There are so many great duos in House of the Dragon season 3 so far. Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) and Daemon (Matt Smith) just took King’s Landing. Alicent (Olivia Cooke) and Helaena (Phia Saban) have given us some amazing scenes.
Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint) and Alyn of Hull (Abubakar Salim) made a lot of progress with their relationship. Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) and Gwayne Hightower (Freddie Fox) haven’t had a ton of screentime, but their scenes have been impactful. Even the newcomers, Ormund Hightower (James Norton) and Daeron Targaryen (Benjamin Evan Ainsworth), are incredibly captivating and interesting.
With that said, there’s one partnership that finally got the screen time we’ve been waiting for in season 3 episode 5, and it’s Aegon Targaryen (Tom Glynn-Carney) and Larys Strong (Matthew Needham).
Aegon and Larys have made a good team in House of the Dragon season 3
After Aegon was injured in the Battle at Rook's Rest in season 2, Larys snuck Aegon out of King’s Landing before Rhaenyra arrived or Aemond had a chance to kill him. The plan did not go well. Larys and Aegon quickly found themselves captives and heading to Dragsonstone to be turned over to Rhaenyra and surely killed. Fortune found them, and they escaped before making their way through the woods to Rook’s Rest.
We’ve seen a fair amount of Aegon and Larys so far this season, but it’s clearly not been enough. Aegon is literally still the king, and he’s on the run in the Crownlands. If Rhaenyra were on the run like Aegon, we’d definitely be spending more time with her.
Along the way, Aegon and Larys have formed an incredible relationship to observe. They’re not friends, but they are far from enemies. They each realize that they need each other to stay alive and, most importantly, stay in power.
After four episodes of slumming it as commoners, Aegon and Larys finally get a little more action, and it was so fun to watch. It’s surprised me a little bit how much I’ve actually enjoyed Larys and Aegon so far this season. Obviously, Glynn-Carney and Needham are incredible performers, but I actually really do not like Aegon and Larys as characters at all. Aegon is basically as bad as it gets as a person, and Larys is probably worse. We’re splitting hairs on levels of general badness, but Larys gives Littlefinger a run for his money.
In the episode, Aegon tries to leave Rook’s Rast against Larys’ pleas to just stay at camp. Finally, Aegon breaks down, and we learn more about what haunts him. Basically, Aegon feels sorry for himself for being Alicent’s second favorite child behind Aemond (Ewan Mitchell). It’s quite a sad tale until you remember this is Aegon we’re talking about.
That’s when Larys finally chimes in and shares his true feelings about Aegon to his face. He basically calls him a spoiled brat who was a terrible king. Beyond that, Larys even calls him an even worse man, which is quite amusing. It’s the best scene these two share together this season aside from the scene when they find Sunfyre and Aegon claims that she isn’t dead.
For me, it shows some growth. Old Aegon probably would have killed Larys for speaking to him that way.
Later, Aegon and Larys cross paths with Tyland Lannister (Jefferson Hall), who, like them, is believed to be dead. As they argue about what to do, Janos, who overhears Larys and Tyland, finds Aegon’s crown in his bag. Aegon doesn’t even flinch; he kills him so fast.
It’s not just the most screentime we’ve seen for these characters so far this season, but it’s the most quality screentime we’ve seen from Aegon and Larys. That’s so important for their stories moving forward.
Aegon and Larys still have massive parts to play in House of the Dragon
While the larger civil war has shifted away from Aegon and Larys playing major parts at the moment to more Rhaenyra vs. Ormund, this is far from the end of Aegon and Larys’ story.
I don’t want to go too deep into spoilers for what I think is going to happen in the near future, but I’m really looking forward to what happens next for Aegon and Larys based on their stories from George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood.
After wandering around the countryside simply trying to stay alive, Aegon and Larys have been thrown a lifeline by another character who likely just received a lifeline in Tyland. He was thrown overboard in the Battle of the Gullet. Somehow, he survived long enough to make it to Rook’s Rest, where he accidentally stumbles upon Larys and Aegon in a camp full of misfits.
We don’t know where exactly Aegon is headed, but he could head to Lannisport, as Tyland recommends. He could try to book passage across the Narrow Sea to Braavos, as Larys mentioned. Or he could take a third path to, say, somewhere closer to home and try to ride out the war in the hope that the Greens can turn this thing around.
We’ll have to see what Aegon chooses.
For Larys, though, he definitely has more options. If he can get rid of Aegon, he’s turned on enough people for many people to want to kill him, but he’s actually still allied with the Greens. Plus, he just threw a major bone to Rhaenyra and Daemon by keeping Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans) in the Red Keep, waiting for them to take the city and kill him.
Now, it will be interesting to see what Larys chooses, but basically, the sooner he can get Aegon to safety, the better.
As House of the Dragon season 3 continues, I’m just going to hope that Aegon and Larys get a few more episodes like this together.
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