SPOILER ALERT: House of the Dragon potential story spoilers concerning Daemon, Corlys, the Triarchy, and Craghas Crabfeeder below.
As House of the Dragon‘s episode 2 narrative advances, Lord Corlys Velaryon complains to King Viserys that his merchant fleet is being attacked in the Stepstones by an invading army of the Triarchy, led by the infamous Myrish Admiral Craghas Drahar, also known as The Crabfeeder. Readers of Fire & Blood know of Drahar and the political/military crisis created by the Triarchy.
George R.R. Martin is famous for the extensive histories he builds into his worlds, and the background of the Triarchy is no exception. As Lord Corlys and Prince Daemon Targaryen form an alliance, the struggle to control the Stepstones and the sea trade vital to Driftmark will loom large in their planning.
The Creation Of The Triarchy
Around 96 AC, the Free Cities of Lys, Myr and Tyrosh formed an alliance to battle the forces of Volantis in The Disputed Lands, soundly defeating them at the Battle of the Borderland.
Victorious, the three cities formed an “eternal alliance” and created a threefold center of power they called “The Triarchy;” Westeros came to know the new coalition as the “Kingdom of the Three Daughters,” because Lys, Myr and Tyrosh claimed to be the offspring of Old Valyria.
A Kingdom Without A King
The new Triarchy decided not to install a King as ruler but rather be governed by a council of thirty-three magisters.
Once the defeated, Volantenes had retreated from the eastern Disputed Lands, the powerful Triarchy felt the need to expand its territory and looked east to the Stepstone Islands. Westerosi Lords eyed the ambitions of the Triarchy with skepticism, for they considered the cities of Essos to be backwards, morally-corrupt dens of slavers, often referring to them as the “Kingdom of the Three Whores.”
The Stepstones
The Stepstones are mentioned quite a few times in HotD, but some fans may not understand their location or significance. They’re a collection of craggy, windswept islands scattered in the sea between eastern Dorne and the Disputed Lands of Essos.
George R.R. Martin describes the Stepstones as a “haunt of outlaws, exiles, wreckers and pirates.” Though considered a backwater, its location proved a perfect base for seaborne raiders to attack merchant shipping entering and exiting the Narrow Sea.
Craghas Crabfeeder
The Myrish Prince Admiral Craghas Drahar is the commander of the Triarchy’s army and naval fleet tasked to take possession of the Stepstones and clear it of pirates.
Craghas Drahar is called Craghas “Crabfeeder” by his enemies due to his penchant for staking prisoners on beaches to either be slowly eaten by crabs or drown in the high tide. Westeros originally welcomed the elimination of the destructive pirates, considering Craghas’ reasonable tolls a fair price to pay for a well-policed passage through the Stepstones. George R.R. Martin does not describe Craghas’ appearance in the book, so HBO had a blank slate to create what the character looks like in House of the Dragon.
Craghas And The Squeezing Of House Valeryon
Soon after taking control of the Stepstones, the greedy Craghas Crabfeeder and his Lysene and Tyroshi counterparts began exacting higher and higher tolls on shipping until the fees became nothing short of extortion.
Craghas’ stranglehold on the passage through the Stepstones threatens to financially ruin the sea-based House Velaryon, one of the most important Houses in House of the Dragon, whose existence depends on their merchant fleets.
The Legacy Of The Lyseni
The world of House of the Dragon is cruel, and the methods of the Lyseni are among the cruelest.
Not satisfied with stripping merchant ships of their treasures, the Lyseni navy became infamous for gathering prisoners as slaves, especially young women, girls, and boys to be sold to their sordid pillow houses and pleasure gardens back in Lys.There are a few different “bad guy” groups forming in the early episodes of HotD, and it seems likely the Lysensi will be a big one.
The Secret War Council of Corlys Velaryon, Lord Of The Tides
As one of the most powerful men in Westeros, Lord Corlys Velaryon commands a great fleet but has found his House’s economic survival mortally threatened by the Crabfeeder’s tyrannical tolls.
Corlys is extremely unhappy with King Viserys’ willingness to let the Crabfeeder’s navy rid the Stepstones of villainy despite the cost to his mercantile Velaryon House. Lord Corlys decides to take matters into his own hands. Instead of attending the King’s wedding to Alicent Hightower, Corlys remains at High Tide on Driftmark and allies himself with the exiled and war-hungry Daemon Targaryen, a House of the Dragon character book readers know well.
The War For The Stepstones
Thirsting for battle and glory against the Triarchy, Prince Daemon formed an army of “landless adventurers and second sons,” while the Sea Snake assembled his fleet. Despite being heavily outnumbered by the combined forces of the Crabfeeder, they advanced on the Stepstones.
Notwithstanding his greater numbers, the Crabfeeder’s army had no effective defense against the firestorm hurled upon them by the red-scaled Caraxes, Prince Daemon’s dragon. Ripped by dragonfire and battered by Daemon’s army and Lord Corlys’ war fleet, the Triarchy’s army fell back. Prince Daemon and Craghas met in battle and Daemon cut the Crabfeeder down, chopping his head off with Dark Sister.
King Of The Stepstones And The Narrow Sea
Happy with the news of the Crabfeeder’s death, King Viserys supplied Prince Daemon’s army of “sellswords and cutthroats” with gold to further sustain the offensive against the Triarchy.
Having pushed the leaderless and mauled Triarchy army back to the two furthest eastern islands of the Stepstones, and with the ships of Lord Corlys in control of the sea, Prince Daemon pronounced himself King of the Stepstones and the Narrow Sea. Lord Corlys even placed a crown on Daemon’s head.
The Triarchy Attacks Again
Prince/King Daemon’s time of triumph was soon cut short, for Dorne entered the war on the side of the Kingdom of the Three Daughters, which had assembled a new invasion army under the command of a cunning Tyroshi captain named Racallio Ryndoon. The war re-ignited.
The Stepstones fell into heated battle once again, and King Viserys was good with the situation: “Let Daemon play at war,” Viserys said (reportedly), “it keeps him out of trouble.” Far removed from the desperate conflict on the windswept islands, Viserys enjoys Westerosi peace and a leisurely existence at King’s Landing, where the Red Keep stands as one of the most iconic castles in House of the Dragon.
