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Game Of Thrones Cut One Of Its Best Female Characters From The Books
Game of Thrones cut one of its most compelling female characters featured in the book series. The mega-hit HBO epic fantasy from David Benioff and D.B. Weiss was based on George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire novels and premiered way back in 2011. It instantly became one of the world's most popular shows, but not everyone who viewed the series was knowledgable of the events from Martin's books.
The TV series primarily focused on noble families like the Starks, Targaryens, Lannisters, and Baratheons. Of course, over time, more and more characters from Great Houses were introduced but even more were present in the novels. Not all of the big characters from the books, however, made their way to the TV adaptation. One popular character in the book series that never made her way to Game of Thrones was Arianne Martell.
In season 4, House Martell became a major subplot with the presence of Oberyn Martell and Ellaria Sand in King's Landing. Myrcella Baratheon was previously sent to Dorne to marry into House Martell as an act of allegiance. Following Oberyn's death, Jaime Lannister traveled to Dorne to retrieve Myrcella where he encountered Prince Doran Martell. It was heavily speculated that Doran's eldest child, Arianne, would be involved, but instead, her sibling in the book, Trystane, was involved in the TV series. Many book readers were disappointed by the absence of Arianne due to her interesting story arc.
Arianne Martell's Role In The Game Of Thrones Books
As the eldest child of the Prince of Dorne, Arianne was the heiress of Sunspear and future Princess of Dorne. She served as a POV character in A Feast of Crows and will do so again in the forthcoming novel, The Winds of Winter. Arianne is portrayed as highly intelligent and cunning, with a sense of empowerment, as she stands up to the men who try to act superior. The Dornish subplot is much larger in the book series than it was in the TV show. At one point, Arianne was worried that there was a plan for her brother, Quentyn, to take over her spot as the heir of Dorne, so she plotted for Myrcella Baratheon to take the crown of the Seven Kingdoms.
Arianne attempted to kidnap Myrcella but was thwarted by Doran when he revealed his plans to get revenge on the Lannisters by aligning with House Targaryen. Doran intended for Arianne to marry Viserys Targaryen, but after his death, the plan was for Quentyn to marry Viserys' sister, Daenerys Targaryen. Arianne is currently still in line to become Princess of Dorne, but Quentyn was revealed to have died in Mereen. In The Winds of Winter, Arianne will be sent by her father to investigate the truth about Aegon Targaryen, the living son of Elia, Doran's sister.
Why Arianne Martell Was Cut From Game Of Thrones
Arianne's absence from Game of Thrones can most likely be credited to the time constraint that Benioff and Weiss faced when adapting Martin's series. The books heavily expand on the world of Westeros, whereas the TV series tried to hone in on certain families to make the storylines more concise. The plot featuring Dorne and House Martell was also not crucial to the overarching story and had no major influence on the final push for the Iron Throne. After the assassinations of Doran and Trystane, as well as the deaths of Oberyn, the Sand Snakes, and Ellaria, the Dornish story came to an end and an unseen member of House Martell became the Prince of Dorne. There's a chance that this won't be the case in Martin's future novels as Arianne and House Martell seem more imperative to the plot.
