Editor's note: The below contains spoilers for Episodes 1-6 of House of the Dragon and Fire & Blood.This week's episode of House of the Dragon, "The Princess and the Queen," was a good one, introducing the new adult cast, led by Emma D'Arcy's Rhaenyra Targaryen and Olivia Cooke's Alicent Hightower, and altering the opening to accommodate the new Targaryen and Velaryon kids - plus continuing the typical power disputes and set-up for arcs that will be extremely important in the future. One of those was actually an arc from the first half of the season that many thought was concluded, but just came back to make things more complicated for everyone who's vying for the Iron Throne. Once again, war is brewing in the Stepstones, and that will help to further divide the realm in further seasons (seeing as the show was renewed for Season 2).
This issue first came to light during a meeting of the Small Council in Episode 2, "The Rogue Prince", as Lord Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint) presents his concerns over what has been going on in the Stepstones. Those are a set of islands East of Dorne, a pathway connecting Westeros and Essos on the southern part of the Narrow Sea. They were often home to pirates, causing trouble for merchants of all parts of the map. They remained so until the rise of the Triarchy, an alliance between the Free Cities of Lys, Myr, and Tyrosh — themselves known for their naval prowess and, consequently, being the homeland of many of said pirates, too. In 96 AC (after the Conquest of Aegon, per the official Westerosi calendar), the Triarchy invaded and occupied the Stepstones. At first, their intention was to merely charge merchants for passage, which everyone gladly paid in return for protection.
The War of the Stepstones Was Won By Daemon But Crown Did Not Hold the Lands
By the time of House of the Dragon, though, things have started to go sour for everyone. Under the leadership of a warlord named Craghas Crabfeeder, the Triarchy begins to taunt and provoke the Seven Kingdoms, feeding the sailors and merchants of Westerosi ships to — you guessed it — crabs on the shores of the Stepstones. Many ships were lost to Crabfeeder, including a few flying the Velaryon banner. House Velaryon is one of the proudest and most powerful of the Seven Kingdoms, as constantly stated by Lord Corlys. Such an offense is not only bad for business, but it's also bad for their reputation. King Viserys, though, didn't seem too engaged on the matter, something that Lord Corlys ended up moving past when Rhaenyra (then played by Milly Alcock) and his son Laenor (then played by Theo Nate) got married, but he definitely hasn't forgotten.
Back in Episode 2, House Velaryon negotiated with Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) for his support, as winning the conflict in the Stepstones was a way of calling for attention to his claim to the Iron Thrones, despite Viserys having already named Rhaenyra as his heir and choosing a new wife in Alicent Hightower (then played by Emily Carey). He needed to act fast, so he went to the Stepstones and waged his war alongside House Velaryon. The result was a conflict that dragged way more than it should, ending in a fit of rage by Daemon, who literally tore the Crabfeeder in two as ser Laenor Velaryon burned those loyal to the enemy with his dragon, Seasmoke.
In accordance with George R.R. Martin's book Fire & Blood, in House of the Dragon Daemon also crowned himself King of the Narrow Sea after the conflict. But when everybody expected him to pose a challenge to his brother Viserys, he merely bent the knee to the king of Westeros. He played his hand well, but he also knew his cards were no longer on the deck, so there was no use pushing it.
The Triarchy Is Back on the Rise and Allies With Dorne
Ten years later, we are now on the sixth episode, and the Triarchy is on the rise again. This time, they aligned themselves with Prince Qoran Martell of Dorne, who isn't all too happy about Targaryen expansion on the Narrow Sea, and have retaken the Stepstones, posing a problem for every Free City on the western shore of Essos - including Pentos, where Daemon now resides with his family. For the Seven Kingdoms, this issue has an extra flavor, as it now is also attached to the Dornish issue, seeing as the land on the south of the continent isn't yet part of the realm yet, despite the many wars and attempts.
An important aspect of war is that, after fighting to conquer a territory, you will now have to fight to keep it, otherwise, the whole ordeal will have meant nothing. That's precisely what happened with the Stepstones after the war waged by Daemon and House Velaryon against the Crabfeeder. An important moment in "The Princess and the Queen" is when Rhaenyra and Alicent engage in a discussion about what to do regarding the islands.
After Alicent states that the realm was never really interested in the conflict in the Stepstones to begin with and, therefore, shouldn't be bothered with it again and that what is happening now is all Daemon's fault, as he never did anything with the isles after the war. On the other side of the Small Council, Rhaenyra argues that this war was indeed a concern of Westeros and that they should have fortified the place in order to prevent further insurrections, precisely because Daemon surrendered his crown and bent the knee to Viserys.
The Stepstones Conflict Affects the Dance of Dragons
Cut to a few years later, according to Fire & Blood (which may be changed in the future in the show), King Viserys is now dead, and House Targaryen is caught in the middle of a civil war, the Dance of Dragons, fought by the Blacks — supporters of Rhaenyra's claim to the Iron Throne — and the Greens, who were on the side of Aegon II (Ty Tennant) and his brother, Prince Aemmond (Leo Ashton), both King Viserys's sons with Alicent Hightower. Daemon is now married to Rhaenyra, and House Velaryon is aligned with her as well, given that her first husband was a Velaryon, Ser Laenor. The conflict itself will likely be the main plot of future House of the Dragon seasons, of course, but the Stepstones and the Triarchy do play their part, fulfilling a role that was set up by Daemon and Lord Corlys' first invasion of the islands years earlier.
The Dance is a Westerosi internal affair, of course, but a conflict in the Seven Kingdoms stands to influence the balance of power in the Free Cities, as well. At one point, House Velaryon, which has been the biggest naval power in the region, blockades Blackwater Bay, making King's Landing inaccessible by water. Lord Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans), Alicent's father and leader of the Greens, in an attempt to level the scales of war, reaches out to the Triarchy for naval support. Seeing as they still hold ill will towards Daemon Targaryen and Corlys Velaryon, they accept Otto's plea for help, and engage in battle, even intercepting a ship carrying Princes Aegon and Viserys, the sons of Rhaenyra with her second husband and uncle, Daemon.
The Battle of the Gullet ensues, and, despite the Blacks taking part with Prince Jacaerys Velaryon (Rhaenyra's son with Laenor, currently played by Leo Hart) and five dragons, it results in a victory for the Greens. Afterward, the Dance would rage on for another year before coming to an end, with the death of almost all the names already mentioned, the ascension of Aegon III (that would be Aegon the Younger, Rhaenyra's son) to the Iron Throne, and the extinction of the dragons in Westeros. Before that, however, still in the aftermath of the Battle of the Gullet, the Triarchy would dissolve as a result of the pride, greed, and pettiness of its leaders, and the three cities of which this alliance was composed — Lys, Myr and Tyrosh — would go back to being independent City-States on the Narrow Sea.
House of the Dragon premieres new episodes every Sunday on HBO and HBO Max.