Stannis Baratheon let that witch burn his daughter.

Game of Thrones fans used to be divided into two categories: those who had read the books, and those who had only seen the HBO series. Nowadays, fans seem to have a further division. The “TV-only” segment seems to have a subset of folks who have evidently not watched the entire series, but came along later.

The most recent episode of Game of Thrones, called “The Dance of Dragons” caused such an uproar on social media before the episode was even over that fans counting on DVR or other time-delay viewing were damn near spoiled.

One week after sharing a tender fatherly moment with his daughter, Stannis Barathon led her to his witch consort to be burned alive at the stake.

Now that is a hell of a thing to have happen. But these people act like they haven’t seen the Red Wedding. A pregnant woman’s womb was cut open, for crying out loud.

They act like they didn’t see The Hound run down Arya’s friend. They act like the very first episode didn’t feature the Kingslayer shoving a little boy from a high window to his intended death, paralyzing him.

The episode immediately prior to this one had zombie kids.

But all the ire is held for Stannis Baratheon. Perhaps they did not see all these other episodes? Or maybe the shock value in this one came from the fact that the terrible fate of this child was visited upon her by the man who was supposed to love her most, the man we hd seen being almost-uncharacteristically tender with her very recently.

I hate Stannis Baratheon. What a scene that was. Heartbreaking. #GameofThrones

— Paul Smith Jnr (@PaulSmithJnr) June 8, 2015

Stannis Baratheon already killed his own brother, who opposed him for the throne. He regrets nothing about cutting off his most trusted advisors fingers. He has watched people who would not embrace the belief in his Fire God be burned at the stake.

Stannis Baratheon: "having a BBQ tomorrow, should be fun… Bring the kids"

— Benjamin Stone (@BenJStone) June 8, 2015

Stannis is a nasty man, to be sure. When Davos gets back from the Wall, things may not sit well. He may be the only man in that whole army who would’ve jumped in to stop the killing. Which is exactly why Stannis sent him away.

The season finale is coming.

I am now rooting for the White Walkers over Stannis Baratheon. #GameofThrones

— David Corn (@DavidCornDC) June 8, 2015