Who did Indira Varma play on Game of Thrones?

Indira Varma played a fairly minor character on Game of Thrones, but she’s gone on to become one of the show’s most successful alumni. She had a key role in the Star Wars show Obi-Wan Kenobi and will soon appear in the new season of Doctor Who!

On Game of Thrones, Varma played Ellaria Sand, the paramour of Oberyn Martell (Pedro Pascal) and the mother of several of his children. After Oberyn’s death in the fourth season, she plotted with three of her daughters to take over Dorne. She was successful, and eventually teamed up with Daenerys Targaryen in an attempt to get Cersei Lannister off the Iron Throne.

She wasn’t as lucky there. Cersei ended up capturing Ellaria and killed her in a brutal way: locking her in a dungeon and forcing her to watch as her daughter died before her eyes. It was one of the most memorable scenes of the later seasons.

Indira Varma Game of Thrones

In the Song of Ice and Fire books by George R.R. Martin, Ellaria has a very different journey. After Oberyn’s death, she calls for peace, reasoning that getting revenge won’t do anything to bring her beloved back. She is a far cry from the vengeful Ellaria Sand we see on Game of Thrones.

But however different Varma’s version of the character was from the one in the books, she knocked the performance out of the park.

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