George R.R. Martin explains the Triarchy from House of the Dragon

In the first season of House of the Dragon, Daemon Targaryen and Corlys Velaryon team up to take down the Crabfeeder, a kind of guerrilla leader making it hard for a huge trader like Corlys to ship goods through the Stepstones, a chain of islands linking Westeros to the nearby continent of Essos.

We didn’t delve into the politics of the situation too deeply. The Crabfeeder was mostly a faceless antagonist there so Daemon could experience some personal growth; the guy wore a mask the whole time and literally had no lines. But it doesn’t mean the politics weren’t there, or that they didn’t matter.

George R.R. Martin wrote Fire & Blood, the book that House of the Dragon is based on. In a clip dropped on the House of the Dragon Twitter page, he talked about the people employing the Crabfeeder: the Triarchy:

Will the Triarchy return on House of the Dragon

So the Triarchy is formed by a trio of powerful city-states on Essos. They employed the Crabfeeder to exert their influence on the Stepstones. That was bad for Corlys, who found himself paying taxes and duties on goods he could previously funnel through the area for free. Corlys and Daemon broke the Triarchy’s hold on the Stepstones…and they won’t forget.

HBO is currently filming the second season of House of the Dragon. War is afoot between Rhaenyra Targaryen, who’s now married to Daemon and working with Corlys; and her half-brother Aegon Targaryen, who sits the Iron Throne. Aegon and his team will use whatever means necessary to undermine Rhaenyra. I won’t drop any explicit spoilers, but if the Triarchy were to enter the war, it’d probably be on the side fighting against their old enemies.

House of the Dragon season 2 is due out on HBO and Max sometime in the summer of 2024.

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