There are quite a few bad parents on "Game of Thrones" and Cersei usually tops the list. Then there's Roose Bolton, Tywin Lannister, Caitlyn Stark's sister Lysa, and Stannis Baratheon.

While their parenting styles leave much to be desired, Cersei and the others would never have allowed their children to die a death as horrible as what Shireen experienced at the hands of Melisandre and her father.

On the episode Dance of Dragons, the situation in Stannis' camp is dire. His men are cold, hungry and dying. Ramsay's attack leaves the men in despair, so much so that Stannis has decided, with much prodding by Melisandre, to sacrifice his daughter to the Lord of Light.

"Game of Thrones" fans who have read the book do know that Shireen's fate was far happier. Granted, no one knows how her story would end but she definitely wasn't burnt at the stake. In the book, Stannis left his daughter and his wife at Eastwatch-by-the-Sea.

That fate undoubtedly would keep fans happier but scriptwriter Dan Weiss believes what happened to Shireen was essential to show how far the character would go to fulfill his destiny.

While other families would probably draw a line about sacrificing their love ones for the Iron Throne, Stannis crossed that line. And if your leader is willing to sacrifice his own flesh and blood for his own base ego, what does it say about his morals and how he views his followers?

And for the novelist, it also showed how religion, or religious fanaticism, can affect people and make them blind to what's important.

In his interview with EW, Weiss explained that the show's characters wholeheartedly believe in magic. He also said that working in that particular genre is fun for him because "it gives you a window into the heads of people who believe irrational things on faith."