turned into an old lady. Yet when she was going to bed at the end of season five and took off her necklace, she did turn old.
Anyone else notice that?
Yes, Carice Van Houten admitted in an interview the show fucked up.
shareI'm not going to worry about that, sometimes you just have to say "We don't know how magic works in that world" and shrug.
She might be able to maintain the illusion spell without the necklace if she put some effort into it, but she had no reason to do so when alone. How about that?
You mean that human beings actually made a mistake and were not perfect?! This is news on the order of "Hitler still dead" and "water found to be wet"! GoT is a fantastic entertainment, warts and all.
shareWhat I'm actually saying is that it's not necessarily a continuity error, as we have don't know how the magic works or what it's limitations are.
Otter, I like and respect you, and you're right that it's just a continuity mistake and life goes on. I responded the way that I did because there are so many Millennials with their "gotcha" attitudes that they focus on trivialities and not on
realities that are universally established. I actually like that you are open to a universe that is rife with malleable magics. I think that it speaks very well of you.
Garsh, thanks!
Not that I don't enjoy bitching about continuity errors and inconsistencies on occasion, every geek does.
If it's the same bath scene I think of, some say that Stannis' wife sees Melisandre as an old woman.
When she does turn old, the camera carefully shows some vials on the table. My guess is she did or didn't take some potion.
Magic bath salts. It is known...
The Real Answer: The show fucked up.
But if you want to try to shoe horn an answer to fit with the story, here's two possibilities.
1) Stannis's wife was so brainwashed into believing everything Melisandre said, that even her own mind deceived her from seeing The Red Woman as she really was. Remember, this was the same woman who was ok with her only daughter being burned at the stake, up until the moment it started.
2) When she was in the bath, Melisandre's faith in the Lord of Light was as strong as it ever was. So maybe that faith, was strong enough for her to keep up a youthful appearance. But after Stannis's defeat, and the death of Jon Snow, she has lost faith in the LoL, so she can't hide her age without her necklace, or she doesn't care enough to try.
After the Battle of Winterfell her duty had been completed so she disappeared to whatever afterlife she believed in.