What Does The Brooch Worn By The Criminals Mean In House Of The Dragon?

House of the Dragon episode 6 was a pretty crazy one. A lot had changed during the time jump of ten years. However, the audience

By Chandraboli Majumdar
September 26,2022
Featured Image

House of the Dragon episode 6 was a pretty crazy one. A lot had changed during the time jump of ten years. However, the audience could barely let that sink in. The episode hit us with action and shocks with every passing minute. Episode 6 was arguable the most eventful episode of House of the Dragon as of yet. It saw everything right from birth, death, dragons and even kinslaying. The kinslaying refers to the act of murdering one’s own family members. In episode 6, Lord Larys Strong was guilty of this. We will be exploring a special brooch related to House Beesbury that was seen in the episode.

Ser Harwin Strong leaves King’s Landing

Ser Harwin Strong leaves King's Landing for Harenhall in House of the Dragon
Ser Harwin Strong leaves King’s Landing for Harrenhal House of the Dragon

After the rumors surrounding Rhaenyra and Ser Harwin Strong started getting out of hand, Ser Lyonel Strong, attempted to surrender his position as the Hand of the King. Moreover, Ser Harwin Strong had gotten into a fight with Ser Criston Cole right in front of the King and all else. Although I believe Ser Criston deserved a few punches in the face. Nonetheless, Ser Harwin Strong was dismissed from the City Watch. With this, Lyonel Strong decided to take his son, Harwin and return to Harrenhal.

Lord Larys Strong slays his own father and brother

Lord Larys cuts off the tongues of the criminals in House of the Dragon
Lord Larys cuts off the tongues of the criminals

Larys Strong, on behalf of Queen Alicent, decides to send a bunch of criminals to set fire to Harrenhal and burn both his father Lyonel Strong and brother Harwin Strong alive. He even cut off the tongues of the criminals so they could never talk of what happened. So, they set out for Harrenhal. But before they set the place on fire we see a shot of them waiting in the shadows. Here, you can clearly see that they are wearing broaches that look like honey bees.

The honey bee brooch worn by the criminals sent to Harrenhal
The honey bee brooch worn by the criminals sent to Harrenhal

Well you may be wondering why they would zoom in on the brooch since it seems insignificant. In reality, the brooch could be a brilliant tactic on the part of Lord Larys. After all, that brooch bears the sigil of House Beesbury. Remember Lord Beesbury on the King’s small council?

House Beesbury and its sigil on the brooch

The sigil and motto of House Beesbury
The sigil and motto of House Beesbury

House Beesbury is located in Honeyholt which is situated beside the river Honeywine. Its coat of arms is made up of yellow and black stripes in the background along with three yellow beehives arranged in a column right down the middle against the black stripe. Its motto is literally, “Be aware of our sting.” So I’m guessing you understand why the broach is associated with House Beesbury which has Lord Lyman Beesbury at it’s head.

What is Lord Larys Strong planning by planting the broach?

Criminals sent by Lord Larys Strong set fire to Harrenhal wearing the Beesbury brooch
Criminals sent by Lord Larys Strong set fire to Harrenhal wearing the Beesbury brooch

As we have seen in this episode, Lord Larys Strong is happy to get his hands dirty on behalf of Queen Alicent. He is clearly the biggest ally of the greens. In fact, with Queen Alicent being blissfully unaware, and Lord Larys Strong doing the dirty work, it gives her plausible deniability. Who wouldn’t like that then! Now the primary reason was obviously similar to why he cut off their tongues. This accident even if revealed as murder should not be traced back to him or Alicent. So what better way to ensure that than to frame another house. Thus the brooch bearing the sigil of House Beesbury.

The second reason and the most brilliant one yet is that Lord Lyman Beesbury is the one man on the small council who supports the blacks. He thinks Princess Rhaenyra is the rightful heir and that the King’s decree should be upheld. By implicating House Beesbury for this crime, he would be killing two birds with one stone, maybe even literally. Even in the books Lord Larys and Ser Criston Cole manage to get rid of all the blacks from court including Lord Beesbury. The thought behind this simply goes to show exactly how intelligent, cunning and farsighted Lord Larys Strong really is. In fact, he is proving to be the greatest asset of Queen Alicent and the greens.