Westeros Notorious Rulers and Families

Doran Martell

Prince Dorne was also known as Prince of Dorne, Lord of Sunspear, and Castellan of Sunspear. He has four siblings of the same parents.Prince Dorne married Mellario of Norvos, and together they had three children Arianne Martell, Quentyn Martell, and Trystane Martell.Early Life: Doran was the firstborn child of his parents, and thus heir to his mother, the Princess of Dorne. For years, he was an only child, as his mother had several miscarriages. While he would have four siblings, Mors and Olyvar, both died in the cradle. Doran spent several years of his childhood at the Water Gardens, and by the age of nine, he was a squire to Lord Gargalen at Salt Shore. While there, his mother gave birth to his sister, Elia. As Elia had been born one month premature, Doran was convinced that his sister too would die, as their brothers had done before, but she survived. A year later, Doran's brother Oberyn was born.As a young man, Doran took a tour through the Free Cities. He visited Volantis and next went to Norvos, where he met his future wife, Lady Mellario. They fell in love and Mellario returned to Dorne with Doran, where they were betrothed and would soon marry. Areo Hotah escorted Mellario and entered the service of House Martell. In 273 AC, when his mother, her consort, and Doran's two younger siblings traveled through the south of Seven Kingdoms on a quest to find suitable matches for Elia and Oberyn, Doran stayed behind as castellan of Sunspear, with Mellario. Although Mellario was highborn enough to become his wife, most marriages between nobles in Westeros were political. A love match is very uncommon. In 276 AC, Doran and Mellario's first child, Arianne, was born. Around 279 AC, Doran inherited the rule of Dorne. An unknown amount of time after his siblings had traveled to find suitable marriage candidates, Doran's brother Oberyn fought in a duel with Lord Edgar Yronwood. Due to Oberyn's high birth and young age, the two men had agreed to duel until first blood. Both men were injured, but when Oberyn's cuts healed, and Edgar's festered, eventually resulting in his death, it was whispered that Oberyn had fought with a poisoned blade. Doran acted swiftly, sending Oberyn into temporary exile.Prince of Dorne: Doran's sister Elia Martell was betrothed to Prince Rhaegar Targaryen, the heir of King Aerys II Targaryen, in early 279 AC, and wed him a year later. She had two young children by Rhaegar, Princess Rhaenys and Prince Aegon. When Rhaegar disappeared with Lyanna Stark in 282 AC, not long after Aegon's birth, it started a chain of events leading to Robert's Rebellion, in which the north and several houses from the stormlands and the Vale of Arryn (later joined by several houses from the Riverlands) fought against the Iron Throne and House Targaryen. Doran was furious about the way Elia had been treated by Rhaegar, and as a consequence was slow to lend any aid to the Targaryens. After Rhaegar returned from the south to King's Landing, Doran agreed to send ten thousand Dornishmen to fight in the loyalist army, under the command of his uncle, Prince Lewyn Martell of the Kingsguard, understanding that Elia, as the wife to the crown prince, would one day become queen, and that her son Aegon would one day be king.However, Rhaegar died at the Battle of the Trident, as did Doran's uncle, Lewyn, and King Aerys, believing that Lewyn had betrayed Rhaegar on the Trident, refused to send Elia and her children to Dragonstone alongside his own wife, Queen Rhaella Targaryen, and their son Viserys. Not long after, during the Sack of King's Landing, Elia and her children were killed by Ser Gregor Clegane and Ser Amory Lorch, men from the Lannister host. The new king, Robert I Baratheon, was accepting of their deaths. As a consequence, Doran's brother Oberyn attempted to raise Dorne for the exiled Viserys during the year after the rebellion, but the new Hand of the King, Lord Jon Arryn, traveled to Sunspear to return Prince Lewyn's bones, and spoke with Doran, ending all talks of rebellion.However, Doran desired revenge for the deaths of Elia and her children as well, and for this purpose, worked closely together with his brother Oberyn for years, planning on destroying all that Lord Tywin Lannister holds dear, before killing him as well. To this end, Oberyn traveled to Braavos, where Ser Willem Darry had fled with Viserys and Daenerys Targaryen. A secret pact was made, with Oberyn signing for Dorne, and with the Sealord of Braavos as a witness, betrothing Doran's daughter Arianne to the exiled King Viserys.Doran also sent his son Quentyn, born in 281 AC, to serve Lord Ormond Yronwood as a page, and later squire. Quentyn's fostering was done to make peace with the Ironwoods, as enmity between the two houses had arisen after the death of Lord Edgar Yronwood. However, this caused another strain on Doran's marriage to Mellario. Although they had married out of love, their marriage had not been very happy. Mellario had not been able to get used to the Dornish customs, which were so different from the Norvoshi customs. As such, Mellario did not approve of Quentyn's fostering, which is not common in Norvoshi culture, believing her son to be much too young at the time. When Doran, after sending Quentyn to Yronwood, planned to send Arianne to Tyrosh to serve as the cupbearer to the Archon of Tyrosh, which would have enabled her to meet her betrothed in secret, Mellario threatened to harm herself, should Doran steal another one of her children. Not wanting to hurt his wife, Doran thus kept Arianne in Dorne. Doran and his wife had a third child, Trystane, who was born in 287 AC. However, Doran and Mellario's marriage continued to deteriorate, and she would never forgive Doran for sending Quentyn away. Eventually, she went back to Norvos. While he had planned to tell Arianne about her betrothal to the last Targaryen heir when she was sixteen, he decided to keep the secret from her due to her spirited and willful nature. Unbeknownst to Doran, however, Arianne had read a letter Doran had been writing to Quentyn, in which he mentioned that Quentyn would inherit the rule of Dorne from Doran. Thus, she had come to believe that Doran's coolness towards her was due to the fact that he wanted to disinherit her and name Quentyn his heir instead. When Doran suggests numerous aged suitors to her (including Lord Walder Frey, Lord Ben Beesbury, Lord Gyles Rosby, and Lord Estermont), whilst declining more age-matched suitors (like Ser Edmure Tully and Willas Tyrell), it only strengthens her beliefs. In truth, Doran had feared that it would be suspicious if he was not seen trying to arrange a betrothal for Arianne, and had only made the suggestions he had because he had known she would reject every single one.Doran eventually became afflicted with gout. In 298 AC, when still capable of walking, albeit with a stick, Doran moved from Sunspear to the Water Gardens. Two years later, however, Doran's gout has become far worse, and he is no longer able to walk, but instead is usually confined to a wheelchair. Not wanting his enemies to know how feeble he has grown, he remained at the Water Gardens, where he is far away from curious eyes. At the Water Gardens, the summer home of the Martells, he prefers to watch the children at their play, sitting quietly on the terras amongst the orange trees. He only sees his trusted courtiers and advisors, summoning his brother Oberyn twice every fortnight, and his daughter Arianne twice a year.Recent Events: After Joffrey I Baratheon has been crowned king, Doran Martell and his sons are summoned to court at King's Landing to swear fealty to the Iron Throne. Varys tells Lord Eddard Stark that the Martells still harbor hatred for the Lannisters for what befell Princess Elia and her children.Renly Baratheon assumes that House Martell will support him during the War of the Five Kings, but Tyrion Lannister, as acting Hand of the King, offers to betroth Princess Myrcella Baratheon to Doran's youngest son, Prince Trystane Martell, as well as offering Doran justice for his murdered sister Elia and her children, and giving him a seat on the king's small council, and some castles on the Dornish Marches, in return for his loyalty to King Joffrey and support of Dorne in the war. Doran accepts the terms, and by the time Myrcella leaves King's Landing to begin her journey to Sunspear, he has called his banners. Once Myrcella arrives in Braavos, Doran sends his armies to the high passes. While Doran will not send out his armies to give battle unless Dorne itself is in danger, Tyrion Lannister hopes that sending the armies of Dorne to the borders will make the Marcher lords rethink their loyalty, as well as halt Stannis Baratheon in marching north.Because his health does not permit him to travel, Doran sends his younger brother Prince Oberyn to King's Landing to claim the small council seat he had been promised and attend King Joffrey's wedding to Lady Margaery Tyrell.After Oberyn dies during Tyrion Lannister's trial by battle, Doran refuses every suggestion of going to war to avenge his brother, stating that Oberyn's death, by law, was no murder. He returns to Sunspear from the Water Gardens, to show his people that he still holds power. In order to maintain the peace in Dorne, he has Oberyn's bastard daughters (except Sarella, who is not in Dorne) imprisoned in comfortable confinement. He also meets Princess Myrcella Baratheon and her sworn shield, Ser Arys Oakheart of the Kingsguard, for the first time. After Areo Hotah and his guards foil Princess Arianne's plan to crown Myrcella, Doran has Arianne arrested and confined for several weeks of solitude. Eventually, he frees her, and they discuss why Arianne betrayed him, before Doran reveals to her that he had been working to restore House Targaryen, and had been plotting to rob Lord Tywin Lannister of all he held dear before killing him ever since he learned about Elia's death. With Viserys Targaryen dead, Doran now wants to ally House Martell with Queen Daenerys Targaryen and has sent his son Prince Quentyn to Essos to escort her to Westeros.Doran has his bannermen delay Ser Balon Swann of the Kingsguard, sent by Dowager Queen Cersei Lannister, due to Myrcella's injuries after Arianne's failed plot. He eventually arrives at Sunspear, where a feast is held in his honor. Doran's daughter Princess Arianne, now fully aware of his plans, sits beside him. Doran has also released Oberyn's three eldest daughters, Obara, Tyene, and Nymeria from captivity, and in front of the three eldest Sand Snakes, Ellaria Sand, Areo Hotah, and half the nobility of Dorne, Doran is presented with the skull of Ser Gregor Clegane.Ser Balon states that Cersei wishes him to bring Princess Myrcella back to King's Landing to visit her brother, King Tommen I Baratheon. Doran is invited to fill the vacant Dornish seat on the small council, while Prince Trystane is invited to see the city and befriend the young king. When Doran suggests that traveling by ship may be easier, this unnerves Ser Balon, who states that a voyage by sea would be too dangerous. Doran agrees he is probably right. In a private chamber, Doran Martell reveals to Tyene, Obara, Nymeria, Areo Hotah, and his daughter that Cersei's invitation is an ambush. According to a friend at the court of King's Landing, the party would be ambushed by brigands shouting "half man" in the Kingswood, and Trystane would be killed in the attack. Afterward, Ser Balon would falsely claim that he saw Tyrion Lannister. The revelation of this plan shocks the elder three daughters of Oberyn. Doran says he had been dubious of the plot himself until Ser Balon Swann confirmed his suspicions, by trying to persuade him to avoid a voyage by ship (which would have disrupted all of Cersei's arrangements). Obara, Nymeria, and Tyene are enraged, but Doran will not allow them to harm Ser Balon or his companions as they are under the protection of the guest's right.To stop this scheme from coming to fruition, Doran has Ser Balon brought to Myrcella, allowing him to find out about her injuries by Ser Gerold Dayne. Myrcella lies (under Arianne's direction), claiming that Gerold also killed Ser Arys Oakheart, begging Ser Balon to bring Dayne to justice. Doran has Obara Sand escort Ser Balon to High Hermitage, and he is currently hunting for Darkstar. Doran sends Nymeria Sand to King's Landing to claim the vacant seat on the small council, and Tyene Sand to the Great Sept of Baelor to befriend the New High Septon.While Doran waits for word from his son, Prince Quentyn, he hears news that a fleet of ships is sailing from Lys to Westeros.