In the Game of Thrones books, lots of characters have secret identities.
Like, Sansa pretends to be Alayne, Varys pretends to be Rugen.
Maynard Plumm is actually Bloodraven, who’s also the three-eyed crow.
Robert Strong is the Mountain, Griff is Jon Con.
Young Griff is Aegon Targaryen, who might actually be a Blackfyre.
The list goes on and on, and one of the coolest of these secret identities is Alleras.
Alleras is a student at the Citadel in Oldtown, which is like the Westerosi university.
He’s involved with Sam Tarly, Marwyn the Mage, and Jaqen H’ghar, who seek secrets
in the Citadel.
Alleras is a minor character, but he’s got a secret of his own.
Cause he is actually a she – she’s Sarella Sand, a bastard daughter of Oberyn Martell.
The most obvious evidence that Alleras is Sarella is that the name “Alleras” is
“Sarella” backwards.
But also, we know that Sarella’s father is Oberyn Martell, of Dorne, and Sarella’s
mother is “a trader” “from the Summer Isles” . Alleras is the same – his mother
is “a trader” from the Summer Isles, and his father is “a Dornishman” . Alleras
even looks like Oberyn – they both have black eyes and black hair with a “widow’s
peak” . At one point, Alleras says “I am no lord’s son” – which is true, cause
she’s actually a lord’s daughter.
Alleras is “always smiling, as if he [knows] some secret jape” . And the evidence shows
that his “secret” is that she is actually Sarella Sand.
So who is Sarella?
In the show, Oberyn Martell has three daughters, but in the books, he has eight, called the
Sand Snakes . Sarella is the fourth-born, now nineteen years old . In Book 4, the three
eldest Sand Snakes, Obara Nymeria and Tyene, wanna start a war with the Lannisters , to
avenge the deaths of Oberyn and aunt Elia.
To prevent this war, their uncle Doran arrests the Snakes – Obara, Nym, Tyene, and the
young ones are captured , but Doran doesn’t arrest Sarella.
Because Sarella’s not in Dorne – she’s in Oldtown as Alleras.
Doran says “Unless she returns to Dorne, there’s naught I can do about Sarella”.
“Leave her to her … game” . So it doesn’t sound like Sarella is working with Doran or
with the other Sand Snakes.
What is her “game”?
What’s she doing in Oldtown?
Sarella loves learning.
On a visit to some ruins, Sarella “turned over rocks, brushed sand off … mosaics,
and wanted to know everything there was to know about the people who had lived” there
. So maybe Sarella came to the Citadel university because she wants to learn stuff.
Her father Oberyn did the same thing . But the Citadel doesn’t accept women – which
must be why Sarella disguises herself as a guy – Alleras.
And Alleras does well at the Citadel, earning “three links of his maester’s chain”
in one year, meaning she masters three subjects really fast . And she seems to care about
the values of the Citadel, telling Lazy Leo that he “shame[s] the Citadel by being one
of” them . Also, Nymeria mentions that Sarella loves the city of Oldtown . So Sarella is
smart, she wants to learn, she loves the Citadel and Oldtown and that’s probably why she’s
there.
But Sarella slash Alleras slash Sarelleras gets involved in much more than just study.
At the start of Book 4, Alleras practices archery.
He uses a goldenheart bow, which connects to his Summer Islander heritage . He talks
with his student friends about the rumours of the dragon queen Daenerys in the east . And
this guy Leo reveals there’s a “glass candle burning” in the chambers of Marwyn
the Mage.
A glass candle is a candle of obsidian, and for centuries, these candles have been impossible
to light.
But now, they burn again , which shows that magic and dragons have returned to the world.
“Old powers waken” Leo says.
“Shadows stir” . And Alleras is really interested in this talk of magic and dragons
. So by the end of the book, he becomes an ally of the guy with the candle – Marwyn.
Marwyn is a rebel professor.
He travels to strange distant places, studies with strange people like Qyburn and Mirri
Maz Duur , and he writes books about prophecy . He’s an expert on magic, but most maesters
don’t trust magic , so they discredit Marwyn . Marwyn claims there’s a conspiracy by
the maesters to suppress magic and dragons – watch this video for more.
So Marwyn’s a little crazy, maybe, but he totally knows things about magic and prophecy
– partly because he has this glass candle.
Cause glass candles let you see across distances and enter dreams – Marwyn uses his to watch
and learn.
He sees Sam arrive at the Citadel, so Marwyn gets Alleras to bring Sam to him.
And Sam tells them about his experiences at the Wall with white walkers, and Melisandre,
and how Maester Aemon thinks Daenerys is Azor Ahai – the hero prophesied to save the world.
So Marwyn leaves and heads east to meet Daenerys .
This leaves Sam at the Citadel with Alleras, and with a guy called Pate – who is actually
the Faceless assassin Jaqen H’ghar in disguise.
Jaqen is there possibly to steal a book called The Death of Dragons – go watch the Jaqen
video.
But also, Sam has an old horn, which is probably the Horn of Winter which can destroy the Wall.
Also also, there’re ironborn raiding around Oldtown , and Euron Greyjoy’s making an
eldritch mass blood sacrifice nearby . So there’s a lot of intense magic shit converging
on Oldtown.
And Alleras seems connected.
Alleras’ friends call him the Sphinx, because a sphinx has the face of a human, body of
a lion, and wings of a hawk – it’s made up of different parts, just like Alleras is
both Dornish and Summer Islander . But the sphinx might also refer to Alleras’ secret
identity.
There are statues of sphinxes at the Citadel – one male and one female, which might hint
at Sareleras’ male and female identities.
But the sphinx symbol goes even deeper.
Cause on the way to Oldtown, Maester Aemon tells Sam that “the sphinx [is] the riddle,
not the riddler” . Sam wonders if Alleras the Sphinx might be the sphinx Aemon meant
. Maybe the idea is that Alleras is not a “riddler” who’ll tell you a riddle , Alleras
is “the riddle”, as in in his secret identity as Sarella is “the riddle”.
But why would Aemon talk about the secret identity of some minor character he’s never
met?
Aemon mentions the sphinx alongside talk of dreams, glass candles, eggs, and the three
heads of the dragon – which seems to be the idea that three dragonriders will ride
Dany’s three dragons . Alleras also mentions the three heads of the dragon , and he is
involved with glass candles.
So maybe Alleras is connected to this Targaryen dragon stuff.
In Book 5, Tyrion finds a Valyrian sphinx – “A dragon queen” with the head of
a woman and body of a dragon.
She seems to be “missing” “Her king”, a male half-human half-dragon . If the female
dragon-sphinx is Daenerys, the male could be Jon Snow.
He’s part dragon cause’s he’s half Targaryen, and he’s probably the rightful “king”
of Westeros , and he could be Dany’s future husband, and he could be one of the three
heads who rides a dragon.
Jon might be the sphinx Aemon meant, and this could link back to Alleras if Alleras and
Sam uncover Jon’s true parentage at the Citadel, like Sam and Gilly do in the show.
So the riddle of the sphinx is still confusing, but it seems to connect Jon and Dany and the
Targaryen dragons with Sarelleras.
What does all this mean for her future?
It looks like Alleras will be Sam’s study buddy at the Citadel . They might learn important
secrets about white walkers or Azor Ahai or Jon’s parentage.
But with Jaqen H’ghar around, they might also get caught up in his plot to steal that
dragon book.
Marwyn and Alleras seem to wanna support Daenerys – but Alleras could also become Dany’s
enemy.
Cause in Book 5, Dany rejects a marriage alliance with Dorne , and one of Dany’s dragons kills
Sarella’s cousin Quentyn . So maybe Sarelleras will use her archery skills to slay a dragon.
Jaqen’s book, the Death of Dragons, might help.
At the same time, Euron brings sorcery and destruction on the city Sarella loves – will
she fight to protect Oldtown?
So, like a Sphinx, Sarellaras is made of different parts.
She’s a Sand Snake, daughter of Oberyn Martell of Dorne, but she’s also a Summer Islander,
with a goldenheart bow.
She’s a student of the Citadel, with a love for Oldtown and ties to Marwyn, and she also
seems connected to the Targaryens, Jon and Dany.
This complex combination of conflicting loves and loyalties define the Sphinx as one of
the most interesting minor characters in the series.
Thank you to the artists who kindly made illustrations for this video – check out drafturgy and
Mandy Finke, among others linked below.
Thanks for watching, and thanks to Patrons, including Horia Bogdan, Maximilian Schüte,
Jan, Samantha Morris and POOOP KING.