Unaligned

Thoros of Myr

House: no house; a red priest of R'hllor
Allegiance: The Brotherhood without Banners
Culture: Myrish
Religion: R'hllor, the Lord of Light
Notable for: Red priest whose flaming-sword tourney trick turned into genuine, if reluctant, prophetic power

Last confirmed traveling with the Brotherhood without Banners in the riverlands, his once-famous good humor considerably diminished by everything the outlaws' war has cost him.

A red priest more often found at the bottom of a wine cup than at prayer, Thoros of Myr spent his years at King Robert's court as a jousting curiosity — a flaming sword was his favored trick, more theater than faith — and a genuine friend to a king who liked men who could drink him under the table. Sent north with Eddard Stark's authority to help bring Gregor Clegane to the Iron Throne's justice, his party was ambushed and scattered at the Mummer's Ford, and it was only in the desperate aftermath that Thoros discovered his god might be listening after all — a discovery this chronicle unpacks more fully under its own, more careful heading.

Where they appear

These partings name deaths, endings, and roads not yet ridden in the books. Unveil them only if both roads are known to you — or if you do not fear to know.

Key events

unspecifiedServes as a red priest at King Robert Baratheon's court, better known for a flashy flaming-sword trick than genuine devotion
unspecifiedBecomes a genuine friend to King Robert, sharing his taste for wine and rough company
298 ACIs sent north by Eddard Stark's authority to help bring Gregor Clegane to justice
298 ACHis party is ambushed and scattered at the Mummer's Ford, leaving Beric Dondarrion mortally wounded
298 ACDiscovers his prayers can raise the dying, reciting half-remembered rites over Beric out of desperation rather than faith
298-300 ACRevives Beric Dondarrion some six times over the outlaws' war, each time at a cost to Beric's memory
300 ACDeclines to spend his own remaining power on Catelyn Stark's recovered corpse, leaving that final working to Beric

Reading the character

Thoros of Myr's arc runs backwards from most religious-conversion stories — he begins as a cynic performing faith for a paycheck and only discovers he might actually have real power once circumstance forces him to test it, with nothing to lose and no time to prepare a proper rite. The story treats that accidental discovery with more ambiguity than triumph: Thoros himself seems as unsettled by his own power as anyone watching him use it.

He's also one of the clearer illustrations of R'hllor's faith functioning outside Melisandre's more overtly ideological framework — Thoros's devotion is looser, wetter with wine, and far less certain of its own doctrine, which makes the Lord of Light's power, when it does show up in his hands, read as considerably stranger and less controllable than Melisandre's visions suggest it should be.

The arc of Thoros of Myr

This carries the character’s road through the published novels. Read on only if you do not fear to know.

Thoros's improvised gift for the kiss of life brings Beric back from death some six times over the course of the outlaws' war, each resurrection costing Beric a little more of his memory and Thoros a little more of his composure. When Catelyn Stark's mutilated body is brought to the Brotherhood's camp, Thoros cannot bring himself to spend the last of his own power on her — it is Beric who does, giving everything he has left and dying, this time for good, to raise her as Lady Stoneheart.

Where the books leave Thoros of Myr: Thoros has burned through most of what faith and drink once gave him equally freely. What his final, and greatest, act of the Lord of Light's power actually costs him — and what kind of Brotherhood he ends up priest to — this chronicle addresses under its own, more careful heading.

These partings name deaths, endings, and roads not yet ridden in the books. Unveil them only if both roads are known to you — or if you do not fear to know.

SourcesAGOT · EddardASOS · AryaAFFC · BrienneTWOIAF · Beyond the Free Cities

Explore further

Sworn bands

What power does Thoros of Myr discover he has?

A gift for the kiss of life — prayers that can, in the right desperate circumstances, call someone back from the edge of death. He discovers it by accident, with nothing to lose and no time to prepare a proper rite.

Is Thoros of Myr a devout follower of R'hllor?

Not by his own account — he spent years performing faith more than feeling it, and seems as unsettled by his own occasional real power as anyone watching him use it.