“Wear it like armour. Then it can never be used to hurt you.”: Physical disability in Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon
Game of Thrones (season 1) and its prequel House of the Dragon (seasons 1 and 2) both feature a scene in which a character who was born disabled gives advice to a character who has just become disabled. These scenes reveal a lot about the differences between these characters and how they carve out their place in the world while contending with Westerosi attitudes towards disability.
Where Larys Strong in House of the Dragon puts on an awkward, soft-spoken front to disguise his true ruthless and conniving nature, Tyrion Lannister in Game of Thrones is simply himself. He is intelligent, sarcastic, vulgar and likes wine and sex, regardless of how Westeros views those traits in a person with dwarfism.
His visit in 1x04 to Bran Stark, who has just lost the use of his legs, reveals a little more about the ways in which he has cultivated this attitude. First, Tyrion poses all his questions directly to Bran, even when some are answered by other people in the room, which is a deliberate refusal to invoke the way visibly disabled people are ignored in conversations due to preconceived assumptions about their intelligence. He then asks if Bran’s aide Hodor will kneel as “my neck is beginning to hurt”, modelling the behaviour of advocating for himself, which Bran will need to learn.
Tyrion broaches the subject of riding, which he claims “even a cripple” can do, and Bran responds, “I’m not a cripple.” To this Tyrion says, “Then I’m not a dwarf. My father will rejoice to hear it.” He disapproves of Bran denying a fact because the phrasing was derogatory, as this is an insult he will hear very often going forward. Tyrion believes it is better for someone to accept what they are and know it doesn’t diminish their worth, as this robs those insults of their power.
He also teaches this strategy to Jon Snow in 1x01.
Tyrion: Did I offend you? Sorry. You are the bastard, though. [...] Let me give you some advice, bastard. Never forget what you are. The rest of the world will not. Wear it like armour. Then it can never be used to hurt you.
Jon: What the hell do you know about being a bastard?
Tyrion: All dwarves are bastards in their fathers’ eyes.
Given how often he is called ‘half man’ or ‘the Imp’ and remains completely unphased, it is clear Tyrion practices what he preaches. This is also touched on in his next conversation with Jon, in 1x02.
Tyrion: Look at me and tell me what you see.
Jon: Is this a trick?
Tyrion: What you see is a dwarf.
During this conversation he continues addressing Jon as ‘bastard’ and seems amused when Jon in turn addresses him as ‘dwarf’.
While speaking to Bran, Tyrion then produces a design for an adapted saddle that will allow Bran to ride and gives instructions for training the horse to respond to him. Tyrion comments, “On horseback you’ll be as tall as any of them.” Since height plays more of a role in his experience of the world than it does for Bran - something he drew attention to when asking Hodor to kneel - this phrasing implies that horseriding is a method Tyrion himself uses to navigate an environment on par with his average height peers.
Overall, Tyrion’s strategy with Bran is to focus on a confident, self-respecting attitude and tools for independence, which Bran can carry forward once he is gone and use in adapting to his drastically changed life. And indeed he does, since in 1x10 Bran is comfortable enough to ask Osha to take him to the crypts in response to his vision and persuades her to go inside using the phrase, “I’m a crippled boy and I’m willing to go.”
As touched on previously, Larys Strong in House of the Dragon does not use his disability as armour, but rather as a shield, behind which to conceal his true abilities and intentions. During the hunt in 1x03, he leads by drawing attention to his clubfoot with a self-deprecating comment - “I fear the gods did not make me for hunting. Might I sit with you, my ladies?” - so people will feel sorry for him because of the abilities he lacks, rather than thinking about the ones he possesses and what he might learn from their conversation. Which allows him unfettered access to the court gossip that is his stock-in-trade.
As he comments to Alicent in 1x05, “When one is never invited to speak, one learns instead to, um, observe.” And he subtly acts on these observations in order to steer events, such as his supposedly innocent concern for Rhaenyra’s wellbeing in this very scene that was a significant blow to her and Alicent’s friendship.
He also uses these skills to integrate himself with people in positions of power, such as his arrangement with Alicent who is aware of what he can do and needs someone to operate in the shadows. And he becomes Aegon’s Master of Whisperers in 2x03.
Then Aegon is injured in the Battle of Rook’s Rest and Larys visits him in 2x06. He informs Aegon that he will never “be whole” as his injuries will not fully heal and says, “Your mind is all that remains to you now. I do not say that gladly.”
There is a strong parallel here to Game of Thrones 1x02 in which Tyrion tells Jon why he reads so much: “l must do my part for the honor of my house. Wouldn't you agree? But how? Well, my brother has his sword and l have my mind, and a mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone.”
As this scene began with Aegon reaching for milk of the poppy and Larys refusing him any more, because it will dull Aegon’s mind and that is now his only asset, the way forward for Aegon is immediately associated with pain.
Larys then mentions his father's reaction to him being born disabled, setting up that everything he’s about to say comes from personal experience. He tells Aegon, “People will pity you. Either behind your back or in your presence. And they will stare. At you, at you. Or turn away. And they will underestimate you. This will be your advantage."
Aegon has been crying throughout Larys’s speech, but it is this point about reclaiming his power rather than how he will be viewed, that prompts him to shake his head and say, “No, no.” Hard work has never come naturally to Aegon and he sees the amount of work it will take to function within his new reality, how nothing will ever be the same, the weight of all these changes pressing down on him and not letting up for a second. And that is compounded by the dangerous situation with his siblings and the Iron Throne, which Larys moves on to without pause.
By focusing on the negatives and the difficult road Aegon has ahead of him, Larys positions himself as the only person with the relevant experience to guide Aegon down it. Both in terms of practical things - as he mentions in 2x07, “There are adjustments to the gait and so forth that you will learn now you are…as you are.” - and methods of leveraging the way he is viewed to his advantage. And where Tyrion’s scene ended with Bran smiling and holding designs for a saddle that will give him independence, Larys has Aegon crying and begging him for help.
With the war worsening, in 2x08 Larys suggests he and Aegon run away to Essos until it is over and comments, “It’s best to live, I think. However you do it.” Aegon bitterly replies “Is it? My dragon is dead. I am burned and disgusting and alone. And I’m a cripple.” Larys responds, “You’re not alone." He doesn’t dispute the results of Aegon’s injuries or even his unflattering phrasing of it, similar to Tyrion’s belief that it is better to accept these things. He only reaffirms his support for Aegon.
Aegon goes on to graphically describe his injuries as if that will be enough to convince Larys he is a lost cause, even asking, “Did they tell you that?” like Larys might only be saying this because he doesn’t know the full picture. Larys remains undeterred, saying, “Do not despair, your Grace. There are better days ahead,” and continuing to explain his plan.
Through these encouragements, he also subtly refutes the idea that it is better to be dead than disabled, similar to Tyrion in Game of Thrones 1x02.
Jaime: Even if the boy lives, he'll be a cripple, a grotesque. Give me a good, clean death any day.
Tyrion: Speaking for the grotesques, l'd have to disagree. Death is so final, whereas life ah, life is full of possibilities.
Larys emphasises that should his plan work, Aegon will be hailed as a returning hero. This plays on Aegon’s need to be loved and demonstrates a future in which he has value, even in his current state. In the payoff to a thread that’s been running since he was crowned, Aegon finally chooses his own epithet in accordance with this goal - “Aegon the Realm’s Delight.” The title given to Rhaenyra by their father out of love. And in the final shot of them in season 2, he and Larys are in a carriage on their way to Essos.
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