#mysaria the white worm

[imjulia-andilikecats]

Jacaerys "OH Not Another Step Parent" Targaryen

[spirit-meets-the-b0ne]

To Serve the Queen

Pretending this was episode 2x07 don’t wake me up

[bittershade]

Hey HEY HEY

I just had a dream it felt so real I actually thought it was a real episode I was so hyped and excited.

I dreamed that Rhaenyra and Mysaria got MARRIED!!!

Rhaenyra and Mysaria came up with a convincing argument to why them getting married would help her imagine and they told her council and everyone agreed, I can't remember why but it made sense she really came up with a good reason.

I was like " OMG how is Daemon going to react! How is Allicent going to react! How is her son going to react"

It was such a good episode I was so excited for the next episode because Daemon would be coming back home to find out that his wife got married even though she's already married..TO HIM!!

How would that work ?

Is Mysaria his wife too? Would he have two wives ?

Is this a thrupple ?

[tarbaby4293]

CONFIRMED BISEXUAL RHAENYRA TARGARYEN!!! BISEXUALS WE OUT HERE WINNING!!!!

[lhazar]

So like everyone who said the Mysaria/Rhaenyra kiss was going to go somewhere and the show wasn’t going to sideline her again after that attempt at wlw representation (when they cut out the canon queer female characters…) How y’all feeling seeing nothing between them change their lord/advisor dynamic at all. And in fact do more for Rhaenyra and alicent. Or have any impact between her and daemon

Edit: ok I guess I can’t get rid of this poll.

[sapphirehearteyes]

I am so FUCKING READY for the Mysaria x Rhaenyra art!!!! And fics!!!

[letaliabane]

The gathering of dragons has begun! A very good episode with the Targaryan bastards brought together, Jace finally discussing his father and his legitimacy, and the dragons being claimed! And of course we have Alicent on her pilgrimage and Daemon still with hallucinations.

[blue-mint-winter]

Who spread the rumours against Rhaenyra?

During Rhaenyra's time on the Iron Throne she was subjected to a barrage of malicious and slanderous rumours that turned the smallfolk against her and led them to riot which resulted in the storming of the Dragonpit, the death of dragons and her son Joffrey, and at last Rhaenyra fleeing the capital. The person behind these rumours is uncertain.

The first of the slanderous rumours was the one about Maelor:

Though no announcement of the boy’s death was made, word of his demise nonetheless spread throughout the city. And soon another tale was told as well, one that claimed Queen Rhaenyra had the prince’s head delivered to his mother, Queen Helaena, in a chamberpot. Though the story had no truth in it, soon it was on every pair of lips in King’s Landing. Mushroom puts this down as the Clubfoot’s work. “A man who gathers whispers can spread them just as well.”

The blame for the rumour is laid on Larys Strong, however his whereabouts at that time are unknown, which was mentioned two separate times.

Upon seeing that resistance was hopeless, the Dowager Queen Alicent emerged from Maegor’s Holdfast with her father, Ser Otto Hightower; Ser Tyland Lannister; and Lord Jasper Wylde the Ironrod (Lord Larys Strong was not with them. The master of whisperers had somehow contrived to disappear). Larys Strong the Clubfoot, the most enigmatic and cunning member of the green council, had vanished.

If Larys vanished, how could he be behind the rumours? Certainly, he seems as a likely candidate, but how can a wanted man with a clubfoot not be spotted by anyone in the city, especially if he was forced to interact with people to spread rumours? I think anyone who reported him would be richly rewarded by Rhaenyra. Many clients of establishments where the rumours were spoken about (inns, brothels, potshops etc.) would be motivated by money to turn Larys in.

The second of the rumours was the one about Brothel Queens:

Here again Mushroom differs. The dwarf would have us believe that Rhaenyra ordered her stepmother’s tongue torn out at once, rather than merely threatening this. It was only a word from Lady Misery that stayed her hand, the fool insists; the White Worm proposed another, crueler punishment. King Aegon’s wife and mother were taken in chains to a certain brothel, and there sold to any man who wished to have his pleasure of them.  [...] Though the lusts of men and the cruelty of women can never be gainsaid, we put no credence in Mushroom here. That such a tale was told in the wine sinks and pot shops of King’s Landing cannot be doubted, but it may be that its provenance was later, when King Aegon II was seeking justification for the cruelty of his own acts.

The most ruinous rumour was the one about Rhaenyra ordering Helaena's murder:

Maesters may argue about the truth of such assertions…but on that fateful night, a darker tale was being told in the streets and alleys of King’s Landing, in inns and brothels and pot shops, even holy septs. Queen Helaena had been murdered, the whispers went, as her sons had been before her. Prince Daeron and his dragons would soon be at the gates, and with them the end of Rhaenyra’s reign. The old queen was determined that her young half-sister should not live to revel in her downfall, so she had sent Ser Luthor Largent to seize Helaena with his huge rough hands and fling her from the window onto the spikes below.

Munkun believes the originator of this rumour was Shepherd, but it completely doesn't fit with Shepherd's rhetoric. He was arguing against both Rhaenyra and Aegon II because he hated dragons above all. Helaena was just another dragonrider to him. On the other hand, Mushroom blames Larys for the rumour again:

The latter, Mushroom would have us believe. A slander so vile could only have been the work of Larys Strong, the dwarf asserts…for the Clubfoot had never left King’s Landing (as would soon be revealed), but only slipped into its shadows, from whence he continued to plot and whisper.

Larys reemerged from hiding during the Moon of the 3 Kings:

King Aegon’s master of whisperers, Larys Strong the Clubfoot, fared much better. The Lord of Harrenhal emerged intact from wherever he had been hiding. Like a man risen from the grave, he came striding through the halls of the Red Keep as if he had never left them, to be greeted warmly by Ser Perkin the Flea and take a place of honor at the side of his new “king.”

Maybe he really never left the Red Keep? It would then explain why he wasn't found in the city. There are hidden passages and places under the Red Keep where Larys could have bunkered down. According to Orwyle, Larys used them to help Aegon II and his children escape from King's Landing.

It can't be proved or disproved that Larys was the one behind the rumours, however there's another, even more likely candidate. Mushroom made a good point that the one who gathers whispers can spread them just as well. And during Rhaenyra's reign that person was Mysaria.

Even the White Worm came to court; the Lysene harlot Mysaria emerged from the shadows to take up residence in the Red Keep. Though never officially seated with the queen’s small council, the woman now known as Lady Misery became the mistress of whisperers in all but name, with eyes and ears in every brothel, alehouse, and pot shop in King’s Landing, and in the halls and bedchambers of the mighty as well. 

Larys was in hiding, meanwhile Mysaria was actively working as a master of whisperers and could freely move around the city without any suspicion. She had access to the goings-on in Rhaenyra's court, which is how she knew about Maelor's death. Despite her influence over what was said in brothels, potshops and other establishments, she did nothing to stop the rumours against Rhaenyra, especially the one about ordering Helaena's murder. On the other hand, Mysaria is a person linked with Helaena's death as according to septon Eustace she drove Helaena to suicide by revealing the details of Maelor's death. According to Mushroom, Mysaria also proposed the idea of Brothel Queens to Rhaenyra.

Mysaria was capable of using rumours as weapons against specific people. She did it to turn Rhaenyra against Nettles, who the queen ordered to be killed.

I already made a theory that Mysaria's goal was to become a dragon queen by Daemon's side so she acted to get rid of her competition, the 2 dragon riding women - Helaena and Nettles. The third one was obviously Daemon's actual wife, Rhaenyra, who Mysaria had no personal loyalty for. Spreading malicious rumours about her to turn the smallfolk against her fits Mysaria's goal and MO. Mysaria had the means to do it as well. It's important that despite the council persuading Rhaenyra to leave the city, Mysaria stayed in the Red Keep. She expected it to be more beneficial to her.

The wording itself suggests that Mysaria was the one behind the rumours that caused the riots.

The rioting began amidst the alleys and wynds of Flea Bottom, as men and women poured from the wine sinks, rat pits, and pot shops by the hundreds, angry, drunken, and afraid. From there the rioters spread throughout the city, shouting for justice for the dead princes and their murdered mother. 

The riots were started by people coming out of pot shops and other establishments that were supposed to be Mysaria's domain as the master of whisperers. Instead of stopping the rumours or creating different ones to draw attention away from those against Rhaenyra, it's more likely that Mysaria spread the malicious rumours in those places to start the riots and drive Rhaenyra out of the city.

Additionally, Mysaria in her capacity as master of whisperers never did anything that actually helped Rhaenyra. Instead, by using rumours she framed both Addam and Nettles as betrayers, which was untrue and deprived Rhaenyra of two loyal dragonriders as well as Corlys, maester Gerardys, the Velaryon fleet, lord Mooton and arguably even Daemon. By this one confirmed action Mysaria significantly weakened Rhaenyra by turning her against her staunchest allies who then had no choice but to rebel. In a sense, Mysaria did a lot more for the Greens than she ever did for Rhaenyra. There was not a single instance mentioned of Mysaria ever giving Rhaenyra useful or accurate information, not even any warnings about the unrest in the city.

On the other hand, Larys was better known for obtaining information through torture. He was pro-Green overtly as a member of green council, however he took many covert actions to help the Blacks, like being unable to torture anything useful out of Blood for 13 days or leaking Aemond's war plans to Daemon or plotting with Corlys against Aegon II. Other than Mushroom's speculation, there isn't any evidence in the text that would link the rumours with Larys.

There are other possibilities, like Larys and Mysaria working together - him spreading the rumours and her not stopping them. However, it seems unlikely as Mysaria was whipped and died on the orders of ser Perkin who was working with Larys.

The matter of the person behind the rumours was left vague on purpose, but based on the above analysis of the text, Mysaria is the most likely perpetrator.

[naerys-arryn]

Daella lives:

Larys: Killed one sister and made the surviving one barren, and nobody suspects me!

Larys: Gods, I'm so smart.

Two months later:

Larys, tied in a basement while surrounded by Gold Cloaks:

Mysaria: Any last words, my dear Strong?

Larys: I may have miscalculated...

Mysaria : the risks you took were calculated, but man are you bad at math.

[sarcasticsweetlara]

I know Sonoya Mizuno is a good portrayal of Mysaria, but I think Aline Fontes is a good fancast of Book! Mysaria in her expressions and beauty.

Aline has that catlike vibe I always associated with Mysaria who is unapologetic and does not feel guilty for being ambitious.

Also, since Aline is Brazilian she would obviously have a different accent to the rest of the British actors, similar to Mysaria who is a Lysene living in Westeros.

[wheresmyfuckintea]

this aged SO well

i can't wait for the next episode where daemon comes back to dragonstone to find that his ex is not only bffs with his scorned wife but also foiled an assassination attempt against said wife meaning that mysaria is not only at the same level as daemon in terms of power but in some ways is even more valuable knowing that she saved the life of a monarch via her knowledge as the White Wyrm, aka the advocate for the smallfolk

[sephynne]

misery loves company

quick sketch to celebrate RHAENYRA IS A WOMAN KISSER

[shihoerusu]

You have seen me as worthy. As an equal even, because of that, I will serve you

[padmaddean]

Rhaenyra & Mysaria House Of The Dragon s02e06

[rhfffas]

rhaenyra in the next episode:

[slaughter-kin]

alicent after she finds out about rhaenrya and mysaria