#the martells

More specifically, the Martells are understood to have that salty white complexion typical of Mediterranean people who tan in the sun. Honestly, before talking about colorism, people could drop the basic “Raja of India” orientalism they project onto the Martells. The Martells have never been South Asian; they are Mediterranean. That implies that, yes, phenotypically the mix between Elia and Rhaegar would read as white. White that tans rather than burns, but white nonetheless.

Just take a look at Mediterranean actors and actresses and you’ll see exactly what we’re talking about.

anon is either/both responding to this post or this post.

I’m not near as critical of the show as a lot of people…however there are a few things!

1. Dornish plot, just the entire thing. I love Arianne and I love Doran’s scheming and Quentyn and all the rest of it with Myrcella. It’s unfortunate cause I really like how they cast all the Dornish characters and then they did…nothing with it lol.

2. While I actually don’t really mind Sansa’s plot with Ramsay and her taking over Jeyne’s arc, I really wish we got to see more of her in the Vale and to see how that’s actually going to go down.

3. I kinda wish Val was in the show? Idk her character just interests me and I would’ve liked to see what the show did with her.

4. Because I just reread it in ASOS, Robb and Cat’s whole showdown with her freeing Jaime and him coming back married to Jeyne Westerling is a great moment cause they’re basically at a stalemate of being able to shame each other 😂

There are probably other things but these are ones that always come to mind when I think about things I wish we got to see.

@womenasoiaf house of ladies week | day 4: house nymeros martell

Hi! Thank you so much for your question — I’m glad my work could inspire that kind of thought for you!

Before I get into what my take on Oberyn and Ellaria’s relationship is, I’d like to issue a disclaimer: I know very little about the Martells as it relates to the ASOIAF books. My exposure to them is almost exclusively through the Games of Thrones show and what I’ve read in summaries and articles about them, so I’m well aware that my understanding of their position within Dorne, Westeros, and their own families as a whole is most likely missing key information. This take is most likely going to lack the appropriate amount of nuance, and be mostly based in feeling rather than fact, so I highly recommend checking out @sunontherhoyne for a more in-depth examination of the Martells’ lives and legacies!

That being said: if we’re talking my own personal take on why Oberyn didn’t marry Ellaria….it’s complicated. It’s not out of any lack of love for her, nor is it someone else forcing outside pressure onto him. Personally, I think it’s genuinely just a casualty of the rampant misogyny present in ASOIAF as a whole — the same reason Elia was a victim of rape and murder, the same reason the Sand Snakes are brutally eliminated. GRRM does not care for his female characters, particularly women of color. They have little value to him — yes, even characters like Sansa or Aria. My guess is that he didn’t think it really mattered whether Ellaria was anything more than Oberyn’s lover, and it reads as more salacious if they had daughters out of wedlock, so he just left it.

But if we’re talking specifically in canon, typical fantasy misogyny aside? I think part of it, ultimately, is the fact that, no matter what way you spin it, Ellaria is illegitimate. While her father is head of House Uller, that doesn’t mean anything, and to marry her would be to cause uproar in Dorne, and spark rumors everywhere else. (And the man already has enough of those floating around him as it is, with his lifestyle.) Oberyn doesn’t care for his convention, but he also doesn’t care so little for his family and for Dorne that he’d be willing to send the entire monarchy into chaos. While Oberyn is not Dorne’s ruler, he cares for Doran, who is. He clearly has respect for convention and order, even though he may not respect those who make the orders. And while Dorne is suggested to be a lot more liberal in its culture than the other regions of Westeros — and that’s a whole other can of worms I’m not going to get into — this is still a medieval-inspired fantasy world. Illegitimacy is a running theme through the ASOIAF books, from what little I’ve gathered. (See: Jon Snow.)

And I think, to some extent, everyone in ASOIAF is ruled by those kinds of conventions and constructs, because it’s what they know. To them, the idea of not being able to marry because of a difference in status is just how things are. That does not stop Oberyn from loving Ellaria with everything in him, nor does it stop him giving her privileges usually given to a wife, but it is the law of the land, and a law that Oberyn doesn’t have the power to change. It’s not dissimilar to England’s King George VIII abdicating to be with Wallace Simpson — to marry a non-royal, particularly an illegitimate child, would mean stepping away from all his royal duties and leaving himself, Ellaria, and his daughters all defenseless. And with Doran as frail as he is — which is why Oberyn ends up in Cersei’s court in the first place, as a Royal ambassador — forsaking his royal status when he can just as easily be Ellaria’s husband in all but name feels a foolish choice, even for him.

Oberyn Martell is not as reckless and swashbuckling as people make him out to be. He is noble, and has a flair for the dramatic, and at his end was blinded by rage and emotion, but he is not a stupid man. Not to say that any of that is what you implied with your question at all, but I get the distinct impression that most fans of Oberyn specifically — not ASOIAF in general — think he’s some kind of sex-crazed, Byronic hero who openly gives the finger to everyone and everything that displeases him. He is cunning, and in every step of the way uses the systems placed before him to his advantage. With the complex web of the monarchy presented to him, and the already complex lineage of his daughters, whatever advantages being married to Ellaria might offer clearly do not outweigh the disadvantages for him.