Spy War in House of the Dragon

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Transcript

00:00A lot of people missed it, but House of the Dragons Season 1 set us up for a massive spy

00:05battle in Season 2, one that isn't even really hinted at in Fire and Blood, but would add

00:10a fantastic extra layer to the story. Let's take a look.

00:15Hi everyone, this is Robert. Welcome to In Deep Geek. On this channel we cover the best

00:19in fantasy and science fiction, House of the Dragon and Game of Thrones, The Lord of the

00:24Rings, The Witcher and much more. If that sounds good, there's a subscribe button in

00:28the bottom right of your screen. There was a lot going on in the last couple

00:33of episodes of Season 1 of House of the Dragon, and our attention was rightly on Rhaenyra, Daemon,

00:39Alicent and Otto's reactions to Viserys' death, but interwoven among this narrative was the

00:44start of a spy war between Larys Strong and Myceria. Let's break down what we know and

00:51then figure out what this might mean for Season 2. There are obviously spoilers here for Season

00:561 and potentially for Season 2, and book readers, I'm mostly focusing on the show here. There

01:01are differences in the books. Let's start with Myceria, also known as Lady Misery or

01:07The White Worm. She is introduced in Episode 1 as Daemon's lover, and when he is banished

01:12from King's Landing, she goes with him to Dragonstone. He seems to rather take her for granted though,

01:17telling his family that they are engaged and that she is pregnant. Neither are true. In fact,

01:23it seems a bit like a cry for attention by Daemon from Rhaenyra and Viserys, and Myceria

01:28understandably seems to leave him as he takes his frustrations out in the war in the Stepstones.

01:33But by the time we reach Episode 4, a few years later, she has clearly worked her way into a

01:38better place. She no longer needs to rely on Daemon to protect her. She has established herself in

01:44King's Landing, taking care of herself. During their time apart, she has set herself up as a

01:49spymaster or mistress of sorts. When Daemon takes Rhaenyra down into Flea Bottom and acts

01:56inappropriately with her, Myceria's spies are watching and pick up Daemon and keep him safe

02:01for the night. But more importantly, they report what happened to Otto Hightower. It's clear that

02:07this is an independent arm's-length operation. Otto only knows the name The White Worm, pays for the

02:13information, but doesn't run the spy network himself. Indeed, by the time we get to Episode 9,

02:19this is still the case. Otto still doesn't know who his mystery informer is until he meets her.

02:26But now, Myceria has had perhaps nearly two decades to build her network, and it shows.

02:32She keeps track of everything that is happening down in Flea Bottom, and even has a spy right at

02:37the heart of the Red Keep. The opening of Episode 9 shows Talisa, the maid, discovering that Viserys is

02:44dead. She immediately lights a candle in the window, alerting Myceria of what has happened.

02:50This is great storytelling, showing us, rather than telling us, not just the extent of Myceria's

02:56network now, but also that she has been expecting and planning for Viserys' death for a while.

03:02Her spy knows the signal to give, and Myceria is looking out for it. And she does the very thing she

03:08has been waiting for. Find and secure the new king, Aegon II. This is an easily overlooked point.

03:15Myceria knew that one day soon Aegon would suddenly become king, and that he often ended up drunk and

03:21carousing in Flea Bottom of an evening. If she could keep an eye on him and capture him, suddenly she

03:28would have huge collateral. And that's what happened. She learned that Aegon was now king, before even he

03:34did, knew that people would be looking for him, and hid him in his comatose state somewhere only she knew.

03:42When her contacts found that Sirs Errik and Arrik were looking for Aegon, she sent a servant to tell

03:47them to get Otto himself, the Hand of the King, to meet her. This was her moment. She had kept her

03:54identity secret thus far, but now she was exposing herself to strike a deal. She had something Otto needed,

04:02Aegon, and so she could ask him for whatever she wanted. And what she wants is for the Iron Throne

04:10to actually use its power to help the smallfolk of King's Landing, to outlaw the fighting pits where

04:16children are forced to fight each other. It's a laudable thing she is doing. Nearly two decades of

04:22building her empire have led to this moment, and she uses it to help others. In a world of grey

04:29characters, the White Worm is proving so far to be someone we can actually root for. She also gives

04:36Otto a warning, to remember that it was her who gave him Aegon, when she could easily have killed

04:41him, and also to remember that his power, ultimately, comes from the people. Woe betide anyone who sits on

04:48the Iron Throne and doesn't care about the people. Those who have read Fire and Blood, and there's a

04:54slight spoiler here, will know that this is a bit of a Cassandra moment for Miseria. Daemon gave Rhaenyra

05:00similar advice earlier in the season. It's important. Look after the people. Anyway, having

05:06secured a bit of gold and some warmish words from Otto, Miseria tells him where to find Aegon, and

05:12Erik and Arrik head out to get him. The problem, of course, is that Aemond and Kristen Cole see all this

05:17and intercept them. So Miseria has struck a deal with the Hand of the King, but the Hand of the King

05:23is no longer really in power. Alicent is now in the driving seat for Team Green.

05:30At which point, let's cut over to Alicent's spy network. Of course, she doesn't really have one

05:36either. It's Laris Strong we're talking about here. He has been ingratiating himself with her all season

05:42and trying to prove his worth. At first, it seems to have just been him. He speaks little, hides in

05:48the shadows and listens lots. He was introduced in episode three in a rather low-key way. There was

05:54that great hunt. Everyone was out there trying to capture and kill the white stag and, well, I say

06:00everyone, most of the men were off hunting. The women were politicking and gossiping, and Laris,

06:05because of his disability, is there too. He sits and listens and gains knowledge.

06:12He first gains Alicent's trust by spilling the tea, figuratively, about Rhaenyra getting moon tea

06:18from the Grand Maester, so Alicent knows that Rhaenyra was sleeping with someone. Then, when her

06:24father is dismissed as Hand of the King, he says that he can get him back. Alicent clearly wants that,

06:31but is shocked by the way Laris chooses to do it, by killing his own father and brother by fire at

06:36Harrenhal. This is the birth of Laris's spy network, although spy is probably the wrong word

06:43here. Myceria has spies reporting back to her. Laris has operatives doing his bidding. He released

06:50them from the black cells, cut out their tongues, and they now owe him their lives. It is his firefly

06:56network. You saw that he seems to have claimed that as his new sigil, a bit like Littlefinger

07:01claim to the Mockingbird as his new sigil. When we reach episode 9, a few years later,

07:07remember, and Myceria shows the extent of her network, Laris finally realises that if he is

07:13to gain real power, he has to get rid of his rival, and asks Alicent for her go-ahead to murder

07:19Myceria. If you missed this whole subplot, it's completely understandable, because it was right in

07:25the middle of the whole aftermath of Viserys' death, and, well, we were all focusing on Laris and

07:30Alicent's feet at the time, but this is what he was saying while that whole rather seedy feet scene

07:36was playing out. There is a web of spies at work in the Red Keep. Along its threads travel news of

07:43all our doings. Your father knows this, but has left it in place. More than once it has proved

07:49advantageous to those willing to feed the weaver. One of the little spiders is your lady-in-waiting,

07:56and there are more like her. Even I do not know the number. There is one way to destroy his,

08:03Otto's, advantage. It must be taken out at the head. When the queen dies, the bees fly without

08:11purpose. If you wish it, it will be done. Laris is basically saying that Myceria has a

08:19spy network that spies on everything they do in the Red Keep and passes that information on to

08:24Otto, but he promises to take out Myceria if that is what Alicent wants. She gives her implicit

08:30agreement. And a couple of scenes later, with no word of explanation, we see a building in King's

08:36Landing ablaze, and a hooded figure walking away from it. The implication is clear. Laris has instructed

08:42his Firefly network to burn down Myceria's home and kill her, much as they burned down Harrenhal

08:48and killed Laris's father and brother. But, again, spoilers, I don't think he has succeeded in

08:54killing Myceria, which leaves open the wonderful prospect of a spy war in Season 2 of House of the

09:01Dragon. I think it's pretty clear that Otto won't have the time or focus to fulfil his promise to end

09:06the child exploitation in King's Landing, so Myceria probably won't feel any loyalty to him, and now

09:12Alicent has implicitly declared war on her. So where does Myceria turn? Presumably to Rhaenyra.

09:21Myceria's relationship with Daemon, Rhaenyra's husband, is complex, to say the least, but if both

09:26parts of Team Green have declared war on Myceria in their various ways, then where else does she go?

09:32And how does Laris respond? He actually isn't an Alicent loyalist. The actor, Matthew Needham,

09:39has confirmed that the whole feet thing was basically about power, not sex. And when in

09:45Episode 9 Otto confronts Laris with the fact that he has been spending a lot of time with Alicent,

09:51Laris turns around and says that there is no reason why that should not ultimately benefit Otto.

09:57In other words, his loyalties are flexible. Something else to keep an eye on.

10:02So what do we have here for Season 2 of House of the Dragon? The spy war is just getting started,

10:07but unlike in Game of Thrones when it was just the members of the small council,

10:12Varys, Littlefinger, Cersei, who had their own spy networks and were jostling for position,

10:16this time we have an independent actor. Myceria is the loose cannon. She will clearly oppose Laris

10:23for trying to kill her and Otto for not delivering on his promise, but how will it play out with Daemon?

10:29From the start, Myceria stated that she was all about safety, or as she put it,

10:34being liberated from fear. They haven't said much about her background in the show,

10:39but it was undoubtedly a hard one in Lees, and it's clear that she has not only focused on

10:44ensuring that she herself is protected, but that she looks out for those like her.

10:49Her priority when negotiating with Otto Hightower, and remember, this was the thing she had seemingly

10:54been planning for years for, was to protect the children of King's Landing, the most vulnerable.

11:00Although we will see a spy war blaze across King's Landing in House of the Dragon,

11:05at its heart, this is actually about what drives people. Is it about power, which is what seems to

11:11drive Laris and Otto and many others, or a sense of anger, entitlement and injustice, which seems to

11:17be where Rhaenyra may be coming from for some of next season? Or is it about prioritising those who

11:22cannot look after themselves, the most vulnerable in society? Myceria may be a mysterious character,

11:29but she may prove to be the one we care about the most.

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