House of the Dragon’s penultimate episode dropped more than a few jaw-dropping reveals ahead of the season one finale. Not only was Aegon crowned king, but a hunt through the city turned up quite a bit of dirt on the reluctant ruler and his family — and gained the Hightowers some powerful enemies in the process.
Before news of King Viserys’ death could spread, both Otto Hightower and Queen Alicent sent men into the city to find the wayward prince. While Otto dispatched twin Kings Guard soldiers Ser Erryk and Ser Arryk, Alicent sent Ser Criston Cole and her son Aemond to retrieve Aegon so that they could set their plan to usurp the throne into motion. The brothers stumbled upon the first lead when they found one of Aegon’s bastards in a child fighting pit in Flea Bottom and were approached by an agent of The White Worm — a major player in the game for the Iron Throne who has only been whispered about until know.
Who Is The White Worm?
In the early days of House of the Dragon, Daemon Targaryen had a paramour named Mysaria. A former slave from Lys, Mysaria came to Kings Landing and became a trusted confidante of the Rogue Prince. He brought her to Dragonstone and announced his intentions to make her his second wife, but their relationship broke down when she discovered Daemon was simply using her to cause trouble with his brother. When Mysaria popped up again in episode four, she took care of a drunken Daemon, revealing she had amassed power in Flea Bottom and crafted her own network of spies, the original “little birds.” She was working with Otto Hightower at the time and one of her “children” was responsible for passing along rumors of what happened in the brothel between Daemon and his niece, Rhaenyra.
Fast forward to episode nine’s “The Green Council,” and Mysaria is still controlling the flow of information in Kings Landing, but she’s doing it under the ominous moniker, “The White Worm.” After one of her spies tells the Kings Guard soldiers that The White Worm knows where to find Aegon, Mysaria sets her terms. She’ll help Otto, but he’ll have to come to her — a display of dominance that proves she’s not one to be messed with. The twins initially find Aegon with Mysaria’s help but are challenged by Aemond and Ser Criston Cole and eventually abandon the young prince.
Later, once Aegon has been crowned, Alicent is surprised by Lord Larys Strong in her chambers, and the two trade information. (Well, Larys trades information, Alicent trades feet pics.) Larys reveals that a network of spies has infiltrated the castle and that, rather than eliminating them, Otto has been using them to his benefit. Since Alicent has spent the entire episode going against her father’s wishes, she sees these “birds” as a threat and agrees to Larys’ plan that likens the spies to bees and Mysaria to their queen. In order to rid the Red Keep of the nest, they must kill the queen. At the end of the episode, The White Worm’s headquarters has been set ablaze, presumably by someone who works for Larys.
So, is The White Worm really dead?
Our guess is probably not. Mysaria has a significant role to play as an ally of Team Black in George R.R. Martin’s book and though HoTD has made some significant changes to its source material so far, we can’t see the showrunner wasting a character as interesting and duplicitous as what is essentially the blueprint to GoT’s Lord Varys, a.k.a. The Spider.