Elia Martell
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 Illustration by Elia Fernandez© | |
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| Alias | Elia of Dorne |
|---|---|
| Title | Princess |
| Allegiance | House Martell House Targaryen |
| Born | In 257AL, |
| Died | In 283AL, at King's Landing |
| Spouse | Rhaegar Targaryen |
| Book(s) | A Game of Thrones A Clash of Kings A Storm of Swords A Feast for Crows A Dance with Dragons |
Elia Martell (257AL - 283AL) was princess of Dorne. She married the crown Prince, Rhaegar Targaryen, and by him birthed Rhaenys and Aegon. Elia was murdered by Ser Gregor Clegane during the sack of King's Landing.
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Character and Appearance
Elia Martell was a good and gracious lady, but frail due to her delicate health. She had a very sharp wit.
History
Early years
Elia Martell was the fourth child and first daughter of the ruling Lady of Dorne. The name of her mother and father are not stated in the books. During her youth she was very close to her younger brother Oberyn Martell.
When she became old enough to marry her mother, the ruling Princess, arranged a number of suitors to come to Dorne. Mostly due to the behavior of her brother Oberyn, Elia rejected them all. Her mother, who was good friends with Lady Joanna Lannister, took Oberyn and Elia to Casterly Rock with the idea of marrying one or both of them to Lady Joanna's twin children, Cersei and Jaime. Unfortunately, during the Martells journey to Casterly Rock, Joanna died giving birth to Tyrion Lannister, and when the Martells arrived Lord Tywin was very unreceptive to the proposal. He told them that Cersei was meant for Rhaegar Targaryen.
Marriage
Elia's mother was able to arrange her marriage to the Crown Prince Rhaegar Targaryen. Rhaegar and Elia had two children, Rhaenys and Aegon. The marriage seemed happy although Elia's health, which had always been problematic, remained fragile. Barristan Selmy stated that Rhaegar was quite fond of Elia.
Jon Connington once stated that Elia was bed ridden for a year after giving birth to Rhaenys and nearly died giving birth to Aegon. After which the Maesters told Rhaegar she would be unable to have any more children.[1]
Death
At the Tourney at Harrenhal Elia's husband met Lyanna Stark and became infatuated with her. He won the tournament and crowned her Queen of Love and Beauty, passing over his wife.[2] Elia's reaction to the event remains unknown. A year later Rhaegar either abducted or ran off with Lyanna, and this event sparked Robert's Rebellion.
During the war her husband Rhaegar was killed by Robert Baratheon at the Battle of the Trident. The mad King Aerys, due to his paranoia, believed that Prince Lewyn must have betrayed Rhaegar on the Trident and kept Elia and both of her children in King's Landing as hostages against possible Dornish betrayal. Later during the Sack of King's Landing, her daughter was killed by Amory Lorch while Elia was raped and killed by Ser Gregor Clegane after Gregor murdered her son Aegon. Both Lorch and Clegane were following Lord Tywin's commands.[3]
Tywin later said that he had instructed his captains to kill the royal (Elia's) children to secure the throne for Robert Baratheon, but had forgotten about Elia herself and had not intended for her to die. Oberyn Martell however believes Tywin Lannister had Elia and her children killed to remove the supposed slight he suffered when Aerys II refused the marriage of his son and heir Rhaegar to his daughter Cersei.
Her body along with that of the two children were wrapped in crimson Lannister cloaks and presented to Robert Baratheon as a token of fealty. While Eddard Stark was appalled, Robert was callous and apathetic to the young children's bodies and that of their mother's.
Results of the murder
The Martells were furious with the murder of Elia and her children. Oberyn wanted to continue the war and champion the cause of Viserys Targaryen, the only surviving Targaryen prince, but Doran Martell, who had succeeded his mother as ruler of Dorne, knew that they were not strong enough and made his peace. In A Feast for Crows it turns out that Doran has been plotting secretly to restore the Targaryens and revenge himself on Tywin Lannister, whom he and his brother hold responsible for the murders.
Oberyn saw another opportunity for revenge: when Tyrion Lannister stood on trial for the murder of King Joffrey and his adversary in a trial by battle would be Gregor Clegane, Oberyn championed Tyrion. He extracted a confession from the Mountain after mortally wounding him, but Ser Gregor took advantage of Oberyn letting his guard down, and killed him.
Family
| Princess of Dorne | Lewyn Martell | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Doran | Mellario of Norvos | Mors | Olyvar | Elia | Rhaegar Targaryen | Various women | Oberyn the Red Viper | Ellaria Sand | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Arianne | Rhaenys | Obara Sand | Loreza Sand | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Quentyn | Aegon | Nymeria Sand | Obella Sand | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Trystane | Tyene Sand | Dorea Sand | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sarella Sand | Elia Sand | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
References and Notes
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, The Griffin Reborn
- ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 42, Daenerys.
- ↑ A Game of Thrones, Chapter 3, Daenerys.
