We haven’t seen much of Ellaria and the Sand Snakes in Game of Thrones. In their story so far, Ellaria witnessed the Mountain’s all-too enthusiastic rubbing of Oberyn’s eyes, recruited his bastard daughters —Obara, Nymeria and Tyene— and plotted their revenge. After a spectacularly botched assassination attempt, they got it right on their second attempt, murdering Princess Myrcella, Prince Doran, and his son and heir Prince Trystane. Ellaria took power by taking advantage of the hotbed of dissension in Dorne, and then, along with Olenna Tyrell, decided to align herself with Daenerys.
Since Ellaria and the Sand Snakes will be along for the ride with the Dragon Queen, one would think we are going to see more of them this time, albeit in a purely supporting capacity —Which, pardon the editorializing, may be where these characters shine. They are not dreadfully terrible as some argue; It’s just that they may serve better as pieces in the board for the major players in the game —That is, supporting the main characters.
However, we haven’t seen much of their actresses. In fact, the only blip in the radar was a sighting of Indira Varma and Rosabell Laurenti Sellers back in September, which confirmed the return of Ellaria and her daughter Tyene. Then, there was nothing, not a single trace of them —That is, Until today! The Sand Snakes have arrived in Spain.
This evening, Indira Varma and Rosabell Laurenti Sellers were sighted again, but this time it was in Cáceres, Spain. They took a photo with a local fan, Indosfemo:
@Frikidoctor @yeahclarke las Martel en Cáceres pic.twitter.com/9RTKGzdwXt
— Indosfemo (@Indosfemo) December 13, 2016
Unless they have hidden in the grass like a viper, Varma and Laurenti-Sellers appear to have arrived today, just in time for tomorrow’s filming at the Old Town of Cáceres. The two main sets are ready —And, in particular, the one to be used tomorrow is decorated for what appears to be a Lannister-themed occasion. What does this mean? Read ahead for some speculation… But it involves major season seven spoilers, so please BEWARE!
A few months ago, Watchers on the Wall exclusively reported Euron would pledge his forces to Cersei and attack Daenerys’ Westerosi fleets, kidnapping one of his Greyjoy niblings and killing at least one of the Sand Snakes. If we connect the dots, Euron’s success means he may return victorious to the capital and flaunt his booty and captives in a big parade… like the one the showrunners discussed back in February —Which could be the set they built from the Arco de la Estrella at Plaza Mayor, through the street of the same name, to Plaza de Santa María, and perhaps Plaza de San Jorge too. Decorated as a marketplace, the set at Plaza de las Veletas looks like it belongs in a different scene —Perhaps with Davos and Gendry, as we recently speculated. Indeed, earlier today HOY confirmed that filming at Las Veletas will take place on Thursday.
If this mix of suspicions and spoilers pans out, it would mean Obara and/or Nymeria are the Sand Snakes who die during the sea battle, while Ellaria and Tyene survive… Only to be kidnapped, paraded through the streets of King’s Landing, and meet what I can only imagine is an even worst fate at the hands of Cersei and Euron. Together, these two like-minded mad monarchs could think up truly perverse tortures and executions.
They have to give these characters something to do next season. It’s too bad they were so over hyped last season.
I like Indira Varma but I don’t like how the Sand Snakes are portrayed (one of the few things I dislike about the show). I liked some of their scenes in the last half of Season 5 but I really want to see them in better written scenes. Let’s hope we get that in Season 7.
This is going to be brutal…
This parade thing could potentially be a horrifyingly great scene, if done properly, signifying Cersei and Euron’s madness and love for violence.
Fingers crossed!
This article spoiler text:
Ha! Precisely what I was writing about in the other thread. I think it makes perfect sense. If it would be an early enough scene, perhaps it actually could be Euron’s “bargaining chip” that I suggested. He may be fighting independently until he suddenly attains some sweet morsels to wave in front of Cersei… and is the beginning of their “partnership.” Or, it could simply be a successful mission… shrug
So THIS is the parade…. Can’t say we all saw this coming, guys! It’s going to be brutal, I agree.
PUBLIC EXECUTION FTW!!!!
I love feel-good news stories. ?
There are Westerosi in Dany’s fleet but it’s mostly Essososi.
Well… To be honest I’d probably given them the same treatment if they had murdered my young daugther 😛
Boojam,
Hm… Of course, hence the distinction I made 😉
Clob,
Luka Nieto,
I suppose it would be. I was just pondering the idea that perhaps he was on his way to do that when the sea battle ensues, and whatta ya know, a fortunate coincidence that he captures a couple from Cersei’s most hated list.
Clob,
I can see that happening.
Yup. I don’t like the Sand Snakes (but don’t hate them as much as many here do) and I liked Ellaria in S4 before she became a murdering psychopath. While I don’t doubt they have to pay for killing innocent Myrcella, I fear the brutal punishment Cersei and Euron will dole out is going to be difficult to watch. I still can’t think about the fate of Septa Unella without cringing, now I cringe thinking about what horrors await Ellaria and Tyene. It sounds like Obarra and Nymeria will at least get quick deaths.
sebaciel,
Luka Nieto,
Sooner or later? LOL They prolly start final prepping and filming in a few hours from now and only for 2 days. He should arrive………like 2 days ago.
If parade is in Caceres and it involves sand snakes and Euron, why are NCW and Lena in Croatia? What are they shooting in Croatia if not parade? Why wouldn’t they shoot whatever they shoot in Croatia involving Jaime, Cersei and the mountain, in Caceres (as they already prepared a KL set)?
sebaciel,
These actresses arrived today, apparently. Pilou might have too. They are filming tomorrow. We’ll see soon enough.
innocence,
You guys realize this is not a documentary, right? It’s all shot in pieces. If Cersei and Jaime are not in this part of the sequence, they are not needed in Cáceres. If the parade goes all the way to the Red Keep, that’s where Cersei should be… And that would be shot in Belfast, not Cáceres.
We don’t know what they’re filming in Croatia yet.
Luka Nieto,
Lena and co being in Croatia means she will have outdoor scene(s) in King’s Landing as well. Is it so implausible to link them with the parade?
innocence,
Presumably they’re in Croatia to make use of venues they used in previous seasons.
sebaciel,
Of course it’s not implausible. But if they’re not in Cáceres it simply means they don’t appear in this part of this sequence, not necessarily the whole thing.
As for Croatia, Sean is right: They’re likely there because they’re reusing an iconic location. Which one, and for what purpose? We don’t know yet.
Ugh, if this is really a public Execution of some sort, I imagine it won’t be very pleasant. Perhaps this is not only to get revenge on the sand snakes and to satisfy Euron and Cersei’s bloodlust but the parade might be Cersei’s way of showing the people what will happen to them if even one of them betray her as she has to know that it was the civil (slave) rebellion that got Dany Mereen and the people aren’t exactly fans of Cersei but she can put fear into their hearts to secure them not betraying her.
Gemma Whelan posting about being somewhere with a language barrier.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BN-CzGAhQII/?taken-by=gemwhelan
I mean she could be anywhere else where English isn’t spoken and this is by no means proof…but it would make a lot of sense if she were there though, wouldn’t it?
Mel,
If it was a public execution they would have probably built a platform for the act itself. I don’t think they’ll do more than walk through these squares.
Greenjones,
Good find!
Luka Nieto,
Sure, Jaime and Cersei don’t have to be a part of the parade in Caceres. That’s not my point. My point is that Croatia filming seems more and more weird, because our only guess about Croatia filming was that it could be the parade, right? Now we are clueless about it if it’s not the parade. And it’s weird because why do they shoot everything else in Spain but go to another country to shoot some other outdoor scenes involving at least Jaime, Cersei and the mountain (and maybe extras, if I remember correctly), although they already have sets for KL in Spain. I can’t think of any other outdoor scenes involving Jaime, Cersei and the mountain based on the leaks and spoilers so far, that’s why I’m curious about this.
Yours might have been. But the total lack of set building and very little talk of extras means they probably won’t film something so big. In fact, the fact that the actors are already in Croatia but no set has been built in Dubrovnik can only mean one thing in my eyes: They’ll film at the city’s iconic walls, which have defined King’s Landing probably more than the streets of the city. Or somewhere similar that needs very few if any modifications or additions.
I already explained why. They did the same in season six. They could have filmed the arrival of Myrcella’s corpse in Spain, but they went to Dubrovnik just to film that because it was a known location, precisely the place Myrcella departed. This will probably be something similar. For example, they may need King’s Landing’s walls, which the characters have walked across many times and we know very well. You have to go to Dubrovnik for that.
And remember, the leaks and spoilers haven’t gone through every single scene, let alone the particular setting of the few scenes that are specifically described. I think you’re being a bit unreasonable here.
Sean C.,
Hmm…so do you mean both Caceres and Croatia can be the same parade, but they are shooting Euron-sand snakes parts in Caceres and Jaime-Cersei parts in Croatia? But isn’t it a bit weird that they don’t shoot Euron-sand snakes parts also in Croatia then?
A shame parade and public execution of Ellaria, Tyene and Yara would be in keeping with GOT.
Luka Nieto,
I wouldn’t say unreasonable, but maybe unreasonably suspicious 🙂
There are photos of GOT set in Dubrovnik.
Are you sure about that? A woman is tweeting old GoT-related stuff, in this case pictures of a Dubrovnik set… which are from season five. There is also the enormous set they’re building outside the walls… For a new Robin Hood film. But I have seen nothing current about Game of Thrones, have you?
I like Indira Varma and I think she will be great in this scene.
I think it makes sense for the show to use Yara and Ellaria to show how horrific Euron and Cersei are without killing a major character, that D&D need for the rest of the show.
They were not hyped in the least: all of the hype was reserved for the main characters. (Fans created fake hype by writing about them incessantly: but Joe & Jane HBO Subscriber never would have seen anything other than the “Is Jon Dead?” and “What is happening to Daenerys?!?” or “Is Arya permanently blind???” that was on all of the entertainment magazines and news sites. (They seemed to finally toned down on the “Growing up Stark” stuff from the prior two years.)
Wimsey,
I think thorne garnet meant season five, not six. But even then, the Sand Snakes only got one promotional video and appeared briefly in the trailer. The hype was mostly fan-made… as it usually is.
What about Davos, Tyrion and Gendry in King’s Landing? They only filmed the beach scene.
sebaciel,
Wait for Thursday, probably, as the article explains if you read it 😉
Luka Nieto,
But we got many interviews with them before S5.
mau,
True, we got a few interviews. The Dorne cast and the High Sparrow were the only notable new cast members that season, however minor, so it made sense.
I really hated what they did with Dorne and the Sandsnakes, but damn, I really don’t want them to go out this way.
So this is the parade that was promised! Ugh I hope Yara is not part of this, as I guess it’s going to be a very ugly end for the captives.
Luka, you can’t put a good spin on the TV Sand Snakes; the show itself admitted it was a failed experiment when it randomly abandoned the Dorne subplot in Season 6.
I think the actresses are good in other things but they were wasted in this.
The Sand Snakes are the one point where you shouldn’t dig in and try to defend the TV show.
The Dragon Demands,
As a person that dislikes everything Dorne and Sand Snakes in the novels there’s nothing anyone can dig in and defend to me in that regard either. They made an attempt to highlight some shit book subplots that aren’t entertaining to begin with. Certain elements were important to convey however, but in both mediums they appear trivial, unnecessary and ended up boring regardless of the author.
NOOOOOOOOOO!
I love Indira Varma, so there’s that :/
Luka Nieto,
“In fact, the fact that the actors are already in Croatia but no set has been built in Dubrovnik can only mean one thing in my eyes: They’ll film at the city’s iconic walls, which have defined King’s Landing probably more than the streets of the city.”
I was thinking (and writing) about that too. If the sequence really evolves around Euron coming to KL, the walls of Dubrovnik would be a perfect location for Cersei and co. to see his fleet approaching and to have some exchange about this with someone (Jaime and/or Qyburn) revealing her reaction/thoughts etc. Jaime’s reaction would be also important/interesting, if he is aware of Euron’s nuptial plans by that moment. And such scenes may really work better on the walls of KL (Dubrovnink), than in the throne-room.
However, what I really wonder about is what effects Tyenne’s potential death may have on Bronn. He kind of liked the girl after all and I don’t think he would be happy to watch her tortured and killed. Will that be a turning point for his character? IMO it may be worth considering.
As for Euron, if I were him I wouldn’t risk to go to Cersei without a few Sand Snakes in his hands. Euron kind of knows that his “big cock” is not impressive enough to make any queen interested; however, there is Jaime who might get very interested and chop Euron’s “big cock” off along with his head. Hence, some proof of good intentions would be really handy and besides that it would be so easy for Euron to make a surprise attack on Sunspear on his way to KL.
Luka Nieto,
actually WIC post some twitter guy that take a picture and put in his instagram these days in croatia and is a got set as we can see , probably.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BN7UaxUAVGo/
Agree with you both, aside from that I loved Oberyn in both the book and the show (bless Pedro Pascal!), despite being hoisted on his own petard or whatever that phrase is (something something hubris, something something squish). And there they should have left it.
I was hoping that if we had to see Dorne, Nymeria would step in and do something nifty as I like Jessica Henwick, but along with psychopath personality-switch Ellaria, Grumpy Cat one-line-on-repeat Barbaro, Tryene-Too-Hard, The Kid no one Remembers, and What Have They Done With Alexander Siddig???, it sank quicker than a new smartphone in a bubble bath.
So according to the leaks:
BunBunStark,
Cersei keeps giving people to Qyburn and Mountain….I hope the showrunners will spare us at least some more torture porn and we have also some exchange of prisioners between Cersei and Dany.
No mention of Yara…
Nope, unfortunately that is the set for “Robin Hood” being built…
Pigeon,
Well if you like Jessica Henwick, I totally recommend watching Marvel’s Iron Fist on Netflix next year in March as she has a big role in that show. There also is the fact that Finn Jones is the lead character on that show so theres another Game Of Thrones alum to watch on that show.
Aguero,
As I explained in the post you replied to, that’s actually for a new Robin Hood film. WiC should do their research. It was a false alarm for us too, but it looked weird for a GoT set. Way too big and elaborate. GoT has never built something of that size and scope inside a city, let alone so quickly. They may have an enormous budget for TV, but still not that of a blockbuster Hollywood movie. A quick search for “dubrovnik filming” on Google showed that this set is for a new Robin Hood movie.
The Dragon Demands,
“The Dragon Politely Suggests” now, I guess? You may not live up to your name anymore, but, I must say, that behavior is much better. Anyway, I disagree. I can defend them; If anything, to address the imbalance. I think the brutal criticism of the Sand Snakes is completely blown out of proportion; the proportion being their screentime compared to the many hours of the show we have. They have appeared very briefly, yet you yourself have dedicated more words to them than to most other major elements of the show. It’s absurd.
ghost of winterfell,
Yara might be the substitute for Aeron in the books if they try to use something from that (terrible) sample chapter from tWoW. Fortunately they toned Euron way down in the series, since in the books it seems he might go full super saiyan at any moment (the Kingsmoot was still poorly done in the series).
The Sand Snakes were ruined by that introductory sequence, which was nonsensical and showed them as pure sadists (there is torture to get information, torture Ramsay style and than that over-the-top bucket/scorpion/spear/dug-in-sand bullshit). Would have been better to show their sisterly camaraderie (which makes their best scenes quite good) or some reminiscing about their father, since their reason for revenge is logical (I don’t mind the change in Ellaria in such a crowded show, though I appreciate the book character more). Hope they at least make their demises worth their inclusion.
ghost of winterfell,
He’s so romantic! I ship it 😛
BunBunStark,
The sandsnakes are throwaway characters. Because of that, they never bothered me much. Something nice to look at, a little Xena vibe, didn’t mind it. Ellaria is a bigger character and therefore the least/worst realized main character. Still though, she works okay as a villain. I think because GOT is such a big show people get caught up in bashing it’s worst parts, elevating them to something extremely bad. They were never that, just not as good as other things in the show. On rewatches now I like the Dorne subplot. It’s a revenge story like it was in the books, albeit very differently executed. I might even prefer show-Doran. In the books he was kind of anticlimactic. He ‘seemed’ smart and calculating, but his plans were way too farfetched and cautious, and with Quentins fate it just kinda peeted out. In the show, he was a man of peace, the only westerosi lord willing to break the cycle of revenge in order to save his people, the ironi being that his people didn’t want that. A fine little arc to me.
Soldiers and peasants in King’s Landing, waiting.
https://twitter.com/JerseydLanister/status/808986373021691904
I think all team dorne is gone
H.Stark,
https://twitter.com/cextremadura/status/808967601682522112
There is a video as well.
We can see Gold Cloaks and Lannister soldiers.
So the parade is confirmed.
If all the Dornish are killed I will be upset. Yes they botched the Dorne storyline with mistake after mistake (Sandsnakes, Ellarias personality switch, Killing Doran and Trystane) but killing them all off is not the solution it is an escape. The Martells are my favorite house in the books and this will do no justice.
I really hope this isnt true. The Sand Snakes are my least favourite element of the adaptation, in fact it is probably the only one that bothers me but if they just get killed off early doors then what was the point of them at all other than to kill other characters that were deemed unnecessary? That would be a real shame. I hope we get a chance to see them do ‘something’ good.
I also don’t really want to see any more nasty torture scenes. What’s wrong with a good old fashioned, clean beheading of traitors and murderers? Royals these days! *rolls eyes* 😉
In the books Dorne is mostly tied up with the FAegon subplot. With that, and Arianne, not included on the show, the Martells become irrelevant. In the end, only Oberyn had major impact on the storylines.
Phil,
Ugh, I agree. They messed up Dorne and the Martells so much, and I hate that they can’t even give them a good send off.
A lot of pics from Dubrovnik filming!
https://www.pixsell.hr/agencija/pxl-standard-show/dubrovnik-na-tvrdavi-bokar-zapocelo-snimanje-7-sezone-serije-igra-prijestolja-galerija-673731/
Con Jonnington,
I think they gave Dorne its own story because of how great Oberyn was. Sadly, it didn’t work. It doesn’t work in the books, either. I think the show’s an improvement in that, unlike GRRM, the show makers figured that out and got rid of them, fast.
So long as the remaining Dornish are returning only to die, it’s all good. I’m more concerned with Olenna and Yara.
Gravemaster,
Love the Mad Queen’s dress. Bring on Darth Cersei!
Why is Emilia in Madrid ?
https://instagram.com/p/BN-cx6kDTc4/
Gravemaster,
They could be looking at the approaching parade of captives from the walls of KL.
Cersei looks Boss!
Rhaenys Stark,
I’ll call her Darth Cersei from now on. Thanks!
Her hair is as short as it was in 610, and it seems there’s Jeremy Podeswa on set. So it’s from the premiere episode.
Whoa, wait, whose armour is that in the second to last Dubrovnik photo (2nd page)? Is that the new Queensguard get-up?
That looks hot af . Seriously considering switching allegiances.
Irina Stark,
Apparently to take advantage of the duty-free licores. 😉
I originally thought that the Dubrovnik location might’ve been the place where they executed Ned.. But then I realized I spazzed out since that scene was (likely) shot on Malta..
I’m guessing we’ll be seeing Lena, NCW and HJB on the citywalls of Dubrovnik overlooking the Euron Fleet entering the bay..
Edit.. I feel like an idiot.. I wrote this while backtracking through articles not realizing that it has already been shot.. just saw the pictures..