HBO‘s House of the Dragon Episode 6 “The Princess and the Queen” ended with the revelation that sweet, gossiping Larys Strong (Matthew Needham) might be the most evil character in this show yet. Sure, he doesn’t nail rival soldiers to driftwood to be crab food, but Larys did organize the murder of both his father, Lord Lyonel Strong (Gavin Spokes), and his brother, Ser Harwin Strong (Ryan Corr), just to “impress” Queen Alicent (Olivia Cooke). Come to think of it, Larys is also the person who managed to finally turn Alicent against her former best friend, Princess Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy). (After all, it was Larys who first planted seeds of doubt in Alicent’s head by mentioned the moon tea…) Has Larys been pulling everyone’s strings this entire time? And more importantly, what does Larys Strong want?
House of the Dragon adapts many of the most tumultuous chapters in George R.R. Martin’s fictional Targaryen history book, Fire & Blood. The HBO show tells the story of how the once powerful Targaryen dynasty turned on itself, leading to a devastating civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons. So far, House of the Dragon has shown us how childhood besties Alicent and Rhaenyra are systematically torn apart by the demands of duty, the machinations of their fathers, and secrets and lies. However, Larys’s decision to kill his own father and brother to give Alicent a political edge has pushed the rivalry into new territory.
So who exactly is Larys Strong? Why is he known as the Clubfoot? Is Larys related to Varys from the original Game of Thrones? Is he House of the Dragon‘s version of Littlefinger? And what exactly is Larys’s goal in this generation’s proverbial Game of Thrones?
Here’s everything you need to know about Larys Strong on House of the Dragon…
WHO IS LARYS — NOT VARYS — STRONG IN HOUSE OF THE DRAGON? ALL ABOUT THIS STORY’S LITTLEFINGER, THE CLUBFOOT
Larys — not Varys, or Littlefinger 2.0, but Larys — Strong is the younger son of Lord Lyonel Strong, the really nice and honest dude who becomes Hand of the King when Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans) leaves. That also makes Larys Strong the younger brother of Rhaenyra’s paramour, Ser Harwin Strong, and a member of one of the most powerful families in this era of Westeros. At this time, the Strongs were lords of the haunted castle of Harrenhal.
However, when we first meet Larys Strong in House of the Dragon Episode 3, he doesn’t come across as particularly powerful. He has a limp, caused by a club foot, which means instead of joining the royal hunt, he asks if he can gossip with the ladies. Larys’s impediment results in him getting the very problematic nickname of “the Clubfoot.”
Larys befriends young Queen Alicent (Emily Carey) in House of the Dragon Episode 4. He gossips, telling Alicent that Viserys himself had the maesters brew Rhaenyra a “special tea.” This information pushes Alicent to question Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) about the night Rhaenyra was seen out with Daemon. Ser Criston reveals that he slept with Rhaenyra that night, which makes Alicent realize that Rhaenyra straight up lied to her. And so, Alicent decides she can not throw herself at Rhaenyra’s mercy. It must be war.
Flash forward to this week’s episode. Alicent has a trusted ally in Ser Criston, but it’s Larys she vents to over private dinners. When she laments that there is no one in King’s Landing to take her side over Rhaenyra’s — in the same conversation where she expresses how much she wishes her father were still Hand — Larys takes this as a cue to do something awful. He takes it upon himself to organize the murder of his own father, clearing the way for Ser Otto Hightower to return to court.
Alicent is understandably horrified by this revelation. She tries to protest she never wanted this, but Larys makes it clear that he did it for his queen. And that he expects a favor from her in the future.
So Larys has been playing Alicent this whole time. Not only has he pit Alicent and Rhaenyra against each other, but he has also made it so the queen owes him. But why? Well, that’s the question! In Fire & Blood, Larys is an equally enigmatic figure. It’s clear he’s operating in shadows, organizing spies, and playing both sides against each other, but it’s less clear what his endgame is. Maybe House of the Dragon will fill in those blanks?
Oh, and as far as we know, Larys Strong is not related to Varys, though their names sound similar and they’re both into spy games. Nor is he related to Littlefinger, though they’re both creepy.
WHO PLAYS LARYS STRONG IN HBO’S HOUSE OF THE DRAGON?
British actor Matthew Needham plays Larys Strong in House of the Dragon. Needham is a celebrated stage actor in the UK, having performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company, Royal Court Theatre, and Royal National Theatre. In 2011, he was nominated for the prestigious Ian Charleson Award (which is a British theater award for young, rising stars and usually is a good prognosticator of actors on the rise).
Needham has also appeared in the Oscar-winning short Stutterer and popped up in shows like Casualty, Sherlock, Chernobyl, and Sanditon. Although he doesn’t appear to be on Instagram, you can catch him in Ridley Scott’s Napoleon, in which he’ll play Lucien Bonaparte.