Areo Hotah

"When you were whole, it would have been a good fight."

- Areo Hotah to Jaime Lannister

Areo Hotah is a recurring character in the fifth season. He is the captain of the Martell guard and the personal bodyguard of Prince Doran Martell, the ruler of Dorne. Hotah's motto is "Serve, Protect, Obey".

Background
Areo Hotah is originally from Norvos, one of the northern Free Cities. He joined the Martell household at Sunspear along with Prince Doran's wife, a Norvoshi noblewoman. He has been a trusted servant of the Martells for many years, and is renowned for his skill with his longaxe.

Season 5
Areo Hotah is overlooking the Water Gardens with Doran when Ellaria Sand tries to approach the Prince. Hotah blocks her passage, and tells her that the Prince does not wish to be disturbed. In turn, she threatens him, yet Hotah does not move until Prince Doran tells him to let her pass. She berates Doran for doing nothing about his brother's murder, and tells him that she and Oberyn's daughters want Dorne to take up arms and avenge Oberyn. She also wants to harm Myrcella Baratheon in order to send Cersei Lannister a message. Doran strictly forbids her from harming Myrcella while he rules. Ellaria voices doubts that Doran will remain in power if he continues to do nothing, and then storms off. Hotah lets her pass, yet meaningfully indicates his axe to the Prince, but Doran shakes his head and returns his attention to the Water Gardens.

As Trystane and Myrcella take a walk through the Water Gardens, Areo and Doran watch over them. The prince tells his captain that they need to protect the two, as a betrothal between two Houses who hate each other will only lead to danger for both of them. He asks if Areo remembers how to use his longaxe as it has been a long time that he hadn't used it. Areo assures him that he remembers.'

Areo leads the Prince's guard to break up the fight between the Sand Snakes and Jaime Lannister and his accomplice, Bronn, when they try to take Myrcella. Obara angrily claims that they fight for Dorne and asks who he fights for. Areo repeats his command that they should all drop their weapons. Surrounded and outnumbered, the Sand Snakes obey. When Jaime tries to make a move, Areo moves fast and places his longaxe at his neck, saying the fight would have been a worthy one when he had been whole. Jaime drops his sword and the guards take them all into custody. Ellaria Sand is also arrested for her part in the attempted kidnapping.

In the books
In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, Areo Hotah is described as a large, broad-shouldered man with white hair. He wields a large axe with a shaft six feet long. He is apparently Caucasian in the books - or at least, the line about his "white hair" inspired official artwork to depict him as Caucasian - while the TV series cast black actor DeObia Oparei in the role. This is not out of keeping for the Free Cities, whose populations are often diverse mixtures descended from Valyrian slaves brought in from far away lands. Westeros.org's review of the casting announcement pointed out that in some ways this could be seen as making up for the omission of Strong Belwas from the TV continuity, who is also a large, black, staunchly loyal guardsman, who entered into the service of Daenerys Targaryen (not that TV-Areo has been "combined" with Strong Belwas: Belwas is huge and strong but also very stout and fat, and is a eunuch).

As the youngest of six children, Areo was sold to priests of the local religion to be trained as a servant, which is a common practice in the Free Cities - similar to how Thoros, as an eighth son, was given over to the temple of the Lord of Light in Myr. The Bearded Priests of Norvos are a militant order, famed for training young boys into highly dependable guardsmen proficient in combat with an axe. Areo finished his training when he was sixteen years old, and as is customary, his chest was branded with his axe to signify the event.

Areo has been in Doran's service since he married Mellario of Norvos, a noblewoman from the Free Cities. Doran and Mellario wed for love, not to secure a political alliance, but as the years passed they became estranged and Mellario moved back to Norvos. Areo remained in Dorne to guard her and Doran's children: he has seen each of them grow up, and has an avuncular attachment to them. Still, his loyalty to Doran supersedes his loyalty to Doran's children. He lives up to his vow "Serve, Obey, Protect".

Areo found Dorne and its culture to be quite alien when he first arrived: Norvos is one of the northern Free Cities and has a relatively colder climate, very different from the hot deserts of Dorne with its spicy foods and exotic culture. Over time, however, he became quite attached to the Martells.

Areo Hotah is the only significant character from Norvos to appear within the first five novels: only two other named characters from Norvos are even mentioned. Lady Mellario herself is important to Areo and Doran's backstory, but because she moved back to Norvos she is mentioned but does not appear within the narrative. The only other named Norvoshi was Byan Votris, captain of the trade caravan to Vaes Dothrak which contained the Wineseller who tried to poison Daenerys.

It is not yet clear if the TV-version of Areo will still be from Norvos, or if the TV series will give the explanation that he is from the Summer Islands but grew up in Norvos, or if he was simply living in the Summer Islands immediately before he came to Dorne (and never lived in Norvos). When other characters such as Xaro Xhoan Daxos or Salladhor Saan were changed to be black in the TV series, the writers introduced the explanation that they were originally "from" the Summer Islands before moving to their current home (i.e. Xaro directly states that he was originally from the Summer Islands). The Summer Islands are very close to Dorne, being located directly south from Dorne across the Summer Sea, so it actually isn't implausible to find Summer Islanders living in Dorne.

Areo's weapon in the TV series seems somewhat more like a glaive than a longaxe as described in the novels, though a glaive is still a kind of axe (it is still used for slashing attacks, not thrusting attacks like a spear). Either way, the TV series Weapons Master Tommy Dunne, who designed and made it, describes Areo's weapon as as an "axe" in behind-the-scenes videos. Norvoshi axes in the novels are double-headed. The prop used for the TV version is over seven feet long.

In the books, Areo does indeed stop a scheme involving the Sand Snakes, Kingsguard and Myrcella Baratheon, with the minor difference being that he actually kills Ser Arys Oakheart in battle by beheading him before the others are taken into custody. In the series, nobody is killed in the skirmish, although Areo does briefly point his axe at Jaime Lannister's neck, which may be a reference to Oakheart's death in the novels.