Game of Thrones Symbolism: The Martells 

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"Today is not the day i die!" -Oberyn Martell, the day he died

Still fucking mad that in the show this house was poorly developed

the show ruined the Martells.....except for Oberyn

Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken....that is until D&D got a hold of them...

The Martells on the show were such a snoozefest after Oberyn’s death. Such a shame.

I am so not over Oberyn...

"and well developed characters" The burns are hotter than any golden crown can be

“Bastards are born out of passion.” Damn. How deep, but kinda true.

Tyene was supposed to be extremely resistant to poison like her father... what they did to her in the series was laughable.

Holy shit, that foreshadowing by Tyrion! "You could at least wear a helmet"

Great video. In the books, Doran Martell is what keeps the Martells alive. It's repeatedly mentioned that Oberyn is the dangerous, unpredictable snake whereas Doran is the tactful, calculating mastermind behind all of Sunspear's long-term motives. In the show, they don't capitalize on Doran's mastermind intellect at all and instead show him as a pathetic, weak leader who is easily ousted by Ellaria. The Martells have an equalizer in Doran, and he makes an incredibly deadly combination with Oberyn. They both had a masterplan to get revenge on the Lannisters by forming an alliance with the Targareyns through Quentyn Martelll and later Arianne Martell, neither of whom made it to the show. It's really sad that such a great show did such a big disservice to a great house. In the books, the Martells are my favorite house exactly because of all the reasons mentioned in this video -- they believe in equality, fairness, and tend to enjoy all of life's pleasures. They demonstrate how well such a society can function and are examples of excellent leaders. In the show, however, I could barely get myself to keep watching the Dorne plot because of how bad the writing for the Sand Snakes' dialogue was and how little screentime was devoted to worldbuilding in Dorne.

In the Books the Martells have the Absolute Most Long Game Plan of all !!

The Martells are my favorite house but I feel it was misrepresented on the show. Partly because Ellaria didn't care about honoring Oberyn just quick and pointless vengeance that will have poor consequences for the Martells. "We don't kill little girls in Dorne." Ellaria is basically the opposite of what Oberyn wanted but the show ignores it. Plus Doran is playing the longest possible game in the whole of Westeros except for maybe the white walkers. He's been plotting since Elia was murdered.

Show Ellaria is basically the complete opposite of book Ellaria

The thing is Doran, all his children AND the sandsnakes were completely butchered in the tv shows. They were all portrayed so horribly, given such small parts. The story of Dorne was all about Ellaria in the TV Show. SHE was the main character with Jamie of that storyline. The entire Dorne plot was essentially boiled down to Oberyn & Ellaria vs the Lannisters

Poor Elia martell what did she ever do to deserve such a horrible fate, first rheagar humiliated her in front of public and runaway with his lady new wife/love, and hold as a hostage by crazy king/father in law, then she and her kids gets brutally murdered by the mountain who was knighted by her husband, divorced and her kids casted aside and never be heirs, rheagar his such an asshole!

The show butchered everything about the Martels

Oberyn's death hit me the hardest even though it was so obvious I didn't want to believe he'd die

my heart took FOREVER to heal from oberyn's death, omg. i still actually haven't watched his death because it's TOO MUCH (also wow thanks for inserting clips of it in the video, i had to cover my eyes). i wanted to care about the rest of house martell, but after oberyn and doran's death, it all felt so tacked on

Martell and Greyjoy sub-plots were too rushed in the show. They should have at least dropped one of the plot to develop the other one better.

FINALLY! Been waiting for you guys to do House Martell. I still believe that Oberyn is one of the most underrated characters in the show. He was charming, funny, kind, cultured, intelligent (he almost became a maester!), brave, and one of the best fighters in the show. I don't think he died because of hubris; it was really his love for his sister that led to his downfall.

It's unfortunate that the deaths I was most satisfied with in GoT was the death of the Sand Snakes. It should have been Ramsay or Joffrey, but the SS dialogue was so cringeworthy that I just wanted it to be over with.

"Gais gais gais! This Ellaria Sand has become a beloved and interesting character! Let's honour her by making her the exact opposite of that"

Things would've been different if we had Arianne on the show. She's so f*cking smart. Next video: House Dayne, please

"Arguably" the book's take on the Martells was more interesting? ARGUABLY?

Oberyn was one of my absolute favorite characters.

How many houses disappear in GOT? -Martell household is gone -Targayrean has died -Tyrell have gone -Lannister might as well be extinct -Stark, I mean it’ll die with Arya and Sansa, I doubt Jon will carry it on.

I disagree with the short sightedness of the martells. They can be short sighted, but they are also capable of playing the long game. As you yourself pointed out doran is playing the long game in the books. And Nymeria was smart enough not to challenge the Valyrians unlike other Rhoynar princes. Granted most Martells we meet are rather impulsive. So Doran may be an outlier and the rest truly are all short sighted.

Great video! I clicked on it almost immediately. House Martell is an excellent house that had its story neutered in adaptation. D&D made some major mistakes by planning the Dorne plotline ahead of time and recentering it around Ellaria. Considering Oberyn was my favorite character on the show and Arianne my favorite from the books, I'm more than a little salty. I'm usually very forgiving of TV adaptations that make significant changes from their source materials. But this was such an utter clusterfuck.

I loved the Sand Snakes! Wish we could have seen more of House Martell

I almost got to thinking that (in the show) Ellaria went a little crazy after the horrid death of Oberyn right in front of her eyes with the sound and all....

The Show version of house Martell sucks. The books version of house Martell is awesome.

The Martell's also exposed D&Ds complete inability to write intrigue, the Martell's were a mob family, Doran resting easy in his chair was a farce as his mind never rested. But D&D didn't know what to do with them, so kill them off.

Actually on the show, there are still more Sand Snakes, we just haven’t seen them - back in the season that Oberyn was introduced in, he talks about writing poems to his bastard daughter Elia and he says Myrcella was last seen playing in the water gardens with his younger children - so there are more Sand Snakes than just the older three that we saw We just haven’t seen the younger ones yet

I am really sad about Doran Martell. I didnt even read the books and I had the feeling he was up to something. Great opportunity thrown out of the window in my opinion.

I hated the Dornish plot but then I read the books...and they became my favorite characters, especially Ellaria ❤️

Nymeria didnt get justice

It’s absolutely criminal what D&D did to the Martells and the Dorne storyline in the show. It was vastly reduced and chopped up, reducing them to minor characters who just happened to poison Myrcella Lannister. The Dorne storyline deserved more time.

I swear i sit and wait for your Game of Thrones vids like sunday breakfast!. As always an in depth analogy on another great house. I most of all like your contrast to another great house (Tyrells). Great video and as always thanks for the effort

Missed one of the biggest meanings in their sigil. Dorne is the only one of the 7 Kingdoms to kill a dragon. Part of why they weren't conquered.

Finally been waiting for a long time...

Short sightedness I think is also shown in oberyn having his eyes gouged

Omg finally. Please house tully or arryn next?

I truly loved the Martells and I can't wait to read the books and get even more of them. 😍

Considering that Obreyn fathered a lot of kids as you say. The Martell line hasn't gone extinct it's just dispersed and the 2 other characters not seen are still in Dorne.

Say what you want the martells were easily my favorite family. Oberyn has been my second favorite character since he was introduced into the show. (Just behind tyrion Lannister)

I also like the parallel in the books with Doran and Tyrion.

I noticed how the spear through the sun could also represent hubris, like flying too close to the sun and getting burned. Like if someone threw their spear to pierce the sun, but lost their spear in the process.

Indira Varma's performance single handedly saved the Dorne plot. Even in her final moments I felt sympathy for Ellaria.

Oberyn Martell is my champion. Forever and always. I will never get over what they did to him or how his family collapsed after his death. The North may remember . . . But Dorne will never forget.

The Dorne storyline in the show proved D&D had no clue what to do with the characters without guidance.

Dorne is so interesting in the books. Shame that there wasn't really enough room in the show plot to fully flesh out Dorne

What you say about being short sighted describes well how the show destroyed the Martells. In the book, Oberyn and Dorian have been plotting the Lanisters' downfall ever since Elia's death. Almost everything Oberyn did in his life was for that plot of their's.

I love this channel so much

Seeing these in my subscription feed makes me so happy

Couldn't believe it when I found out that the actor who played Oberyn was in the first episode of season 4 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer "The Freshman".

The Martells played the strongest, most strategic game of thrones. They would have been a good match against House Lannister. Dorne would have taken at least 4 to 6 seasons to do the story justice.

Loved it. Though Oberryn was one of my favorites in the whole show

They are my favourite house in the books. How they were portrayed in show is not Dornish at all. Dorne is a formidable power. I will never forgive DnD for this. I hope when they make the prequels they have a story on Nymeria's wars so we can have an actual well developed story around Dorne.

Doran Martell In the book play the very long game. There is also the lightning lord who don’t use animal, also the Bolton flayed man... there is quite a few of those

It's very near to Al-Andlusian culture of Spain.

Thanks for doing one of my favourite Houses in the series! Keep up the good work! :)

If I were given a choice about where I would like to live in westeros , I choose Dorne . I love the Martells

Thank you for saying that Cersie was snubbed by her betrothed. It is the second time the Lannisters were snubbed by the Targaryens. Per the mad king his children only marry those that are worthy. They do not marry servants

The TV Dornish plot was a joke. You can really see that it wasn't written by GRRM.

12:03 the caduceus is actually the symbol for commerce, trade and communications. The symbol for medicine is the *Rod of Asclepius* (a single branch coiled by a snake), this is a common misconception, even among medical professionals.

Ive been waiting for this one

My second favorite house in the books, the show did them no justice at all.

They ruined The Martells in the show. I’m so glad they were better in the books and more developed .

I'm very impressed with the detailed and thorough analysis of the GoT houses in your channel, well produced videos with great additional infographics cut together with clips from the show and illustrations. I really dig the semiotic analysis of the symbols and colors a lot, going to subscribe and look forward to more great work from all of you in the future

I only hear "Elia Martel. WHO GAVE YOU THE ORDER?!"

House Martell has been my favorite house in the books and in the show one can only loathe them...so thanks, D&D

I was waiting on this one! Such a shame what they did to them on the show based on what I heard about them from the books.

These videos are amazing! Pls continue to do more!!!

Very much enjoying your analyses. Bravo!

The caduceus isn't a symbol of medicine. It was the staff that Apollo gave to Hermes. The symbol of medicine is the Rod of Asclepius which is really similar in appearance (that's why people so often mistake one for the other). It is a single snake winding around a staff.

Ummm..short sighted hubris? That was only oberyn, not characteristic of the entire house. Had no sight of the long game? Look into Doran's character development through the Areo Hotah chapters as well as Arianne chapters. Do your research.

Great vid! I have been waiting for it 😊

the editing and analysis in your GOT vids are outstanding!

They're SOOOOO underated!! I personaly love them, that's m'y favorite house!

"Spears are symbolic of single mindlessness and tunnel vision, when using an spear a soldier must focus his attention on one target" As a history enthusiast, mind you not an expert in any way, I got triggered by this. Spears and polearms, for that matter, are battlefield weapons designed to fight against multiple opponents, while on the other hand swords sidearms designed for self defense and dueling. So if a weapon is the most suited for fighting more than one opponent is the spear, because it gives you range. So it will place the most distance between you and your opponents. Mind you that without armor or at least a shield, no weapon is truly suited for multiple opponents. If you would go against multiple opponents, even if you have trained all your life, the odds are against you. What the polearm will allow you, however will not be to defeat your opponents but to keep you alive for longer. Besides what the Martells use on the show (have not read the books) is the Partisan, a very different weapon from the spear. Although somewhat similar looking to someone that doesn't know much about arms and armor, it is very different on use. A Partisan is a cut and thrust polearm, while the spear is a dedicated thrust polearm. One might think that the difference is too small, but consider this if you add more material(metal) to the end of the polearm making it long enough to have a blade on the end, instead of having a point. One you lose rigidity and now the point bends, because steel is flexible, so you lose thrusting capacity. Second, now you can also cut with your weapon, making you fight completely different as if you could only thrust with it. Third, now you have significantly more metal on the end of your weapon, making it heavier, which gives you more power but it will tire you quicker. Now, perhaps in the books their weapons are stated as spears and this is a mistake from the showrunners. Or perhaps they thought they would look cool, if they had a blade at the end instead of a point. One thing is clear however, they have no idea of how arms and armor work. Like seriously, just look at Gendry's hammer, that makes less sense than the dragons. Not only it would be stupidly heavy but the area of contact is rounded and so big that renders all the weight useless. So it would be as heavy as an sledgehammer but with half of its effectiveness. Sorry for the rant.

My gosh my two favorite houses back to back. I honestly feel blessed

I'm not sure how long you can continue this series, but please do more content! It is so good. You can really see oneself in some of the houses. Some more than others of course.

Caduceus is not a symbol of medicine. You're thinking of the Rod of Asclepius.

"Arguably the book's take is more interesting." There's no "arguably" about it.

Yes another great video love these SO MUCH

ScreenPrism You guys are awesome to make these videos. Don't stop please.

The show Doran was basically what Arianne thought of him in the books.

In stone age Scandinavia, the Sun, like in many places was worshiped as the great female diety. Adding to this, the culture was matriarchal. Later, the bronze age came with an influx of tribes from the south-east; they had most prominently, along with other gods, the "spear-god". In many rock-carvings, the spear, like an outsized penis, penetrates the sun-godess. The ritual marriage of the otherwordly divine and the earthly power, and the merger of two cultures. References to this can be found in later norse viking-age mythology.

I''m really enjoying this series! Excellent research and presentation.

Finally, never clicked so fast. Like first, then watch. xD

- Egalitarian. - Hot blooded. - No stigma onto bastards. Well it seems that the Martels are Venezuelan, then...

First!😊 I only liked oberyn, he's a really likable guy

Okey but like this channel deserves sooo many more subscribers!

Not to nitpick, but I believe you're confusing the Caduceus with the Rod of Asclepius.

👏I👏MISS👏PRINCE👏OBERYN👏

Dorne its literally Spain

Its interesting how in the show, the martells are a shortsighted house, while in the books they are the house that plays the longest game, since they have been plotting revenge since roberts rebellion 20 years or so earlier.

I loved Oberon on the show, one of my favorite characters. I can't wait to get to those characters & the Dorne storyline in the books.