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"Weak men will never rule Dorne again!"

- Ellaria Sand to a dying Prince Doran Martell

The Dornish Conflict was a conflict primarily in Dorne that began following the death of Prince Oberyn Martell during the trial of Tyrion Lannister, though causes for the conflict dated as far back as to Robert's Rebellion. Ellaria Sand, paramour to the late Oberyn, pleaded to Oberyn's brother, the Prince of Dorne Doran Martell, to go to war with the Iron Throne due to the abuses that the House Martell had suffered for nearly the past two decades; despite this, Prince Doran refused, stating that he believes war will have negative consequences on the Dornish people in the long run.

Taking matters into their own hands, Ellaria and the Sand Snakes - the eight bastard children of Oberyn - assassinated Myrcella Baratheon, who was betrothed to Oberyn's son, Prince Trystane Martell, as an act of revenge against the House Lannister for their part in the gruesome and cruel murders of Oberyn and, during Robert's Rebellion, Elia Martell. Realizing they would be punished for this, Ellaria and the Sand Snakes rallied the palace guards of Sunspear to their side, and murdered Doran, Trystane, and Areo Hotah, the Captain of the Guard, effectively causing House Martell to go extinct and solidifying their rule over Dorne. This ultimately set the stage for open conflict between Dorne and the Iron Throne.

Under Ellaria and the Sand Snakes, Dorne sided with Daenerys Targaryen when she began her invasion of Westeros.

Prelude
The crown prince of the Seven Kingdoms, Prince Rhaegar Targaryen, was betrothed to Pricess Elia Martell of Dorne through an arrangement by King Aerys II. Lord Tywin Lannister took this arrangement as a slight, as he sought to wed his daughter Cersei to Rhaegar, partially due to his years of service as the Hand of the King to the Aerys.

Near the end of Robert's Rebellion, House Lannister, which had previously been neutral throughout the conflict, sacked King's Landing in the name of Robert Baratheon. During the sacking, Elia Martell was brutally raped and murdered by Ser Gregor Clegane "the Mountain", a bannerman to the Lannisters. Afterwards, the Mountain murdered her two children with Rhaegar, x and y. This event shocked House Martell, and created friction between the two houses.

Years later, shortly before the royal wedding between King Joffrey I and Margaery Tyrell, Prince Oberyn Martell traveled to King's Landing to attend the wedding in the stead of his elder brother, Doran Martell, who was too ill to attend. Oberyn was accompanied by his paramour, Ellaria Sand. Following the wedding, where Joffrey had been poisoned, Tyrion Lannister stood accused of murdering the king. Tyrion demanded a trial by combat; the Iron Throne chose Ser Gregor Clegane as its champion. Seeing this as a perfect opportunity to avenge the death of his sister Elia, Oberyn Martell stood as the champion of Tyrion. However, at Tyrion's trial by combat, Oberyn's skull was gruesomely crushed into the ground by the Mountain, who himself had been poisoned by Oberyn's spear. Ellaria Sand, who witnessed the trial, was devastated, and soon fled the capital and returned to Dorne, where she pleaded to Doran to finally go to war with the Lannisters and the Iron Throne.

An Act of Revenge
The younger sister of Joffrey and Tommen Baratheon, Princess Myrcella Baratheon was betrothed to Trystane Martell, Doran's son and heir, through an arrangement by Tyrion Lannister. After the death of Oberyn Martell, Ellaria Sand and the Sand Snakes - the eight bastard children of Oberyn, four of which are mothered by Ellaria - sent a threatening message and warning to Cersei Lannister in the form of a viper wearing the necklace given to Myrcella by Cersei shortly before she left for Dorne. Ser Jaime Lannister, accompanied with Ser Bronn, then left for Dorne to rescue Myrcella, fearing for her life at the hands of the vengeful Martells.

After entering the country, Jaime and Bronn, disguised as Martell guards, traveled to the Water Gardens. Once entering the leisure palace, the two found themselves in a race to grab Mrycella before the Sand Snakes could.