When Daemon Targaryen claimed Harrenhal during House of the Dragon’s second season, he didn’t find peace in that haunted castle. What he found instead was a mysterious woman named Alys Rivers, a strange figure and fan-favorite from George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood. But who is she really? A bastard of the Riverlands who is nothing more than a wise woman who minds her surroundings? Or something much more magical and sinister? Here’s everything we’ve learned about Alys Rivers on House of the Dragon through season three, when we found out her story is even more important than we ever thought.
Table of contents
- Who Plays Alys Rivers on House of the Dragon?
- What We Learned About Alys Rivers During House of the Dragon Season 2
- Alys Rivers Shows Daemon the Prophecy of Ice and Fire in House of the Dragon
- Is House of the Dragon ‘s Alys Rivers Really a Witch?
- What We Learned About Alys Rivers During House of the Dragon Season 3
- Who Is Alys Rivers? Alys Is Harren the Black’s Cursed Wife
- Alys Rivers and Aemond Targaryen Are Now Betrothed on House of the Dragon
Who Plays Alys Rivers on House of the Dragon?
Gayle Rankin (GLOW, Perry Mason) plays Alys Rivers on House of the Dragon. She joined the prequel series during season two. While the character is known to readers of Martin’s Fire & Blood, the in-world history reveals less about her than many other figures in the book.
What We Learned About Alys Rivers During House of the Dragon Season 2
Alys Rivers made her silent on-screen debut in House of the Dragon season two’s third episode. She first appeared in Harrenhal’s dining hall when Daemon Targaryen claimed the castle for Queen Rhaenyra (and himself). Alys was the only person not to kneel to his “Grace.”
Alys truly made her presence felt later in the episode when she showed up during Daemon’s nightmare-turned-waking vision. After dreaming about his wife as a young woman sewing the head of little Prince Jaehaerys back onto his body, Daemon suddenly found himself outside. He was standing near a dying weirwood tree overlooking the sacred Gods Eye lake. A confused Daemons then saw Alys Rivers appear below him. She only said one thing, but it made a major impact. She ominously told him, “You will die in this place,” before walking away.
Alys Rivers: Maester, Owl, or Witch?
Another nightmare once again led Daemon to walk directly to Alys Rivers during House of the Dragon season two’s fourth episode. He found her working late at night.
She explained she was the castle’s de facto maester after the last one fled in the night. Like Daemon, the maester could not rest at Harrenhal. Alys Rivers said the castle is responsible for Daemon’s nightmares on House of the Dragon because Harrenhal is haunted and has been since its first stone was laid. The King who built the massive structure, Harren the Black, felled a grove of sacred weirwood trees for the land. He then tortured his workers who used the wood of the heart trees while building the castle. According to Alys Rivers, the spirits who lived in those ancient trees still roam the castle. She said you can hear them whispering in the night.
When Daemon asked who she really is, Alys Rivers jokingly said she’s really an owl trapped in a human woman’s body. (At least it sounded like a joke. In a world with wargs that wasn’t totally unbelievable.) Later, Daemon accused her of being a witch because she seemingly knew things she shouldn’t. That included how she seemed to know everything Daemon had left unsaid about his feelings over his wife’s ascension. Alys Rivers didn’t claim witchcraft or other magical powers for her House of the Dragon insights, though. She cited the many clues she observed about why he was unhappy being below Rhaenyra, including how he arrived alone but had yet to send a raven back saying he claimed the castle.
The alluring, wise, mysterious Alys then easily got Daemon to drink an unknown potion just days after he feared someone poisoning him. It was as though she had placed him in a trance and he couldn’t refuse her. Whatever she gave him was powerful. It knocked him out completely. Daemon lost a huge chunk of time after taking her potion. He awoke the next day, in the middle of a meeting, with no idea how he’d gotten there.
Alys Rivers Hears Cries of Anguish in the Wind
In House of the Dragon season two’s “Regentm,” Alys Rivers continued to call out Daemon Targaryen. This time, she chastised him for war crimes Ser Willem Blackwood committed in his name. Daemon had told the knight to do his “worse” to bring House Bracken to heel. Even before the other riverlords confronted Daemon for those atrocities, Alys Rivers knew about them. She told Daemon she heard “strange things” on the “wind.” She spoke of “cries of anguish, children being taken from their mothers, men coming home to find their doors unlatched, their wives carried away.”
Did she mean she heard reports and rumors of those things from others? Or Alys Rivers actually hear the real screams from far away in House of the Dragon? If so, how? In visions? Dreams? Through weirwood trees? Sorcery? No matter how exactly she knew, she was aware of what it meant for the smallfolk. “And once again, in the name of power,” Alys said, “It’s the weak and the women who must endure.”
It was also unclear if Alys Rivers happened to mention Daemon’s late mother by chance, or if that meant she was the one who caused his Oedipal dream. That was a curious topic for Alys to bring up at that exact moment. It raised the possibility that even if she isn’t responsible for Daemon’s nightmares, she somehow knew about them.
Alys Rivers “Predicts” the Death of Lord Grover Tully
With Daemon losing his grip on reality thanks to both his growing frustration in the Riverlands and his own nightmares in House of the Dragon season two, the King Consort was ready to flee Harrenhal before he asked for Alys’ help counsel. She offered him insights into the “mud” men of the region. She said they would rather get bogged down fighting one another than bend an inch. Only the stability of House Tully could bring them all together and give Daemon the army he sought.
With Lord Grover Tully too old and sick to bend the knee, that seemingly left Daemon without any options. But Alys told him while he couldn’t do anything, “in three days time, the winds will shift.” That would offer him a path forward. Sure enough, three days later Grover Tully was dead and his young healthy grandson was the new Lord of Riverrun. And who was with Grover at the end? Alys Rivers, who had gone to help.
Did Alys Rivers kill Grover Tully in House of the Dragon as Daemon (and possibly Ser Simon Strong) believe? Or did she go there—possibly to ease Grover’s pain, make Daemon think he can trust her, or both—because she somehow knew Lord Tully would die that day no matter what? Either she’s a murderer or a seer, either of which would be of great value to Daemon Targaryen.
Also of value was her insight into what it takes to rule. She cited Daemon’s desire for the crown as reason for him not to be worthy of it. Rhaenyra needed her husband (and his dragon) fighting for her. Alys Rivers was the only one who showed Daemon why the best he might ever be able to hope for is serving as King Consort and not the King.
Alys Rivers Shows Daemon the Prophecy of Ice and Fire in House of the Dragon
Alys Rivers revealed just how much she knows about the future when she showed Daemon a vision of Aegon the Conqueror’s prophecy about the White Walkers in House of the Dragon. She brought Daemon to Harrenhal’s weirwood, and when he touched it, he saw the Three-Eyed Raven, the army of the dead, and his descendant Daenerys rising from the ashes with three dragons. It was exactly what Daemon needed to finally fall in line behind his wife, the Queen. Without Alys Rivers and her mysterious knowledge, the Realm might have been doomed forever because Daemon never would have played “his part” in the fight against the Night King.
Is House of the Dragon‘s Alys Rivers Really a Witch?
Season two never answered who exactly Alys Rivers is or even what she is. A witch responsible for Daemon’s nightmares? A wise owl in human form who can hear whispers on the wind because she soars on them? A greenseer with amazing abilities like Bran on Game of Thrones, which was how she knows so much about the past, present, and future? And does that mean she predicted Daemon’s future death at Harrenhal because she sees it, or as a threat?
In season three of House of the Dragon, we found out that we weren’t even asking the right questions about Alys Rivers.
What We Learned About Alys Rivers During House of the Dragon Season 3
Alys Rivers asked for Harrenhal as reward for the service she provided Rhaenyra in uniting the riverlords and getting Daemon to truly bend the knee. But he said that was not going to happen. Alys was disgusted, but quickly found a new Targaryen prince to get close with. She saved Aemond’s life from a stab wound after he claimed Harrenhal in the early episodes of House of the Dragon season three. She then nursed him back to health, even though she could have won the castle she so believed was rightfully hers by killing him—Rhaenyra had named the castle as the reward for the person who murdered Aemond for her.
Why didn’t Alys Rivers murder Aemond so she could receive Harrenhal? She had even bigger plans.
Alys Rivers Makes a Dragon Egg Offer to Aemond
Even Aemond was confused by Alys’ humane treatment of him/lack of castle-claiming murder until she revealed she had much bigger plans for them both in House of the Dragon. She showed him lost dragon eggs a Targaryen queen had left behind at Harrenhal. Alys wanted the two of them to make the castle a new seat of ruling power, with her as the Lady of the Water and him the dragonlord by her side. But why at Harrenhal and not King’s Landing? Alys Rivers would soon tell Aemond the truth about her sad past and why she was cursed to remain in the Riverlands forever.
Who Is Alys Rivers? Alys Is Harren the Black’s Cursed Wife
Alys is not a witch, an owl, or even just a woman in House of the Dragon. Alys Rivers was Harren the Black’s wife when Aegon the Conqueror all but ended Harren Hoare’s line. One of her sons initially survived his dragon burns, and his mother did everything she could to save him. When maesters could do nothing, Alys turned to old magic, incantations, and ancient knowledge she learned from the Children of the Forest. It failed to save her son, and when she died, Alys Rivers learned she could not follow him in death. The price the former Queen of Harrenhal paid for her attempts was to lose her title, her name, her castle, and her power. Alys Rivers is doomed to live forever in the Riverlands serving every lord who rules in Harrenhal.
Her past, powers, and old age mean she might also be the mother of the Three-Eyed Raven.
Alys Rivers and Aemond Targaryen Are Now Betrothed on House of the Dragon
For 130 years, “Alys Rivers” has haunted the halls that became her family’s tomb. And after all that time, she has grown lonely. In Aemond, she sees something she didn’t in Daemon: another lost soul desperate for love. He sees the same in her. Alys Rivers and Aemond Targaryen are now betrothed as House of the Dragon season three comes to an end. Whether their union will lead to a new age of Water and Fire is a question for House of the Dragon season four.
Originally published on July 9, 2024.
Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. He’s still mad we didn’t get GLOW’s final season. You can follow on Bluesky at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.
The post Who Is HOUSE OF THE DRAGON’s Alys Rivers? appeared first on Nerdist.
This articles is written by : Nermeen Nabil Khear Abdelmalak
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