SPOILERS: Unexpected Characters Arrive At The Alcazaba of Almería
By Ani Bundel
Well, I suppose it was bound to happen. After last year’s major promotional push for Dorne, it’s now considered by all and sundry to be the “it place” to go this season. Jaime Lannister and Bronn were trendsetters.
So who’s going to spend some quality time vacationing as far south as south goes this year? Well, the production is currently filming material in the Alcazaba of Almería, thought to be standing in for somewhere in Dorne. It’s completely closed to the public, but the actors who are shooting there are being accosted by over-excited fans in the streets and happily providing spoilery clues by having their pictures taken.
Yes my friends, that picture, courtesy La Voz de Almeria, is in fact the most esteemed Dame Diana Rigg (Lady Olenna). And with her? None other than Conleth Hill (Varys).
La Voz also reports that Alexander Siddig (Doran Martell), Indira Varma (Ellaria Arena), and DeObia Oparei (Areo Hotah) are all in the area, which is more evidence that the Alcazaba will indeed stand in for Dorne. The Queen of Thorns in Dorne? This *is* a surprise. I have so, so, SO MANY questions here, starting and ending with “What sort of Great Game is Grandmother Lady Olenna playing now?”
Dorne? Really? (Have you been there? Tis’ a silly place!)
Shall we speculate? Everyone grab a tin foil hat. I’ve got a whole pile of them.
——————–Oh no not again/It hurts so good/Speculation/More spoilers——————–
So back when the production was filming material for King’s Landing in Spain, we saw a scene in which the High Sparrow released Margaery from holy prison. Diana Rigg was in town (and in costume) to film material for that sequence. We also know from the clapper spotted that Margaery’s release happens in episode 6.
So the question is: when does Olenna go to Dorne? I am going to assume, right now, that she heads down there after Margaery’s release, because Olenna wouldn’t leave King’s Landing until she knew the girl she’d spent her life grooming to rule Westeros was free. That suggests this scene happens towards the end of the season.
Why would Olenna go to Dorne? Well, several factors are at play. Margaery is rumored to have been broken while in prison and is now a religious fanatic. She may have rejected her Grandmother’s council upon release. Or maybe Maragery’s just playing at being broken, and she and Olenna cook up a plot for her grandmother to leave town in a huff over how Margaery is behaving.
Why Dorne? Well, we know that by the time Margaery is released, Jaime is back. That means Myrcella’s body is back. If Myrcella is dead (which I believe she is), Cersei would be pushing for war with Dorne, and Kevan would probably be fighting tooth and nail not to start yet another one, with winter at their doorstep and Winter just over the Wall. If Olenna has lost Margaery due to Cersei’s blundering with the High Sparrow, which side would she join in this coming war? If Olenna is working as Margaery’s agent, which side would she pick in a coming war that will take down the Lannisters? Either way, Dorne is the answer. Yes, the Tyrells have an alliance with the Lannisters, but when the current Lannister-in-charge is doing everything she can to tear your family apart, eventually you look elsewhere.
As for Conleth Hill, I think we might have just discovered where Varys was heading off to in that first scene shot in Peñíscola (Meereen), the one where he left the city. I still think that those scenes weren’t filmed in order, and that the Red Priestess who comes to spread the word of Daenerys arrives somewhere in the middle of the season, and drives Varys to leave Tyrion and go elsewhere. Where would Tyrion send him? Some speculated that Varys would return to his original book plotline, which would involve him killing Kevan and Pycelle for restoring order to the Seven Kingdoms.
But I think Tyrion sends Varys to Dorne to hammer out a partnership with the Martells. After all, Elia Martell was married to Rhaegar Targaryen before the Targaryens were overthrown, and Martells had been marrying Targaryens for generations (when Targaryens weren’t marrying each other, that is), so a Martell-Targaryen alliance would make sense. The Mountain killed Elia on the order of Tywin Lannister, so the Martells have plenty of reason to hate the Lannisters. Choosing to follow Daenerys, especially if the Lannisters are about to declare war, just makes sense, with or without the subplot involving Quentyn Martell from A Dance with Dragons, which the show seems to have cut. And if Varys scoops up Olenna, who he was already tight with from earlier seasons, that’s just gravy.
And perhaps that means I can finally see Olenna and Dany meet in Season 7. Delicious.
Either that, or the Alcazaba is standing in for both Dorne and somewhere else, like King’s Landing or Highgarden, or this involves the photoshoot that took place yesterday, and the actors being there at the same time is a coincidence. The other explanation is way more exciting, though.
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