One easily missed House of the Dragon moment makes Alys Rivers even more disturbing

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Season 2, episode 5 makes Alys Rivers even stranger

Alys Rivers and Daemon Targaryen in House of the Dragon
(Image credit: HBO)

House of the Dragon season 2, episode 5 dials up the weirdness on Alys Rivers – and one easily missed moment makes the witchy newcomer even stranger. 

The following includes big spoilers for the new episode, so turn back now if you're not up to date! 

In episode 5, Daemon remains in Harrenhal, turning his attention to renovating the old castle. He's been plagued by disturbing visions since he arrived – they get even stranger (and grosser) in this episode – and it all seems to be originating from the witch Alys Rivers. 

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In one moment, though, Alys walks away from Daemon and passes Ser Simon Strong. If you look closely, Alys seems to vanish entirely after Simon reaches Daemon. Check it out below. 

It seems that Simon looks directly at Alys, too, but on closer inspection, you might notice that he instead seems to be looking through her, as his eyes don't follow Alys when she passes him. 

We know from George RR Martin's Fire and Blood that Alys is definitely a real person – and she has a significant storyline coming up with another major character – so it doesn't seem that Daemon is hallucinating her. Instead, it looks to be another display of her strange, witchy powers. 

Judging by the trailer for season 2, episode 6, though, Daemon will soon be leaving Harrenhal behind to re-join the war effort. Rhaenyra is also seen putting the dragonseeds plot into motion after she and Jacaerys came up with the plan in episode 5. Expect lots of our scaly friends in the next episode, then. 

House of the Dragon season 2 continues weekly on Sky and NOW in the UK and HBO in the US. For even more on the show, check out our deep dives below: 

Molly Edwards
Molly Edwards
Senior Entertainment Writer

I'm a Senior Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering all things film and TV for the site's Total Film section. I previously worked on the Disney magazines team at Immediate Media, and also wrote on the CBeebies, MEGA!, and Star Wars Galaxy titles after graduating with a BA in English.