Who Is Alys Rivers on 'House of the Dragon'?

House of the Dragon S eason 2 has wasted no time introducing a slew of new fan-favorite characters—Addam of Hull, Hugh Hammer, and more—but few have excited viewers as much as Alys Rivers, played by Gayle Rankin .

Alys made a brief appearance in Episode 3 when she told Daemon ( Matt Smith ) that he was going to die at Harrenhal. Readers of George R.R. Martin ’s Fire & Blood suspected that this mysterious, witchy woman was Alys, and Episode 4 confirmed it.

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Daemon comes upon his new acquaintance late one night as he’s wandering Harrenhal, following the eerily realistic visions in his dreams. He immediately recognizes her as the woman who predicted his death and demands some answers. Alys gives him a sketchy outline of her background, but there’s still plenty of questions surrounding her.

Keep reading for everything to know about Alys Rivers:

Who is Alys Rivers?

Alys is an illegitimate daughter of House Strong, as evidenced by her last name, Rivers. As Game of Thrones fans will remember, bastard children in Westeros are given a generic last name corresponding with the region they were born in. Rivers is for the Crownlands, Snow is for the North, Sand is for Dorne, and so on. According to Fire & Blood , Alys’ father is rumored to be Lyonel Strong ( Gavin Spokes ), who appeared in Season 1. Lyonel was a member of Viserys’ small council but died in a mysterious fire at Harrenhal along with his eldest son, Harwin Strong ( Ryan Corr ).

Alys tells Daemon that she is a maester “in a manner of speaking,” explaining that she inherited the role when the previous Harrenhal maester “fled in the night.” While Alys does mix up some sort of sleeping potion to help Daemon with his insomnia, it doesn’t seem entirely medicinal: He wakes up in the council room without remembering where he is or what he’s doing there.

In the book, Alys is rumored to be a witch who also can see visions of the future, hence her prediction that Daemon is going to die at Harrenhal. While she doesn’t initially have any of her own children, she served as a wet nurse to Harwin and Larys ( Matthew Needham ). She is also supposedly much older than she looks, thanks to witchcraft.

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What is the Curse of Harrenhal?

Harrenhal, which was also a key location in Game of Thrones , is believed by many to be cursed because no one ever manages to hold it for long — and its stewards usually die in particularly gruesome ways. The castle was built by Harren Hoare, a.k.a. Harren the Black, but the day it was finished happened to be the same day Aegon the Conqueror invaded Westeros with his sisters. Harren refused to yield, and Aegon burned Harrenhal down with the help of his dragon, Balerion the Black Dread.

As Alys explains, many people believe that Harren started the curse himself by cutting down weirwood trees to build the castle. “Harrenhal’s been cursed since its first stone was laid,” she tells Daemon. “Black Harren felled the grove of weirwood trees that grew on these lands. Heart trees imbued with the spirit of those who lived long before he came. It’s said their whispers can still be heard sometimes.”

Daemon dismisses her account as a “midwife’s tale,” but it’s clear he’s alarmed by the strange visions he’s been having in the castle. If he wants to make Harrenhal a useful tactical outpost for the Blacks, he’s going to have a tough road ahead of him.

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What does Alys Rivers do in the book?

So far Alys is just a weird lady who lives in a haunted castle and cooks up hallucinogenic potions, but she eventually becomes a key player in Fire & Blood.

*Spoilers ahead if you don’t want to know what happens next.*

Aemond ( Ewan Mitchell ) and Criston Cole ( Fabien Frankel ) eventually wrest control of Harrenhal from Daemon, at which point they execute House Strong for supporting the Blacks. Aemond spares Alys’ life, however, and she becomes his lover. She later claims that she is pregnant with Aemond’s child.

After the civil war between the Greens and the Blacks ends, Alys resurfaces at Harrenhal, which she has taken over with help from a band of outlaws. She claims that her son is the rightful heir to the throne, but that’s the last we hear of her in Fire & Blood . Her prophecy to Daemon, however, more or less comes true — and she watches it happen.

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