[Oberyn Martell — Characters]
Tyrion is sent to welcome Prince Doran Martell to King's Landing. As he, Podrick, and Bronn are expecting the Dornishman, they spot Martell bannermen coming their way. Tyrion greets them, but they inform him that Prince Doran's declining health prevents him from leaving Sunspear , and therefore he has sent his brother Prince Oberyn Martell to attend King Joffrey's wedding in his stead. They also explain that Oberyn went ahead and entered the city before dawn. Tyrion quickly puts together that he may be at one of Littlefinger's brothels. When Tyrion arrives, he finds Prince Oberyn stabbing a man's hand for singing " The Rains of Castamere ." He is introduced to Oberyn's paramour , Ellaria Sand , and asks the Dornishman to talk in private.
Later, Tyrion is approached by Oberyn Martell , who tells Tyrion of their first encounter: As children, Oberyn and his sister Elia were told stories of the "monster" that had been born to Tywin Lannister. During a childhood visit to Casterly Rock , Cersei showed Tyrion, with great ceremony, to Oberyn and Elia. Oberyn tells Tyrion that, to his disappointment, he saw no monster, just a baby. Cersei told Oberyn and his sister that Tyrion killed her mother, and then cruelly assaulted Tyrion until Jaime stopped her. Oberyn tells Tyrion that he seeks justice for the death of his sister, and Tyrion replies that he will "find none here." Oberyn counters that he is in the perfect place; all those he means to bring to justice for his sister's murder are close at hand. Intending to start his revenge with Gregor Clegane, Oberyn offers his service as Tyrion's champion in the coming trial by combat.
In A Storm of Swords , when Joffrey is poisoned, Cersei is quick to blame Tyrion and have him put on a farcical show trial, which leads him to demand a trial by combat. As this occurs around the same time Jaime returns to the capital, Tyrion confers with his uncle Kevan while in custody, and it is Kevan who persuades Tywin to spare Tyrion and send him to the Night's Watch. After Oberyn Martell is killed and Tyrion is sentenced to death, he is freed by Jaime, who goes on to reveal that his marriage to Tysha was actually a proper marriage and he had been forced by Tywin to make it look like it had been staged. Enraged at such a betrayal, Tyrion vows revenge on Jaime, Cersei and Tywin, spitefully but falsely telling Jaime that he killed Joffrey, and it is for this reason that he confronts and kills Shae and then Tywin while he is on the privy (in the television series, he kills Tywin for Shae, which left some fans confused as to why Tyrion would kill his own father for a woman who committed the ultimate betrayal against him and who he himself had just killed). His story ends just after he kills Tywin, and unlike the end of the fourth season, it is left unrevealed if he escaped Westeros or not.
Initially worried for the possibility of Clegane's failure, as Tyrion's champion, Oberyn Martell , has more passion throughout the fight, as Clegane killed his sister, Elia Martell . However, this ultimately proves to be Oberyn's downfall, as Gregor manages to maneuver him to the ground and crush his skull. She watches proudly as the Mountain defeats him and smiles as their father sentences Tyrion to death. She later sees to the treatment of Ser Gregor's wounds.
Tywin does plan to find a new husband for Cersei, though not Loras Tyrell , who has been made a Kingsguard after the battle of the Blackwater. Willas Tyrell , Mace 's eldest son and heir (who does not appear in the TV series), is Tywin's first choice. However, Olenna Tyrell vetoes the match in revenge for the Lannisters foiling her plot to marry Sansa to Willas, claiming that Cersei is "too old and too used" for her precious grandson. Prince Oberyn Martell and Balon Greyjoy are also suggested as a match. Cersei never threatens her father with revealing Tommen's true parentage if she is forced to re-marry; she does object, exclaiming that she is not a brood mare, but Tywin firmly tells her that she will marry and breed in order to refute the rumor Stannis spread about her incest (which she did). Grudgingly, Cersei asks for a few days to consider that. As things turn to be, Tywin dies before Cersei is forced to marry anyone.
On the day of the trial by combat, when Oberyn Martell has agreed to fight for Tyrion, Jaime visits Tyrion in his cell. They discuss their dead cousin Orson Lannister and his habit of smashing beetles with rocks for no reason. Tyrion says he used to watch Orson for long periods of time and think about the reason behind his actions, but he hasn't come to any conclusion why all those countless beetles had to be killed. When Jaime says he doesn't know either, bells start tolling and he wishes Tyrion good luck. Shortly after, he seats himself next to Tywin, Mace Tyrell , Cersei, Pycelle and Varys in the royal box to watch the duel. He exchanges a few supportive and cheerful looks with Tyrion when Oberyn seems to be winning, but is very unhappy at the result of the trial by combat, which condemns his brother to death - the Mountain crushing Oberyn's skull with his bare hands.
Jaime and Bronn, disguised as Dornish soldiers, finally reach the Water Gardens and find Myrcella with Trystane Martell . Myrcella is understandably surprised to see her alleged uncle in Dorne, but as Jaime attempts to persuade his daughter to flee with him, they are attacked by the Sand Snakes, who plan to kill Myrcella in order to force Doran Martell into war with the Lannisters to avenge Oberyn Martell's death. Jaime and Bronn fight with the Sand Snakes, with Jaime focused on Obara Sand , until Doran's bodyguard, Areo Hotah , appears with a handful of Martell guards and orders them to stand down. Jaime is briefly mocked by Areo for his missing hand before he drops his weapon, and he, Bronn, the Sand Snakes and Ellaria Sand are all arrested.
Though gone, Joffrey's death has devastating consequences. Tyrion is put on a farcical court trial for Joffrey's murder, prompting him to demand a trial by combat . That decision ultimately leads to the near-fatal injury of Gregor Clegane and the deaths of Prince Oberyn Martell , Shae and Tywin himself . For his part, Tyrion is freed by Jaime from imprisonment and smuggled out of Westeros after he is sentenced to death. Oberyn's death also leads to conflict with Dorne that results in the death of Myrcella. Olenna Tyrell later confides to Margaery that it was she who poisoned Joffrey in order to protect her from Joffrey's beastly nature that he had very clearly displayed with Sansa, and Petyr Baelish reveals to Sansa that he and Dontos Hollard provided Olenna with the poison.
Gregor has a nearly uncontrollable temper, and is capable of very brutal violence for the slightest provocation. According to Sandor, he once killed one of his men for snoring. When he was in Harrenhal, a servant girl named Pia spoke when he wanted silence, so he smashed her face in with his mailed fist, breaking her nose and many of her teeth. According to his squire, Gregor frequently suffers extremely severe headaches, and drinks milk of the poppy as other men would quaff ale to treat them. This has had the unfortunate effect of rendering milk of the poppy less effective as a painkiller to treat Gregor for other injuries, as Pycelle discovers while trying to treat the poisoned spear wounds Oberyn Martell inflicted on him; Gregor is left screaming in agony from his injuries night and day, with milk of the poppy providing him no relief.
The Street of Silk is one of the major red light districts in King's Landing, if not the major one. It is located on the western side of Rhaenys's Hill, opposite Flea Bottom on the eastern side, and relatively close to the Old Gate. Many brothels are located here, some of variable quality, but several which are quite upscale and which cater to the wealthy nobility. In the books, the brothel here that features in the narrative is owned and run by Chataya, a woman from the Summer Isles . Robert's bastard baby girl Barra was born to one of Chataya's prostitutes (named Mhaegen in the TV series). Bronn also celebrated his new knighthood at Chataya's, and Oberyn Martell was also a customer. In the TV series, most of these events were condensed so that the brothel is actually owned by Littlefinger (who does own several other brothels in the books); it therefore stands to reason that in the TV continuity, Littlefinger's brothel is also located on the Street of Silk, on the northwest side of the city.
Another subtle hint of Welsh/Cornish inspiration for Dorne is that despite its people and climate physically bearing a closer resemblance to Moorish Spain, many Dornish characters have names taken from Celtic mythology: one of Prince Doran's sons is outright named " Trystane Martell " (as in the Cornish knight Tristan from the romance of Tristan and Iseult ), and " Oberyn Martell " is a homonym for " Oberon " (magical king of the fairies/sprites and powerful sorcerer, also several other characters from Arthurian myth); others have names which appear in French adaptations of the original Welsh Arthurian myths - Arianne (Ariane), Quentyn (Quentin), Lewyn (Lewin), etc. instead of pseudo Moorish-style names. However, it is important to take into account that Celtic culture is also a part of the multicultural heritage that Spain takes from it's northern countries, like Asturias or Galicia, where Celts also settled.