Untitled

I put this together to reference as I was writing and thought it might help other people as well.

Pre Dance Lyonel "You ever been punched in the face before?"

Dunk "I- I beg your pardon, Ser Lyonel?"

Ly "Big men get punched more than little men. Did you know that?"

Du "No, but- but I believe it."

Ly "That why you slouch? So you don't get punched?"

Du "I d- I don't slouch."

Ly "ohhh, you've been cowering all evening, like a maiden on her wedding night."

Du "I- I meant no disrespect, Ser, honestly. Where I grew up you- you learned to go unnoticed is all."

Ly "The Seven above gave you tallness. So, be tall. Or I will name you a heretic and burn you. Drown you. Drop you off a tall pla- I don't know. What do they do to heretics?"

BG Char "Burn them, my lord."

Ly "Fine. What have you brought me?"

Du "Ehm- Uh- Ser, I- Beggin' your pardons. I- I didn't realise-"

Ly "You wish to curry my favor some. Yet you come with an empty hand. Lord Cafferen, the smug cunt in red, he is scarce to pay his rents. His people starve each winter, yet even he shinied up this bauble (holding a knife) from his family cellars, for he understands that all men, in their way, wish only for your help or your head. You've come for my head, then."

Du "Wha- What? No! No."

Ly "Then, why the fuck are you in my tent?"

Du "S- Su- upper."

Lyonel laughs "Alright. Actually makes sense."

Du "Supper."

Ly "What is your name, man?"

Du "Dun- Ser Dunk."

Ly "that’s ridiculous."

Lyonel gestures Dunk forwards and they lean over the table to each other. Ly (in a faux whisper) "Do you like dancing?"

Du "Doesn't everyone?"

Post Dance LY: The swells heaved. You could lick salt from the air. But I'd come to find what men do when they die at sea. So, drove I on into the storm.

DU: Weren't you afraid?

LY: Ahh, Within every man there are many men. That I had to do, Stormlanders had always done. And if they had done it, I could do it, too. You know, its best not to agonize.

DU: Yeah, I- I agonize a lot. Sometimes i think I agonize too much, and then I agonize over that. I'm quick and strong, sure.

LY: Sure

DU: But so are you.

LY: Sure

DU: Plus, you've trained sword and lance with the finest masters-at-arms in the realm, I mean, what chance do I have, truly.

LY: Oh, you have no chance. But it's a great honor to test oneself against a worthy foe.

DU: No disrespect, Ser. That's easy for you to say. You have a name, an inheritance. One loss, and I won't be able to ransom back my own horse.

LY: A knight without a horse is no knight at all.

DU: Aye. So what should I do.

LY: I don't know. I'm really quite drunk.

Tug of War Yes! Hedge knight, you. What is this piss froth? I need muscle. Will you heed my call to war? Ah haha! Good! Hey! Dry those palms you clam-handed cunt. We're not in your sister's chambers now. If we lose this I'll be drowning your first-born! Pull, you cunt-strapped dandelions! I'll be back. I'll be back! I'm thirsty. I'm thirsty, cunt. Looking good(slaps dunks ass). Fucking pull!

Pre Trial I always knew you meant trouble. Who the fuck is Ser Steffon? Your boy found me. Hasn't been a trial of seven for a hundred years. I wasn't about to miss a chance to bloody up the king's guard in their pretty white gowns. The lad has the truth of it, I'm afraid. Go on, Ser Duncan. Any knight can make a knight. Go. I shall give squire raymun his knighthood.

Baelor Trial Speech Mother loved you best, huh? shame. no man fights so fierce as one neglected by his mother.

1. He’s at least obsessed with / infatuated with her particularly after the red star sighting when he gets over his disillusionment w prophecy and Lyanna isn’t as manic / obsessed with it.

2. No, their relationship is pretty obviously shown to be one of political convenience where they respect each other and value the other’s insight but there doesn’t seem to be romantic fondness. The person who is shown to be in love with Elia is Ashara Dayne (goated). There is a huge point of friction between Elia and Rhaegar which is Rhaegar is too obsessed w the prophecy to respond to imminent political threats (when Rhaegar talks about it later in act 1 again and keeps bringing it up Elia says exasperated ‘you’re as mad as your father!). When Elia gives birth to Aegon and Rhaegar immediately says could she have more children Ashara says “you are not worthy of her”; he kind of sees both Elia and Lyanna as prophecy fulfillment vessels I think. Elia’s the one spearheading the diplomatic overtures toward the great houses required for successfully pulling off the coup and Elia’s the one who engineers the pivot to “win the tourney and crown me and in your victory we can present ourselves to the assembled nobles / pressure your father to step down” as a plan while he’s being prophecy man / thinking abt his visions.

she says she will go to Aerys as summoned, and birth a vengeful daughter who will bring ruin to Westeros and burn it to cinders.

I didn’t have a problem with it honestly! initially I didn’t know if I felt there was a huge point in her having the abilities, but when I think about it I’d say it made her a lot more receptive to the prophecy …. like tbh if it were only Rhaegar who had prophetic dreams and he was just telling Lyanna all these things like ohhh we have to be together because XYZ and she’s nodding along like his disciple or some shit….. lbr that could’ve been pretty troubling lol like I actually think it’s important she has the insight he does.

wanted to do a round up of my exact feelings on the characters as I can remember them bc I've mostly just shared info rather than opinions so far!

Jaime: MY BOY!!!! obv i'm starting w Jaime. I would've lovedddd if we'd had more of him but I'm taking quality over quantity. his main story is in act 2 just desperately trying to get other people to react the way he is to the things happening around him, and he's literally threatened w violence by other members of the KG. so for anyone still insisting he is just there pretending to give a fuck: nope Jaime's whole thing in this story is giving a fuck! which chimes into his broader story exactly as I understand it thank u VERY much!!!!

Ned: I loved him and his characterisation was exactly as I would've expected it to be. i think any ned fan would be happy w how he's played here, it's just all v true to the books and it's good to see his relationship w Robert and Lyanna explored more and how they kind of conflict w each other.

Robert: by and large i liked this portrayal. I'm not a hugeeee fan of overplaying Steffon and Cassana for woobification points I guess it felt a little forced. sure this is no doubt something that devastated robert but does he necessarily need a traumatic reason to be a drunk and a flirt? so I felt like it was to try and give more justification to his enmity w Rhaegar than was needed - Lyanna feels like enough. otherwise, I think his actor did a great job showing both the charisma and the vulnerability of the character and he had great chemistry w Ned. and he's pretty funny also

Aerys: again, liked Aerys. I think showing both his vulnerability as well as his tyranny makes him more compelling to follow. guy has a surprising number of comic lines also and the physicality of the role is pretty strong. again, I don't really like grief being used as the reason characters go mad, and it was again in this case for Aerys and Summerhall. I think it makes sense as part of the reason he's unready, but I don't buy it as a foundational reason he is the way he is. but it's interesting nonetheless to see the event loom large in his life.

Rhaella: I kind of need someone else to remember the exact sequence of the scene with Elia, Ashara, Jaime and the KG, but I think this characterisation was definitely.... interesting?? I like that they tried to think outside just 'tormented' and give her sharp edges. it was interesting to see her kind of bloodthirsty in her way. but I think she might have benefitted from a bit more show don't tell, and there was just too much happening in this play to afford her enough scenes for that.

Rhaegar: idk. this is messy. like I think the problem is actually fundamentally GRRM's. in rhaegar we have three things: 1) a guy who genuinely seems to love Lyanna, 2) a guy obsessed w prophecy, and 3) a guy who would carelessly abandon his wife and children for either. given that Rhaegar actually gives less of a shit about prophecy in act 2, this becomes.... worse??? and he does genuinely get vexed at the idea that Elia can't conceive again. so while we see that he's capable of generosity of spirit (trying to offer Robert friendship, trying to save the realm from his father)...... he's just not likeable!!! what can I say! i don't like this man! he's a bit useless and pretty selfish and his love for Lyanna doesn't move me enough that I don't care about those things! sorry!

Elia: oh my lord. look I really can't 100% blame this on the playwright because I want to be fair - this was gonna be a hard ask. in 2026, a lot of people are gonna struggle w how to write Rhaegar's discarded wife, who does nothing in canon but give birth, sit imprisoned and die. this is a very passive role, and I can understand why MacMillan's instinct was to beef it up with politics. I can understand also why he wanted to alleviate the pain of what Rhaegar's done to her - what if she didn't actually give much of a shit lol she's got other fish to fry. what if she's fine w being imprisoned because she's got PLANS. ugh. idk. it's left me cold. if you try and spare Elia all the vulnerability of her plight, she just becomes kind of. dry? and unconvincing? I think people would've found it more compelling to hear the story of a woman working through the pain of what has been done to her and her children, and BEING angry, rather than just conducting a political plot that goes nowhere. like I think that's the point - because Elia's plot has been replaced with this, she has no meaningful plot. her correspondence with Lyanna feels pointless and hollow, because her only motive is political, and knowing how this ends for her, I'm not waiting to find out what happens. I think MacMillan should've really sat there with Elia for a long while and thought about what happens in her story and how that would make a person feel, and how can you make those feelings sing on stage... rather than coming up w some weird b-plot.

Ashara: I think Ashara suffers from a case of being beefed up beyond how she can serve the story, and truly works best as a more ambiguous character. in TMK, everything about her is laid on the table and so she ends up just serving as a supporting act to Elia and Brandon in a way that adds little to the story. again, this was always gonna be a difficult one because she very much HAS a place in this story, but I think if we'd focused more on the POVs of fewer principles (stick with Ned, we don't need scenes of Brandon and Ashara alone together), then having her dance in and out might have worked better. she and Elia having once had an affair is a nice touch but I don't know that it adds much??

Lyanna: I like Lyanna a lot in act 1 - she's very endearing but very headstrong, and you can really see a lot of Arya in her. she's fun to follow. but MacMillan again was always going to wrestle with what to do in act 2 when Rhaegar and Lyanna have this prophecy hanging over their heads. do they lean into it?? I think it was important for Rhaegar to let the prophecy go a bit for his love for Lyanna to be at all convincing, but when Lyanna picks up the slack for him she loses some of herself. I don't really know what the compromise ought to have been, because clearly this is a massive factor in their story together, but sometimes it's hard to see the love for the prophecy what can I say. they start talking a great deal in riddles it feels like, and kind of like a couple you wouldn't want to be stuck with at a party. Lyanna really shines brightest when she's w her brothers. but again, the Rhaegar/Lyanna/Elia triangle is a reallyyyy hard one to square, and I've literally tried myself w an as yet unfinished Robert's Rebellion project that is still around on my blog lol

Arthur: I'm really wedded to my mental version of arthur dayne so when I didn't get him I was unfairly like what!!!!! but I enjoyed the performance, and just wish he'd had more characters to bounce off of - he's mostly limited to Rhaegar and Oswell

On the right: the Peasants' Revolt of 1381, depicted by a director in 2026 who thinks he's being super realistic by coating everyone in mud and leeching all colour from the world.

There was even a shot in the trailer from inside a GOTHIC CATHEDRAL and it had no colour. Like extraordinary dedication to making everything look like mud. FOR WHY.

The lack of colour tells me everything I need to know about this movie - i.e. that it's going to sacrifice historical accuracy in favour of making the entire period look filthy, joyless, brutal and stupid.

Medieval people had relatively easy access to clean water and drank lots of it. Ale was a cheap and tasty way to consume grain and provide drinkers with nutrients, carbs and proteins. But they didn't just drink it as a replacement for dangerous water.

(Separately, I wonder if with perhaps a bit more state capacity Westeros could dominate the Free Cities akin to how outside players dominated the Italian Wars IRL. Perhaps the Westerosi victory in Ninepenny Kings war might have been an analogue. Assuming that I understand the dynamics of the Italian Wars right)

I think GRRM is trying for the idea of the Stepstones as similar to the Great Game that the departed Professor Attewell mentioned of pre-Aegon kingdom politics in Westeros - whenever any power gets too powerful in order to enact tolls in the Stepstones, the other relevant powers gang up in order to break their stranglehold, with low-level piracy a better operating environment than a forward naval base charging tolls. I wonder how much privateering versus out-and-out piracy is done in the Stepstones, because I would imagine enterprising sea-borne brigands in the Triarchy might receive letters of marquee from the city-fathers of their cities to interfere with trade of rivals depending on the ever-changing alliances and trade wars of Free City politics.

Westeros would need to get far more advanced for that to happen - "bit more" is doing a lot of heavy lifting. The Free Cities are more advanced than Westeros in most respects: technology and industry are better, finance is better, etc. The actual nuts-and-bolts of state capacity in Essos is more advanced. What Westeros does have is a lot more manpower, but power projection is hard in this era, even across the Narrow Sea. You would need a more consolidated central authority in the Iron Throne or larger regional navies on the east coast of Westeros to actually really start having Westeros be a player in Essosi politics. Otherwise, you're probably limited to Westerosi third sons and others that struggle to find their way without inheritance (your Robar Royces, essentially) forming a cadre of heavy cavalry to act as a sellsword band in favor of skirmishes between the Free Cities.

Thanks for the question, Wind.

A Song of Ice and Fire tends to have mostly cod-mediaeval English-sounding names. Some of them exist as real names and some don’t. One family who’s names sound slightly less English are the Martells. In Westoros, the Dornish differs in culture and appearance to the rest of Westoros due to the Rhoynar influx, let’s see how that’s reflected in their names.

Martell is a real surname. Originally French it means hammer, not quite the right weapon for our family.

Now, the Ruling Prince and his chidren

Doran is a real name. The most common etmology for it is Irish, meaning “exile” or “wanderer” but as that’s usually a surname and honestly seems unfitting for a Martell, I looked a little harder and it’s also a Greek name meaning gift.

Arianne is the French variant of the Greek Ariadne, most famously bourne by the Princess of Crete in the legend of the Minotaur, she later married the God Dionysus after being deserted by Theseus. It means “Most Holy”.

Quentyn is simply Quentin with y swapped for the i. Quentin is the French form of a Roman name which comes from the Latin word for 5th. 

Trystane comes from Tristan a French form of an originally Welsh or Cornish name. Made popular in the Middle Ages by the legend of Tristan and Iseult, it’s usually linked to the French “triste”, that is, sad. However the original name is thought to have mean “clashing swords”. Our Trystane has yet to be sent to retrieve any Princesses to fall in love with though and seems happy with his betrotha to Myrcella.

Doran’s Siblings

Elia is oddly a enough, a masculine name in Dutch and Italian where it’s a form of the biblical name Elijah, the prophet who was carried to heaven in a chariot of fire. It’s also similar to the Arabic Alia meaning Sky. Alia also means “other” in Latin, though I dislike the connotations there. Funnily enough the name Eleanor, made famous by Eleanor of Aquitaine comes from Alia-Aenor, that is Other-Aenor, as she was named after her mother Aenor.

Oberyn is similar to Oberon, King of the Fairies. Although famous in Shakespheare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the name Oberon is first seen in French medieval literature. It’s derived from the Germanic Alberich, meaning Elf-Ruler, who is a dwarf in the Nibelungenlied defeated by the hero Siegfried.

And in keeping with Dornish tradition, Oberyn’s paramour and bastards

Ellaria isn’t dissimilar to Illaria, an Italian name coming through Latin from Greek, meaning cheerful. However I feel it’s likely in-universe it may be related to Elia.

Obara seems likely to be supposed to be a female version of Oberyn. 

Nymeria is the hardest. This is a Rhoynish name and despite sounding possible  doesn’t quite fit with the other Westorosi names. The Hebrew name Nemera, meaning Leopard,has the variant Nemerea, and that’s the closest I’ve found. If you find a better one let me know.

Tyene is another tricky one. I’ve wondered if it’s supposed to be related to the many Ty- names in the Lannisters. Perhaps her mother came from that area. As we’ve seen in their post though, these names are hard to find equivalents to. There’s the Finnish Tyyne which means “Calm, Serene” which is certainly fitting.

Sarella‘sclosest name is the Hindi name Sarala which originates from the Sanskrit for “straight”. However given Obella below also has the -ella element it seems likely this is either a name element also found in Ellaria or that Sarella is the diminutive of another name such as Sara (coming a hebrew name meaning ironically Lady or Princess), as the ella ending is used in Italian and similar endings in other romance languages.  

Obella for the reasons I’ve mentioned above seems likely to be a diminutive of Obara. A close real name is Obelia a Greek name meaning “pillar of strength”

Dorea is assumedly named for Doran in universe. This actually works in our world too as the name Dorea is a variant of Dora, which is Greek and means “gift” just as Doran can. 

Loreza seems mostly likely to be a variant of Lorenza, an Italian and Spanish name with the same Roman roots as we found for Loras, in the Tyrell post, and so the name also ultimately derives from Laurel.

So the Martell seem to have a slight leaning towards French names although many of them ultimately have other roots. The rest come from mainly other Romance languages or Greek. There does seem to be something of an effort to make them more less Germanic and hence “English” sounding than many of the other names and perhaps slightly more Southern European although France’s placement in that sort of geopolitical grouping is…difficult.

edit: NymeriaTargaryen’s let me know Arianne is also a common name in Iran, coming from Aryan, a name for Iranians (and no, not the meaning you’re thinking of).

Who says there aren't? In the Middle Ages there were almshouses, bedehouses, and leper colonies, why wouldn't there be equivalents administered by the Faith of the Seven in Westeros? We know that on the Iron Isles, The Drowned God has itinerant priests that can revive someone from drowning, and the ironborn sterilize finger dance wounds by washing them in seawater and cauterizing them.

Thanks for the question, Anon.