Spoiler Warning: House of the Dragon Season One, Episode 4
TheGame of Thronesuniverse has had a lot of interesting villains over the years. There was The Mountain, a behemoth of a man who was capable of crushing a combatant’s skull with his bare hands, who continued to slice down scores of enemy soldiers even after he was reanimated. Ramsay Bolton terrorized the north with his penchant for skin-flaying and other, even more insidious methods of torture. Other villains, like Joffrey Lannister, were the terrifying result of unlimited power being mixed with unlimited petulance, and his mother, Cersei, chose to utilize wit to savagely crush her enemies.
House of the Dragon, the newGame of Thronesspinoff series that focuses on the life and times of House Targaryen’s rule, seems poised to continue in this tradition of introducing audiences to fascinating baddies. Of course, this show features quite afew more dragonsthan its predecessor, and these fire-breathing reptiles will certainly be valuable assets to those antagonists who are able to control them.
There is no telling who will turn bad or whattheir villainous arcswill entail. At the moment, it seems as if most of the threats to House Targaryan are external, and the first few episodes featured a mysterious and intimidating marauder named Crabfeeder. Considering the character’s death happened before audiences could get a good sense of who he was, we’re asking that very question.
The Crabfeeder was a Fan-Favorite Character from the Song of Ice and Fire Saga
The Crabfeeder’sname was Craghas Drahar. He served the Triarchy, a political alliance between three cities (namely, Lys, Myr, and Tyrosh) in Essos, a country across the sea from Westeros that remains free from the kingdom. In the novels from which the show draws inspiration, as well as the series itself, he forcibly claims the Stepstones, an archipelago owned by Westeros, for the Triarchy.
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In the novels, Craghas Drahar has support from the kingdom due to his focus on ridding the islands of their pirate scourge. But he continually raises the tolls for safe passage to the point where they become a financial hardship for traders in the region. In the television series, the Crabfeeder initially kills mainly pirates, but he necessitates interventionfrom Westeros' rulerswhen he starts to ravage ships owned by powerful Houses.
Defeating Crabfeeder Allowed Daemon to Get Back in His Brother’s Good Graces
Unfortunately for fans of the character, the Crabfeeder’s time onHouse of the Dragonwas rather short-lived. Daemon Targaryen took it upon himself to take back the Stepstones in order to curry favor with his brother, King Viserys, as the two of them had recently had a falling out. When Daemon received a scroll stating that his brother would be sending reinforcements to aid in the floundering, years-long campaign, he was none too pleased and decided to take on the Crabfeeder’s army directly.
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Daemon rows a small ship to a nearby island and begins his solo campaign against legions of Crabfeeder minions. He slices down scores of foot soldiers, dodging countless shots from distant archers, before being forced to take cover after being impaled with several arrows. However, his dragon Caraxes flies in to save the day, burning the Crabfeeder’s army alive. Armed with his Valerian steel sword Dark Sister, Daemon stomps into a nearby cave. Moments later, a bloody Daemon re-emerges and drops the Crabfeeder’s head in the sand.
The Crabfeeder’s Brutal Torture Methods
One of the things that made the Crabfeeder such an interesting villain was his unique method of torture. Whenever he conquered a rival army, he would stake the surviving combatants down to the beach, leaving them to drown when the tide inevitably rose. However, before the water could claim his victims' lives, the genesis for the antagonist’s moniker came to light. Thousands of crabs crawled from the ocean to feast on the still-living pirates and soldiers.
Torture is common in theGame of Thronesuniverse. It allows villains to establish themselves as almost mythically evil. The threat of being stabbed is terrifying enough, but a villain is made all the more startling when the prospect of death is coupled with the knowledge that a losing army will face prolonged, painful abuse.
TheCrabfeeder is dead, but his legendary battle with Daemon in the Stepstones will remain an important contextual moment throughoutHouse of the Dragon. He was a great first villain in the series and proved to audiences that the spinoff series will be every bit as brutal as the originalGame of Thrones. Though it may have been beneficial for the show’s creators to give the character a bit more backstory, it’s possible that the Crabfeeder worked best as a mysterious masked figure. One big question remains; with the Crabfeeder gone, where will Westerosi crustaceans get their next meal from?
