"We serve the same queen. If you are her true friend, you have nothing to fear from me." ―Kinvara to Varys [src]

Kinvara is a Red Priestess, one of the high-ranking leaders in the faith of R'hllor, the Lord of Light.

Her full title is "High Priestess of the Red Temple of Volantis, the Flame of Truth, the Light of Wisdom, and First Servant of the Lord of Light".[1]

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Biography

Background

Kinvara meets with Tyrion Lannister and Varys in the Great Pyramid of Meereen, as Tyrion plans to ask her assistance in convincing the people to follow Daenerys as their guardian and protector rather than a conqueror or an invader. Tyrion greets her in Valyrian but she stays silent until she states, in the Common Tongue, that he does not need to persuade her into helping. Kinvara is sure that "Daenerys Stormborn is the one who was promised. From the fire she was reborn to remake the world ... Daenerys has been sent to lead the people against the darkness in this war and in the great war still to come". Citing her freeing of the slaves and her dragons as examples of her claim, Kinvara is happy to assist Daenerys's associates however she can. Before she and Tyrion can complete their agreement, Varys interrupts, pointing out that Melisandre had proclaimed Stannis Baratheon to be "the chosen one" with a "glorious destiny", but Stannis was defeated by Tyrion in the Battle of Blackwater and died in the Battle of Winterfell.

He complains about how religion is overly self-assured of its own tenets; how everything is the "will of the Lord", and asks Kinvara why he should believe in her words when another Red Priestess was wrong. Kinvara states that everything is the will of the Lord, but that men and women can make mistakes. She asks him if he remembers what the voice in the flames said when the "second rate sorcerer" threw his man parts into the fire, or if he knows who was speaking on the other side, rendering Varys speechless. She asks if he needs her to speak the very same words, or to identify the speaker; Varys cannot bring himself to answer. As Kinvara turns to leave, she assures Tyrion that she will call on her best priests and preachers to speak about the Queen through all of Essos.[2]

Appearances

Quotes

"Daenerys Stormborn is the one who was promised. From the fire she was reborn to remake the world... She has freed the slaves from their chains and crucified the Masters for their sins... Her dragons are fire made flesh, a gift from the Lord of Light.... Daenerys has been sent to lead the people against the darkness in this war and in the great war still to come." ―Kinvara preaches about Daenerys Targaryen. [src]

Everyone is what they are and where they are for a reason. Terrible things happen for a reason. Take what happened to you, Lord Varys, when you were a child. If not for your mutilation at the hand of a second-rate sorcerer, you wouldn't be here helping the Lord's Chosen bring his light into the world. Knowledge has made you powerful. But there's still so much you don't know. Do you remember what you heard that night when the sorcerer tossed your parts in the fire? You heard a voice call out from the flames. Do you remember? Should I tell you what the voice said? Should I tell you the name of the one who spoke?" ―Kinvara confronts Varys about his secret past. [src]

Behind the scenes

Kinvara looks almost unusually young to be playing a High Priestess in the Lord of Light religion - the actress was only 33 years old when Season 6 was filmed (six years younger than Carice van Houten, who plays Melisandre). Given the revelations of "The Red Woman", however, this is not as odd as it might seem at first glance. Kinvara wears a costume nearly identical to Melisandre's, down to to the distinctive Asshai'i necklace, so it's entirely possible that Kinvara might also be from Asshai itself and possess the same powers of glamor that Melisandre does. These powers have been hinted at, but not confirmed in the books.

than Carice van Houten, who plays Melisandre). Given the revelations of "The Red Woman", however, this is not as odd as it might seem at first glance. Kinvara wears a costume nearly identical to Melisandre's, down to to the distinctive Asshai'i necklace, so it's entirely possible that Kinvara might also be from Asshai itself and possess the same powers of glamor that Melisandre does. These powers have been hinted at, but not confirmed in the books. The distinctive elongated hexagon design of Kinvara's (and Melisandre's) necklace was confirmed by Michele Clapton to be a motif of Asshai and is not exclusive to the Red Priesthood, since the shadowbinder Quaithe (who is not a Red Priestess) also wore the design in her mask and clothing. It's possible that the religion originated from Asshai and spread throughout the continent of Essos, so the motif likely spread with the religion when Red Priests started preaching in different lands. Zanrush and an unnamed Volantene Red Priestess have also worn the design on their clothes (Zanrush on the collar, the Red Priestess on her girdle and necklace), which implies it is now standard ornamentation for all Red Priests in Essos.

In the books

In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, there is no character named Kinvara. The show character is loosely based on two male Volantene Red Priests - Benerro and Moqorro.

Benerro

the High Priest of Volantis is a man named Benerro. He openly supports Daenerys, claiming in his preachings that her coming is the fulfillment of an ancient prophecy; that she was born from smoke and salt to make the world anew; the dragons have come to carry her to glory; she is Azor Ahai. He demands that the Volantenes take sides with her against the Wise Masters and their allies. He claims that "Daenerys stands in peril. The dark eye has fallen upon her, and the minions of night are plotting her destruction". Meanwhile, the Volantene slavemaster noblemen hate Daenerys for her abolition of slavery in Slaver's Bay, and send a large fleet to reinforce Yunkai. The Triarch Malaquo Maegyr wishes to silence Benerro, but does not dare use the city guard because half of them are followers of R'hllor.

It is unclear in the books if there is one ruler or ruling body for the entire Lord of Light religion, similar to the High Septon or council of the Most Devout in the Faith of the Seven. There can be a single "high priest" (or priestess) for an entire major city-state such as Volantis, but how they coordinate with each other is unknown. Therefore, it is unclear whether Benerro (Kinvara in the show) is "a leader" in the Lord of Light faith or "the leader".

Moqorro

Instead of going to Meereen himself to preach the message that Daenerys is the Lord's chosen, the High Priest sends one of his red priests, Moqorro. He travels in the same ship that carries Tyrion and Jorah. Like Kinvara, he sees things in the flames that he couldn't know otherwise: Moqorro tells Tyrion he saw Daenerys, and Tyrion as well, "a small man with a big shadow", though Tyrion is skeptical. Moqorro also tells Tyrion about "a tall and twisted thing with one black eye and ten long arms, sailing on a sea of blood" who seeks Daenerys more than anyone else. This mysterious figure is widely speculated to be Euron Greyjoy, since in the books he has one eye, Krakens (depicted in the Greyjoy sigil) have ten arms - although he has not personally embarked on a quest to seek Daenerys, but instead sent his brother Victarion to the Slaver's Bay for that purpose.

Moqorro has a very frightening appearance: he is a huge man, taller than Jorah and wide enough to make two of him, with a belly like a boulder; his skin is black as pitch, his hair as white as snow which grows about his face like a lion’s mane; he has the flames tattooed across his cheeks and brow yellow and orange. He wears scarlet robes embroidered at sleeve and hem and collar with orange satin flames, and holds an iron staff as tall as him, crowned with a dragon’s head; when he stamps the staff butt upon the deck, the dragon’s maw spits crackling green flame. He has healing and prophetic abilities. He has nerves of steel and is not frightened easily, even if he is surrounded by a number of people who intend to kill him.

Moqorro's ship is badly damaged in a storm, and he is swept overboard. After being adrift for several days, Moqorro is rescued by Victarion Greyjoy, who was sent to Meereen by Euron to propose to Daenerys in his name, though in fact, Victarion intends to steal Euron's plan and marry her himself. Though the ironborn are initially hostile to this priest of a foreign deity, Victarion grows to trust Moqorro, since he heals Victarion and his visions prove to be correct.

As time passes, Victarion becomes convinced that the drowned god has sent him Moqorro to guide him on his perilous voyage. The crew, however, feels uncomfortable in the priest's presence. In attempt to make the crew accept Moqorro, Victarion orders one of his men to sew new robes for him, to replace his worn red robe, and even donates some of his own tunics, dyed black and gold and bearing the golden Kraken sigil - but it works the opposite: clad in black from head to heel, with a mask of red-and-orange flames tattooed across his face, the priest appears to the crew even more sinister than before. They shun him when he walks the deck, and spit if his shadow chances to fall upon them. They call him "the Black Flame", a name fastened on him by the ironborn Steffar Stammerer, who could not pronounce Moqorro's name.

When the fleet gets closer to the Slaver's Bay, Victarion feels he can trust Moqorro enough to consult with him about Dragonbinder, the horn Euron gave him for controlling Daenerys's dragons, and he even burns several captured bed-slaves as a sacrifice to both the Lord of Light and the Drowned God.

By the point the published books reached, Victarion and Moqorro are heading for Meereen, but have not reached yet, and Daenerys remains in the Dothraki Sea. As such, in the TV show, the Benerro-Moqorro subplot (adapted with Kinvara instead) has advanced further than the published source material, with Red Priests already working directly with the Queen's council.

Apparently, Moqorro is the person whom Quaithe referred to as "dark flame".

See also