The Note Of Death

Rhaella being bitter after years of abuse is not the issue. The issue is her abusing her small son over her evil husband, while the evil husband is portrayed as the loving, protective parent to Viserys. And she's racist, too?????

Lyanna having a will of her own is not an issue. The issue is her acting downright insane for a prophecy it wasn't ever even hinted she was into in the books. By all accounts her motivation was supposed to be escaping Robert and infatuation with Rhaegar.

Elia playing the game of thrones isn't the issue. The issue is her playing it in a way that does not even benefit her, her children, or Dorne, only benefits her husband and others. Just read any Elia-cemtric story, and you will see how much her fans love her playing the games to benefit herself.

Ashara could have a thousand lovers for all I care, but I can't deny its uncomfortably orientalist.

Do I even need to say why hinting Daenerys will go mad pisses her fans off? I'm not even a fan of hers, but I can see why people who are do not like this. Or the fact that she has to share being Azor Ahai with Jon.

These are genuine grievances from people who adore these female characters and A Song of Ice and Fire. It's unkind to dismiss them with the lie that they don't care about anything beyond the female characters being "perfect victims".

Elia Martell!

Because everything I've heard about the play suggests that no, they didn't write it well. This isn't a matter of mediums, it's a matter of what they're writing. And they seem to have leaned on the "blame Lyanna" terrible interpretations and "Elia was fine because Dornish polygamy" which is not only a blatant contradiction of Elia's character (seriously, her one defining trait is that she loves her kids so why does she endanger them by offering a competing line of succession) but is also just wrong. Dorne doesn't have polygamy, it has a relatively relaxed standard against paramount and extra-marital affairs. They are *still* a dynastic feudal society who inherit based on bloodline.

So yeah, why would I trust the people who just blatantly ignored all that? Mind is fairly boggled.

Princess Elia Martell of Dorne.

— By the talented @Crescyllia on Twitter

Princess Elia Martell of Dorne.

It also has Aerys raping Rhaella to conceive Daenerys, at the SAME TIME as Rhaegar and Lyanna conceive Jon... Under the Red Comet.

What the f?

Elia's Aegon is literally the only one conceived the night of that comet in the books...

This play is a fanfic. Full stop.

Elia is written as the sweetest character we meet in the entire series; little nuanced, since what we get is from people who remember her fondly, and still, they all agree on everything that’s said about her.  I don’t doubt that Elia had a political vein, being the second daughter and dornish, which is exactly why making her so stupid is beyond ridiculous. I am well aware some will say that this isn’t racism, but why couldn’t she be closer in personality to her book counterpart? In the current political climate, I honestly can’t see why that atrocious plot twist and the even worse changes were necessary. 

It’s almost comical how afraid George Martin seems to be of recognizing what he did to her in her books. He can’t blame his precious boy, so, obviously, Elia must be the architect of her own demise. It was all Elia’s idea, so it was fine. She wants power but will happily and stupidly do everything to push it away and to put her kids - who she almost died giving birth to - in danger. It’s a cruel, coward, and poorly written plot. I can’t believe the writers did so little research that they didn’t know anything about the (racist and misogynistic) discourse surrounding her online. 

They could never portray the real version, without the majority of people realising what this “true love” story is actually about.