Designing Game of Thrones Season 5: Dornish Weaponry
The behind-the-scenes feature blog Making Game of Thrones posted a new video today, in which weapons designer Tommy Dunne talks about designing the distinctive weapons of the Sand Snakes as well as Areo Hotah’s longaxe. The truly exciting part of the video, though, is actually seeing the Sand Snakes in action for the first time. Check out the video below to see Jessica Henwick, Keisha Castle-Hughes, and Rosabell Laurenti Sellers in full Sand Snake regalia!
Probably for visual reasons, Hotah’s axe has been extended a full foot (Dunne says the one he designed is seven feet, whereas the one in the books is described as a full foot shorter). Dunne focuses on three other weapons as well: Obara’s spear, which is similar to her father Oberyn’s spear from Season 4; Nymeria’s whip, which extends from a snake’s mouth on the handle “like a tongue”; and Tyene’s daggers, which are kris blades. The weapons are all showcased in the video in some form or another, with Jessica Henwick in particular getting a graceful crack at Nymeria’s whip, which should put Indiana Jones on notice.
The weapons with which the Snakes are associated presents another slight change in adaptation from the books to the TV show. In the books, Obara is skilled with both the spear and whip, Nymeria is the dagger specialist (usually concealing about a dozen of them on her person at once), and Tyene is a wicked poison-maker. The changes may have just been done to allow Tyene to have a more distinctive weapon, one that is both visual and physical in nature. Nonetheless, all three of the actresses look at-ease with them, and there is no nipple armor in sight, all of which bodes well for Oberyn’s bastard daughters in the upcoming season.
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