House of the Dragon theory: Is Larys Strong a greenseer?

Episode 6 of House of the Dragon was a wild ride. As if the introduction of Vhagar and a bunch of a new kids wasn’t enough, “The Princess and the Queen” ended with a terrifying sequence where Larys Strong, aka the Clubfoot, emerges as potentially the biggest threat to…well, everyone.

In the episode, Strong organizes the death of his father Lyonel and his older brother Harwin in order to gain leverage over Queen Alicent Hightower and presumably get Otto Hightower reinstalled as Hand of the King. However, this vile schemer may be hiding a bigger secret. Youtuber Joe Magician has proposed a theory that Larys Strong may be a greenseer.

Although the evidence for this theory is not very concrete, it it would be a great way to explain more about the old gods’ magic and support a few interesting creative choices by the showrunners.

What is a greenseer?

Just as a refresher, a greenseer is someone with the ability to have prophetic dreams which show ambiguous imagery of the future. Only those with the blood of the old gods seem to have a chance of inheriting greensight. In the main series, Bran Stark and Jojen Reed both have this ability. Some greenseers can also skinchange into the bodies of animals or even other people if they are powerful enough.

There have been a lot of scenes of rats scurrying around the Red Keep, such as on top of Alicent’s bed, one on the mantle in Viserys’ bedchamber and one drinking the blood of Joffrey Lonmouth after the disastrous wedding in Episode 5. If Larys is a greensser, the theory goes, he could be skinchanging into these rats to collect information on the royal family. This would explain how he knew about the tea that Grand Maester Mellos delivered to Rhaenyra. At the very least, these rats symbolize the many eyes and ears that collect information in the Red Keep.

Perhaps Larys is so confident all the time because he literally knows more than everyone else. He shares these traits with another character who was integral to royal politics for decades, one who comes after Larys Strong’s time: Ser Brynden Rivers, aka Bloodraven. Like Larys, Bloodraven wedged his way into Westorosi politics and orchestrated a spy network to gather copious amounts of information. And it just so happens that Bloodraven was a greenseer because he had the blood of the old gods through his Blackwood mother Melissa. House Blackwood is one of the few Houses not located in the North to have the blood of the old gods. Another is House Strong.

Harrenhal, which is where Larys grew up, is also located right next to the Isle of Faces, where a grove of weirwood trees is protected by the mysterious order of green men. These green men have ancient ties to the Children of the Forest and the magic of the old gods. We have very little information about character visiting the God’s Eye. The most notable example is Howland Reed spending an entire winter on the island before the tourney at Harrenhal. Perhaps Larys also visited these green men and unlocked greenseer abilities.

Another way Larys could gather information is by looking through the weirwood tree at the Red Keep. Alicent and Rhaenyra hung out by this weirwood quite a lot in the first few episodes and it should be noted that this weirwood was never mentioned in Fire & Blood, the book House of the Dragon is adapted from. The first time we see Larys wiggling his way into the affairs of the Red Keep is when he speaks to Alicent in front of the weirwood tree and tells her about Rhaenyra’s tea.

While I realize this theory is a stretch, it would be a fascinating way to incorporate in the magic of this series that was mostly abandoned on Game of Thrones. House of the Dragon is already leaning into the prophecy a lot more than its predecessor, and explaining more about the Children of the Forest would make my A Song of Ice and Fire-loving brain explode with excitement. Perhaps we will see a flashback of Larys visiting the Isle of Faces or get to see him using his skinchanging abilities in the future.

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