Board Thread:TV Show Discussion/@comment-5014364-20150611203927

House Martell's family tree in the TV series remains "in flux" - the writers don't want to officially remove a character but they leave their status ambiguous if they probably don't exist in the adaptation (Shireen was originally in this limbo state in Season 2) Doran has three children in the novels: Arianne, Quentyn, and Trystane. Kind of felt Quentyn wouldn't make it to the TV series, but people love Arianne because she's the only non-white female POV in the entire novel series - AND she's the heir apparent to Dorne, due to their gender-blind inheritance rights.

Unlikely Arianne might be introduced later, I hold out vain hope.

Quite separately, what's the deal with the Sand Snakes?

Oberyn stated on-screen that he has eight daughters in Season 4, so they didn't simply reduce the number (and he referred to Elia by name).

Obara is apparently "daughter of a commoner" or something, Dornish peasant -- in the books it was a whore from Oldtown, but whatever, basic point stands; unlike the others her mother wasn't noble-born.

Nymeria - slight change in my mind making her mother apparently from Yi Ti instead of Volantis, but "eastern noblewoman" - fine.

Now with Tyene they basically combined book-Tyene with book-Elia - again, I actually don't mind that. Elia Sand, while mentioned, probably won't appear in the TV series, and they wanted to show Ellaria having a mother-daughter familial relationship - fine. In the books Tyene was daughter of a septa, apparently from the Reach - she's blonde haired and blue-eyed as a result.

Now in episode 5.9, they have Doran state that Ellaria is mother of "four" of the Sand Snakes - which is accurate to the books, she's mother of the four youngest Sand Snakes.

...but adding Tyene means she has to be mother of FIVE...though I suppose we could easily say that one of the younger ones was mothered by someone else, it's kind of confusing.

Meanwhile, Sarella is nowhere to be seen...though of course she is "not in Dorne" at the moment...I suspect we MIGHT see her in the Oldtown subplot coming next season (which HAS been confirmed through casting calls). Sarella is black, as her mother was the captain of a Summer Islander merchant ship. 