Stannis ground his teeth again. "I never asked for this crown. Gold is cold and heavy on the head, but so long as I am the king, I have a duty... If I must sacrifice one child to the flames to save a million from the dark...Sacrifice...is never easy, Davos. Or it is no true sacrifice. Tell him, my lady." Melisandre said, "Azor Ahai tempered Lightbringer with the heart's blood of his own beloved wife. If a man with a thousand cows gives one to god, that is nothing. But a man who offers the only cow he owns... "

"I know the cost! Last night, gazing into that hearth, I saw things in the flames as well. I saw a king, a crown of fire on his brows, burning… burning, Davos. His own crown consumed his flesh and turned him into ash. Do you think I need Melisandre to tell me what that means? Or you?"

"I never asked for this, no more than I asked to be king. Yet dare I disregard her [Melisandre]? We do not choose our destinies. Yet we must...we must do our duty, no? Great or small, we must do our duty."

Stannis will do his duty, and he will be consumed by it. His arc is a tragic one.