Spoiler Alert: Spoilers for House of the Dragon Episode 7 AheadHouse of the Dragon features many elements that made Game of Thrones so successful before it, including a character who seems to know everything about everyone. Larys Strong, played by Matthew Needham, has been the source of a ton of chaos through the first seven episodes of House of the Dragon. His character is responsible for the assassination of his own father and brother, allowing him to ascend to Lord of Harrenhal while aligning himself with Olivia Cooke's Alicent Hightower character.
Larys Strong has constantly been scheming since his character was first introduced; however, we, the audience, are unaware of his end goal. During an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Matthew Needham discusses his character's motivations while alluding that he does, in fact, have a master plan.
"I think he's got a plan. I think he's got a direction. I think you can't be just enigmatic for enigmatic's sake, just lounging around smoking with nowhere to go. That'd be awful. No, I think he's got something he's trying to achieve. They've created this incredible character, this man who acts on the world and makes things happen despite looking like he couldn't hurt a fly. I think he knows where he wants to go. I think he's got plans, and he's had, well, all his life to come up with them. So he's prepared."
Of course, fans may have to wait until the eventual second season or longer to see what Larys Strong is plotting, as the character is clearly playing a long game to gain power.
Matthew Needham Recognizes the Littlefinger and Varys Comparisons
Petyr Baelish, known as Littlefinger, was an ever-present mysterious character throughout Game of Thrones. Varys, the master of whispers, was similar to Baelish, as they both were known for having a vast amount of spies in Westeros and the lands beyond. Matthew Needham recognizes the similarities between his characters and those in the initial series and sees how Larys could be a mashup between Littlefinger and Varys.
"That's not an accident, is it?" Needham says to EW regarding the similarities. "George R.R. Martin is an extraordinarily intelligent man. I don't think he would make a mistake like that. That's a very purposeful thing, so ignore it at your peril," he explains. "I do think it's a mixture of Varys and Littlefinger, but I also think they're three remarkably different people." Needham continues, "But they share a sot of murky underworld of the mind. [Varys actor] Conleth Hill is actually one of the reasons I'm an actor. I saw him in loads of plays growing up and just thought he was absolutely magic. So I owe Conleth Hill a lot, actually."
Littlefinger and Varys had very interesting yet quite different character arcs during their time on Game of Thrones. Fans are hoping for something similar with Larys Strong, which we will most likely see over the next few seasons of House of the Dragon. Fans can tune into the new spinoff series, premiering on HBO and HBO Max every Sunday at 9 pm E.T.