All language subtitles for 17 HOUSE MARTELL by VARYS

VARYS: But while Aegon titled himself
"Lord of the Seven Kingdoms,"

in reality he held only six.

The seventh, Dorne, had never knelt.

Visenya had flown into the Vale
and returned with its crown.

Mimicking her sister,

Rhaenys had flown over the enemy force
holding the passes into Dorne,

and landed in the castle of its ruling lady,
Princess Meria of House Martell.

Meria was 80 years old, fat, bald and blind.

Behind her back, many sniggered at her
as the "Yellow Toad of Dorne."

The beautiful Rhaenys probably
thought as much when they met.

She demanded Princess Meria
kneel to her brother Aegon,

though she allowed that on account of
Meria's age and health,

a simple vow of submission would do.

But the Princess told the Queen
that the Targaryens weren't wanted in Dorne,

and no Martell would ever bow, bend or break
no matter how badly they burned.

Rhaenys could have mounted her dragon
right then

and roasted Meria in the castle
as her brother had done at Harrenhal.

But whatever she saw in Meria's eyes

scared her right back to King's Landing,

with her dragon's tail between its legs.

After Aegon's coronation,

Rhaenys returned to Dorne
with Aegon and Visenya

and their dragons.

But no armies met them in the field,
and no lords defied them in their castles.

As the dragons approached,
Dorne simply emptied.

House Martell had learned
from Harrenhal and the Field of Fire.

The dragons were unbeatable in battle,

but wars were more than battles.

Unopposed, Aegon claimed Dorne
for his own.

But as soon as he returned to King's Landing,

his castellans were hurled off towers,
and his royal garrison vanished in the desert,

never to be seen again.

Except, perhaps, when the winds change
and the sands cough up old bones and armor.

Rhaenys returned on Meraxes,

intent on revenging herself
against Meria Martell.

But Dorne was no longer empty.

The Dornish kept Meria's promise,

and fought even while
burning under dragonflame.

And they won.

One day a bolt pierced the eye of Meraxes
and knocked the dragon out of the sky.

House Martell remained unbroken,
unlike the unfortunate Rhaenys.

In their wrath, Aegon and Visenya set flame
to every castle and city but Sunspear,

trying to turn the people
against House Martell.

But the Dornish stayed loyal,

and when Aegon returned to King's Landing,

he found assassins waiting for him
in the streets of his own capital.

If not for Visenya, the Conqueror would
not have enjoyed his Conquest for very long.

From then on,
the king and his family would be guarded

by the seven greatest knights in the realm,
the Kingsguard.

When Meria died in her sleep,
her weak and tired son sued for peace.

But old Meria had exhausted Aegon as well,
and he granted the request.

The Targaryens still wanted Dorne,
and eventually they would have it,

but not at the point of a sword.

They would buy it the same way
great lords buy anything...

With a daughter.