What are the Triarchy and the Stepstones in House of the Dragon?
Get to know the strategical part of the Seven Kingdoms. **WARNING: Contains spoilers for House of the Dragon**
As House of the Dragon continues, the rich world of Westeros will open up even more.
In episode 2, we will become familiar with the Triarchy and the Stepstones, which play a particularly important part in Prince Daemon Targaryen's (played by Matt Smith) story.
Confused about what the alliance between Myr, Lys and Tyrosh actually was?
Look no further than our handy guide to the Triarchy, including what the Stepstones are.
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What is the Triarchy in House of the Dragon?
In Game of Thrones lore, the Triarchy is an alliance made up of three of the Free Cities: Myr, Lys and Tyrosh.
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As a reminder, the Free Cities were a bunch of city-states along the west coast of Essos.
Myr, Lys and Tyrosh are located in a triangle formation towards the south to the south-west side of the Free Cities, meaning they were in a perfect geographical location to support each other.
The Triarchy was also known as 'The Kingdom of the Three Daughters' in Westeros.
The alliance between Myr, Lys and Tyrosh came about after they came together to resist the plight of Volantis, another of the Free Cities.
Volantis, which is the oldest of the nine Free Cities, considered its state to have a noble background and should be valued as more powerful than it actually was. An attempted invasion of the Free Cities proved it wasn't, and actually the alliance was more powerful.
As the Triarchy grew, the importance of economic trade did, too.
Enter the Prince-Admiral of Myr, Craghas Drahar (also known as The Crabfeeder or Craghas Crabfeeder), who set about taking over the Stepstones, a key trade route, to make it safe for goods to pass through for the Triarchy.
Initially, Westeros and its Seven Kingdoms benefitted from Craghas's work against pirates and placing order on the Stepstones, but soon the Crabfeeder upped the tolls so high, it was to the point of tyranny.
That was until an ambitious Lord Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint) and Prince Daemon decided to conquer the Stepstones.
Power-hungry Daemon was desperate for a kingdom of his own after being shunned as the Prince of Dragonstone, while Lord Corlys was determined to protect the trade routes and riches he had built for House Velaryon.
What are the Stepstones in House of the Dragon?
The Stepstones are a group of islands situated between the Narrow Sea and the Summer Sea and are considered part of Essos.
In the fictional history of Game of Thrones, the Stepstones were riddled with pirate dens, making them a pretty dangerous place to wander.
While the islands themselves were of little value, their geography meant they were of economic importance as they were part of a key trade route between the Free Cities and Westeros.
Prince Daemon and Lord Corlys set about invading the Stepstones in a bid to claim ownership of them and end the tyranny of Craghas Drahar, The Crabfeeder.
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