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game of thrones - What is the explanation for Melisandre (Red Woman) seeing her reflection as old and frail?


In episode one of season six there is a scene where the Red Woman (Melisandre) removes her clothes and looks at her reflection.


See in this clip,






My take on this scene was that she has done some really horrible things for the Lord of Light and she for the first time in the series feels conscious about what she has done. So when she looks in the mirror it shows her inner self which is ugly from all the terrible things she has done up until now. Of coarse that is just my thoughts and are probably wrong.


It obliviously is never explained in the show, but What is the message we are supposed to get from this? What does this mean? Why does she look old and frail?


Edit: For those in the comments who think the necklace is the source of her younger looks, she has taken a bath before and not had it on, so it can't be the necklace that makes her look young.


enter image description here



Answer



It's not that she looks old, but that she really is old.


Here are two lines from an article on her age:




In an interview after Sunday’s season 6 premiere, show-runner David Benioff calls her “Several centuries old.”
...


Similarly, the actor who played Maester Cressen, Oliver Ford Davies, told journalists in 2013 that, according to van Houten, Melisandre is “400 years old.”



Edit to add: Other than the Children of the Forest and the Night's King, she might be the oldest character on Game of Thrones.


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