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Westeros is no stranger to spymasters, with Lord Varys playing a central role in HBO’s Game of Thrones. Known as the Spider, he was the Master of Whisperers in King’s Landing and was in charge of a network of informants.
There wasn’t anything that happened in the capital that escaped Varys' notice, which he used to his own advantage in the Baratheon Small Council, and later to barter influence with other characters in the show.
Now it seems like House of the Dragon may have just introduced their own version of the spymaster of King’s Landing: the White Worm. In episode 4, we first hear their name when Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans) is called out of bed over an unsettling rumor about what Prince Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) and Rhaenyra Targaryen (Milly Alcock) have been up to in the brothel.
He’s told the information by a young boy, but it’s only later that we discover who the child is working for. Daemon wakes up in a room in the brothel with his former lover Mysaria (Sonoya Mizuno), who dragged him from the streets of King’s Landing before he was found.
When they’re speaking, the same young boy who spoke to Otto comes in and gives her some money, implying she is the White Worm informant. The only other thing we know about the spymaster is that she has likely been feeding Otto information for some time, given he told King Viserys (Paddy Considine) that his source of information has never led him astray.
The episode doesn’t go into any more detail than this about the White Worm, and it’s such a small moment that viewers might have missed it, but, we’d be surprised if this was the last we saw of Mysaria.
George R.R. Martin’s book Fire and Blood gives us a bit more context on who she is, and what role she plays as the White Worm. But be warned, from here on out we’ll be discussing book spoilers, so if you want to avoid these, stop reading now.
In the books, Mysaria is actually pregnant when she lives at Dragonstone with Daemon. However, Viserys orders her to be exiled to Lys, and she loses her baby on the journey across the narrow sea.
Set on a new path, she becomes a master of informants across Westeros, and eventually rises up the ranks to become a mistress of whispers to the crown in the Dance of the Dragons.
Mysaria becomes key in the so-called Blood and Cheese storyline from the books, which has already been hinted at in the series. We’ve taken a deep dive into that storyline here if you want to get into heavy spoiler territory but, rest assured, it’s pretty grisly.
We’ll have to wait and see how Mysaria’s role plays out in the remainder of the show to see if it follows Martin’s books. Check out our release schedule for the HBO series to make sure you don’t miss a moment.
