House Of The Dragon Season 2’s Melisandre Replacement Can Be Better Than Game Of Thrones After Huge Power Tease

Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Fire & Blood, the book on which House of the Dragon is based.

Summary

• House of the Dragon season 2 will introduce Alys Rivers, a character similar to Melisandre, adding more magical elements of the show.
• Alys Rivers, linked to Aemond Targaryen, is a mysterious, powerful character who sees things in the flames, much like Melisandre.
• With Alys Rivers’ potential being teased by actress Gayle Rankin, the character may even surpass Melisandre.

House of the Dragon season 2 will have its own version of Melisandre, and could end up beating Game of Thrones with the character. House of the Dragon‘s timeline is close to 200 years before Game of Thronesbut there are still clear similarities between the two: Great Houses, a political landscape on the edge of war, family feuds, dragons, murder, incest, and more. One element that hasn’t really been explored as much, though, is magic.

There are, of course, dragons in House of the Dragonso magic does exist to a degree, but there’s nothing and no one quite like Melisandre, who was one of Game of Thrones‘ most powerful characters, or the magical nature of the Three-Eyed Raven and White Walkers. Melisandre is so old in Game of Thrones that she could technically appear herself (she’s believed to be around 400-years-old), but that would be a radical departure from the book. Instead, House of the Dragon season 2 can include a character who fills a similar role, and could be just as powerful.

Who Alys Rivers Is: Her House Of The Dragon Story & Melisandre Similarities Explained

Alys Rivers Is Very Important In Aemond Targaryen’s Story

Alys Rivers will be the closest House of the Dragon gets to having a character like Melisandre. A bastard of House Strong – speculated to have been fathered by Lyonel Strong – she resides at Harrenhal, having served there as a wet nurse. Alys is believed to be in her 40s, at least, by the time of the Dance of the Dragons, but is also said to look a lot younger – something some sources attribute to magic. Fire & Blood gathers multiple historical accounts, and they differ on who Alys really was:

• Grand Maester Munkun says she’s “a serving wench,” who likes to experiment with spells and magic potions.
• Septon Eustace instead claims she was simply a woods witch (a healer who uses traditional medicine but perhaps, also, spells).
• The fool Mushroom, whose accounts are always the most salacious, insists she was “a malign enchantress who bathed in the blood of virgins to preserve her youth.”

Alys’ story in the very early stages of the civil war is unremarkable, but she becomes a much more notable figure when Aemond Targaryen and the greens retake control of Harrenhal (with it having previously been lost to Daemon Targaryen and the blacks). Aemond has many at the castle killed, but not only spares Alys, he begins a sexual relationship with her. Indeed, Eustace later believes he has become “besotted” with her, while Mushroom claims she used potions to garner the affections of both Aemond and Criston Cole.

Alys Rivers, like Melisandre, is a powerful woman who can see things in the flames, and works alongside a strong, noble figure amid a war that ravages Westeros.

While much of the truth around Alys is shrouded in mystery – even by the standards of a historical account that often lacks detail anyway – it’s clearly accepted that she did deal with magic in some way. However, it’s words from Aemond, when confronting his uncle Daemon, that make her sound even more like Melisandre:

“(Aemond) helped his woman down from Vhagar’s back, then turned to face his uncle. ‘Nuncle, I hear you have been seeking us.’

‘Only you,’ Daemon replied. ‘Who told you where to find me?’

‘My lady,’ Aemond answered. ‘
She saw you in a storm cloud, in a mountain pool at dusk, in the fire we lit to cook our suppers
. She sees much and more, my Alys. You were a fool to come alone.'”

Alys Rivers, like Melisandre, is a powerful woman who can see things in the flamesand works alongside a strong, noble figure amid a war that ravages Westeros. She may hide her true age. She is even, later, said to be pregnant with Aemond’s child; Melisandre, of course, gave birth to Stannis Baratheon’s “child” too, the shadow that killed Renly Baratheon. After the Dance, she will be called the “witch queen” of Harrenhal, and even declare her son the rightful heir at one point, though it’s currently unknown what her ultimate fate is.

Why Alys Rivers Could Be Even Better Than Melisandre

House Of The Dragon Could Give The Character Even More Depth Than Game Of Thrones

Melisandre was often an interesting character in Game of Thronesand the glimpses of her true power were, at times, brilliant. The reveal of Melisandre as an old woman was a shocking twistand she played an important part with her fire magic at the beginning of the Battle of Winterfell.

However, the show nonetheless left a little something to be desired. In part because it had so many characters to deal with, in part because Stannis’ own story wasn’t as strongly captured as it is in the books, and in part because the show often shied away from truly engaging with and explaining its most overt fantasy elements, there was a sense of wasted potential by the time of her death in Game of Thrones season 8.

House of the Dragon
season 2 begins June 16, 2024, on HBO and Max.

With Alys Rivers alongside one of the biggest and best characters in House of the Dragon season 2, her and Aemond’s story could very well better that of Melisandre and Stannis. It could properly explain her powers, reveal more about her motivations, and give her much more depth. Actress Gayle Rankin teased her House of the Dragon character, saying Alys has “a lot of power,” is “pretty prophetic,” and has a “very wild” story, which just makes her introduction in season 2, and parallels to Melisandre, an even more exciting prospect to look forward to.

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  House of the Dragon

  Taking place about 172 years before the events of Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon tells the tale of the rise of the Targaryens, the only family of dragonlords to survive the Doom of Valyria. The popular HBO spinoff show first starred Milly Alcock and Emily Carey as Rhaenyra Targaryen and Alicent Hightower before they were replaced by Emma D’Arcy and Olivia Cooke, who play the older versions of the characters. Also starring in the series is Matt Smith (Prince Daemon Targaryen) and Paddy Considine as Rhaenyra’s father, King Viserys Targaryen.

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  Game Of Thrones

  Created by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, Game of Thrones is a TV series based on the book “A Song of Ice of Fire” by George R. R. Martin. It tells the story of the ongoing battle between the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros – as they fight for control of the coveted Iron Throne. Friction between the houses leads to full-scale war. All while a very ancient evil awakens in the far north. Amidst the war, a neglected military order of misfits, the Night’s Watch, led by House Stark’s Jon Snow, is the first to encounter icy horrors that threaten all realms of men. The series premiered on HBO in the United States on April 17, 2011, and quickly became one of the biggest event series in the “Golden Age” of TV. Winner of 38 Primetime Emmy Awards, Game of Thrones has attracted record viewership on HBO and has a broad, active, international fan base.

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  Game of Thrones

  Game of Thrones is a multimedia franchise created by George R.R. Martin. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire is the basis for the award-winning HBO series Game of Thrones, which lasted for eight seasons. After the incredibly divisive final season of Game of Thrones, the series was followed up by the prequel series House of the Dragon, which also received critical acclaim.