Numerous characters are coming to fruition in the House of the Dragon, one of the more notable being Alys Rivers, a beautiful yet mysterious woman. She was rumored to be the bastard of Lord Lyonel Strong, the ruler of Harrenhal, yet conflicting rumors dispute this claim. Regardless, the audience can expect to see her character mingling with the likes of Aemond Targaryen as they embark on a love story when Aemond overthrows Harrenhal.
What to Expect With This Character?
However, this love may be a figment of imagination as Alys is rumored to be a witch—the similarities between her and the past Red Woman, Melisandre, may have nefarious reasons for aligning with Aemond. Although her history is unknown, magic is definitely connected with this character. Whether she’s a simple woman who practices with potions or is, in fact, House of the Dragon’s version of the Red Woman is the true question. Considering she is supposed to be in her 40s, she looks very young for her age.
History can be misremembered, and adaptations tend to change things for a more cohesive story. Nonetheless, Alys named herself Queen of Harrenhal, subtly implying that she was in a romantic relationship with Aemond, claiming to have married him. She even went as far as to say her son (Aemond’s son as well) is the rightful heir. However, after those instances in the book, not much else is known about her and her fate. Perhaps her “love” for Aemond was simply to gain control of Harrenhal for her own greed, considering she was rumored to be the bastard of the house and was only a wet nurse prior to meeting Aemond.
Who is playing Alys Rivers?
Gayle Rankin will be playing Alys Rivers. Having played strong (sometimes psychotic) female characters in films like her recent movie, Bad Things, and more notably in GLOW, Rankin gave a statement to Town & Country magazine: “For as huge as it is, it’s quite an intimate set. My particular storyline is quite, for the moment, contained. Contained, let’s say—very wild, but contained… I’m obsessed with [Alys]. I’ve always been given the opportunity to play people who are pretty prophetic, which is cool, but it’s a lot of pressure! She’s so fucking cool. I want to really ground her and find her humanity—I always try to find my way into that, but she has a lot of power, too. Just really exciting. I don’t think we’ve seen half of it yet, so that will be fun.”
Even though her character’s ending may be ambiguous, it is certain that she will make an impression that many will not forget.