House of the Dragon: Why Did Larys Cut Off the Prisoners’ Tongues?

House of the Dragon has had plenty of human drama in the royal courts, but in terms of political subterfuge, there hadn’t been as much overt action until episode 6 of season 1. This episode takes place after a big time skip, after which some characters have formed new alliances, or begun realizing lifelong ambitions, often via costly means. One such character, Larys Strong, takes this in an interesting direction, where after he provides counsel to Alicent Hightower, queen of Westeros, he takes some drastic action along with some puzzling measures to go along with it. Why Did Larys Cut Off the Prisoners’ Tongues in House of the Dragon? Read on to find out!

House of the Dragon: Why Did Larys Cut Off the Prisoners’ Tongues?

Larys had the tongues of 3 prisoners cut off so that he could eliminate any proof or witnesses to his assassination plot, where these prisoners were unleashed to burn the castle, Harrenhal, with his brother and father inside. This was an intentional plot by Larys, implied by the show, to improve his station of power, as he is now the heir to Harrenhal in the wake of this event, which he suggests will be his reward.

Larys took this action after being briefed by Alicent on Harwin’s improprieties, including possibly being the illegitimate father of Rhaenyra Targaryen’s children. He also determined Lyonel as unable to give unbiased counsel to King Viserys, so with the Hand of the King taking the City Watch Commander to his castle, Larys took out 2 birds with one stone and secured his claim to lordship over Harrenhal. When pressed about this, he plays it off as Harrenhal’s curse, but this action also gains him an upper hand on Alicent, able to spin this as a favor to her, claiming it was him granting her wishes.

In carrying this plot out, Larys has secured a role in House of the Dragon similar to that of Petyr Baelish or Varys from Game of Thrones, of a cunning power player who operates behind the scenes. Larys’ ruthless efficiency in having his brother and father killed via arson is certainly fitting in an adaptation of Fire and Blood and makes him a character to carefully watch in future episodes of the series.

House of the Dragon premiered on August 21, 2022, on HBO. You can also stream the series on HBO Max.