Spoilers for all the books
Elia, Oberyn, Arianne, Doran, dem Sand Snakes, Quentyn. Every member of House Martell can be considered a badass on some level. Quentyn, for all his haplessness, still went toe-to-toe with two dragons. The Sand Snakes are the Sand Snakes - Obara, Nymeria, Tyene, Sarella, Elia, Obella, Dorea, and Loreza - and they know how to mess people up. Doran is a master manipulator pretending to be a tired old man. Arianne is clever, conniving, courteous, and charming. Oberyn is Oberyn. And then Elia, who, despite her lack of physical appearances, is mentioned to have fought like a tigress against Gregor Clegane.
Oberyn Martell was a jerk. He was rude and insulting and generally acted like a troll to almost everyone, and that’s not even going into how he treated some of his baby mamas. But I still liked him, because it is possible to appreciate characters who are jerks - I love to hate Kathryn Merteuil from Cruel Intentions, and Atia from Rome, and Rorschach from Watchmen, and Rumpelstiltskin from Once Upon A Time, because these are people with sharp tongues who do bad things but acknowledge it. They know that they are manipulative psychos and they use that to their advantage shamelessly. Oberyn is the same. He never pretends to be a paragon of virtue and kindness. He is Oberyn “yolo” Martell, and he will have (at the very least) eight babies out of wedlock and be proud of it.
Arianne is one of the prime examples of Westeros women using what they have to get what they want. She’s hot and she’s smart, and she isn’t afraid to put all of that to good use. Just look at Arys Oakheart. He took his Kingsguard vows much more seriously than most, yet he still fell for her. That was just the only way she could have gotten him on her side. Arianne can read people - just look her talking Cedra ‘round. Arys wasn’t going to break his vows unless he was in love, so she made him fall in love. That is Arianne Martell getting stuff done.
But she isn’t heartless, and that aspect is a huge part of her character for me. After Arys dies, she feels genuine guilt and actually dwells on it for quite some time while she is in the tower. In ASOIAF, so few game players feel any sort of empathy that it was incredibly refreshing (not to mention relieving) to see someone who actually retains her humanity, even in the face of all these manipulations and power plays.
Quentyn. Oh, Quentyn. I’ll be honest, he’s probably my least favorite Martell. Not to say that I don’t like him - I just didn’t care as much about him as I did the others. Maybe it’s because of the onslaught of new POV characters in ADWD, or maybe because he was just… so normal. Normal, nice characters can be fun - like Vorenus in season one of Rome - if I can see them being put into badass situations and showing that, while they may be polite on the outside, they can still be tough and take some names. Quentyn’s quest was doomed from the start, so it was really just a matter of waiting for him to die, something that I was not surprised happened. I felt bad for him and wished he’d had a cleaner death, but I didn’t dwell on it.
Still. He may have been dumb checking out those dragons, but it took some guts.
The Sand Snakes are badass. You’ve got Obara, who owns things with her spear and warriorness. Nymeria, who can hide a dozen daggers on her person. Tyene, who seems sweet and innocent on the outside but will poison you and your family and your dog and your sensei if you screw with her. Sarella, who is totally Alleras and will totally become a lady maester. Elia and Obella, who were sent to the Water Gardens and became a terror of the pools. Dorea, who also goes to the Water Gardens, where she knocks oranges off trees with her morningstar (Dorea is eight, by the way). And Loreza, who is six and will likely grow up to be just as badass as her sisters if she isn’t already.
Doran is the epitome of Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass. He looks like he’s just some gouty old man who will forgive every slight, when really, he’s one of the smartest players out there because he is patient. So many terrible things that happen in Westeros and Essos could have been avoided if people had just been patient. If Viserys had waited for his crown. If Catelyn had thought things over before kidnapping Tyrion. If Dany had reconsidered Meereen. If Joff had let people talk to him about Ned before lopping his head off. Doran does think things over, hedoes wait, he does check himself before he wrecks himself. He is lying in the grass, and pretty soon, a lot of people are going to be feeling the burn of his fangs. Because revenge is a dish best served cold. White Walker cold.
Elia Martell. Guys, Elia Martell. All we know at first glance is that her husband jilted her and then she died horrifically. That’s putting any sort of speculations or headcanons aside. By the end of the first book, those two things are all we know about her. Gradually, little details begin to trickle in. She had a sharp wit, she was a good and gracious lady, she fought The Mountain like a tigress. She birthed one baby that nearly killed her and then birthed another one, and was just like, “Will you make a song for him?” while Rhaegar did his harp thing. Elia of Dorne has never been spoken of badly by anyone save for Cersei, who refers to her as some flat-chested chick with black eyes (Just going out on a limb here, but I think Cersei might have been bitter). Elia was Elia, whose death has resounded in Westeros for over a decade. And I want more Elia.
tl;dr: I rant about the Martells and it’s really, really, ridiculously long.
My love has concrete feet.: The Badassness of House Martell
lowgardenarchive:
Brienne has the best pet.
oh dear god
oh no he’s hot
<3 GRAY WORM <3
”[…] and I was sold to some stranger, like a horse to be ridden whenever he desired.”
Anyone got a translation for Talisa’s letter from tonight’s episode? I’ve spent the last hour trying to translate it but I’ve got nothin’.
I want to know how angry I should be.
Signal boost
David Peterson blogged about it, but said 0.000% about it. Like, literally:
Though I do have the text of it (in both English and High Valyrian, which is what it’s written in), I don’t think I should put it up right now. I’ll put it up when the season’s done with, but there’s been a lot of creativity amongst fans regarding Talisa, and so I think this should remain a mystery for the time being. It isn’t gibberish, though, I can assure you.
ETA: someone in the comments did a transcription
Munus prraeliarzus,
–e hen embaro tolmiot nykelot avy Westrazon y–
–ykelo syt undon daor luo valzyro nozhossi oress oressiks darys issa vesris, se prumio nuho kony dreror issa.
–hapi ilon. raela, kesro syt lanta iksan, ruso zyhosy
–syo syt pyzhas lue prumie.
–za, yn aderi, mori, aot mazili–
omg what talisa is a spy??? that's...kinda cool actually wow she just became cooler than she already was game of thrones spoilers ?
Can we talk about how this fantastic guy was credited at the end of this week’s Game of Thrones or
Game of Thrones meme: five houses [1/5] » house Lannister
“In a coat of gold or a coat of red,
a lion still has claws.
And mine are long and sharp, my lord,
as long and sharp as yours.”
Not six times. Just once.
