Elia Martell

Elia was born a month early, the fourth daughter of the Princess of Dorne. She grew up in poor health and, by all accounts, close to her younger brother Oberyn.

When she came of age to marry, her mother sent her on a tour of Westeros to meet suitors, with Oberyn along for company. She turned every one of them down; her brother's conduct on the trip did not help matters.

There was one more serious attempt at Casterly Rock, where the Princess of Dorne hoped to match her children with the twins of her old friend Joanna Lannister. They arrived too late — Joanna had died in childbirth shortly before — and Lord Tywin, who already had his eye on marrying Cersei to Prince Rhaegar, showed no interest in the plan.

In 279 AC, Elia was formally betrothed to Prince Rhaegar Targaryen, heir to King Aerys II. The match was as much alliance as payback: Lord Tywin had long wanted that same marriage for Cersei, and had once refused a Lannister-Martell union himself.

The wedding took place the following year at the Great Sept of Baelor in King's Landing. The king did not attend, saying he felt unsafe leaving the Red Keep even with his Kingsguard around him, and he kept his other son Viserys from going too. The couple made their home at Dragonstone instead.

They had two children. Rhaenys was born in 280 AC; when she was brought to meet the king and queen, Rhaella welcomed her warmly, but Aerys refused to hold her, complaining that she "smelled Dornish." A son, Aegon, followed; the birth left Elia so weak that her maesters told Rhaegar she could bear no more children, and she had already spent half a year in bed after Rhaenys was born.

Those who knew them describe a marriage that held up despite Elia's frail health: Ser Barristan Selmy remembered Rhaegar as devoted to her, and praised her sharp wit.

At the Tourney of Harrenhal, Rhaegar won the jousts and crowned Lyanna Stark, a northern girl, Queen of Love and Beauty. How Elia took it is not recorded. A year later, by the account that became official, Rhaegar carried Lyanna off, and that abduction was the spark for Robert Baratheon's rebellion.

Rhaegar died at Robert's hands at the Trident. King Aerys, already gripped by suspicion, came to believe Prince Lewyn Martell had betrayed his son in that battle, and held Elia and her children in King's Landing as hostages against Dorne.

When the city fell, Rhaenys was stabbed to death, and soon after Gregor Clegane killed young Aegon and raped and killed Elia. Both men were acting on Tywin Lannister's orders; he later said his instructions had been to remove the princes and clear the throne for Robert, and that he had simply forgotten to give orders about her. Oberyn never believed that — he thought Tywin had killed Elia on purpose, over Aerys's refusal to marry Rhaegar to Cersei.

The bodies of Elia and her children, wrapped in a Lannister cloak, were laid before Robert as proof of loyalty. Eddard Stark was sickened by the sight; Robert said nothing at all.

Elia's death, and her children's, left the Martells furious. Oberyn wanted to keep fighting for Viserys, the last Targaryen left, but Doran, who had inherited Dorne's rule from their mother, knew they lacked the strength for it and made peace with the Iron Throne instead.

It would later come out that Doran had given up nothing: for years he had been quietly planning the Targaryens' return to the throne, and his own reckoning with Tywin Lannister, whom he and Oberyn both held responsible for the killings.

Oberyn got his chance when Tyrion Lannister demanded trial by combat and Oberyn stepped up as his champion, against Cersei's champion Gregor Clegane. In the fight he forced a confession out of the Mountain and wounded him with a poisoned spear, but Gregor won in the end and killed him.