Why did Alicent Hightower show Larys Strong her feet? Warning spoilers for House of the Dragon episode 9 ahead. So it’s come to this. Only nine episodes in, and our new favourite fantasy series (sorry, Rings of Power fans) has already devolved into explainers about feet. Ahh, well, at least I’m not writing about the Targaryen family and their proclivities…
Anyway, Larys Strong is not a nice guy. So far, we’ve seen the would-be spymaster murder his father and brother, conspire with Alicent to get Rhaenyra Targaryen disinherited, and cut out the tongues of his assassins. Classic bad guy stuff. But why has a man whose family sided with the crown princess decided to throw his lot in with the Greens? And why does Alicent keep flashing her feet at Larys Strong?
Why did Alicent show Larys Strong her feet?
Honestly, the simple answer is that Larys Strong has a foot fetish, and the queen has been using this to get what she needs from the Lord of Harrenhal. Larys has been pretty clear that his services come with a price, and this seems to be it.
We’ve no doubt that he wants more (not necessarily sexually) from Alicent, but it’s an easy price for the queen to pay. We saw in the TV series that just by taking off her shoes, Larys was willing to tell Alicent all about the White Worm, and when she slipped off her socks, he offered to remove her spies from the Red Keep. We’ll have to wait until House of the Dragon season 2 to see how successful Larys is at this.
Judging by the look on her face when Larys satisfies himself, she’s not exactly comfortable with what’s going on. It’s a weirdly horrifying moment, to be honest. Not because Larys is into feet — let’s be honest, that’s pretty vanilla, especially when you consider what some House of the Dragon characters get up to. It’s because he has all the power in the scene.
Alicent may be queen, but even now, she’s just an object to her closest councillors. A bauble to be looked at while you pleasure yourself. It’s gross and quite sad, especially when her only real friend Rhaenyra is about to declare war on her family.
If you’re enjoying the Game of Thrones prequel, check out our guide to the House of the Dragon cast, or we have guides to Daemon Targaryen, King Viserys Targaryen, Otto Hightower, The White Worm, and Ser Criston Cole.