I smell a rat.
So far, magic on “House of the Dragon” has been low-level — dreams, prophecies — despite the fact that the story is taking place during Peak Dragon. Could it be that bigger magic is happening behind the scenes, behind wooden eyes and twitchy noses? “House of the Dragon” has been a little heavy-handed with its imagery of the weirwood tree in the Red Keep godswood (irrespective of the fact that most people gathering there don’t believe in the old gods). There’s also a recurring motif of rats scurrying around the edges of the story. They infest bedrooms, ballrooms, and secret passages, and according to some theories, could be nonhuman agents of Larys Strong. What if he’s gathering information by greenseeing (looking through the trees’ carved faces) and warging (taking over the bodies of animals)?
It’s not as much of a stretch as it sounds. Larys grew up in Harrenhal, which is on the north shore of a large lake known as the God’s Eye. In the middle of this lake is mystical place called the Isle of Faces, one of the last refuges of the Children of the Forest. And in “Fire & Blood,” Larys is also associated with Alys Rivers, a proto-Melisandre witchy woman of indeterminate age who claims to see visions in fires. (She was either his wet nurse or his half-sister, possibly both.) If Larys is an adherent of a magical religion, he might also practice blood magic — blood oaths, blood sacrifice — convenient justifications for his bloodletting.
A cursed castle
Horrible things are known to happen to lords of Harrenhal, a group that in “Thrones” included Janos Slynt and Littlefinger. People in Westeros often attribute these misfortunes to a longstanding curse, dating back to Aegon’s Conquest. King Harren the Black wanted to have the highest hall and the tallest towers in all of Westeros, and his obsession resulted in the deaths of thousands of enslaved workers. On the very day that this great labor was completed, Aegon began his conquest. His dragon, Balerion the Black Dread, soon reduced Harrenhal to cinders.
In “Fire & Blood,” the cause of this second conflagration is never determined, although the histories point to several possible culprits, most with motives to eliminate Harwin Strong and prevent him from revealing the illegitimacy of Rhaenyra’s children. Now, Larys indirectly provides this protection for the Targaryens and Velaryons while simultaneously giving credit (and blame) to the Hightowers — but why? Is he playing all sides against each other, as Littlefinger once did? Is there no one he won’t sacrifice?
Larys believes that love is a weakness, and that life is better unencumbered by it. This is a philosophy that would seem to ensure dynastic extinction. Sure enough, by the time “Game of Thrones” begins, Harrenhal is held by House Whent, and House Strong is no more.
