House of the Dragon viewers were thrown by a scene involving Alicent and Larys in the latest episode of the hit HBO series.
In the first season’s penultimate episode, which was broadcast on Sunday (16 October), the fallout from the death of King Viserys (Paddy Considine) was explored.
*Spoilers follow – you have been warned*
Alicent (Olivia Cooke), incorrectly believing Visery’s dying wish was for their son Aegon to succeed him as ruler, informs her father Otto (Rhys Ifans). He then jumps to action in order to prevent Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) from taking her rightful place on the Iron Throne.
Otto wants Rhaenyra killed, claming it’s to prevent war, which leads to a showdown with his daughter. Alicent unseats him as Hand of the King and is later told by Larys (Matthew Needham) that her father is aware of a web of spies working around Alicent in King’s Landing. Otto has been using the spies to his advantage.
As Larys speaks, Alicent removes her shoes and stockings – and the scene ends with him pleasuring himself over the sight of her bare feet. The wordless nature of the scene suggests that Alicent has been trading information for similar interactions over several years.
Earlier this week, news of the scene leaked online, with may fans believing the spoiler to be fake. Upon watching the epiosde, though, these fans are now reacting to the moment on social media, and many are expressing disbelief over the reveal.
“Alicent using her feet as payment for Larys is not what I would have expected,” one fan wrote, with another adding it “wasn’t on my bingo card”.
Another fan stated: “I’m still stuck on Alicent using her feet to get information, and having to be there while Larys… uh, collected payment.”
“Not miss holy roly Alicent Hightower bartering her feet to Larys for info,” one wrote.
Many fans also called out Alicent, who has been depicted throughout the series as a something of a prude in comparison to other characters, for what they perceived as hypocrisy.
Find more reactions below:
Elsewhere, following the broadcast, confused viewers are questioning the episode’s “bizarre” ending.
However, the show’s team appeared to pre-empt the lukewarm reaction, and have explained the motivations behind the divisive moment.
‘House of the Dragon’ continues in the UK on Sky Atlantic on Mondays at 2am, before repeating at 9pm later that day. It is also available to watch on NOW.
