House of the Dragon Season 1 killed off one of its most important characters, Harwin Strong, out of nowhere.
House of the Dragon is finally back, and fans are eager to see what will come in the rivalry between the two branches of the Targaryen family.
However, some questions regarding the new season require viewers to take a trip down memory lane back to Season 1 for them to be answered.
What Happened to Harwin Strong In House of the Dragon?
Harwin Strong played an incredibly important role in House of the Dragon Season 1.
Despite not having a ton of screentime, Harwin was the actual (and illegitimate) father of three of Rhaenyra's children, Jacaerys Velaryon, Lucerys Velaryon, and Joffrey Velaryon.
While this was never confirmed in-universe, many characters (including Alicent and her children) knew the truth.
Alicent made the mistake of verbally explaining to Larys Strong (Harwin's brother) how she wished her father, Otto Hightower, was still the hand of the king instead of Lyonel Strong (Harwin and Larys' father).
Larys took this literally, and, knowing that his father and brother had returned to Harrenhal, grabbed a few prisoners, cut out their tongues, and ordered them to journey to Harrenhal and burn it down.
Seeing as how Lyonel was such a prominent figure of power in King's Landing and the current Lord of Harrenhal, Larys just killing him wouldn't do much for his own political gain, as Harwin would have then inherited Harrenhal and some of his father's power.
So, by killing Harwin as well, all of his family's riches and influence fell to Larys.
However, this wasn't his only motivation.
Larys knew that, by killing Lyonel and Harwin, he could, in a way, be in debt to Alicent since he was helping solve some of her problems.
He also likely knew that by killing his own family and then revealing it to Alicent, he could strike a bit of fear in her, which would also likely help him get what he wanted.
Why Was Harwin Strong Killed at Harrenhal?
As mentioned, Larys sent prisoners to kill Harwin and Lyonel by fire while they were at Harrenhal.
The reason Larys chose to wait until they were at Harrenhal wasn't just because it belonged to the Strongs, but because of the curse that supposedly surrounded the stronghold.
To elaborate, pretty much every family who ever inhabited Harrenhal mysteriously went extinct while in possession of the stronghold.
This started with Harren himself, who was destroyed by Aegon the Conqueror, all the way past the Strongs (who also obviously died at Harrenhal in House of the Dragon).
Season 1 of House of the Dragon is available to stream on Max and new episodes of Season 2 are released every Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and on Max.
Read more about House of the Dragon:
House of the Dragon Season 3 Release Prospects, Cast & Everything We Know
Is House of the Dragon Season 2 the Only HBO Game of Thrones Show In Development?
Who Dies at the End of House of the Dragon Season 2's Premiere?
