Larys Chose Alicent Over Chaos
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THEORY ASSESSMENT
The Godswood scene as depicted in the episode directly supports every element of the theory: the timing, the indirection, the self-framing as listener, and Alicent's visibly altered posture toward Rhaenyra afterward all confirm deliberate manipulation, leaving only the question of Larys's longer strategic goal unresolved.
STORY CONTEXT
He killed his own family, speaks in riddles, and always seems three steps ahead, so what does Larys actually want? This thread hunts for his endgame, debating whether he's a chaos agent, a secret Targaryen loyalist, or playing a game only he understands.
WHY THIS MATTERS
If Larys is engineering Alicent's dependency rather than responding to her need, the Green faction's intelligence operation predates any formal faction. The war over succession is already being prosecuted by someone with no declared stake in its outcome, which makes him more dangerous than any dragonrider in the field.
ALTERNATE INTERPRETATION
A minority reading holds that Larys is less autonomous than this framing suggests, positioning him instead as a residual asset of Otto Hightower's network continuing his patron's work through a new channel. On this reading, the Godswood conversation is a handoff rather than an independent founding, with Larys acting as an extension of the Hightower operation rather than building his own. The problem with this reading is the timing: Larys approaches Alicent immediately after his own father replaces Otto as Hand, which makes a Hightower-continuity explanation harder to sustain. He has every institutional reason to stand down. He accelerates instead.
Adjacent Reading — Not a Competing Theory
Other Theories for S1E05
Cole Killed Joffrey to Destroy the Man Who Would Have Said Yes
Criston Cole's murder of Joffrey Lonmouth was not a jealous outburst or a calculated silencing but a deliberate act of self-annihilation: a man destroying the negotiable, compromised version of himself before it could become permanent.
Daemon's Dance Is a Throne Play
Daemon's wedding conduct is a coordinated throne play in which Rhaenyra's desire for him is not the occasion for seduction but its deliberate output.
Alicent Converts Criston's Panic Into Loyalty
Alicent Hightower does not spare Criston Cole out of mercy.
Rhea's Taunt Triggered an Unplanned Murder
Daemon did not ride to Runestone with the intention to kill.
Otto Made Alicent Believe Murder Was Inevitable
Otto Hightower's parting warning was not fatherly concern but a precision instrument: by framing Rhaenyra's threat to Alicent's children as structural rather than personal, he installed an unfalsifiable premise that converts Alicent from a grieving friend into an ideological enemy regardless of what Rhaenyra actually intends.