Alys Rivers

Alys Rivers
Political information
Affiliation(s)	House Strong
Personal information
Culture	Rivermen
Religion	Old Gods
World of Westeros
Series	House of the Dragon
Season(s)	2 · 3
Appeared in	5 episodes (see below)
First seen in	"The Burning Mill"
Portrayed by	Gayle Rankin

Daemon: "You are a strange kind of woman."

Alys: "I'm no woman at all. I'm a barn owl, cursed to live in human form."

— Daemon Targaryen and Alys Rivers

Alys Rivers is a healer who resides at Harrenhal during the Dance of the Dragons. Although not a maester, she has acted in that capacity since her predecessor fled the ruined stronghold shortly after arriving.

Biography

House of the Dragon: Season 2

Alys witnesses the surrender of Ser Simon Strong.

Alys is present at Harrenhal when the castle's castellan, Ser Simon Strong, capitulates to Daemon Targaryen. When Daemon has a vivid hallucination and suddenly finds himself in front of Harrenhal's weirwood tree, Alys tells him "You will die in this place."

Sometime later, Daemon finds Alys in her quarters, mixing ingredients, licking the potion off her stained fingers. She introduces herself to Daemon, and tells him that she inherited the duties of the castle's maester after the last one fled in the night. She tells Daemon it is difficult to sleep in Harrenhal, because it has been cursed ever since its first stone was laid; that Black Harren cut a grove of weirwood trees, heart trees imbued with spirits, whose whispers are rumored to be still be heard sometimes. Daemon says she is a strange woman, and she mysteriously responds "I'm no woman at all. I'm a barn owl. Cursed to live in human form," and laughs. To Daemon's amazement and anger, Alys knows that he quarreled with his wife, by whom he was replaced as a heir. She gives Daemon a drink, claiming it will help him to sleep better.

Daemon is cutting wood when Alys approaches him. She makes him sit down, then examines his bruised and bleeding palm, and bandages it. She tells Daemon she hears in the wind cries of anguish, of those who suffered by the Blackwoods' raids. She sharply states these are crimes against the innocent; Daemon tries to justify this, claiming that he gave the Brackens a chance, and now they may change their mind. Alys points out it is unwise to rally an army under duress. As she starts walking away, Daemon says that if Aegon dies and Aemond replaces him, the realm will suffer. He walks away, and Alys says he is as cruel as Aemond, and implies she knows Daemon had a quarrel with Rhaenyra. Daemon believes that people will not follow Rhaenyra, but after him, and once he seizes King's Landing - Rhaenyra is welcome to join him. To Daemon's astonishment, Alys says: "It's a pity, don't you think, that you never knew your mother" - maybe referring to his dream.

Daemon is about to leave Harrenhal. He suspects that someone poisoned him (but does not accuse Alys). She says it is the ghost of Harren the Black. Daemon is enraged, and she taunts him by pointing out he always runs away when something does not please him. She mysteriously says they both are pawns, not players, and that a crown is not a prize to be won, but a burden to bear. They sit down in silence. Daemon finally asks Alys if she has an advice for dealing with the riverlords; she points out the Tullys have kept the river houses in line for centuries, so it all depends on Grover Tully. She holds her hand, and an owl sits on it. Daemon says he needs help, and Alys answers "Do nothing now. In three days' time, the winds will shift." Three days later, Simon Strong informs Daemon that Lord Grover died, and Oscar is now Lord Paramount of the Riverlands; the healers of Riverrun did they best, and Alys volunteered her renowned skills, but they could not save him. Daemon smiles and weeps.

Behind the scenes

Alys was codenamed "AR" in casting calls. On April 24, 2023, HBO announced that Gayle Rankin had been cast in the role for House of the Dragon: Season 2. Her character description reads as follows:

"A healer working in the service of House Strong."

In the books

In Fire & Blood, Alys Rivers was a wet nurse at Harrenhal during the Dance of the Dragons. She was allegedly a bastard of House Strong, the rulers of Harrenhal at this time, though her exact relationship to them is disputed between rival historians. The ribald and fantastical account of the court jester Mushroom maintains that she was a witch wielding magical powers; Septon Eustace claims she was a simple-minded woods witch; the more professional accounts by Grand Maester Munkun dismiss these, contending that she was simply a healer at Harrenhal with a decent knowledge of medicinal potions.

Munkun and Eustace both believed that Alys was probably a bastard daughter of Lyonel Strong, but Mushroom claims that she was in fact a wet nurse to Lyonel himself when he was an infant, making her old enough to be the grandmother of Lyonel's adult sons at the time of the war. Mushroom believed that Alys practiced dark magic to maintain the appearance of youth, such as bathing in the blood of virgins. Munkun and Eustace similarly dismiss these claims, only to then grudgingly admit that while Alys had to be at least forty years old by the time of the war, all eyewitness accounts agree that she looked unnaturally young for her age.

Alys was residing at Harrenhal when it was taken by Daemon, but there is no mention they ever interacted, nor that she had anything to do with Lord Grover's death.

Appearances

• – "The Burning Mill"
• – "The Red Dragon and the Gold"
• – "Regent"
• – "Smallfolk"
• – "The Queen Who Ever Was"

Forthcoming

• – Season 3 (unreleased)

External links

• Alys Rivers on A Wiki of Ice and Fire (potential spoilers for House of the Dragon)

House Strong
Head	Larys Strong	Heir	Unknown
Seat	Harrenhal	Region	Riverlands
Titles	Lord of Harrenhal
Members	Simon Strong · Germund Strong · Paxter Strong
Deceased	Lyonel Strong · Harwin Strong
Household	Alys Rivers
Overlords	House Tully