Game of Thrones season 8: The fashion of Melisandre

As one of the few people who wears color in “The Long Night,” Melisandre’s story in Game of Thrones is emphasized by her fashion.

Warning: This is an in-depth analysis of “The Long Night” and Melisandre’s story on the most recent episode of Game of Thrones.

Normally, there are plenty of choices when it comes to talking about the fashion of Game of Thrones. Not so with this week’s episode, “The Long Night.” The only people who wear colors that aren’t black or gray are Daenerys Targaryen (because she still doesn’t have armor) and Melisandre. Rather than rant about Daenerys’ poor choices, it seems more appropriate to talk about Melisandre’s last ride as the Red Woman.

Since the episode is so sparsely lit, more often than not, shadows creep over Melisandre’s red cloak and gown, even before she announces that she’ll die at the start of the episode. For a priestess whose religion includes “The night is dark and full of terrors” as a common refrain, this is especially pointed on multiple levels.

On a greater, world-defining level, Melisandre is one of the lights in the darkness, and yet the darkness is starting to overtake her. On a more personal one, well, she’s reaching the sunset of her life — her ending and her final purpose.

Here’s an example of what we mean:

Game of Thrones – “The Long Night”. Photo: Helen Sloan/HBO

We know her cloak is red; we know she’s wearing it because you can just make out the textures of the weave even in the shadowed parts. All the same, those shadows are there.

This is, by the way, the same red-and-black dress that she’s seen wearing in her character poster, and seen in the context of her final appearance, we’re given to understand that though death is coming for her, there are still flashes of red and of power present in this woman. Her spells may not save the day, but they bring hope and light, even if they take a couple tries at the end there.

There is one time where we do not see this color effect happening, and it’s at the very end of the episode, when she walks out among the dead to die herself. It’s not quite dawn, but it’s gray enough that everything becomes washed out — including Melisandre’s reds for most of the scene.

Carice van Houten as Melisandre. Photo: Courtesy of HBO

They do pop up briefly when she throws her cloak off, but for the most part, she’s as dark and dead as the corpses she’s walking through.

Although this is more of a speculation, we also note that someone might be able to pick up her necklace. Will its ruby gleam again, or has it gone as dark and as powerless as its owner? It seems quite dim in the brief shot, but things could change.

All the same, Melisandre dies as she lived: owning the color red like no one else.

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