Oberyn Martell and Ellaria Sand

The wedding of Margaery Tyrell and that other kid is no small event, so dignitaries from the seven kingdoms and beyond are arriving in King's Landing. One of these groups is not like the others. The Martells make the Lannisters nervous, and with good reason considering all the promised revenge mixed with niceties and marriage treaties and the Martells being so much cooler than everyone else. Oberyn Martell the second son prince of Dorne has arrived to represent his family, and he did not come alone.

This is Ellaria Sand. She is a bastard. She is Oberyn’s mistress. And our girl is NOT SHY about either of those facts. She is introduced reclining on a couch in a brothel, holding a goblet.

Ellaria comes from Dorne, a place where women have more freedom, and a place that is also somewhat less sexually repressed than the rest of the seven kingdoms. Even for a Dornish woman, though, we’d imagine that this outfit is somewhat daring. The plunging neckline, gaudy jewelry and heavy eye makeup are all overtly sexy/sexual. The strong orangey-yellow she wears here may very well be the House Martell power color. In Dorne, Ellaria has power and respect as Prince Oberyn’s lover (she’s basically his common-law wife) and the mother of several of his children (Sand Snakes, yeah!). In King’s Landing, it’s likely that people will think of her as a prostitute. But instead of shying away from her role as Oberyn’s mistress, she is leaning the hell into it. Basically, our girl has come to King’s Landing with her middle finger firmly extended.

And speaking of plunging necklines…

Ellaria’s boyfriend is Oberyn Martell. Dude is a loud dresser: bright colors, long surcoat, and one hell of an open collar. It’s not a coincidence that he’s baring as much skin as Ellaria. Basically, he’s here to avenge his sister and bang cute blondes. And he and Ellaria have already gone through all the cute blondes in King’s Landing!

Oberyn putting his hand through a candle flame for no reason other than AWESOMENESS.

Right after he stabs a racist Lannister through the wrist, he and Ellaria immediately go back to making out. Which makes us like them even more. Are we bad people?

Check out the leather straps on her forearms – she’s the lady and mother of warriors, and these function in a similar fashion to the medal embellishments on Cersei’s dresses; impractical as actual armor, but symbolic nonetheless.

Though Oberyn is the ostensible outsider here, Tyrion is the one who looks out of place in the desert colors of King's Landing. Oberyn knows exactly what he's doing, and is in no way worried or uncomfortable, perhaps a first for anyone who lives in this city.

Even when threatening revenge, Oberyn manages to be flirty. Skillllls.

Remember how we called Ellaria’s last outfit daring? Well that was the outfit she wears to a brothel.

This Princess Amidala realness is what she wears to a wedding. It’s actually basically the same outfit, just with some crazy –ass desert scifi cone shoulders on her cape and no big necklace to cover up anything. Complete with a neckline to her navel, exposed undergarments, and a hairdo that sees Cersei’s Valkyrie braid helmets and raises them some braids made of actual armor. By god, she and Oberyn look good together.

Again: it might just be a cultural difference, but we tend to think that her outfit is at least partially as an intentional “fuck you” to the Lannisters and anyone else who looks down on her. She and Oberyn wear the same stuff to a royal wedding as they do to pick up chicks, so that’s probably a statement.

Face.

And speaking of pick ups:

Loras cruising Oberyn Martell is amazing.

They engage in some orally-fixated eye-f*cking across the buffet table because of course they do.