content: '''Ellaria Sand''' is a fictional character in the ''A Song of Ice and Fire'' series of high fantasy novels by American author George R. R. Martin and its television adaptation, ''Game of Thrones''.
  Ellaria first appears in ''A Storm of Swords'' (2000), and while she is only mentioned in ''A Feast for Crows'' (2005), she returns in ''A Dance with Dragons'' (2011). She is the paramour to Oberyn Martell and mother to several of his bastard daughters, the Sand Snakes. After the death of her lover in a duel at the hands of Ser Gregor Clegane, she is sent into deep mourning, although her subsequent characterization differs between the novels and the television adaptation. In the novels, she sues for peace, seeking an end to the cycle of revenge. In the television adaptation, however, she is portrayed as ruthless and vengeful, willing to do anything to destroy House Lannister, even if it means killing Oberyn's own family in the process.
  The character is portrayed by Indira Varma in the HBO television adaptation.