Game Of Thrones: 10 Things From The TV Show That WON'T Be In The Winds Of Winter
7. The Sun Sets On The Martells
In The Show:
After being introduced in season 5 as the brother of deceased Prince Oberyn, the wheelchair-bound Doran Martell is forced to contend with his strong-willed nieces the Sand Snakes, as well as Oberyn’s widow Ellaria, for control of Dorne’s spears.
After carefully navigating his family's need for vengeance over an entire season, then, Doran and his son Trystane are suddenly murdered by the aforementioned women, who proceed to steer Dorne in a futile, rushed story that peters out in a hurry. Ultimately, their subplot ends up feeling like a complete waste of time, with the Dornish achieving next to nothing.
Why It WON’T Happen In Winds:
The abrupt removal of Doran Martell and his lineage smacks of writers Benioff and Weiss trying desperately to eliminate an ultimately superfluous storyline, as befitting their own time constraints. George RR Martin’s massive tomes, however, don’t share this issue.
Indeed, Martin revels in expanding his fantastical world, with each passing book growing thicker and deeper by the page. While this may indicate a need to start compressing the storyline sooner rather than later, the Martells of ASOIAF are involved in far too much to be swept aside so easily. On top of Doran’s meticulously unfolding schemes, several characters that don’t exist in the show are heavily involved in spinning plates that bare the speared sun of Martell.
There’s Doran’s daughter Arianne who plays a major role with queendom over the Seven Kingdoms at stake; eldest son Quentyn, whose fiery death in Meereen looks set to have significant ramifications; Jon Connington, exiled lord supporting a lost Targaryen (!) with a mind to ally with the Martells. Most significantly, the Sand Snakes have just declared their allegiance to Doran after hearing of his vengeful plans to usurp the Lannisters, with each of them given individual missions.
It’s safe to say the Martells aren’t done just yet.