When one is never invited to speak, one learns instead to... observe.Larys Strong to Alicent Hightower.
What are children, but a weakness? A folly? A futility? Through them, you imagine you cheat the great darkness of its victory. You will persist forever, in some form or another. As if they will keep you from the dust. But for them, you surrender what you should not. You may know what is the right thing to be done, but love stays the hand. Love is a downfall. Best to make your way through life unencumbered, if you ask me.Larys' nihilistic monologue after having killed his family.
When I am dead, hack off my clubfoot with that great sword of yours. I have dragged it with me all through life, let me be free of it in death at least.Larys's last request to Cregan Stark, after refusing to take the Black and being sentenced to death for the murder of Aegon II.
Lord Larys Strong, also known as Larys Clubfoot and simply the Clubfoot, is a major character in the A Song of Ice and Fire franchise and a major antagonist in the television adaptation, House of the Dragon. He was the younger son of Lord Lyonel Strong of Harrenhal and the younger brother of Ser Harwin Strong.
Larys was the younger son of Lord Lyonel Strong, who inherited the castle of Harrenhal after murdering his father and elder brother Ser Harwin Strong. Born with a misshapen foot, Strong was derided as "the Clubfoot." He used his handicap to present himself as unassuming and harmless, but was actually a highly ruthless and cunning manipulator who served as the Lord Confessor and Master of Whisperers of Kings Viserys I and Aegon II.
In House of the Dragon, Strong is portrayed by Matthew Needham, who has also played the original form of Swarm in Doctor Who.
Personality
Novel
Larys Strong is mostly an anti-social individual, as he stays silent most of the time and prefer listening over words, however, he would speak if he finds it necessary, but it was to either to be glib or to share words of great importance. The Clubfoot was an enigmatic and cunning man. Although he could be convincing and amiable when needed, he kept his own counsel and was largely friendless. Always looking out for himself, he changed sides frequently.
TV series
Larys is cunning, remorseless, sadistic, and unapologetic. Like the later Petyr Baelish, he pretends to be meek and friendly to those he seeks to take advantage of, hiding a horrific monster underneath. He is shown to have no qualms about many of the crimes he commits, including murdering his own family. Additionally, he has a sexual attraction to feet.
Biography
Novel
Larys and Harwin were brought to court by their father, Lyonel, when he joined Viserys I's Small Council. Harwin was suspected of having an affair with the King's declared heir, Rhaenyra Targaryen, fathering her three sons during her marriage to Laenor Velaryon. Later, Lyonel and Harwin died in a mysterious fire at Harrenhal. Many were blamed, including Larys, as with the deaths of his father and elder brother he became, Lord of Harrenhal. Larys served on the Small Council as Master of Whisperers.
When Viserys died, the Small Council met and decided to crown his eldest son from his second marriage, Aegon II Targaryen, King instead of making Rhaenyra Queen. Larys declared they should swear a blood oath. However, the following year, Rhaenyra took King's Landing while Aegon was wounded and his brothers were away. Larys disguised Aegon as a commoner and spirited him to Dragonstone, reasoning that Rhaenyra would never think to look for her half-brother on her fortress. Aegon spent half a year there disguised as one of the dragonseed smallfolk. Later, contact was made with people on the island dissatisfied with Rhaenyra, and the castle of Dragonstone was taken. Rhaenyra had been forced to flee King's Landing due to her oppressive actions, making the people rise against her, and with her eldest surviving son, Aegon "the Younger," by her second husband and uncle Daemon Targaryen. On Dragonstone, she was captured by Aegon II's forces and fed to his dragon.
Aegon and Larys returned to King's Landing. However, an army led by Lord Cregan Stark approached the city, loyal to Rhaenyra's cause. Aegon told his men to cut off his nephew's ear and send it to the opposing forces. However, he was then found poisoned, making his nephew Aegon III. Cregan took the position of Hand for the young King and arrested many for poisoning the King, including Larys Strong. Larys chose death over the Wall and was executed by Cregan, thus ending the main branch of House Strong.
House of the Dragon
The second son of Lord Lyonel Strong, Larys was born with a twisted foot, leading to him being called "the Clubfoot," though not to his face. His older brother Harwin was a fierce protector of him, though Larys did not reciprocate this affection.
Larys worked his way into becoming a confidante of Queen Alicent Hightower, though his motivations are still a mystery. He would later orchestrate the deaths of his father and brother by sending mute prisoners to cause a fire at Harrenhal so that Otto Hightower could return as Hand of the King. While Alicent personally wished for Otto to return, she was horrified by Larys's actions.
By the time King Viserys I died, Larys had been appointed Lord Confessor, meaning he was the head torturer of the Red Keep. In her quest to find the missing Aegon, Alicent learned of Mysaria's spy network through Larys. In exchange for offering to kill her, Larys quietly demands sexual favors from Alicent, and she shows her bare feet, to which Larys masturbates as Alicent looks away in shame.
Legacy
While official histories are neutral towards the late Larys, however, the enigma surrounding him would come to baffle historians (even Archmaester Gyldayn), as they could not unravel the mysteries surrounding the Clubfoot and of on what he was about.
As a result of this, along with the fact that he hadn’t been truly loyal to the Greens, his true loyalty and goals came into question and it continues to remain an unsolved mystery as of the present.
Trivia
- Although it is never confirmed, nor does it appear as a possibility in the sources that make up the Fire & Blood book, it is implied (and many readers of the books have theorized) that Larys Strong pushed Queen Helaena from her room in the Keep of Maegor to the spiked pit below. And then she spread the rumor that the Commander of the City Watch did it on the orders of Rhaenyra (the latter is raised by the jester Mushroom).
- Larys Strong's ambition to become Hand of the King was only displayed in House of the Dragon. It is unknown if he ever had such ambition in the book universe, or at least a similar one, as the novels Fire & Blood and The World of Ice and Fire were written as history texts. The accounts of the Dance of the Dragons were written by various different points of view that sometimes contradicted each other, and none of the witnesses who knew Larys were able to read him as a person. Larys was known to be mostly taciturn and almost never speak during small council meeting. If he ever had personal ambitions, he never displayed them in public. Grand Maester Gerardys, who is the in-universe author of Fire & Blood who gathered the many accounts, says that what really happened during the realm's history will never be fully known.
External Links
- Larys Strong on the A Wiki of Ice and Fire.
- Larys Strong on the Wiki of Westeros.
