Ellaria Sand

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Ellaria Sand
Ellaria Sand.jpg
Ellaria Sand, by Amok ©

Alias The serpent's whore[1]
Allegiances
Culture Dornishmen
Born Dorne[2]
Father Harmen Uller
Lover Prince Oberyn Martell (paramour)
Issue
Books

Played by Indira Varma
TV series Game of Thrones:
Season 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

Ellaria Sand is the beloved paramour of Prince Oberyn Martell, and the mother of the four youngest "Sand Snakes," Oberyn's bastard daughters. Ellaria herself is the bastard daughter of Harmen Uller, Lord of Hellholt. In the television adaptation Game of Thrones, she is portrayed by Indira Varma.

Appearance and Character

Although not accounted as a beautiful woman, Ellaria is regarded as attractive and eye-catching, with an exotic, sensuous flair.[3] She has black hair.[4] She is described as a good woman, strong and brave, with a gentle heart.[5] Ellaria is believed to worship a Lysene love goddess.[3] She is described by her paramour, Oberyn Martell, as being sexually adventurous and potentially bisexual.[4] Lady Olenna Tyrell, who is angry at Oberyn for having crippled her grandson Willas Tyrell in a tourney accident, disparages Ellaria as "the serpent's whore".[1]

Recent Events

A Storm of Swords

When Oberyn Martell travels to King's Landing to take the seat on the small council offered to his brother Doran Martell, Prince of Dorne, Ellaria accompanies him.[4] Oberyn hints to Tyrion Lannister that Ellaria wants to sleep with Queen Cersei Lannister.[4][6]

She is a guest at the royal wedding of King Joffrey I Baratheon and Margaery Tyrell, seated with other Dornishmen at a place of honor, but away from the Tyrells.[7]

Ellaria is also present at the trial by combat for Tyrion Lannister, where Oberyn serves as his champion, and she witnesses Oberyn's death at the hands of Ser Gregor Clegane.[8]

A Feast for Crows

Ellaria Sand, the Red Viper's widow, by elalendi ©

After Oberyn's death, Ellaria escorts his remains back to Dorne. After Prince Doran arrests the eldest Sand Snakes, Ellaria and her daughters are secluded in the Water Gardens, to prevent them from being used in the plots of others.[9]

A Dance with Dragons

Ellaria is present at the feast in honor of Ser Balon Swann's arrival at Sunspear, where he delivers the skull of Gregor Clegane to Prince Doran.[5]

Ellaria is later summoned to Doran's private chambers for a conference between him, his daughter Arianne Martell, and the eldest Sand Snakes. She becomes distraught when she hears Obara Sand's statement that Gregor's death "is a start". With Tywin Lannister, Robert Baratheon, Amory Lorch and now the Mountain dead, everyone who was part of the death of Elia Martell and her children, Ellaria wants it to be an end. Ellaria fears for her own daughters, who admire Obara, Nymeria, and Tyene Sand, and fears where the quest for revenge will lead them. Doran comforts Ellaria, and tells her to go to her girls while promising no harm will come to them, and then continues the conference without her.[5]

The Winds of Winter

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Warning
This information has thus far been released in a sample chapter for The Winds of Winter, and might therefore not be in finalized form. Keep in mind that the content as described below is still subject to change.

Doran sends Ellaria to her father Harmen Uller's seat at Hellholt, along with her youngest daughter, Loreza Sand. Ellaria's daughter Elia is one of Arianne's traveling companions, Obella is sent to Sunspear to serve as a cupbearer to the wife of its castellan, Ser Manfrey Martell, and Dorea remains at the Water Gardens with Doran.[10]

Quotes by Ellaria

Oberyn wanted vengeance for Elia. Now the three of you want vengeance for him. I have four daughters, I remind you. Your sisters. My Elia is fourteen, almost a woman. Obella is twelve, on the brink of maidenhood. They worship you, as Dorea and Loreza worship them. If you should die, must El and Obella seek vengeance for you, then Dorea and Loree for them? Is that how it goes, round and round forever? I ask again, where does it end? I saw your father die. Here is his killer. Can I take a skull to bed with me, to give me comfort in the night? Will it make me laugh, write me songs, care for me when I am old and sick?[5]

—Ellaria to Obara, Nymeria, and Tyene Sand

Quotes about Ellaria

Shae had told her that this Ellaria worshiped some Lysene love goddess. "She was almost a whore when he found her, m'lady," her maid confided, "and now she's near a princess." Sansa had never been this close to the Dornishwoman before. She is not truly beautiful, she thought, but something about her draws the eye.[3]

—thoughts of Sansa Stark

Even weeping, she has a strength in her.[5]

—thoughts of Areo Hotah

Nymeria: I know she loved our father well, but it is plain she never understood him.
Doran: She understood more than you ever will, Nymeria. And she made your father happy. In the end a gentle heart may be worth more than pride or valor. Be that as it may, there are things Ellaria does not know and should not know. This war has already begun.[5]

Family

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Harmen
 
Unknown
woman
 
Ulwyck
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Ellaria
Sand
 
Oberyn
Martell
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Elia
Sand
 
Obella
Sand
 
Dorea
Sand
 
Loreza
Sand
 


References

External links