Game of Thrones, Prince Oberyn Nymeros Martell in the TV show. *SPOILERS*

Nimzabaat

New member
Feb 1, 2010
886
0
0
So we finally get to see Prince Oberyn in the Game of Thrones TV show and...
I cannot wait until he gets his face mashed in.

For some reason the writers for the show have chosen to portray Oberyn as a colossal douchebag. In the book, he was charming and sympathetic. It was absolutely tragic that he gets killed trying to defend Tyrion?s innocence. In the TV show he?s a spoiled prince who is itching for a fight with anyone and I can't wait for him to die.

It seems that they've simplified the character to the point that he?s no longer sympathetic. Anyways that's just my opinion. Any thoughts?

MOD edit: made the spoiler more clear
 

shrekfan246

Not actually a Japanese pop star
May 26, 2011
6,374
0
0
I dunno if I'd really call his book character "charming", and he was pretty much waiting for any opportunity he could take to kill the people involved in Elia's death, but okay.

Er, I don't watch the show though, so I guess I don't have much input on that front.
 

dyre

New member
Mar 30, 2011
2,178
0
0
Yeah, if I remember correctly, in the book he's no so much trying to defend anyone's honor; he really just wanted the chance to avenge certain characters. Of course, during the event you describe in your spoiler comment, I was definitely cheering for him as I certainly disliked the alternative, but honestly his character seemed pretty simple to start with.

I'm behind on the show so I also can't comment on his portrayal there.
 

Silvanus

Elite Member
Legacy
Jan 15, 2013
11,027
5,796
118
Country
United Kingdom
It's rather early to say they've simplified the character, as it's only been one episode. That would be like judging the Oberyn of the books solely on the first chapter in which he appears, and coming to the same conclusion.

The behaviour he shows with the Lannister men-at-arms, though it isn't taken from the books, seems in keeping with his book persona. He's not a peaceful man.
 

Godlikebuthumble

New member
Sep 10, 2008
47
0
0
The guy (probably) used a deadly poisoned blade in his first duel (which was to first blood only). When he was 16. Because he was screwing the other guy's wife. Not a nice man, and maybe not even a "good" one. Yeah, he's a hot-blooded badass, sexually progressive, and takes good care of his bastard kids. But he's also quite a bit of a jerkass and likely only motivated by revenge to come to King's Landing (well, that, and his big brother made him). It's almost as if he's supposed to be "morally grey" or somesuch...

And, as Silvanus said, he still has some episodes to go to win hearts.
 

Godlikebuthumble

New member
Sep 10, 2008
47
0
0
delta4062 said:
Cheers for not pointing out that you were spoiling events from the books and not the TV show, I sincerely thank you for your ignorance.
I'll assume this was meant for me. I apologize if I spoiled something which either came up in the episode or is unlikely to come up/be a content spoiler/relevant in the show. Like you said, ignorance. I saw the spoiler warning and made assumptions, sorry. Plus, I don't seem to have figured out the in-post spoiler function yet.
 

shrekfan246

Not actually a Japanese pop star
May 26, 2011
6,374
0
0
Godlikebuthumble said:
delta4062 said:
Cheers for not pointing out that you were spoiling events from the books and not the TV show, I sincerely thank you for your ignorance.
I'll assume this was meant for me. I apologize if I spoiled something which either came up in the episode or is unlikely to come up/be a content spoiler/relevant in the show. Like you said, ignorance. I saw the spoiler warning and made assumptions, sorry. Plus, I don't seem to have figured out the in-post spoiler function yet.
I'm pretty sure he meant the OP, since the show apparently just introduced Oberyn, but OP's spoiler was something that won't happen for a while.

But, to use spoilers you just take the spaces out of [ spoiler ] stuff like this [ /spoiler ].

You can even put text in the spoiler before people open it by doing [ spoiler = text right here ] Hi! I'm a spoiler! [ /spoiler ].

And it comes out like
Hi! I'm a spoiler box!
 

Zhukov

The Laughing Arsehole
Dec 29, 2009
13,769
5
43
Nimzabaat said:
It was absolutely tragic that he gets killed trying to defend Tyrion?s innocence.
What?

In the books he took part in the trial by combat for a chance to kill The Mountain to avenge the deaths of his family members during the rebellion.

He didn't give the slightest of shits for Tyrion's innocence.
 

Reaper195

New member
Jul 5, 2009
2,055
0
0
The only downside to him so far is that everyone from Dorne isn't black. I can't place their accent (Not being a travelled man), but it seems like they're trying to make Dorne seem more like Mexico.
 

Godlikebuthumble

New member
Sep 10, 2008
47
0
0
Reaper195 said:
The only downside to him so far is that everyone from Dorne isn't black. I can't place their accent (Not being a travelled man), but it seems like they're trying to make Dorne seem more like Mexico.
Black? Well, the only reliably black guys in the books were from the Summer Isles or (likely) the continent of Sothyros. The Dornish seemed mostly to have Moorish (think Morocco/Southern Spain) influences. With varying parts of Westerosi and Rhoynar (who came from Essos) mixed in, depending on whih part of Dorne they hail from. So, ethnically, they could be anything from indistinguishable from the other Westerosi, to kinda "Latin" to "Moor". "Mediterranean" would be vaguely fitting.

For comparison, dream castings tended to favor somebody along the lines of a young Antonio Banderas, or Oded Fehr:
http://images6.fanpop.com/image/photos/32700000/El-Mariachi-antonio-banderas-32781037-649-1000.jpg
http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMTk1NDA3MDI1M15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTYwOTEzMjE2._V1_SX640_SY720_.jpg
 

bartholen_v1legacy

A dyslexic man walks into a bra.
Jan 24, 2009
3,056
0
0
Wow, way to knee-jerk judge him on the basis of a single episode. See, this is exactly why I hate the Internet when it comes to following ongoing tv shows. For every episode there's a zillion threads titled something along the lines of "They ruined X forever!!!!!11" despite them having had maybe 5 minutes of screen time.

IMO they captured Oberyn really well. He isn't meant to be noble, honourable or likable. He's supposed to be a scheming sleazebag who uses every excuse he gets to punch up some Lannisters. The actor really captured that slimy, bitter, don't-give-a-fuck attitude of his.
 

RedDeadFred

Illusions, Michael!
May 13, 2009
4,896
0
0
I dunno, I found his portrayal to be fairly accurate if a little over the top.

He's pretty similar in the book. He's consumed by a need for revenge. This was pretty close to how I imagined him.
 

Anachronism

New member
Apr 9, 2009
1,842
0
0
bartholen said:
Wow, way to knee-jerk judge him on the basis of a single episode. See, this is exactly why I hate the Internet when it comes to following ongoing tv shows. For every episode there's a zillion threads titled something along the lines of "They ruined X forever!!!!!11" despite them having had maybe 5 minutes of screen time.

IMO they captured Oberyn really well. He isn't meant to be noble, honourable or likable. He's supposed to be a scheming sleazebag who uses every excuse he gets to punch up some Lannisters. The actor really captured that slimy, bitter, don't-give-a-fuck attitude of his.
Well said, and I completely agree. There was a pretty big backlash against Pedro Pascal playing Oberyn before we'd seen a single frame of him actually on the show; surely opinions should be reserved until you've had time to develop an informed one? People are way too quick to assume something's going to be bad, on the whole, and claiming that they've somehow ruined the Red Viper when he's only had one scene and we've barely got to know the TV version of the character yet is absurd.

Likewise, I really enjoyed Pascal as Oberyn. I look forward to seeing more of him.
 

Zac Jovanovic

New member
Jan 5, 2012
253
0
0
Reaper195 said:
The only downside to him so far is that everyone from Dorne isn't black. I can't place their accent (Not being a travelled man), but it seems like they're trying to make Dorne seem more like Mexico.
Dornish are most definitely not black in the books, I see a lot of people come up with this and I have no idea why:eek:
They most resembled some of the Spanish colonies to me.
 

Legion

Were it so easy
Oct 2, 2008
7,190
0
0
I think you are romanticising the books character to be honest.

He is described as hot headed. This is shown by him starting a fight with Lannisters purely for singing the Rains of Castemere.

He is obviously quite sexually liberal, having eight bastard daughters. This is shown by him visiting a brothel with his paramour.

He is quite clearly bent on revenge for Elia as is shown by his willingness to fight for Tyrion purely for a chance to kill the Mountain.

As others have stated, he in no shape or form cared for Tyrion's innocence. He saw it as an opportunity to kill the man without any consequences. If he killed him in another situation it'd risk causing another war.

EDIT: Slight change of wording. Ellaria is not his wife, but his paramour, thank you for the correction Colour Scientist.
 

Colour Scientist

Troll the Respawn, Jeremy!
Jul 15, 2009
4,722
0
0
Legion said:
I think you are romanticising the books character to be honest.

He is described as hot headed. This is shown by him starting a fight with Lannisters purely for singing the Rains of Castemere.

He is obviously quite sexually liberal, having eight bastard daughters. This is shown by him visiting a brothel with his wife.

He is quite clearly bent on revenge for Elia as is shown by his willingness to fight for Tyrion purely for a chance to kill the Mountain.

As others have stated, he in no shape or form cared for Tyrion's innocence. He saw it as an opportunity to kill the man without any consequences. If he killed him in another situation it'd risk causing another war.
She was his paramour, not his wife.
Other than that, I agree with everything you said.