Game of Thrones Season 5: No Arianne Martell? Four Reasons We're Upset 

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Game of Thrones has announced several new characters for Season 5, and one of the biggest characters from the A Song of Ice and Fire books missing from the announcement is Arianne Martell, heiress of Dorne. Since Trystane, Arianne’s youngest brother in the books, is being introduced as the heir to Dorne, it looks as though Arianne will not be appearing in the show. Here’s why we think that’s a bad choice on the show’s part.

Warning! This article contains spoilers from the A Song of Ice and Fire book series. Click away now if you don’t want to know!

She’s a strong female character. With a show that receives as much criticism for being misogynistic as GoT does, one would think the show would leap at the chance to include a strong woman from the books. Arianne takes matters into her own hands when she thinks her father is going to do nothing to avenge Oberyn’s death, and she is a great manipulator. It would have been great to see her machinations on screen.

Dornish Law. Dorne is different from the rest of the Seven Kingdoms. Their customs are different, their people look different, and their laws are different. According to Dornish Law, women can inherit land and lordships. In the books, Arianne is the heir to Dorne, so when her father dies she will be Princess of Dorne. This is the basis for Arianne’s (failed) plot to crown Myrcella Queen of the Seven Kingdoms. Since Myrcella is older than Tommen, Dornish Law says she should be queen instead of him being king. Arianne is the embodiment of this law.

She’s a much more developed character than the Sand Snakes. In the books, Arianne is a POV character, and we learn a great deal about her motivations. Her cousins the Sand Snakes, on the other hand, are more caricatures than actual characters. They are relegated mostly to the background and all have a one-track mind of revenge with zero subtlety or planning. They are distinguished mainly by their appearance and weapons, and we’re utterly clueless as to why the show has cast three of them instead of casting one Arianne.

She’s hot! If nothing else, HBO is missing out on an olive-skinned bombshell from the books who has a history of seducing men to get what she wants. This sounds like the type of character GoT lives for, but maybe the show is continuing its recent trend of toning down the sex for Season 5, and Arianne would simply be too sexy for the show to handle at this point.

Are you disappointed Arianne is cut? Let us know in the comments below!

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