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Dorne: will House Martell survive the Game of Thrones books? | Alt Shift X | YouTubeToText
YouTube Transcript: Dorne: will House Martell survive the Game of Thrones books?
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The Martells of Dorne, driven by a deep-seated desire for vengeance against the Lannisters for the murder of Elia Martell and her children, embark on a series of complex and ultimately disastrous plans, highlighting the destructive cycle of revenge and the tragic consequences of ambition.
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In Game of Thrones, the great houses of Westeros are the Starks, Greyjoys, Tullys, Arryns,
Lannisters, Tyrells, Baratheons, and Martells.
All these families are important to the story, but some of these plotlines are totally different
in the books compared to the TV show, especially the Martells of Dorne.
Dorne is a land of scorching deserts and red mountains, of scorpions, snakes, and oases.
Dorne has its own distinct culture, cause a thousand years ago, a foreign princess called
Nymeria led her people to migrate to Dorne.
So Dorne has more equality for women – Dornish women have equal rights to inherit and rule
as a man does.
And Dorne is more relaxed about sex – paramours and bastards and homosexuality are more accepted
in Dorne.
Three hundred years ago, when Aegon Targaryen conquered Westeros, Dorne was the only kingdom
to resist him, using guerrilla tactics to escape his dragons.
Dorne only joined the other kingdoms much later – and not by conquest, but by marriage
between the Martells and Targaryens.
So Dorne has a proud history of independence and defiance – the Martell words are “Unbowed,
Unbent, Unbroken”.
Eighteen years ago, the King of Westeros was Aerys Targaryen, and the heir to the throne
was Prince Rhaegar, the older brother of Viserys and Daenerys.
Rhaegar married Elia Martell, the beloved sister of Doran and Oberyn Martell.
And their uncle Lewyn was in the Kingsguard.
So the Martells were closely tied to the Targaryen throne, giving them lots of political influence
and prestige.
Rhaegar and Elia had two kids – future rulers of Westeros.
But unfortunately, King Aerys was a mad cruel tyrant, and Prince Rhaegar ran off with Lyanna
Stark to have a prophecy baby, so Robert Baratheon fought a war to make himself King.
Rhaegar and Lewyn were killed in battle.
Tywin Lannister attacked King’s Landing, and his soldier, the Mountain, Gregor Clegane
[and Amory Lorch], raped and killed Princess Elia and her two children.
Elia was meant to become Rhaegar’s queen, her children were gonna rule Westeros.
But all that was lost, and King Robert married Cersei, so a Lannister became the queen instead
of Elia.
So Elia’s brothers Doran and Oberyn were furious and aggrieved.
They lost their beloved sister, and her children, and their uncle Lewyn, and lost their political
prospects with the Targaryens.
Ever since, they’ve wanted revenge against the Lannisters, and to get a Targaryen back
in power – they want “Vengeance.
Justice.
Fire and blood.”
But they don’t get it right away.
The Prince of Dorne is Doran Martell.
He’s a “cautious”, “patient”, ruler, who thinks carefully before taking action.
Doran is full of pain and grief.
He suffers from gout, a disease that causes swollen painful joints – “and he still
mourns his sister Elia”.
So Doran sits in a wheelchair in a palace called the Water Gardens, watching children
play.
The kids remind him of his responsibility to protect the people of Dorne.
He wants revenge against the Lannisters, but he also wants to protect innocent lives.
So Doran won’t start a war that he might lose – Doran plays the game of thrones to
win.
Oberyn is the opposite to Doran.
Known as the Red Viper, he’s “dangerous” and “unpredictable”.
Provocative and passionate, a warrior and a womaniser.
When he was sixteen, Oberyn had sex with Lord Yronwood’s paramour, and they fought a duel
over her.
Oberyn used a poisoned weapon, so Yronwood was killed, which was a problem cause the
Yronwoods are the second most powerful house in Dorne.
To prevent conflict, Doran gave his son Quentyn to be fostered with the Yronwoods.
And Oberyn went overseas for a while – fighting as a mercenary, studying as a maester, and
fathering bastards all over the world.
So Doran and Oberyn are very different, but Doran says they work together closely.
He says if Oberyn is a viper, Doran is the grass, hiding the viper before it strikes.
In Book 2, Westeros is at war, and King Joffrey needs allies.
So Tyrion Lannister offers an alliance with Dorne, and Doran accepts.
Princess Myrcella goes to Dorne and is betrothed to marry Trystane, Doran’s younger son.
Myrcella and Trystane are young kids in the books, and they develop an adorable innocent
friendship – but soon, their families’ feuds threaten their peaceful lives [like
Montague and Capulets].
Tyrion invites Doran to come to King’s Landing and join the small council.
But instead of cautious patient Doran, the Red Viper arrives.
Oberyn demands “justice” for the death of Elia, and wants vengeance against Gregor
and Tywin.
So in Tyrion’s trial by combat, Oberyn fights the Mountain.
He wounds Gregor with a poisoned spear, but Gregor kills Oberyn.
It’s not clear what Doran and Oberyn’s plan was here – [Doran says conflicting
things] – but this attempt at justice just makes things worse.
Oberyn’s death inflames the Dornish people into uproar.
They want war against the Lannisters to avenge Oberyn and Elia, and leading the call are
Oberyn’s daughters, the Sand Snakes.
Oberyn had eight bastard daughters, by five different mothers.
They all have different personalities and skills – but they all have Oberyn’s “viper
eyes”.
The eldest, Obara, is a warrior – strong and fierce and angry.
Nymeria is beautiful and ladylike, but deadly with hidden blades.
Tyene seems innocent and sweet, but she’s an expert with poisons.
After Oberyn’s death, the Snakes come to Doran and demand war.
So Doran imprisons the Sand Snakes, to keep the peace.
It seems like Doran is playing nice with the Lannisters.
People think he’s just too weak and “afraid” to avenge his siblings.
So Doran’s daughter takes action.
Arianne Martell is Prince Doran’s heir – meaning she’ll rule Dorne after he dies.
But Arianne feels that Doran doesn’t trust or respect or love her.
He never shares his plans with her, and never teaches her to rule, and never arranged a
good marriage for her.
Arianne believes that Doran wants to make his son Quentyn his heir instead of her – and
Arianne refuses to be cheated of her of birthright.
So Arianne starts a secret plot – she plans to crown Myrcella as Queen of Westeros, a
rival to King Tommen, to provoke war between Dorne and the Lannisters.
This war would give the Martells their vengeance, and would position Arianne to rule Dorne,
instead of Quentyn and Doran.
So Arianne seduces Myrcella’s guard, Ser Arys, and she and her friends take Myrcella,
but she’s caught by Doran’s guard Areo Hotah.
Ser Arys is killed, and this emo asshole Darkstar attacks Myrcella.
Darkstar cuts off part of Myrcella’s face, before fleeing into the desert.
So Arianne’s plot goes terribly wrong.
And it turns out the whole thing was based on a “misunderstanding”.
Doran doesn’t hate Arianne, or want Quentyn to rule Dorne – Doran has plans for Arianne.
It turns out that all this time that Doran avoided war, and made peace with the Lannisters,
he was secretly planning revenge – he’s “worked at the downfall of Tywin Lannister
since the day they told [him] of Elia”.
Doran reveals that after Robert took over Westeros, the Martells made a secret pact
with the Targaryens to marry Arianne to Viserys Targaryen.
The plan was that the Martells would help Viserys take back the Throne, and destroy
the Lannisters – for “Vengeance”, “Justice”, “Fire and blood”.
But since Doran was so cautious and patient, he didn’t want to risk war until Viserys
was ready, and had an army.
So for like ten years Doran didn’t tell Arianne or Viserys about the marriage pact.
And Doran didn’t help Viserys and Daenerys while they grew up on the streets of Essos.
Viserys died never knowing about the pact.
And Doran’s secrecy just alienated his own daughter to the point where she plotted against
him.
So Doran’s plan failed.
But now that the Viserys is dead, Doran has a new plan – instead of Arianne marrying
Viserys, he’ll have his son Quentyn marry Daenerys.
That way Dorne can help Daenerys take the Throne, and get vengeance on the Lannisters,
and Quentyn and Daenerys can be King and Queen of Westeros, while Arianne can rule Dorne.
It’s a nice plan – but like the previous plan, it’s a fucken disaster.
Quentyn Martell goes on a long and dangerous journey to Meereen, to marry Daenerys Targaryen.
He tells himself it’s a “grand adventure”, like the heroes in the stories – a young
prince and his friends travel to distant lands, to marry “The most beautiful woman in the
world”.
But Quentyn learns that adventure stinks.
His best friend gets killed by pirates.
He’s forced to join with mercenaries, and to fight in war-torn Astapor.
The whole journey is traumatic and horrible, and when Quentyn finally meets Daenerys, and
offers to marry her, she laughs.
Cause Quentyn’s nickname is Frog, and Daenerys knows fairy tales about frogs who turn into
enchanted princes for their true love.
But sadly, Quentyn is “Neither enchanted nor enchanting”.
Quentyn isn’t a handsome Prince Charming.
He’s short and awkward [and thicc] and kinda fugly.
His personality is like his father’s – he’s “sensible”, “dutiful”, and “dull”,
while Daenerys is attracted to hot bad boys with blue beards like Daario.
Quentyn says Dorne will help Daenerys take Westeros, but Dorne is no help to Daenerys
now – she’s busy trying to bring peace to Meereen.
So Daenerys marries Hizdahr instead, and then she fucks off on a dragon and disappears,
leaving Quentyn feeling like an idiot.
He crossed half the world to marry Daenerys.
If he goes home without her, he’ll disappoint his father and fail his country.
So Quentyn decides to be brave and bold like the heroes in the stories.
He plans to steal one of Daenerys’ dragons, and fly it to find Daenerys, and win her heart,
and take her back to Dorne for fire and blood.
But it turns out -- being a brave young prince is not enough to tame a ten-tonne fire-breathing
lizard – and Dany’s dragons burn Quentyn alive.
Quentyn’s last word is “Oh”.
So life is not like a fairy tale.
And another Martell plan for fire and blood ends in disaster.
Back in Dorne, Doran doesn’t know his son is dead.
He’s still waiting for Quentyn to come home, with Daenerys.
A Targaryen does land in Westeros – but not the Targaryen he was expecting.
In the books, there’s this kid called Young Griff.
Varys and Illyrio claim that Young Griff is Aegon Targaryen, the son of Rhaegar Targaryen,
and Elia Martell.
Everyone thinks that Aegon died in Robert’s Rebellion.
But Varys claims that they secretly swapped out the baby, so some other baby died, and
the real Aegon survived – and Varys and Illyrio have a conspiracy to make this Aegon
King of Westeros.
There are hints that this Aegon is fake, and he’s not really Elia’s son – go watch
the Varys video.
But real or fake, Aegon could take the Iron Throne – his army has taken some castles,
and Tommen’s throne under Cersei is weak.
So Aegon asks Doran for an alliance.
Doran hopes that this kid really is his long lost nephew, Elia’s son.
But Doran is cautious, and wants to make sure that Aegon’s legit, so Doran sends Arianne
to check him out.
After her plot with Myrcella, Arianne seems to have changed, to have become loyal and
obedient to Doran.
He tells her to just meet with Aegon, and report back, to be patient and careful.
But Arianne still has ambitions.
Arianne feels jealous that if Quentyn marries Daenerys and they take the Throne, Quentyn
will be king of Westeros, while Arianne will only rule Dorne – will she have to kneel
to “King Quentyn”?.
This sibling rivalry might lead Arianne to take bold action.
Fans speculate that Arianne might yolo it and suddenly marry Aegon.
Cause if Aegon becomes King, his wife Arianne would be Queen of Westeros – so she wouldn’t
have to kneel to anyone.
But like every other Martell plan, this might end badly.
It is very possible that Aegon and Arianne will take the Throne in King’s Landing.
But eventually, Daenerys and her dragons will arrive – and she won’t be happy to find
a fake Targaryen sitting on her Throne.
Author George Martin has hinted that there’ll be a second Dance of the Dragons, a civil
war between Targaryens – meaning that Aegon and Daenerys might fight.
One character has a dream that dragons are coming, and everywhere the dragons dance,
the people die.
So the ending of the books will be different to the TV show, but it seems likely that Daenerys
and Aegon’s conflict, along with Cersei and Aerys’ wildfire, will cause King’s
Landing to burn.
And if Arianne is with Aegon, she’ll burn too.
Like Oberyn and like Quentyn, Arianne’s desire for fire and blood, may end in fire
and blood.
The Sand Snakes might also be doomed.
Obara Nymeria and Tyene swear obedience to Doran.
Doran sends Obara with Areo and Ser Balon, to go kill Darkstar, the edgelord who attacked
Myrcella.
It’s 3 v 1.
But Darkstar is “dangerous” – and he might steal Dawn, a legendary magic sword.
We’re warned that Darkstar might kill Obara.
If Obara survives Darkstar, she might go to nearby Oldtown.
Cause Obara’s mother was from Oldtown, and she seems to have some major mommy issues,
cause she now “hates” Oldtown – says she wants to attack, and burn the city.
[Raiding Oldtown is a time-honoured tradition for the Dornish].
And interestingly, Obara’s sister Sarella is at Oldtown, studying as a maester at the
Citadel, in disguise.
Sarella loves Oldtown as much as Obara hates it.
So it could be dramatic if Obara attacks the city – at the same time that Euron and his
apocalyptic magic are approaching.
Fundamentally, Obara is motivated by anger – she’s “chasing after something she
can never catch”.
Maybe at Oldtown, or with Darkstar, Obara will be killed, tragically consumed by her
fury.
Meanwhile, Tyene and Nymeria are going to King’s Landing.
Doran wants Tyene to infiltrate the High Sparrow’s sept, and for Nymeria to join Queen Cersei’s
council.
Cersei is about to go on trial for adultery and treason.
And her champion is Robert Strong, the reanimated corpse of the Mountain, Gregor Clegane, who
killed Elia and Oberyn.
The Lannisters say Gregor is dead.
They even send Gregor’s skull to Dorne, which raises the question, how does Gregor
have a head without his skull?
Was someone else’s giant skull sent to Dorne?
Or does Gregor now have someone else’s head, or some gnarly necromantic clusterfuck under
his helmet Bran has a dream of “darkness and thick black blood” beneath a giant’s
helm.
Maybe that’ll be dramatically revealed during Cersei’s trial by combat.
Cause Nymeria says that if Gregor appears again, Cersei “will be exposed as a liar
before all the Seven Kingdoms”.
Nymeria and Tyene will be furious that the man who murdered their father still fights
for the Lannisters.
Maybe they’ll take revenge.
Nymeria says that she wants to murder Tommen.
And there is that whole prophecy that Cersei’s children will die.
And Nymeria will be perfectly placed on the queen’s council, with her hidden blades,
and with Tyene’s poison.
So maybe the Sand Snakes will kill Tommen, and maybe Myrcella as well, in a horrific
bloody act of vengeance.
Maybe the deaths of her children will lead Cersei to burn King’s Landing, or maybe
it’ll be Dany’s dragonfire – but either way, in the flames, Nymeria and Tyene’s
obsession with vengeance may end with their deaths by fire and blood – just like Oberyn
Quentyn Arianne and Obara before them.
All of Doran’s plans for vengeance justice fire and blood go terribly wrong.
Partly because he’s too cautious, and untrusting – Barristan says Doran “keeps his secrets”
“Too well”.
And Doran waits too long.
Doran’s first line describes the orange trees in his Water Garden – “The blood
oranges are well past ripe” – he waits too long, so they fall and splat upon the
ground.
If Doran had attacked the Lannisters earlier, while Tywin and Gregor were still alive, then
maybe the Martells could’ve got justice for Elia’s murder.
But now that Tywin and Gregor are dead, they can only get vengeance on Tywin’s family,
who had nothing to do with Elia’s murder.
So at this point, a war for vengeance will only cause more death and suffering.
Oberyn’s paramour Ellaria says vengeance is an endless terrible cycle of violence.
Oberyn died avenging Elia.
Now the Sand Snakes want to avenge him.
If they die, will their younger sisters have to die for them?
There’s no meaning in death.
Having Gregor’s skull doesn’t make Ellaria happy – a skull can’t warm her bed or
make her smile.
As Quentyn’s friend tells him right before he gets himself burned, “Men’s lives have
meaning, not their deaths”.
Justice can have meaning, but Obara Nymeria and Tyene’s obsession with vengeance, by
murdering children, and starting wars, can only end badly.
And Arianne puts her country at risk for the sake of her pride and ambition.
Ellaria says that “Doom and death are coming” to Dorne.
You can imagine Doran sitting in the Water Gardens, when Quentyn’s bones come home.
And he’ll realise that all his careful plots and plans have only got his family killed.
Tragically, the Martells’ might for justice and vengeance just causes more injustice and
death.
Sometimes fire and blood only makes ash.
There are more theories and details about Dorne that we couldn’t fit in this video.
So we made a little extra bonus Dorne video, that you can watch now on Nebula.
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You get heaps of quality content, including this little Dorne video, and you’re supporting
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Thanks for watching.
Please like comment and subscribe.
Links to the artists are in the description, as well as some essays to read more about
Dorne.
Thanks to Patrons Danielle LaPlante, Jake Rosenberg, Devorah Lynch, Amber Leon Helleman,
Zeki Kazan, and EdithWithTheManHands.
Cheers.
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