Last we saw the Sand Snakes of Dorne, their new ruler Ellaria Sand had just struck an alliance with Olenna Tyrell, in mourning and enraged after her entire family’s murder. They were all promised “Vengeance, Justice, Fire and Blood” by Ellaria and Varys. From then on, as part of Dany’s massive fleet, they should all be able to get what they want. Jessica Henwick, who plays the less bull-headed of Oberyn’s bastard daughters, Nymeria, has spoken up about her role this upcoming seventh season, and perhaps more interestingly, about how she almost did not get to come back for season seven.
EW has come out with this story, in which Henwick details how a scheduling conflict could have meant the mysterious and unexplained disappearance of her character:
“I wasn’t able to do it. My schedule clashed. I was filming Iron Fist for six-to-seven months and they wouldn’t give me the time off. [Game of Thrones] was so massive for me in terms of my career and building my profile and as an experience in itself, I wanted to return. [One of the producers explained], ‘It’s really important that you come back otherwise your character will just disappear.’ So I spoke to Marvel and I managed to get a release. I literally was flying back and forth while I was doing Iron Fist in New York to Belfast, even during Christmas break.”
That is not to say Henwick wasn’t tempted, if only for the mystery it would create:
“I’m not going to lie, a part of me was like, ‘Maybe I shouldn’t do it … maybe Nymeria does just disappear!.” And then fans will never know what happened to her, just like with Joe Dempsie. It would be like: ‘What happened to her?’ ‘No one knows…‘”
What does Henwick have to say about Nymeria’s future?
“When we left Nymeria she was newly aligned with Olenna Tyrell and was going to start a war,” neatly recaps Henwick, before teasing: “We pick up right where we left off and get into the nitty gritty very quickly. There is no time wasted this season.”
And so, Henwick corroborates what many fellow cast members have claimed: this season starts off with a bang and it never really stops. Let’s hope they are right, because it’s only seven episodes! We’ll know soon enough, as the premiere airs on July 16.
Loved her in Iron Fist…..in GOT….over the sand snakes. My guess is that with the speed that Doran was introduced and then killed off in the show, the same fate will follow the sand snakes this season.
Hopefully Ellaria at least get’s a decent storyline.
So glad she was able to make it back
said no one….
take tweedle dee and tweedle dum 2 with u
they might be capable actors, but they should separate themselves as much as they can from the sand bitches. It didn’t work, and its not going to work… so hope they get dispatched soon and can show their talent in other works
Thank God she wasn’t cut. She’s the only reason to tune in, let’s be honest
I feel a bit bad for the Sand Snakes. It’s really not the actresses’s fault they got the short end of the writers’s keystrokes.
“almost did not get to come back for season six.”
“I spoke to Marvel and I managed to get a release. I literally was flying back and forth while I was doing Iron Fist in New York to Belfast, even during Christmas break.”
Lol, so she went through all of the back and forth during Christmas break in order to accommodate a return to Game of Thrones and all she ended up doing was speaking one line before being cut off by Olenna. Damn, that kinda sucks for her, but I suppose she should consider herself lucky that they wanted to bring her back at all.
Gotta disagree, I feel like her performance is the worst.
Unless you’re talking about a reason of another nature, in which case I’d have to name Tyene as the “reason to tune in”.
Mr Derp,
She also got to call Obara a greedy bitch for killing Trystane. Sorry to remind you of the writing disaster that was Season 6 Episode 1.
Markus Stark,
I know sarcasm isn’t easy to detect in text form, but come on.
Markus Stark,
Ahhh yes, how could I forget. The scene was so memorable and all…
To be honest, I was just glad they killed Trystane. What a douche.
Well, we’ll see what her role will be next season. She was by far the most underused of the SS.
Lord Parramandas,
I assume the role will be nothing more than cannon fodder, but we shall find out soon enough. Season premiere is less than 3 weeks away!
Mr Derp,
Well, I’m not a SS-hater in general. They’re nothing special to me, but I don’t hate them.
Lord Parramandas,
Which is a pity, because I find the concept of her character (the diplomatic, cunning one) more interesting than her sisters. I doubt the Sand Snake roles will be greatly expanded next season but, as I explained in the article, it can only help them to be involved in a much more compelling and central storyline, surrounded by such vital and beloved characters. We’ll have to wait and see.
I don’t care for Dorne, but I don’t hate it as much as most around here.
Lord Parramandas,
Hate is such a strong word. I don’t hate them either, but I don’t think I’ll need too much consoling once they’re gone. Unless of course the SS are the ultimate winners of the Iron Throne (shudders)…
Markus Stark,
From a female perspective, I find her (Nymeria) to be the prettiest 🙂 haha
Dee Stark,
From a male perspective, I found her the prettiest among the SS as well.
Basically my attitude as well… I’m indifferent towards it. Don’t like it, but don’t hate it either.
Wasn’t she in like, two scenes with one line max? Surely that’d only require a couple of days on set- although I’m first to admit I don’t know the filming scheduling works. That said, I certainly wouldn’t have missed her or the other two bookends. Looking forward to
for the SS.
I had no idea she was the other star of Iron Fist! I did eventually realize that was Finn, nearly halfway through the series, but I never realized Colleen was Nymeria. Until now.
I suppose I have to resign myself to no Sarella in the show. I loved her so.
Lord Parramandas,
Ditto. I don’t get the hate, considering they are such minor characters in such a minor storyline. They had too little screen-time to justify all the hate, in my opinion.
Luka Nieto,
Book readers mostly when it comes to biggest hate… as for non-book readers, they’re just dull probably.
Luka Nieto,
That and, despite what people say about the filming and choreography of some of their scenes, its hard for me to criticize so much. They filmed in iconic places in Spain, and having been to those places myself, I cant help but appreciate the attempts at making this story good. I am a sucker for these things, and due to how minor their role/characters are, I just let it go and “mehed” them.
Akash Singh,
This. They seemed like good actors, but the lines they got, the scenes, everything was just awful. Blame the writing and directing on that one.
That said I really like Ellaria and hope that the writers have set it up so we can perhaps see more of her character, more than just a horrible woman who kills her BIL and kills a young girl.
Lord Parramandas,
I don’t hate the SS either, but isn’t that a bit insulting?
Akash Singh,
This. They seemed like good actors, but the lines they got, the scenes, everything was just awful. Blame the writing and directing on that one.
That said I really like Ellaria and hope that the writers have set it up so we can perhaps see more of her character, more than just a horrible woman who kills her BIL and kills a young girl.
Luka Nieto,
The hate for me is more disappointment. Dorne wasn’t my fav part of ASOIAF, but it did intrigue me and I was interested to see how they would set this up on the show. I didn’t care that Arianna was cut, what I did care about was well really everything. It was poorly written, poorly directed, and not all what I expected from a show as good as GOT. Its probably my least fav of the scenes they adapted from the book (I’d also include Sansas arc but am glad they cut Jeyne’s)
Mr Derp,
I just said the most dislike comes from book readers. I guessed I worded it wrong…
Lord Parramandas,
Wow, you are unable to discriminate between a few readers who go off the rails, with people who read the books, enjoy the show, and like to discuss them both. Your hate for people enjoying a fantasy story is really over the top
Mr Derp and
ash,
I think what Lord Parramandas was trying to say is that book readers hate the SS in the adaptation, while non-book readers merely find them dull. I don’t think he was saying non-book readers are dull.
ash,
Just said above that I meant only that the book readers dislike Dorne the most… at leas that’s an impression I got.
Wolfish,
This!
Wolfish,
Gotcha. The comment sounded like anyone who doesn’t like the SS are dull. Was easy to misinterpret.
Lord Parramandas,
My bad. My misinterpretation. Carry on.
Mr Derp,
Yes… “As for non-book readers, the SS are probably just dull”
T
.
Oops sorry that should have been Nymeria not Ellaria. But honestly I coul dnever tell the sisters apart. Thats not a good thing
nvm
Lord Parramandas,
Yes. I was hoping that the flaming threads of readers vs watchers was long over on this site. Thanks for your clarification
ash,
If you want to know, I’m a book reader myself (more a “former” book reader though), but I often found myself more on “non-readers” side. And I’m generally a person who does not want to argue for the sake of arguing… westeros org really left a bitter taste in my mouth.
Henwick tweeted
https://twitter.com/JHenwick/status/879759566271131648
Sounds like she’s in the premiere
She is the only Sand Snake I like. The first one is embarrassing and the other one just grunts.
Hating on Dorne has become like a meme.People do it just to be in with the crowd lol.It is such a minor thing it can’t affect anything in my enjoyment of the show.Was Dorne a resounding success?No but than again the show cut its losses pretty quick.I regard it just as I regard 40% of the contents of the books:wordbuilding.At least we got to see another part of Westeros and meet new people.
Her name (Nymeria!) is possibly important. Remember when Arya told Tywin all about her idol? I r-e-a-l-l-y think we’re in for a warrior-woman direwolf reunion…
She had to film “six to seven months” for Iron Fist?? It was a fairly large role but it shouldn’t have been that grueling. I did enjoy her on that show and saw several reviews stating she was the actual star, but still…
I won’t blame any of the actors for criticisms of the Dorne storyline or the scenes they’ve been given. No, I do not care for any of it much in the books. That is one reason why I think it has been difficult to write entertaining scenes for the show. Some think sticking to exact events in the books would have improved it. I do not. Limiting it as much as possible is the right decision in my opinion, just as I think George should have. His story has ballooned with their inclusion and one reason he seems to be having problems reigning it back in.
Dorne is a bigger disaster in the show, but no great thing in the books either. In the books I do find some of the political maneuvering that takes place in Dorne compelling, but it seems a giant waste of time as I don’t think any of it will be essential to the conclusion of the story. As for the show, I don’t know what the point of season 5 and 6 was for Dorne. Neither did Alexander Siddig it seems. They should have stuck with their original gut feeling and just omitted it. I’m assuming it won’t be long for the Sand Snakes in season 7 and I can’t say I care.
Still no info on Red Carpet Premiere or Premiere episode title and we’re 19 days from the premiere something’s not right
I didn’t understand the purpose of Dorne in S5 but with S6 I findally got it: there is no “Dornish” storyline in GoT. Dorne is just part of the political plot, and its only contributions are killing Myrcella and being part of Dany’s army.
What we got in S5 was just Jaime’s story, a character story about a man trying to “make things better”, which happened to be located in Dorne mostly. And that story was fine. Yes, it’s probably the least of the S5 storylines, and certain scenes seem misplaced (the conversation in 509 doesn’t work well in the climatic episode!)… but other than that, I have no problem with it.
And in S6, since Jaime is back in KL, we only saw the essential plot points of what happens in Dorne.
So, there’s no Dornish storyline. People were expecting something that wasn’t meant to be (and the advertising campaing was veeeery misleading!)
Cool. Since before S5, Dorne has overheated all of us.
I bet Nymeria will be the one who gives Myrcella the “kiss of death” in TWoW, perhaps in front of Cersei.
Lord Parramandas,
I agree with you there; I tried to join in and almost immediately backed away. Im sure it works for some people but not me. Found WIC, then here. Much better!
Personally I loathe Doran Martell (biggest disappointment in the books) and was SO happy to see him bite it that I kind of love Elaria/SS for doing it the dirty work…
Anyway, we’ll see. I’m not sure what the SS really have left to offer. We’ll see I guess – I will keep an open mind.
The TV Sand Snakes were a wasted opportunity and I feel very bad for the actresses, who really put more thought into the roles than the writers themselves.
Doesn’t Finn Jones also star in Iron Fist? I would assume his schedule clashed as well, so why would Marvel balk at giving Jessica Henwick time off to film GoT but not Jones? And Loras had more screentime than Nymeria.
The Dragon Demands,
The Sand Snakes were always going to be minor characters, so this was never going to be a big break for the actresses. I’m not sure what wasted opportunity you’re speaking of.
Luka Nieto,
One never knows. There are surprising fanbases out there.
Look away from the pot, man! It’s never going to boil this way! 🙂
Joe Dempsie!
Almost forgot about him.
I wonder if Gemma Whelan will do Red Carpet this year?
I don’t think she ever has.
Jack Bauer 24,
I think the red carpet premiere is on July 12th in LA! I got some email about it from an event promotion company…
Red Carpet Premiere should have been announced long ago. It’s always 2 weeks before the regular premiere which is this sunday….
Mr Derp,
She is saying she almost didn’t come back for Season 7 not Season 6. Maybe they can play a bigger part in the story. The show did not allow these young ladies to shine and show their acting talents. However, I do like that they brought some diversity to the show.
Jack Bauer 24,
What I really meant in a nice way was, “don’t worry about it.” You tend to get on a topic to worry about and it consumes you. At least that’s the way it seems. The last one was your concern over a writers’ strike. The episode titles and the red carpet premiere don’t really matter (except to those attending), especially after the season starts airing.
Nymeria was the only one i hoped had some potential. Ah well. They really should have ended it with Oberyn as originally planned.
Chuck,
Yes I will remember her for Iron Fist. She was great in that.
Yes, July 12: http://www.averagesocialite.com/2017/03/game-of-thrones-season-7-premiere-tba.html
That’s not official from HBO or Benioff and Weiss
I really feel bad for the three actresses ..they were so enthusiastic and eager to join the crew and I can’t imagine how disappointed they must feel after what they actually got from the writers ..
When the first photos of sandsnkaes in costumes and promotional video of their weapons released …I loved Jessica the most because like Dee said she was the most prettiest and then show happened…
And last year was the release (or lack) of the trailer. I’m glad you said something because it’s hard to ignore.
I liked Jessica Henwick as Amy Lam in British legal drama “Silk” a few years ago. (Maxine Peake was the main lead in that programme and I have liked most things Maxine has been in – I don’t know if she’s known much outside the UK though). Jessica Henwick was also in “Fortitude” but that was a terribly slow moving show (somebody said it should be renamed “Turpitude”) so I gave up on “Fortitude”.
I didn’t mind the Queenmaker plot in AFFC (is it alright to mention that?) but I suppose the showrunners didn’t have the time to do it. I was sorry they changed the personalities of the Dornish characters (those that they didn’t cut) so drastically. As has already been mentioned non-book readers had no preconceived notion of Dorne (says she stating the obvious) so show Dorne would not be the shock to the system for them as it was to people who were familiar with AFFC/ADWD.
Haven’t seen “Iron Fist” I’ll have to put it on my ever expanding “to watch” list.
I always thought the purposes of Dorne were:
1) show a culture where women were valued and empowered more than the other six kingdoms
2) show a leader who thought ahead and planned a long game which ultimately could succeed, or, was a self-deluded dreamer who failed bigly. On GoT, he failed but might have been right anyway. In ASoIaF, we don’t know yet if he will succeed or fail.
Marlana,
Book spoilers:
Young Dragon,
Mostly I am curious as to what Book!Dorian’s plan actually is. Is it a longer game than you describe? It seems there is an aura of more chess moves to come. But, as you say, what moves could remain?
Young Dragon,
Also, in the book
So what are feints C and D etc to get to the payoff?
Flayed Potatoes,
…which is such a terrible waste, because she was so splendid in her film début (Whale Rider, one of my all-time favorites).
Good for her that she made it but I personally would be grateful for a sudden disappearance of Dorne or at least the Sand Snakes. They should have either followed closely the book Dorne storyline or completely cut it off (but Oberyn).
Pretty Crow,
The article originally stated it was season six. A big reading comprehension mistake on my part.
I’m actually glad she’s not just disappearing. As infuriating as the Dorne plot has been and disappointing as the Sand Snakes were, I hate when characters disappear with no explanation, even ones that aren’t all that gripping. Kill her off, sure, but I like having closure for characters.
Nerevanin,
Yes, but they needed to tie tigether the whole storyline with Oberyn. What happened before and after Oberyns introduction have political consequences – GoT doesn’t leave out those things. Just as someone earlier wrote Dorne itself is not a storyline, just a plot devise. If they had cut Dorne, they would have needed to cut Oberyn as well and I can’t imagine many fans that wanted that..
Same but I cannot remember even one line of hers. Just that one bp from the other sister.
Luka Nieto,
They probably deserve the hate just for the awful boat scene with Trystan 🙂
Can’t say the sand snakes are my favorite characters, I missed Gendry and The Hound far more than I would of the sand snakes if they missed a season.
Saying that however I’ve watched Iron Fist and Jessica is incredible in it, she was actually my favorite character in the show. I can’t wait to see her in another installment.
This.
Dorne is like the Nickelback of GoT. People hate it just because it’s the thing to do.
She was barely in Fortitude sadly though that was probably down to her filming schedule. Literally had two scenes, the second of which was
Markus Stark,
It was a facetious post lol!
Lord Parramandas,
The hate definitely stems from mostly book readers who see the obvious idiocy in going against everything good in the Dorne plot in the book.
Those more hardcore show fans would be upset by the fact that the very popular Oberyn talks about “not killing little girls in Dorne” and then to avenge his death his daughters kill his brother, nephew, and a little girl.
Count me in the hate camp. They were horribly written characters in a criminally underdeveloped plot. It would have been better to leave Dorne out of the story minus Oberyn till this season and have the Dornish rally for Dany. Upon rewatching the series during the off season the acting and writing in the Dorne story line (especially the Sand Snakes) stinks so bad when compared to how good everything else is.
WallyFrench:
This. The Dorne from the books definitely needed to be trimmed, but what D&D did was beyond horrible. It’s a complete mystery to me, given how well-adapted almost everything else is; the only other books-vs.-TV changes I really take issue with are the dénouement of Arya’s Braavos arc and Brienne vs. Hound. Among many other things, I was thrilled when I read that Keisha Castle-Hughes had been cast (Whale Rider is one of my favorite films and she was brilliant in it)… and then furious by how terribly she was wasted.
I was thinking the same thing!! It was pretty obvious he was being snarky!!
You read and watch everything! How in the hell do u have time to live??
Wolfish,
I’m with you 100%! D&D crushed the adaptation with 99% of it, even improving on aspects of the book like Bronn, Osha, no Penny the pig actress, etc. How they screwed up so badly on Dorne is a total mystery to me when it seems so simple to me.
What about the Hound vs. Brienne did you dislike? I took issue with them nerfing up Brienne’s swordsmanship on the show vs. the books….but that’s the pesky book purist in me clawing to come out. 🙂
Wow I started reading this article on the 26th and due to work and the volume of articles which dropped since I’ve only just had the time to finish reading it.
I have to say Dorne sucks in the books and also the show, they got it so wrong, the Sand Snakes are terrible but Jessica Henwick is incredibly good looking so I cut her some slack – shame on me for that. I thought she was good in Iron Fist so she can clearly act.
I doubt she will live long in S7 having read this article which is a shame as she is the only one of the three I’m interested in.
Jon Snowed,
I’m suffering through Iron Fist right now and Jessica Henwick is one of the few things that makes me keep going.