HOTD's Littlefinger & Joffrey Replacements Will Repeat One Of Game Of Thrones' Biggest Stories

WARNING! This article contains major SPOILERS for House of the Dragon season 2, episode 7 and George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood, on which the show is based!

House of the Dragon has its character replacements lined up for Game of Thrones’ Littlefinger and King Joffrey, setting up the prequel to repeat one of the original show’s most shocking deaths. Several characters introduced in House of the Dragon closely mirror major figures from Game of Thrones, such as Rhaenyra replacing Daenerys, Alicent Hightower bearing similarities to Cersei Lannister, Otto Hightower serving as a new Tywin Lannister, and Oscar Tully paralleling Lyanna Mormont. Some of these “replacement” characters even experience similar betrayals, such as Aegon Targaryen and Larys Strong following a Joffrey Baratheon and Littlefinger twist.

History often repeats itself in real life, and this happens quite often within the world of Game of Thrones. One of the biggest fatal twists in Game of Thrones arrives in season 4 when King Joffrey Baratheon dies at his wedding feast, having been killed by Olenna Tyrell after Littlefinger hid poison for her to use in a necklace worn by Sansa Stark. According to George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood book, a similar death will occur in House of the Dragon’s story involving King Aegon II Targaryen and Larys Strong, who happen to already share parallels to King Joffrey and Littlefinger.

How House Of The Dragon’s Larys Strong Mirrors Game Of Thrones’ Littlefinger

Larys & Littlefinger Have Similar Motivations & Roles

Lord Petyr “Littlefinger” Baelish and Lord Varys were the two biggest spymasters in King’s Landing throughout Game of Thrones, each with their own purpose for influencing royalty and keeping up with their secrets. House of the Dragon has two similar masters of whisperers during the Dance of the Dragons: Lord Larys Strong and Mysaria. While Littlefinger comes from a small area in the Fingers with little influence and simple ambition for his own pursuit of power, Larys Strong is the second son of the Lord of Harrenhal who is underestimated due to his quiet nature and physical disability.

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However, both Littlefinger and Larys manipulate the council and those on the Iron Throne to their own advantage, hoping to gain as much power for themselves as they can due to their past slights and insecurities. Meanwhile, their contemporary counterparts Varys and Mysaria come from humble yet tragic backgrounds in Essos that brought them to King’s Landing, with their webs of spies and influence on the crown being a vehicle to advocate for and manipulate political actions for the good of the people.

Littlefinger and Lord Larys Strong are also quite arrogant in their manipulative skills despite attempting to maintain a face of humility. Littlefinger tries to appear more modest when working as Master of Coin for the Lannisters/Baratheons in order to minimize the perception of him as a threat to them. Similarly, Larys Strong tries to appear more physically imposing and confident in front of Alicent, who he already has in the palm of his hands, compared to King Aegon, who Larys wants to hide his authoritative pursuits and true intentions from in order to more easily manipulate him.

King Aegon Is House Of The Dragon’s Version Of King Joffrey

King Aegon Is More Tragic, But Plays A Very Similar Role

More so before Aegon is raised up as King, House of the Dragon establishes Viserys and Alicent’s eldest child as the prequel’s most similar character to King Joffrey Baratheon. Both Joffrey and Aegon are the sons of dead kings who they really shouldn’t have succeeded on the Iron Throne. Furthermore, both are young, petty, cruel, incompetent, insecure, entitled, and petulant boys who assume the most powerful position in the realm. Like Joffrey, King Aegon is also an irresponsible boy whose mother was unable to control him and whose father, the King, was negligent prior to his death.

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Of course, House of the Dragon does an excellent job of humanizing Aegon far more than Game of Thrones did Joffrey. When Joffrey died in Game of Thrones, his demise was celebrated after becoming one of the worst villains in TV history. Meanwhile, though he’s still cruel and arguably a brat, Aegon Targaryen becomes a far more sad and tragic character who is able to garner some sympathy from audiences. Still, King Aegon and King Joffrey are very unfit to rule on the Iron Throne, with their reigns largely being manipulated and executed by those around them instead.

Larys Strong May Help Kill Aegon Like Littlefinger Did Joffrey

Fire & Blood Claims Larys Is Involved In King Aegon’s Murder

Taking Larys Strong and Aegon Targaryen’s comparisons to Littlefinger and Joffrey further, the spymasters are both involved in the murders of the young kings. In Fire & Blood, Larys Strong plays a role in the poisoning of King Aegon II Targaryen, as Aegon is found dead in his carriage with a poisoned flagon of wine. The primary co-conspirators in Aegon’s death are named as Lord Larys Strong, Lord Corlys Velaryon, and Ser Perkin the Flea, with Larys then being executed by Lord Cregan Stark for his high treason.

Fire & Blood doesn’t confirm whether Larys Strong directly gives Aegon the poisoned wine, but it’s claimed that he organized the murder. This would bear even closer similarities to Littlefinger’s plan to kill King Joffrey. Littlefinger and Olenna Tyrell kill Joffrey by arranging for Ser Dontos to give Sansa the necklace containing the poison called the Strangler, with Olenna then taking the poison from the necklace and slyly putting it in Joffrey’s wine at his wedding. Fittingly, the demises of Littlefinger and Larys are both executed by Starks in Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon.

House of the Dragon

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Taking place about 172 years before the events of Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon tells the tale of the rise of the Targaryens, the only family of dragonlords to survive the Doom of Valyria. The popular HBO spinoff show first starred Milly Alcock and Emily Carey as Rhaenyra Targaryen and Alicent Hightower before they were replaced by Emma D’Arcy and Olivia Cooke, who play the older versions of the characters. Also starring in the series is Matt Smith (Prince Daemon Targaryen) and Paddy Considine as Rhaenyra’s father, King Viserys Targaryen.

Cast

Jefferson Hall , Paddy Considine , Fabien Frankel , Ryan Corr , Eve Best , Gavin Spokes , Graham McTavish , Steve Toussaint , Olivia Cooke , Sonoya Mizuno , Bill Paterson , Matthew Needham , Emma D’Arcy , Matt Smith , Rhys Ifans , David Horovitch

Release Date

August 21, 2022

Seasons

2

Directors

Miguel Sapochnik , Clare Kilner , Alan Taylor , Greg Yaitanes , Geeta Vasant Patel , Andrij Parekh

Showrunner

Ryan Condal

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