‘House of the Dragon’ Season 2, episode 6 teases an important character from ‘Fire and Blood’

There’s panic on the streets of King’s Touchdown in Home of the Dragon Season 2, episode 6.

The blockade of the Gullet by Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) and Corlys (Steve Toussaint) has rendered meals scarce for the smallfolk, whereas the town’s nobles and rulers gorge themselves night time after night time. All it takes is a whisper marketing campaign engineered by Mysaria (Sonoya Mizuno) and a few small boats filled with meals despatched from Dragonstone to whip the smallfolk right into a riotous frenzy.

Because the ravenous mobs chase down Alicent (Olivia Cooke) and Helaena (Phia Saban), an overzealous Kingsguard knight lops off a person’s hand in an effort to defend his queens. Not solely does this act mark a violent turning level for the riot, it is also our introduction to a key character from George R.R. Martin’s Fireplace & Blood.

Who’s the person with no hand in Home of the Dragon?

A lot in a while within the Dance of the Dragons, Martin introduces a personality recognized merely as “the Shepherd.” Consider him as a precursor to Recreation of Thrones‘ Excessive Sparrow (Jonathan Pryce). Just like the Excessive Sparrow, the Shepherd is a religious follower of the Seven who attracts a big following. He preaches in opposition to Rhaenyra and the Targaryens, declaring dragons to be “unnatural” and Valyria a “vile cesspit.”

Notably, the Shepherd is one-handed.

Fireplace & Blood means that the Shepherd misplaced his hand as a punishment for thievery. However what if Home of the Dragon‘s model of the character — who’s unlikely to be formally launched till additional down the road — misplaced it within the episode 6 riot? What if he was the sufferer of Kingsguard violence?

That potential change would possibly add an attention-grabbing twist to the Shepherd’s character, whose backstory is left pretty ambiguous in Fireplace & Blood. Dropping his hand on this riot would completely irritate his hatred for the Targaryens, to the purpose of beginning a motion in opposition to them. And whereas the anger in the course of the riots was primarily directed on the at the moment ruling Targaryens, like Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) and Aemond (Ewan Mitchell), Rhaenyra’s involvement within the blockade definitely would not endear her to him. Plus, the Shepherd hates all Targaryens, irrespective of in the event that they’re Staff Inexperienced or Staff Black.

Lastly, the Shepherd’s presence at this riot would create a full circle second for one among his most impactful scenes in Fireplace & Blood. As he positive factors affect, his phrases incite a mob of his personal, which storms the Targaryen dragonpit — with disastrous penalties.

In fact, there is a excessive chance that this man in episode 6 shouldn’t be going to go on to turn into Home of the Dragon‘s Shepherd. The Kingsguard or Metropolis Watch in all probability minimize off residents’ arms daily. No marvel the smallfolk are so mad! Nevertheless, the sequence nonetheless lingers on this man and his very particular punishment lengthy sufficient to plant the thought of the Shepherd within the minds of Fireplace & Blood followers. The Shepherd is coming, and he will be an enormous impediment for Rhaenyra when he arrives.

New episodes of Home of the Dragon air Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and Max.