What's the point of Dorne?

[JonCon's Red Beard]

Isn't he too young?

Who is too young? Aegon and showTrystane are both around 18, and bookJaime and Connington are also both in their middle 30s.

[TFP]

We really have no way of knowing. Robert expressed his fear more than once that if a Targaryen showed up, many would join him.

I'm not sure where everyone's getting this confidence that Aegon will factor in any way into the show, or that anyone from Dorne will be traveling to Meeree in an attempt to court Dany. The storylines are crowded enough as it is.

In the book, it's possible that yer Hightowers and whatnot could be involved, but the series, nah, it's Dorne or bust.

I very much doubt that we'll see anything of Aegon or that Dany will have a Dornish suitor (at least whilst she's in the east) but westerosi allies, yes.

[Laughing Storm Reborn]

Those Southern women Ned... :drool:

[Ser Areo Mace]

We really needed a bit more from Doran. Even a small hint that he's got a plan. To try to curb Ellaria's rage. Areo reminds me of Darkstar in the show. He's got the aura of a badass without the cringey lines.

So what you're saying is that he reminds you of Areo from the books? :D

[Cashless Society]

So what you're saying is that he reminds you of Areo from the books? :D

Can't help but lol at that.

[Denam_Pavel]

Who is too young? Aegon and showTrystane are both around 18, and bookJaime and Connington are also both in their middle 30s.

Aegon is older then Jon and Dany. Or close enough to make it believable at least. ShowTrystane doesn't meet that requirement by a long shot.

[Falcon2908]

Jaime will find out Myrcella is wearing the same lion necklace that Cersei showed to him.

He will understand that Cersei lied to him and this will create a big hole in their relationship.

I suppose this adds fuel to Jaime being the Valonqar prophecy.

[pettes]

Jaime will find out Myrcella is wearing the same lion necklace that Cersei showed to him.

He will understand that Cersei lied to him and this will create a big hole in their relationship.

I suppose this adds fuel to Jaime being the Valonqar prophecy.

This

[TFP]

will we get a big fight between hotah and [say] bronn?

[protar]

Well we know that some of the Sandsnakes will be arriving in KL in TWOW. That's what I think is going on here. They don't want any more large subplots so they've cut out Arianne who may only be relevant to Aegon's story. But the Sandsnakes are relevant to the KL story so they get to stay.

[Ser Wun Wun]

In the books Dorne's main purpose seems to be to ally with Aegon and fight against Dany when she invades Westeros. On the show? I have no freaking idea and can't even begin to guess where they are going with it. They may very well do away with the 2nd Dance of the Dragons war entirely and simply go straight to the war with the Others. I wouldn't put anything past D&D at this point.

They are dead set on cramming the events of TWOW and ADOS into only 2 seasons, so a metric ton of plot points are going to be cut and "streamlined".

[Candor]

I'm concerned there may be no point other than for just this season with Jaime's side quest to bring back Myrcella. I hope that isn't true but I've not seen anything to convince me otherwise...

[Pashernate Reader]

At this point, who the heck knows?

I'd say that's a good thing, since it means I won't know everything in advance, but almost every time D&D have deviated so far it's been for the worse.

[Big Daddy]

I' trying to look at it from what subplot is most valuable to the show and why. Quentin only existed as motivation for Dorne. They didn't NEED his character on the show to properly motivate Dorne to action; that could be done any number of ways. Same with Faegon; if his plot isn't going to succeed (and I suspect he is not long for this world in the next book), then his story is a waste of time on the show considering how many episodes they probably have to wrap the series up.

Why would the writers send Jaime to Dorne? Three reasons:

First, his story in the Riverlands doesn't amount to anything on the show if they aren't bothering with LS's plot, which for all we know may end up being another swerve or dead end in the books as well.

Second, they probably need Myrcella dealt with. Either she is coming back home or getting killed off. Why not have Jaime and Bronn be part of that since they are characters viewers are already invested in?

Third, Dorne will probably be another location and force used as a backdrop for when everything DOES hit the fan. Either when Dany gets to Westeros, the Others invade, or both. The telling is in who they are using on the show and who they aren't. Like Protar said above, Arianne doesn't need to exist if Faegon doesn't. They only need a few Sandsnakes to get to KL to do or fail at whatever they are trying to do.

I think Jaime will make it back to KL either with or without Myrcella, and probably without Bronn. My guess would be that he'll get Mycella back home just as Tommen is killed off.

[kimim]

I' trying to look at it from what subplot is most valuable to the show and why. Quentin only existed as motivation for Dorne. They didn't NEED his character on the show to properly motivate Dorne to action; that could be done any number of ways. Same with Faegon; if his plot isn't going to succeed (and I suspect he is not long for this world in the next book), then his story is a waste of time on the show considering how many episodes they probably have to wrap the series up.

Why would the writers send Jaime to Dorne? Three reasons:

First, his story in the Riverlands doesn't amount to anything on the show if they aren't bothering with LS's plot, which for all we know may end up being another swerve or dead end in the books as well.

Second, they probably need Myrcella dealt with. Either she is coming back home or getting killed off. Why not have Jaime and Bronn be part of that since they are characters viewers are already invested in?

Third, Dorne will probably be another location and force used as a backdrop for when everything DOES hit the fan. Either when Dany gets to Westeros, the Others invade, or both. The telling is in who they are using on the show and who they aren't. Like Protar said above, Arianne doesn't need to exist if Faegon doesn't. They only need a few Sandsnakes to get to KL to do or fail at whatever they are trying to do.

I think Jaime will make it back to KL either with or without Myrcella, and probably without Bronn. My guess would be that he'll get Mycella back home just as Tommen is killed off.

Doran has one potential heir to the IT, betrothed to his heir. I'm surprised that no one in Dorne has yet brought up the possibility of a secret marriage between Myrcella and Trystane. Both are old enough, on the show. Killing Myrcella gets Dorne nothing. Marrying her to Trystane, then sending the Sand Snakes to KL, to take down Cersei and Tommen, gets Dorne the IT.

[pistachio12]

Doran has one potential heir to the IT, betrothed to his heir. I'm surprised that no one in Dorne has yet brought up the possibility of a secret marriage between Myrcella and Trystane. Both are old enough, on the show. Killing Myrcella gets Dorne nothing. Marrying her to Trystane, then sending the Sand Snakes to KL, to take down Cersei and Tommen, gets Dorne the IT.

In fact, that is one of the big plots in the books. Why are people completely ignoring that as a potential plot for Dorne?

And also, so many people are saying that they don't see the point of Dorne? Haven't we only seen 5 minutes worth of Dorne so far this season? I know there are reports of things but shouldn't we at least wait and see what happens before we jump to conclusions and label something as pointless.

[Mistress of Lemon Cakes]

I suppose Doran could take Arianne's role as the Queenmaker.

I don't really know though. Nothing else makes sense.

I don't buy Trystane = f(Aegon) (for the sheer fact that this leaves Doran without an heir) but this show is doing crazy things I never thought possible this year, so who knows?

[Liz Stark-Targaryen]

I realize I'm beating a dead horse, but the glimpse we had last episode of Dorne proved to me that D&D made a HUGE mistake not casting Arianne Martell. Gigantic. Monumental.

I hated Ellaria in the last episode. Canon Ellaria would never in a million years. Normally, I'm a show defender, but that was inexcusable. There's just no reason why many of the Dorne scenes couldn't have been filmed as-is, with much the same effect.

[Good Guy Garlan]

I realize I'm beating a dead horse, but the glimpse we had last episode of Dorne proved to me that D&D made a HUGE mistake not casting Arianne Martell. Gigantic. Monumental.

I hated Ellaria in the last episode. Canon Ellaria would never in a million years. Normally, I'm a show defender, but that was inexcusable. There's just no reason why many of the Dorne scenes couldn't have been filmed as-is, with much the same effect.

Yeah, I still think cutting her was an even biggest mistake than cutting Aegon. I mean, even if her role in WoW is minimal or can be given to someone else, she's still the emotional center of Dorne.

For a series that once hyped itself about having no clear villains and heroes, show!Dorne is looking quite...villainous, so the whole thing is gonna look one-sided. And Doran is not exactly the most rootable character, especially before he reveals his plans, at least not in the same way Arianne is relatable or layered or whatever. So yeah, big misfire

[tseka]

The plan for Dany and/or Aegon plan to invade Westeros never made any sense at all, was never plausible, without significant support from within Westeros. Dorne has been earmarked as one of the likeliest sources of this support for quite a long time.

My guess is that the show is focusing on Dorne:

(a) to keep it in fresh in viewers' minds ahead of the link-up with the Targ invaders; and

( B) to provide some swashbuckling/action scenes to complement the season's more drama-based other really key plot, namely the Cersei/margaery stuff.

Varys has that shit on lock bro.

He's involved in a carefully calculated gamble and he's been assured by his little birds yo.