Game of Thrones (2011-2019) was a medieval fantasy drama originally released on HBO. The eight seasons of the show, which lasted eight hours, focused on the political machinations of several noble families in the imagined continent of Westeros, all of whom vied for the crown. The show loosely follows members of the Stark family from House Winterfell and is based on a series of medieval fantasy novels by George R.R. Martin.
Of particular note for this Bi Media Entry are three characters — Oberyn Martell of the house of Dorne, aka the Red Viper (Pedro Pascal), his lover and mother to his children, Ellaria Sand (Indira Varma), and Yara Greyjoy (Gemma Whelan), with a hard focus on Oberyn.
Oberyn and Ellaria share a deeply loving, passionate, and bonded partnership that resulted in several beloved children while embracing a polyamorous dynamic. Throughout the fourth season, Oberyn is seen giving lingering glances at both men and women around King’s Landing, the capital of Westeros. These moments culminate in a scene where Oberyn and Ellaria enter a city brothel, indulging in lovers of either sex.
To whit, Oberyn has a beautiful way of explaining his bisexuality, which is celebrated throughout the bi community.
Even after Oberyn’s horrific death, Ellaria continues to have fulfilling arcs and scenes with female lovers as the series unfolds. This also happens to Yara. For all three, their queerness is an important part of their character but never the main focal point.
Perhaps Oberyn receives the most in-depth character development of the three. We witness his impressive fighting skills and his full range of emotions — from his desire for revenge for his sister’s death to his empathy for Tyrion at his lowest. Oberyn is portrayed with hopes, love interests, desires, and fears.
While many characters in Game of Thrones end up with brutal deaths, the demise of Oberyn is particularly distressing and violent. It does sadden us to see such a badass bi man’s story end with the #killyourgays trope.
When asked about Oberyn’s bisexuality by Vulture, Pascal was not shy to talk about it:
The Red Viper enjoys life. He does not discriminate in his pleasures. This is the way he understands life, to live it to its fullest. And to limit yourself in terms of experience doesn’t make any sense to him — what’s beautiful is beautiful. And I love that what George R.R. Martin created is this brilliant, progressive person who makes a lot of sense to me. He’s a lover and a fighter. He’s going to do it, everything, to its fullest. So why leave out girls or boys, you know what I mean? That’s what’s so amazing about this character that George R.R. Martin created and David and Dan are translating onto screen: It’s just very punk-rock.
It doesn’t make any sense to him to limit his experience of pleasure, so it’s not making a point, but it literally doesn’t make any sense to deny yourself something beautiful, whether it is wine or food, a man or a woman, being a father or being a lover or being a fighter. Always live to the fullest. I think that’s a brilliant, kind of progressive thing that they’re telling in this story. They’re really seizing the opportunity to get a very cool message across.
Although the term “bi” is never used, Oberyn has no problem articulating his queerness and holds no shame about it. All three characters get a lot of fleshing out, and it is particularly fun to see a bi man show up in a genre where he rarely gets seen — high fantasy — and on a worldwide phenomenon of a show. So, though it is not perfect, Oberyn ends up being a great example of male bisexuality on television.