Missandei was a slave and former scribe who served Kraznys mo Nakloz, one of the Good Masters of Astapor. She transcribed for him when Daenerys Targaryen came to purchase the Unsullied, and after the deal, Kraznys handed her over to Dany. Usually calling herself ‘This One,’ Missandei gets freed and becomes Denaerys’s maid. She follows her Queen to Yunkai and then to Meereen. However, the Queen goes missing on Drogon.
Missandei Personal Details
- Name: Missandei.
- Alias: This One.
- Year of Birth: 288 or 289 AC.
- Culture: Naathi.
- Allegiance: House Targaryen.
- Siblings: Marselen, Mossador.
- Eye Color: Golden.
- Religion: The Lord of Harmony.
Appearance and Personality
Missandei is a strong-willed girl with a round flat face and dusty skin. Her eyes glisten like molten gold, and her voice is beautiful. As a former slave, she got taught to call herself ‘This One’ rather than refer to herself in the first person. However, when free, she tries to rid the shackles of her identity.
Biography
Missandei was born on Naath, an island with extremely pacifistic people. She and her brothers got captured by raiders from the Basilisk Isles, who sold them into slavery in Astapor. Her brothers faced brutal training to become Unsullied, and one died in the process. Because of her talent for learning languages quickly, Missandei got chosen by the Good Masters of Astapor to become a scribe and translator; this made her understand the Common Tongue, High Valyrian, Ghiscari Tongue, and Bastard Valyrian.
Relevance in A Song of Ice and Fire
A Storm of Swords
On the way to Pentos, Daenerys follows Ser Jorah Mormont’s advice and travels to Astapor to get The Unsullied. On reaching the city, she meets Kraznys mo Nakloz, one of the Good Masters of the city. Missandei accompanies him and helps translate what he says. However, she omits his insults and sexual proposals to Dany.
On negotiating the purchase of The Unsullied, Kraznys gives Missandei to Daenerys so she can help translate any command she has for her new army. Thinking she only understands the Common Tongue, she gets shocked when Dany asks for her name in High Valyrian. After declaring her free, Daenerys offers her employment as her handmaid and tells her she can go anywhere once her contract expires. However, the young woman says: ‘Valar Morghulis,’ and tells Dany she will stay with her. After the deal with Kraznys ends, Dany orders The Unsullied to capture Astapor and begins a conquest of the cities of Slaver’s Bay.
Missandei follows Dany to Yunkai and offers to sing to her when she notices how restless she gets. However, she rejects the proposal and orders the city to get besieged. After the Battle of Yunkai, the Wise Masters release many slaves, and Missandei tells Dany the new term the freedmen and women gave her, ‘Mhysa,’ meaning mother.
Daenerys besieges Meereen. She chooses Arstan Whitebeard to be her guard. When Mero tries assassinating Dany, Missandei calls for help, and Arstan saves them from him. Meereen falls to The Unsullied, and Daenerys occupies a Great Pyramid, giving Missandei her bed. Later, Ghael, an envoy of King Cleon, arrives in Meereen and tells her of the marriage proposal of his King. Missandei asks about the King’s sons and learns he only fathered daughters.
A Dance with Dragons
When Daenerys becomes the Queen of Meereen, Missandei becomes her herald and announces her entry at court. With the capture of the city, the sons of the Harpy start murdering soldiers of The Unsullied. Mossador gets killed by the assassin group. When Dany offers her a chance to leave for Naath, she rejects the proposal, stating that Meereen is safer than her home, where she will be an easy target for slavers.
Daenerys visits the refugee camp outside Meereen and asks Missandei to join her in swimming. Believing the Astapori are trying to enter her chambers, the young maid narrates how she heard scratching on the wall. However, Irri and Jhiqui claim they heard nothing. With the conflict in Meereen, Hizdahr zo Loraq proposes to Dany, and she agrees if the violence ends. Two days before her wedding to Hizdahr, Dany sleeps with Daario Naharis, and her handmaiden hears the sounds. She asks about the Queen’s health the next day, not knowing what happened.
After her wedding, Daenerys gets sad, and her handmaiden comforts her. She shares her experiences until Dany falls asleep. With her marriage to Hizdahr, Dany agrees for the fighting pits to get reopened. However, in one of the fights, Drogon appears, and to save the crowd from the carnage, Daenerys flies away from him. With the Queen gone, her Khalasar leaves to find her, leaving only Missandei in the royal quarters.
When Skahaz, the former leader of the Brazen Beast, tries to capture the King, he sends Missandei to Ser Barristan Selmy. After plotting the coup, Barristan tells her to remain in the Queen’s chambers. After capturing Hizdahr and becoming the Hand of the Queen, Barristan tasks the maiden with tending to Quentyn Martell’s burn wounds from Rhaegal. However, he dies. Dany’s maid helps Ser Barristan with the court and tells him to offer gold to whoever rescues Daario, Hero, and Jhogo, the hostages of Yunkai.
Appearance in Adaptation
In HBO’s Game of Thrones, actress Nathalie Emmanuel portrayed Missandei. She appeared in seasons 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 and starred in 38 episodes. After Daenerys arrives in Astapor, Missandei helps translate the transaction between her and Kraznys. When Dany gets the Unsullied, she backtracks in her deal to give her dragon to the Good Masters by stating Dracarys, ordering her dragon to burn Kraznys.
Missandei becomes Daenerys’s aide and explains The Unsullied to the Queen when they choose Grey Worm as their commander. After conquering Meereen, a riot occurs, and The Unsullied Commander Grey Worm gets wounded. When he wakes up, he confesses his feeling for Missandei. Later, Jorah brings Tyrion before Dany, and when the Sons of the Harpy attack the fighting pits, Tyrion saves her. The Queen then leaves Meereen for Dragonstone.
After the Starks defeat the Boltons, Jon Snow travels to Dragonstone, where he meets Missandei, Tyrion, and Dothraki warriors. He asks for Daenerys’s help with the White Walkers, and she follows him to the North. Missandei witnesses the Battle of Winterfell and returns to Dragonstone when Dany decides to attack King’s Landing. However, on the way, her ship gets captured by Euron Greyjoy, and when Dany arrives at King’s Landing, Cersei Lannister orders her death.
After Missandei’s demise, Daenerys attacks King’s Landing and refuses the Golden Company’s surrender. She destroys the city and sits on the Iron Throne after the carnage.
Missandei: The Loyal Girl
Though just 10, Missandei is one of the wisest girls in A Song of Ice and Fire. She seems to have more sense than even Cersei Lannister, the self-proclaimed female Tywin Lannister. However, though she was smart, she struggled to get rid of her slavery mindset; this shows that no matter how resilient one may be, letting go of mental chains is an arduous process involving sheer willpower.
FAQs
What happens to Missandei in Game of Thrones?
After she follows Daenerys to fight against the Night King, Missandei gets sent back to Dragonstone. However, she gets captured by Euron Greyjoy on the journey. When Dany arrives at King’s Landing, her handmaiden gets taken to the wall and beheaded; this makes Daenerys lose her mind.
Was Missandei’s death necessary in Game of Thrones?
No. Missandei’s death was unnecessary, and her getting killed can be seen as a form of lazy writing because the show producers needed a way to warp up the show. Her death occurred to provide a way for Daenerys to lose her mind and get killed by Jon so the show could end.
Who is Missandei?
Missandei is a young girl from the island of Naath, a pacifist culture in Essos. She and her brothers got captured and sold into slavery in Astapor. When Daenerys tries buying the Unsullied, Kraznys uses her as a translator.
Does Missandei fall in love with Grey Worm in the books?
No. In A Song of Ice and Fire, Missandei is still very young. She becomes Daenerys’s handmaiden and scribe after leaving Astapor. Though the tv series showed her developing feelings for Grey Worm, nothing happens in the books.