The latest episode of House of the Dragon, “The Princess and the Queen,” introduced us to a bevy of new characters, most of them the children of either Rhaenyra Targaryen or Alicent Hightower. Among Alicent’s children with King Viserys are Helaena Targaryen and her younger brother Aemond. They shared a scene that foreshadowed important developments to come for anybody who kept their ears open. SPOILERS follow below.
Worms and beasts were a strong motif throughout House of the Dragon Episode 6. In a brilliant scene, Prince Aemond comes crying to his mother Alicent about not having a dragon of his own. Elsewhere in the room, his sister Princess Helaena examines a millipede. Underneath Aemond and Alicent’s conversation, Helaena can be heard saying of the bug: “He’ll have to close an eye.”
Helaena says this right as Alicent reassures her son that he’ll have a dragon one day and just needs to show patience. Fire & Blood readers know that Aemond is commonly referred to as Aemon One-Eye due to an accident that will likely occur in the next episode when he tries to claim a dragon.
House of the Dragon continues to plant seeds for future conflict and character development. Only three episodes remain in the series’ first season, and it’s all building towards something truly epic.
The Clubfoot and the White Worm
During last week’s episode of House of the Dragon, Larys Strong, aka the Clubfoot, saved a group of criminals from the hangman’s noose provided they did something for him: kill his father and brother (Lyonel Strong and Harwin Strong) by burning his home of Harrenhal. Larys finally blossomed into the complete villain that readers of Fire & Blood have been anticipating and fearing.
An odd touch: the men Larys sent to do his dirty work wore strange silver pins that looked like bugs. Fans may have noticed the same bug on Larys’ cane. It seems “The Clubfoot” has adopted the mark as his own sort of sigil, and the insect imagery will likely spell death for anyone who crosses him.
And we’ve seen yet more imagery concerning creepy crawly creatures on this show. In past episodes we’ve met Lady Mysaria, Daemon’s paramour from his days in the City Watch of King’s Landing. We heard her to referred to as “the White Worm” when she sold information about Daemon to Otto Hightower back in Episode 4. “The White Worm” is the moniker Mysaria adopts in George R.R. Martin’s book Fire & Blood. The series has purposefully dressed Mysaria in all white for the majority of her scenes. The White Worm is more than just a nickname, it’s a conscious choice by Mysaria to use a name meant to inspire fear and build a reputation as someone with dangerous contacts among the low places of King’s Landing.
Mysaria and Larys Strong play similar functions in Fire & Blood; they’re dueling masters of whisperers who operate in the shadows. The show is linking them through their imagery, setting us up for the battle of wits to come. We already know that Larys has thrown his lot in with Alicent. With Mysaria an old flame of Daemon’s, we could have a battle of bug vs worm.
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