House Of The Dragon Episode 6: What Are The True Intentions of Larys Strong?

Larys Strong, the crippled son of Hand of the King, Lord Lyonel Strong was first introduced in the fifth episode of House of the Dragon.

By Sumit Sahu
September 26,2022
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Larys Strong, the crippled son of Hand of the King, Lord Lyonel Strong was first introduced in the fifth episode of House of the Dragon. He seems to have all the insider information about King Viserys’s reign. He was first seen talking to Queen Alicent Hightower about Rhaenyra’s sanity and Otto Hightower’s departure.

Little did the fans know that he is a ruthless prison-keeper who has evil thoughts about achieving what he intends to. House of the Dragon episode 6 showed us that he is the worst character for the week. You might also hate Ser Criston Cole for mishandling Rhaenyra’s son. But the amount of rage, this evil silence of Larys Strong has, is bigger than Ser Criston’s hatred towards Rhaenyra.

Understanding The Intentions Of Lord Larys

Lord Larys
Lord Larys

Being crippled throughout life brings ignorance and mocking. Even though he was Lord of Harrenhal and had the recognition he deserved, he seems unhappy with what he has got. He wants the Queen’s favors and believes that Aegon will ascend the Iron Throne when the King dies. He foresees a war coming where Rhaenyra will fight her way to sit on the Iron Throne even though she is the declared heir.

The throne isn’t going to come easy to Rhaenyra, and Lord Larys knows it! When the fight comes, he wants to be on the stronger side, and that is with the Queen. So, the House of the Dragon episode 6 was about the cold war between Rhaenyra and Alicent. It is very clear that they are not on talking terms, and want to do the right thing for themselves. With constant failures on convincing King Viserys about the poor deeds of Rhaenyra, he just ignores it at all times.

Amidst all of that, Queen Alicent was missing her father! She said that the King will never believe that her daughter Rhaenyra is wrong and has violated the royal legacy. None of her children is from Lord Laenor Velaryon. Alicent wants to use this against Rhaenyra and make sure that she doesn’t remain the heir anymore, and that should pass onto Aegon II Targaryen.

Otto and Alicent Hightower
Otto and Alicent Hightower

Queen believed that her father would have been partial towards her and helped her fulfill what was necessary. So, she shared her thoughts with Lord Larys and he executed a fire incident to kill his own brother and father at Harrenhal. It went dark for Alicent to believe what just happened because she expressed herself to someone with silent rage.

Lord Larys then says, “You can now write a letter to your father!” 

It is evident that Larys is helping Queen to fulfill her quest to make Aegon the rightful heir. But his intentions were redirected towards being the head of House Strong. With all of the men of his family gone, he is the one who will take on the mantle to carry his family name. If the Queen and the future King’s favors preferably be with them, he can achieve more than what people expect from a crippled lord.

He is going to have an even deeper character arc in the latter episodes of House of the Dragon. So, let’s see what his evil silence has to do with the entire storyline.