Altar Diplomacy / Live-Action TV

• In one second-season episode of Andromeda, the Andromeda Ascendant crew gets a job to ferry a princess of one Nietzschean pride to her wedding to the king of another, which will ally the two prides. Dylan Hunt discovers her real job is to kill her bridegroom but manipulates the situation to pit both prides against one of his enemies, the much larger Drago-Kazof pride, forcing the alliance to go through. Oh, and he bangs her on the way there, too.
• Babylon 5:
  • The Centauri, with their system of noble houses, often use marriage as a political tool. Londo has three wives (at first), all arranged for him. This has led to some rather cynical views on marriage, with weddings being solemn affairs rather than joyous ones. It's also mentioned that Londo was forced by his father to divorce his first wife, a lower-class dancer he took a fancy to.
  • Outright defied in one episode where a pair of Centauri youth run away after their families arrange marriages for them, one to the ugliest woman on Centauri Prime, and the other to a man old enough to be her grandfather, but they would much rather marry each other. Londo at first encourages them to go through with it for the good of the Centauri Republic but eventually realizes that doing so would cause them to become like him, after which he arranges a way to get them out of it without disgracing their houses.
  • Minbari have a custom dating back to the days when they actually made war on each other where the winning side would offer a daughter in marriage to the side that had suffered the most casualties as a symbol of life. Delenn's family decides to pass off her marriage to Sheridan as this rather than have her go public about the fact that she and many other Minbari are descended from Valen (i.e. Jeffrey Sinclair) and have been partially human the whole time.
• Blackadder: In "The Queen of Spain's Beard" Edmund is first betrothed to the Spanish Infanta and later is married off to a princess of Hungary^note who is only eight years old because of his father King Richard IV's political machinations. Edmund is chosen to go through with this as his older brother Harry is already engaged to about half a dozen princesses (and one prince) from across Europe, almost certainly also arranged for political reasons.
• Foundation (2021): In Season 2, Brother Day (Cleon XVII) seeks to arrange a marriage for himself with Queen Sareth of Cloud Dominion in order to shore up the Empire's slow decay.
• In the Game of Thrones universe, many marriages are political in nature among the noble families, which is unsurprising given the intricate politics in the setting, with every side making plans within plans within plans. Of course, we know what they say about the best-laid plans... Features most of the same examples as the books, in addition to several new ones.
  • Game of Thrones:
    • Walder Frey's castle is built on a strategically important bridge, and Robb Stark is promised to marry a Frey girl to take his rebel army across and have the Frey's join his rebellion; when he abandons the promise to Marry for Love (rather than for honor as in the books), things don't end well.
    • Danaerys declares she will marry Hizdahr zo Loraq in an attempt to bring peace to Meereen, as in the book, but things go a little differently from there. There are hints it might have worked—and Danaerys may even have grown to like him—but the Sons of the Harpy kill him during his first major public appearance as consort.
    • In a large diversion from the book canon, Sansa Stark, rather than Jeyne Poole disguised as Arya Stark, is the one who is married to Ramsay Bolton, which is political on both sides — to give the Boltons' rule in Winterfell legitimacy and to allow her to go home to the North. Ramsay's still as much of a monster as in the novels, so she ends up killing him.
    • Myrcella Baratheon (Cersei's daughter and the king's sister) is sent to Dorne to marry Prince Trystane Martell and cement an alliance with that house; they end up genuinely falling in love. Too bad a substantial faction in Dorne doesn't care for the marriage...
    • Catelyn Tully of Riverrun was betrothed to Brandon Stark of Winterfell, but Brandon's death at the outset of Robert's Rebellion only made the alliance more necessary so Catelyn had to Settle for Sibling with Brandon's brother Ned, which luckily turned out to be an almost Perfectly Arranged Marriage.
    • At the same time, Catelyn's sister Lysa was married to Ned's foster father Jon Arryn of the Vale, which turned out much less happily given her involvement in poisoning her husband.
    • Robert Baratheon of Storm's End was betrothed to Lyanna Stark of Winterfell, whose abduction by Crown Prince Rhaegar Targaryen helped spark Robert's Rebellion, but after Lyanna's death, Robert married Cersei Lannister, the daughter of the wealthy and powerful Lord Tywin, whose support was essential in maintaining control of the realm.
    • Sansa Stark is formally betrothed to Crown Prince Joffrey Baratheon to formalize the Baratheon-Stark alliance founded on their fathers' boyhood friendship.
    • The exiled "King" Viserys III Targaryen marries his sister Daenerys to the Dothraki warlord Khal Drogo in exchange for the assistance of Drogo's horde in retaking the Seven Kingdoms. Conflict arises because the Dothraki don't have quite the same understanding of this trope as the Westerosi. Drogo views his new bride as a gift, and he plans to give his brother-in-law a gift in return... eventually. Viserys views the horde as already rightfully his, but his demands are a breach of the Dothraki's culture of reciprocity, and he eventually threatens the lives of Daenerys and her unborn son, for which Drogo kills him by giving him a "golden crown" of molten gold.
    • Renly Baratheon of the Stormlands marries Margaery Tyrell of the Reach to secure her wealthy and powerful family's support for his claim to the throne. However, Margaery is only The Beard, since Renly is already literally in bed with the Tyrells via Margaery's brother Loras. Later, Margaery is remarried to King Joffrey Baratheon and after that to his brother King Tommen to formalize and reward the Tyrells' shift of allegiance. But when Margaery and Tommen's marriage turns out to be too good and she proves to have an influence on him, Tommen's mother Cersei has her and several other people killed.
  • House of the Dragon:
    • After Aegon's birth, Otto Hightower advises Viserys to marry him off to Rhaenyra, which will resolve questions regarding the idea of a woman ascending to the Iron Throne, as it will still allow Rhaenyra to eventually become queen, albeit as a consort to a male monarch. Of course, this will also make Otto the grandfather of a king who will be governed by a regent for many years, which is what he actually desires. Viserys rejects this, not because of their kinship but because Aegon is only two years old at the time.
    • Rhaenyra is married off to Laenor as a way for the Targaryens to mend fences with the Velaryons, whose previous proposal for King Viserys to marry Laena was spurned off. Both agree to an open marriage, and, despite their Incompatible Orientation, seem to hold no ill will against each other even ten years later.
    • Rhaenyra suggests for her eldest son, Jacaerys, to marry Alicent's daughter, Helaena, which, had it been acceded, would have prevented the Dance of the Dragons from happening down the line. However, Alicent rejects this because of Jacaerys' clearly illegitimate parentage and Rhaenyra's refusal to acknowledge it.
    • Following the above, Rhaenyra then proposes the betrothal of Jacaerys and Lucerys to their stepsisters, Baela and Rhaena. Although Lucerys is the heir apparent of Driftmark, his claim has been challenged by Vaemond Velaryon. Rhaenyra knows that the Velaryons are more open to the idea of the twins — who are undisputed Velaryon children compared to Lucerys — succeeding the Driftwood Throne, and she knows that Rhaenys clearly favors them over her "Velaryon" grandsons. Marrying them off will bring the Velaryons to her camp and give an air of legitimacy to Luke becoming the eventual Lord of Driftmark.
    • After Aegon is declared king, the Greens immediately dispatch Aemond to Storm's End to propose the betrothal between him and Floris Baratheon, one of Lord Borros' daughters. When Lucerys arrives later, he cannot give a better deal because of his betrothal to Rhaena Targaryen, causing Borros to cast aside his late father's fealty to Rhaenyra and side with the Greens.
• The Glamorous Imperial Concubine: Fu Ya's father arranges a marriage between her and Lian Cheng to get Northern Han's support. After the usurpation Lian Cheng marries Xiang Yun instead.
• Goodbye My Princess: The series starts with Xiao Feng's father arranging a marriage between her and a prince of the Li Dynasty to improve the relationship between Xizhou and the Li Dynasty.
• The King's Woman: Min Dai arranged her marriage to Ying Zheng so she can help her homeland.
• The host of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver summed up this trope as, "We shall now commemorate the signing of this treaty by having our children fuck."
• Lost Love in Times: Duo Xia comes to Great Wei to marry one of its princes because her father needs allies to fend off an enemy kingdom.
• Marie Antoinette: Happens to the eponymous character per history, when she was married to the Dauphin Louis.
• Napoléon: Napoléon Bonaparte marries an Austrian princess, Marie-Louise of Habsburg, after forcing their Emperor to sue for peace. This is played for humor during their first in-person meeting when Napoleon watches a plain-looking girl exiting a horse carriage, much to his disappointment, before a much prettier-looking young woman (Marie-Louise) exits after her handmaid.
• Novoland: Eagle Flag:
  • Asule, the Crown Prince of Qingyang, is expected to marry Baili Huan, a princess of Xiatang. When that plan falls through he's expected instead to marry Yu Ran, a princess of the Winged Tribe.
  • Yu Yi, a princess of the Winged Tribe, married Baili Jing Hong, emperor of Xiatang, to help her people.
  • Xiao Zhou marries a prince of Xiatang so she can become empress.
• The Outpost: Tobin is forced to marry a childhood friend in order to gain access to her army, so he can use it to free the outpost from the Blackbloods. While this makes him ineligible to marry Rosmund, he accepts that her freedom and safety is more important than their shared happiness.
• Princess Silver:
  • A marriage is arranged between Rong Le and Wu You to strengthen ties between their kingdoms.
  • Zhao Yun wants to marry Wu Yu, but she has to marry Ning Qian Yi so Northern Lin will form an alliance with Chen.
• The Rise of Phoenixes: This is why the emperor agrees to the marriage between Zhi Wei and Helian Zheng.
• Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace:
  • Yuyan is Korean and was married to Hongli for diplomatic reasons.
  • Hengchuo goes through this twice. First she's married to Khan Dorza of the Dzungar Khanate. Then her husband is murdered by Khan Dawachi, who seizes his throne and makes Hongli agree to make Hengchuo marry him.
• In Shadowhunters Alec attempts to marry Lydia to help restore honor to his family name. Lydia agrees because it will put her in a position of power, and they get along quite well.
• The early Stargate SG-1 episode "Emancipation" has Abu attempt to trade Samantha Carter to a rival Space Mongol chieftain, Turghan, in exchange for being able to marry Turghan's daughter Nya. Turghan refuses, as he plans to marry her to another chieftain to secure that chieftain's allegiance. Carter is not amused at any aspect of the situation.
• Star Trek:
  • The Star Trek: The Original Series episode "Elaan of Troyius" is about an attempt to make peace between two feuding Federation member planets by marrying the dohlman (princess) of one planet to the ruler of the other. The Enterprise is given the mission of transporting her, which is complicated by her arrogant and demanding manner. And her stabbing the ambassador sent to teach her civilized manners.
  • The Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Perfect Mate" has the Enterprise hosting a reconciliation between two planets that have been at war for generations. As part of the pact, one side offers an empathic metamorph whose personality changes to suit the desires of whomever she bonds with. She decides to bond with Picard because she "likes who [she] is when she's around him" but her empathic abilities will still allow her to play the role of Trophy Wife perfectly. On the other hand, the person she was intended for is more interested in trade and other concessions than traditional ceremonies or a wife, even an exceedingly rare metamorph.
  • Star Trek: Deep Space Nine:
    • The series indicates in one of the Ferengi episodes that marriages among Ferengi are primarily business deals (ones in which the female has no input).
    • "The House of Quark": Klingon noblewoman Grilka forces Quark, who accidentally killed her husband in a Bar Brawl, into marrying her in order to prevent her House's dissolution by the death of its patriarch without an heir. Eventually the High Council grants special permission for Grilka to become head of house in her own right, and she quickly divorces Quark.

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