Who is the crab feeder in House of The Dragon, and who is the actor playing him?

Who is the crab feeder? The person behind THAT horrifying way to die in House of The Dragon’s latest episode.

A mysterious new character with a penchant for inflicting slow and painful deaths, was introduced in episode 2 of House of The Dragon. Referred to several times throughout the episode only as “the crab feeder”, there was finally a glimpse of the mask-clad murderer just before the closing credits began to roll. With his presence looking important to upcoming storylines, we unpick exactly who is the crab feeder in House of The Dragon, and unmask the actor playing him.

Viewers have been enjoying the anticipated Game of Thrones spin-off House of the Dragon set hundreds of years before the events of the original. Focusing on House Targaryen and new characters House Velaryon and Alicent Hightower, it features the same bloodthirsty scenes and rivalries typically expected of the franchise plus a host of beautiful and imposing locations that make up where House of The Dragon was filmed.    

Who is the crab feeder in House of The Dragon? 

The crab feeder also known as Craghas Drahar is a Prince Admiral from Myr who serves the Triarchy. He is believed to suffer from greyscale - a usually fatal disease that leaves skin stiff, grey, and like stone to the touch.

The crab feeder is first referred to by Corlys Velaryon, who insists during a small council meeting that he is waging war against his fleet. This is causing disruption to important shipping lanes to Westeros. With the crab feeder charging increasingly high tolls for ships to pass through the lanes he controls, Corlys is becoming agitated - he wants to go to war with Drahar, but Viserys isn’t so sure. As we know, Corlys teams up with Daemon to start the war anyway, against Viserys’ wishes.

The crab feeder gets his name from the way he chooses to deal with those he’s defeated. He nails them to the ground in the Stepstones, to either be eaten alive by crabs, or to drown when the tide rises. Even if they drown before they’re eaten alive, the crabs will still be in for a feast either way.

Who is the actor playing the crab feeder in House of The Dragon?

Daniel Scott-Smith plays the crab feeder in House of The Dragon. He is known for his work in the TV series Jungle, and appearing in the film Men in Black: International. 

Behind the scenes pictures shared to Twitter, show the actor with partial makeup and costume applied, and a closeup of his scaled back. The caption read “Interesting, this week's BTS doc confirms that Craghas Crabfeeder has greyscale (and gives us a look at his hammer)!”

 What is the triarchy in House of The Dragon? 

The Triarchy is an alliance made up of 3 Free Cities - Myr, Lys and Tyrosh. The cities form a close triangle meaning they are perfectly situated to form the alliance and provide support for each other.  

The alliance strengthened when the 3 cities united over Volantis attempting to stake a claim as the most powerful of the Free Cities. Considering itself to be more noble and powerful than the others, Volantis attempted to invade the other Free Cities, where the Triarchy alliance proved it was the most powerful. 

The Prince-Admiral of Myr - also known as Craghas Drahar (aka the crab feeder) - took over the key trade routes of Stepstones, enabling the safe passage of goods through to the Triarchy. Westeros and the Seven Kingdoms were initially happy for Drahar to control the Stepstones and defeat the pirates attempting to steal goods. Now that he’s made the passage tolls so high, this has sparked the conflict seen in House of the Dragon episode 2 - where Corlys and Daemon are set to wage war on the murderous crab-feeding tyrant. 

Who are the Free Cities in House of The Dragon 

There are 9 Free Cities occupying a large portion of western Essos, these are: Braavos, Lorath, Norvos, Qohor, Pentos, Myr, Tyrosh, Lys, and Volantis.

The 9 Free Cities are nine powerful and independent colonies, occupying the western end of the huge continent of Essos. They have extensive trade with the Seven Kingdoms and some of the far eastern lands. Each has its own distinctive identity and culture.

The Free Cities were founded as colonies of the Valyrian Freehold. When the Doom of Valyria destroyed the Freehold and its dragonlords, the empire became fragmented. A period of chaos and war ensued - known as the Century of Blood. When the war was over, the Free Cities became autonomous entities, dominating Essos from the river Rhoyne to the west coast of the continent.

Why are they called the Free Cities?

They are called the Free Cities because they hold the right to rule themselves, standing independently from the Freehold - or Valyrian rule. They can however, call on the Freehold for assistance in times of war or crisis.

The city of Gogossos on the Basilisk Isles has sometimes been referred to as the tenth free city, growing powerful during the Century of Blood - it was however, eventually destroyed by a plague. Similarly, Essaria has been considered a lost free city - having risen in independence as a colony until it was destroyed by the Dothraki. 

It has been previously - and incorrectly - observed they may be called the Free Cities because they have abolished slavery. This is not the case, as Free refers to free from Valryian rule only. Braavos is the only Free City with anti-slavery laws, while some of the others are fiercely pro-slavery.

Related House of the Dragon Features:

• How many dragons are in House of the Dragon?
• Meet the House of the Dragon cast
• When did House of the Dragon come out? Release date

Video of the Week