A Man Meeting His God: Thoros and R'hllor (Spoilers Extended)
Unlike Melisandre and Moqorro who are almost unnmoving in their belief and support of R'hllor (don't @ me, I know we get some doubts in Mel's chapter). Thoros is described as not very "priestly":
She screwed up her face, trying to remember if her father had ever talked about Thoros. "He isn't very priestly, is he?" -ASOS, Arya IV
Whle the other two have a goal/agenda it seems, Thoros begins by only caring about drinking, etc:
"Master Mott said Thoros could outdrink even King Robert. They were pease in a pod, he told me, both gluttons and sots." -ASOS, Arya IV
With this in mind, I was thinking how crazy it must have been for Thoros to realize that his "god" (to him, to the reader, I would probably consider it more "source of magic") is in fact real.
As compared to The Damphair, who in The Forsaken faces the fact that his god has basically "abandoned him", Thoros realizes that he was wrong all these years and there is a purpose to his life.
While he was a drunk and sot, Thoros most definitely did not lack for courage.
First over the walls at Pyke
He liked feasts and tourneys, that was why King Robert was so fond of him. And this Thoros was brave. When the walls of Pyke crashed down, he was the first through the breach. He fought with one of his flaming swords, setting ironmen afire with every slash." -ASOS, Arya IV
and:
The girls giggled over the warrior priest Thoros of Myr, with his flapping red robes and shaven head, until the septa told them that he had once scaled the walls of Pyke with a flaming sword in hand. -AGOT, Sansa II
Even Ned remembers (assuming why he calls Thoros fearless):
The victor was the red priest, Thoros of Myr, a madman who shaved his head and fought with a flaming sword. He had won melees before; the fire sword frightened the mounts of the other riders, and nothing frightened Thoros. -AGOT, Eddard VII
And there is a reason Ned made the choice to send him after Beric:
Ned eased himself slowly back onto the hard iron seat of Aegon's misshapen throne. His eyes searched the faces along the wall. "Lord Beric," he called out. "Thoros of Myr. Ser Gladden. Lord Lothar." The men named stepped forward one by one. "Each of you is to assemble twenty men, to bring my word to Gregor's keep. Twenty of my own guards shall go with you. Lord Beric Dondarrion, you shall have the command, as befits your rank." -AGOT, Eddard XI
Realizing R'hllor's Power:
So I guess what I am getting at is this badass drunk who was set to try and convert Aerys II to the Red God, has basically stopped believing (the opposite of Aeron Greyjoy who started off the other way) all of a sudden comes face to face with his god:
"I have no magic, child. Only prayers. That first time, his lordship had a hole right through him and blood in his mouth, I knew there was no hope. So when his poor torn chest stopped moving, I gave him the good god's own kiss to send him on his way. I filled my mouth with fire and breathed the flames inside him, down his throat to lungs and heart and soul. The last kiss it is called, and many a time I saw the old priests bestow it on the Lord's servants as they died. I had given it a time or two myself, as all priests must. But never before had I felt a dead man shudder as the fire filled him, nor seen his eyes come open. It was not me who raised him, my lady. It was the Lord. R'hllor is not done with him yet. Life is warmth, and warmth is fire, and fire is God's and God's alone." -ASOS, Arya VII
With that in mind, everything he has ever learned about R'hllor is probably coming back to him and he has to not only be in awe, but a little terrified due to things like this:
Melisandre put her hand on the king's arm. "The Lord of Light cherishes the innocent. There is no sacrifice more precious. From his king's blood and his untainted fire, a dragon shall be born." -ASOS, Davos V
We see him growing more and more depressed as well:
"Justice." Thoros smiled wanly. "I remember justice. It had a pleasant taste. Justice was what we were about when Beric led us, or so we told ourselves. We were king's men, knights, and heroes . . . but some knights are dark and full of terror, my lady. War makes monsters of us all." -AFFC, Brienne VIII
and:
He looked down at his ragged robes, and smiled ruefully. "The pink pretender, rather. I am Thoros, late of Myr, aye . . . a bad priest and a worse wizard."-AFFC, Brienne VIII
I think it can be inferred that Thoros is ashamed of some of his actions and while it could be just the hanging without trials and Lady Stoneheart, it could also be alluded to things that his "god" requires.
There is also plenty that the "Lord of Light" has shown him that has not been revealed to the reader:
Yet I am not the false priest you knew. The Lord of Light has woken in my heart. Many powers long asleep are waking, and there are forces moving in the land. I have seen them in my flames." -ASOS, Arya VI
TLDR: Thoros has come to terms with the power of his "god" and while nothing scares him, it seems to truly terrify him and he has become ashamed of his recent past actions and/or possible future ones.
Posted Jul 5, 2020, 3:43 PM UTC · edited