Fans guessed the huge 'Game of Thrones' shocker from Sunday's episode years ago

Warning: There are major spoilers ahead for "Game of Thrones" season six. 

Fans were stunned Sunday evening when the "Game of Thrones" writers threw a huge curve ball into the already crazy and magical world of Westeros and beyond. But it turns out, some fans have been guessing this plot twist for more than four years.

Turn back now if you haven't watched Sunday's season six premiere of "Game of Thrones."

The first episode of season six ended with the reveal that Melisandre is actually a wrinkly old woman who was disguising herself as a young, beautiful, red-haired priestess.

Yep. That happened.

Fans went bananas online as Melisandre removed her dress (something we're all used to by now, seeing as getting naked and serving the Lord of Light are two of Melisandre's favorite activities) and transformed into a bent and ancient old lady.

The episode ended with no elaboration on Melisandre's plans at Castle Black, though the running theory is that she will somehow resurrect Jon Snow. Episode two, titled "Home," will probably expand more on Melisandre's role in the situation with Jon Snow's body.

While the twist came as a surprise to many, there were some fans who saw this coming. Here's why some fans had guessed Melisandre's youthful appearance was a farce all along.

Hints in the show

The first time viewers were introduced to Melisandre was in season two, when Stannis was burning effigies of the seven gods from the Faith of the Seven — the common religion in southern Westeros. The maester in Stannis' employ was a man named Cressen, and he considered Melisandre and her foreign god R'hllor (the Lord of Light) blasphemous.

Cressen tried to poison Melisandre by offering her a drink. He drank from the same glass first, a gesture of good faith, but as he fell to the floor dying Melisandre showed no sign of distress. She drank the poison, and nothing happened. As she stood over Cressen's dead body, Melisandre says simply: "The night is dark and full of terrors, but the fire burns them all away."

The red jewel in her necklace glowed as she said this.

So based on this scene, we clearly learn that Melisandre is somehow immortal or immune to life-threatening poisons. The glowing jewel also seemed significant from the get-go. But then, the actors themselves provided even more hints.

Cast interviews reveal more

Redditor and moderator of /r/asoiaf BryndenBFish put together an overview of Melisandre's known character attributions for a discussion on the red priestess. Included in the round-up is a quote from Oliver Ford Davies, the actor who played Cressen. 

During a 2013 interview with Flicks and the City, Davies described his initial confusion when acting out the poisoning scene with Carice Van Houten (Melisandre): "In between takes I said to her 'I'm not quite up to speed on this, why don't you die?' And she said, 'I'm 400 years old.'"

Van Houten herself also said something similar during an Access Hollywood interview back in 2012. When a reporter asked where Melisandre's power came from, and specifically if it had to do with her necklace, Van Houten replied: "She definitely has certain powers. I don’t how old she is, but she’s way over 100 years, so she is a wiser spirit, in a way."

So both Davies and Van Houten had spilled the beans nearly four years ago, and fans immediately began putting two and two together. 

Fan theories pinpoint the truth

The series — both on TV and in the books — has multiple characters who are essentially "undead." The leader of the Brotherhood without Banners, Berc Dondarrion, is one. And in the written series, Catelyn Stark is resurrected and becomes a revenge-seeking zombie. Back in 2013, Redditor DarthGregor postulated that Melisandre may be another "undead" character.

In the books, Melisandre reveals to Jon Snow that she's used a type of magic called "glamouring" in order to disguise a man as a different person. This hasn't been brought up in the show, but fans used this book factoid to point to the idea that Melisandre herself may be using her necklace to "glamour" herself.

A wrench was tossed into this idea when, during the season two finale, Melisandre was shown naked in a bathtub without her necklace on. She was speaking with Selyse, and still looked totally normal. It's possible that the showrunners simply blanked, and this is a a continuity error.

One person guessed that Selyse's ardent belief in the Lord of Light meant Melisandre didn't need to magically alter her appearance. Selyse saw Melisandre as a beautiful young woman without the help of additional tricks, only her faith. 

Either way, the significance of Melisandre's appearance in relation to her necklace has been a longtime focus of fan theories for years.

Season six build-up stokes the fire

Most people spent the time between season five and six debating about Jon Snow's future in the series. Many people (ourselves included) are convinced he will be resurrected somehow, and odds are this will involve Melisandre's powers. 

A few weeks before the premiere of season six, Liam Cunningham (Ser Davos Seaworth) and Van Houten made an interesting comment in regards to the first episode. During an interview with IGN, Cunningham said: "The first episode, the kick-off with her [points to Van Houten], is astonishing."

Van Houten jumped in and said: "Yes…! But it’s not what you think it is, it’s something else. I knew it was coming at some point, people had talked about it before to me, but I wasn’t sure when it was going to happen"

The "what you think it is" comment was probably referring to theories about Jon's resurrection. But now that we've seen the episode, they were clearly alluding to the reveal about Melisandre's true age.

Redditor jamieandclaire guessed this well before the episode aired by connecting this comment to a scene in the released trailer: Melisandre undressing with a strange look on her face.

"[Season six] opening scene with Mel will reveal her to be 400 years old," jamoeandclaire wrote earlier this month. "I think that may be what the scene with her undressing is. She's revealing her true form to Davos, hence the hesitant look on her face."

Though she was alone in the room, no Davos or Night's Watch men to witness the change, this prediction was very close. The closing scene showed Melisandre doing a sort of nightly routine, removing her clothing and then necklace to unveil what she really looks like underneath that iconic red dress.

In HBO's "Inside the Episode" segment that aired right after the credits, showrunner David Benioff confirmed what fans had believed all along. "There have been a few hints before that Melisandre is much older than she appears," he said. "[This is] going back to a very early conversation with George R.R. Martin about her: she’s supposed to be several centuries old."

So what does this mean? 

The creep factor of Melisandre sleeping with Stannis (and trying to seduce Jon) aside, her real age is an indicator that she's more all-knowing than we thought. Sure, she interprets her visions incorrectly from time to time. She erroneously identified Stannis as Azor Ahai, a prophecized hero reborn. But her age would give her a general leg-up when it comes to understanding the bigger picture of the war between humans and the White Walkers. 

More importantly, if she was somehow gifted the power of life after death, is this something she can pass on? We know the Lord of Light has the ability to bring people back from the dead, as evidenced by Beric Dondarrion. But maybe Melisandre will sacrifice her own eternal life to awaken Jon Snow. This could be a more powerful version of the resurrection seen with Thoros and Beric.

No wonder this episode was titled "The Red Woman"— fans are sure to be discussing Melisandre nonstop in the week leading up to episode two. We'll have to wait and see what becomes of Melisandre in future episodes, but hopefully her powers can be channeled towards the hero everyone wants back: Jon Snow.

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