Larys “Clubfoot” Strong is simultaneously the most conniving and harmless-looking guy in the king’s court, so it’s hardly surprising that House of the Dragon fans are immediately reminded of two other characters in the original series that played the Game of Thrones as deftly as Clubfoot is doing these days.
We’re referring, of course, to Petyr “Littlefinger” Baelish and Lord Varys the Spider, without whom none of the stuff that happened to Westeros at the height of the War of the Five Kings would have happened. Now, it seems that we’re witnessing their spiritual ancestor all over again the form of Larys, though the actor, Matthew Needham, may maintain that he’s trying to put his own spin on the current heir of Harrenhal.
In a recent chat with Entertainment Weekly, Needham acknowledged his character’s similarities to Varys and Littlefinger, but said that Clubfoot is actually worse than either of them if it comes down to it.
“The ‘chaos is a ladder’ way of life is something they share. I don’t think I would be doing anyone a favor by trying to replicate someone else’s performance, ’cause it’s been done beyond perfectly by those guys. I don’t think either of those guys burnt their family alive. I’m sure they did other horrible things, but he’s his own strange guy, I think. He’s on his own path.”
Now that we think about it, Varys may have been embedded in dozens of plots to undermine the rulers of Westeros, but he never did it for personal gain. Littlefinger is a different story, but I doubt even he would be able to kill in such a dispassionate manner.
Alicent has strange choices of allies, but when needs must, you do everything to survive. As Cersei once said, when you play the Game of Thrones, you either win or die.
Published: Oct 3, 2022 07:01 am