Elia Martell
| House / Order | House Martell |
|---|---|
| Race / Culture | Rhoynar/Andal |
| Status | Deceased |
| Origin | Dorne / King's Landing |
| Born | Sunspear |
| Died | 283 AC, at King's Landing |
| Weapon | |
| Fate | Murdered during the Sack of King's Landing |
| Portrayed by |
Elia Martell was a princess of Dorne, sister to Prince Doran Martell and Oberyn the Red Viper, and the wife of Prince Rhaegar Targaryen. Her brutal murder, with her children, during the Sack of King's Landing left a blood debt that shapes the politics of Dorne throughout A Song of Ice and Fire.
Marriage to Rhaegar
Elia wed Prince Rhaegar Targaryen, heir to the Iron Throne, and bore him two children, Rhaenys and the infant Aegon. She was a gentle and frail woman, often unwell. Rhaegar's later actions, his apparent abandonment of Elia and his involvement with Lyanna Stark, helped ignite Robert's Rebellion and brought ruin upon the Targaryens.
Murder
When King's Landing fell to House Lannister at the close of the rebellion, Elia and her children were murdered in the Red Keep. Ser Gregor Clegane, the Mountain, killed her young son Aegon and then raped and murdered Elia herself, while her daughter Rhaenys was also slain. The crime was carried out on the orders of Tywin Lannister.
Legacy
The murder of Elia is one of the great unhealed wounds of the realm. Her brother Oberyn sought vengeance and died fighting the Mountain in a trial by combat for Tyrion Lannister. Her brother Doran nurses his own long, patient designs for justice, and her memory stirs Dorne against the Lannister regime for years to come.