Opinions on the Martells?

[Queen of dragonstone]

While I love their characters and POV's I don't like their way of thinking.

"We'll avenge our sister by creating a thousand more Elia Martells, who will be raped and killed in this war".

By that I meant small folk who always suffer when the High lords play their game of thrones. I remember reading Doran Martells first introduction, where he said he wouldn't go to war with Tywin, and I loved how is character actually saw the bigger picture. But that crashed a bit when he said that he was actually planning full on revenge.

While I think what happened to Elia is atrocious and that Tywin and Gregor shouldn't have gone unpunished, war would only create more deaths of women and children.

Considering everything we have heard about Elia, I'm not too sure she would be up and jumping to this.

Although maybe I'm wrong, but I'd like to hear what other people think.

[Queen of dragonstone]

Apparently no one :p

[hear me bore]

Bent, bowed, and broken.

[Lord Lannister]

Hypocrisy is often a vice that vengeance overshadows. As for my opinions of the Martells and the Dornish plot in general, it's mixed. I loved Oberyn's approach to the plot and the character was wonderful. Doran by all accounts seems to be a master strategist or at the very least has everyone convinced he's one, quietly working things over a long period of time before he strikes. Arianne and the Sand Snakes? Meh. I just can't say I find any of them particularly interesting with the exception of Sarella and what she's up to in Old Town.

[ReleaseTheHound]

Yeah doran was planning his revenge but not through war just from taking everything from Tywin and crushing his family through other means

My opinion is that they are fairly boring so far "princess in a tower" is the most boring chapter in the whole series they are just lame so far

[NorthGirl]

While I love their characters and POV's I don't like their way of thinking.

"We'll avenge our sister by creating a thousand more Elia Martells, who will be raped and killed in this war".

By that I meant small folk who always suffer when the High lords play their game of thrones. I remember reading Doran Martells first introduction, where he said he wouldn't go to war with Tywin, and I loved how is character actually saw the bigger picture. But that crashed a bit when he said that he was actually planning full on revenge.

I think the revenge is of a personal nature against the Lannisters, not like going to war but more of a political manoeuvre with hopefully the backing of others who are just as unhappy with the Lannister rule. Getting power away from the Lannisters is a good thing. The Realm is screwed because of their internal squabbles and pettiness. The smallfolk would be better off under any rule that is not Cersei's, let's be real. Heck, even the merchant class was starting to get screwed over and we don't know how the envoys to Braavos will turn out. Seeing as Tycho Nestoris is looking to be friends with Stannis, it will probably be bad for the Lannisters.

I love Doran and Sarella, I like Tyene. I am unsure about Nymeria and roll my eyes at Obara and Arianne. Actually, I really don't like Arianne, I find her extremely annoying and useless. The characters themselves really have lacked the appeal I thought they would have when people first told me about Dorne.

[ThePosterThatWasPromised]

I don't know if Doran was in on on Obe poisoning Tywin, but if he was, than his revenge might have consisted of killing Tywin and watching the Lannisters implode (like they're doing right now with Tyrion having killed him instead). I think Doran is pissed it didn't come around on his terms but he's too smart to risk war for such pettiness. I definitely don't think he's done conspiring either - he's got a major power play up his sleeve and I think it's gonna be coming sooner rather than later.

Personally, I love the Martells. I wish Quentyn didn't go so early - I'm half hoping all the crazy theories of him living are true (though I have absolutely no faith in any). Oberyn was my favourite character pretty much from the page he was introduced. I think their entire mystique is really cool; the badass sandsnakes, the female equality, Doran's seeming to be superbly intelligent, the most dangerous man in the seven kingdoms, plus the sunny weather (a lot less hostile than the frozen wasteland called Canada where I live). Great characters all in all for me.

[OmnomnomPomelo]

Bent, bowed, and broken.

Just wanted to write the same without the "broken" part.

[The Holy Goat]

I like them well enough, but the only one who can see the big picture is Doran Martell and maybe Sarella. Arianne isn't stupid but she can be selfish and immature. Obara, Nymeria and Tyene are all possessed by their need for revenge and blinded by it. Quentyn is a dutiful bloke but not competent enough. I can't wait for them to become involved in the wars though.

[The Onion Kniggit]

Bent, bowed, and broken.

This

[Batbob45]

Martells do have the right to seek revenge against Gregor and Tywin(those two men are diffent kind of monsters)

do the Martells also want revenge on all Baratheon for starting the war that lead to Gregor brutally murdering Elias and her kids?

Do they also wanted Sandor dead(even though he hate Gregor more that Martells hate the Mountain)?

[Dolorous22]

I like reading the chapters but I don't love the characters too much. I think the sand-snakes will be the undoing of Dorne.

Ignoring geography and plot, I'd like Arianne to pair up with JS. If the series could end with a Dornish princess marrying a Targ Prince then the saga would of gone almost full circle and go some way to restoring the Martell's faith and allegiance to the 7K. Elia will not be forgotten, obviously but a new regime + marriage will see Dorne spared war.

There's something very tragic about Doran and I feel as if he may be being 'taken for a ride' by another player.

[John Doe]

The Martells are very slow in their plot, beating an already beaten fow is not a hard job.

But I like to watch how the sand snakes do in the capital.

[Sparklehorse]

I adore Arianne, she's great. The gender politics in her arc fascinates me, she's a well meaning person (she's distraught after what happens to Myrcella), she called Doran out on his treatment of her.

The Sand snakes are badass, yet they take it too far. Nymeria wanting to kill Tommen? I cheered at Ellaria's anti revenge speech. Tyene's great, I love her and one of the reasons why I can't wait until TWOW. Obara can be a bit excessive.

Quentyn I sympathised with. He's not one of my favourites and yeah, one of the flaws in ADWD, yet I do like him. Oberyn is overrated, and I can't look past what he did to Obara's mother.

Doran, I understand him, yet locking up your own daughter is just bad.

I like the Martells, probably my favourite house from Dorne.

[Balerion the kitten]

I adore Oberyn. Love Ellaria. Love Sarella. And I liked quentyn

Hate Obara, Nymeria, Tyene and Arianne.

The elder Sand Snakes are hypocritical (let's kill Tommen, Cersei is a monster for trying to kill Tyrstane) rude and mean.

Arianne is just a non paranoid version of Cersei. Going on about her looks and the looks of other people, thinking an idiotic plan is genius, uses sex to manipulate men and flirts with men to manipulate them- because she has no other source of power.

Edit- And even the fact that she thinks she's cunning and her father's daughter, when she is quite the opposite, just screams Cersei to me.

[joluoto2]

The Martells are bent on revenge even though the people they want to take revenge on are already dead (or maybe undead, remains to be seen). The Vendetta of theirs due to Elia, her Children and Oberyn will lead to the destruction of Dorne.

[VVSINGOFTHECROSS]

I adore Oberyn. Love Ellaria. Love Sarella. And I liked quentyn

Hate Obara, Nymeria, Tyene and Arianne.

The elder Sand Snakes are hypocritical (let's kill Tommen, Cersei is a monster for trying to kill Tyrstane) rude and mean.

I would just like to say everyone is a hypocrite. Look at Ned aha

[Amris]

I do wish GRRM would have left Dornish plotlines out.

They are okay but they have the problem - which isn't really their fault - that the books already have so many other plotlines. For me personally it has been getting a bit much and I wish GRRM had concentrated on fewer plots.

Whenever a Dorne chapter comes up I read it but I keep hoping the next chapter will be a plotline that interests me more.

As to the characters:

I liked Oberyn a lot and liked Doran for a while too until his plotting seemed to more and more lead nowhere. (I hope GRRM will prove me wrong.) But I don't really know how and why revenge against Tywin is to yet come when he is dead already and the Viserys-Arianne pact-planning looks overrated considering that Doran seemingly never helped Viserys at all.

To me it looks like Doran simply wanted to keep the Targaryen option open without really investing in it. Minimizing risk and exposure. Which is fine - but then that's not a 'grand masterplan.' It's some backburner. So where is the real plan?

The Sand Snakes - aside from Sarella - are too one-dimensional for my taste. I suspect they'll become a plot device for messing things up and causing catastrophies (much like Quentyn) and since that's their only purpose GRRM did not invest much in character development. Maybe I'm wrong. We'll see.

Sarella - yeah!

Sarella - Sarella! I love that plot. I can't wait to see what happens at the Citadel. Not really because of Sarella - but since the Citatel stuff interests me and she seems to be there I am happy to read about her.

[Lord Cadwan]

I do like some parts of Oberyn, but hearing about how he treated Obara's mother was quite shocking to me and certainly put me off him.

[Dragon Seed]

I'm sick and tired of Dorne and the Martells doing nothing. We've been waiting 5 books for them to do something and all we've gotten is a shitty Quenton chapter. The battle between the mountain and Oberyn was good but nothing else is moving along. Sarella, Arianne, the sand snakes all seem like they're poised to do something but it never materializes. It's time for them and George to shit or get off the pot. They've become boring like the Brianne chapters.

Where's this plan already? It can't be just Aegon since they're just now finding out about him.