This post contains possible/likely spoilers for future seasons of House of the Dragon based on known events and figures from George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood. If you hope to remain completely in the dark about the show you can instead read all about how the series created its own dragon lore in season two’s sixth episode.
The people trapped inside King’s Landing are scared and hungry. Now they’re also angry and out for blood. In House of the Dragon‘s aptly named “Smallfolk,” Mysaria’s genius PR move paid instant dividends. Dragonstone’s fleet of food turned the capital’s cries of “Rhaenyra the Cruel” into cries of “long live Queen Rhaenyra.” Those locked inside the city have turned against the Greens, as Alicent and Helaena had to flee a mob outside a royal Sept. Their escape still came at a cost. An inexperienced member of the Kingsguard foolishly sliced off a desperate citizen’s arm. And that might prove to be a monumental moment for House of the Dragon. That bearded man might very well be a major figure who will play a huge role in the Dance of the Dragons, a prophet from George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood known as the Shepherd.
“No! No!” Alicent’s screams in season two’s sixth episode came too late. A member of the Kingsguard, a group overrun with Aegon’s unqualified lickspittles, made a terrible mistake. The mob forming outside the royal Sept was screaming and throwing fish, but no one had resorted to outright violence yet. It was the Kingsguard that first shed blood. He cut off the arm of a man who’d grabbed the Dowager Queen. That horror sent the already dangerous crowd into a frenzy. It also confirmed what they already thought, that the only Queen who cares about them is the rightful one in Dragonstone, Rhaenyra.
The meaning of this scene in the episode is obvious. The smallfolk of King’s Landing are coming to hate the Greens, who the people now see as unlawful usurpers. The Green rule over a city they say the people can’t leave, even though there is no food and an abundance of fear dragonflame will come for them at any moment. Now the royal guards are chopping off those worried peoples’ arms. If Rhaenyra seemed like their great hope when she provided food, the thought she will also provide them safety will only endear her to them more.
But readers of Fire & Blood know this moment could have much bigger implications for the entire war. The prequel has spent much of season two establishing just how important the feelings of the smallfolk are during the Dance of the Dragons. King’s Landing might be where the Iron Throne sits, but it’s also where a million people live. No one can rule there if the people won’t let them. And soon a compelling prophet full of righteous indignation will speak out against the family who is fighting itself to do just that.
History will only remember that massively consequential figure as the Shepherd. That thin, bearded, one-armed religious figure will soon rouse the terrified people of King’s Landing. He will galvanize them with sermons about the unholy demons who terrorize them. The Shepherd will give voice and power to those who will also come to see dragons and their riders of House Targaryen as a curse upon the entire capital.
If you don’t already know what that will lead to, we won’t say anymore about what awaits…
Fire & Blood offers few hard facts about the Shepherd. We mostly just know the role he played in King’s Landing during the Targaryen civil war. Now House of the Dragon might have shown why so many will come to follow him.
The people have no food and no hope. Those with empty bellies and too much despair will provide willing ears and hearts to anyone who can provide comfort. Anyone who speaks out against the family destroying the lives of countless innocent—all over which one gets to have the most power over the powerless—will find eager converts. Who better to deliver that message than a man who lost his arm to because of House Targaryen.
Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. You can follow him on Twitter and Bluesky at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.
