House of the Dragon Episode 5

When it comes to George R.R. Martin's fiction, weddings rarely take place without a murder, after all. Perhaps that's why the wedding of King Viserys (Paddy ...

The king loses his train of thought as the crowd murmurs, but soon finds his place and finishes the speech in good humor. He tells her that Laenor is a good man that will bore her to death. She suggests a plan that will work for both of them: They’ll perform their marital duties to the realm on their wedding night, but after that each will “dine as we see fit.” “What do you know of the manner of his leaving?” she replies. A darkness has entered his heart in this moment, and the young chivalrous protector and champion of the tourney will never be the same again. “I am the crown, Ser Criston,” she replies, her voice hard. The episode opens with a murder and ends with a murder and a wedding. “You are in perhaps in need of an ally?” The king and his entourage are sailing on stormy seas to Driftmark to make a royal match and we see Viserys vomiting over the side of the ship. “The manner of your father’s departure feels something of an injustice,” he says, hobbling over to her. “Will you strike the child down or—” Suddenly, she realizes exactly what Daemon intends to do and you can see the fear in her eyes. Daemon (Matt Smith) has traveled to the home of his wife, Rhea Royce (Rachel Redford, who oddly shares the same initials) and finds her out hunting.

As a visual document, the TV series must depict certain moments onscreen almost by definition. It must show something rather than leaving it to the annals of ...

Even the betrothed’s respective families get in on the deal-making spirit as Viserys (Paddy Considine) and Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint) come to a successional compromise that makes sense to them. Laenor is similarly acting as a rational actor and behaving in his best interests in the realm’s. Ultimately, House of the Dragon opts to pick a side in two events that could have been left up to interpretation. The middle portion of “We Light the Way” features many moments that choose a storytelling lane and ultimately enrich it by doing so. Not to harp on the books once again (though harping is kind of my default state) but in Martin’s continuity, Ser Criston kills Ser Joffrey Lonmouth at a tourney to celebrate Ser Laenor and Princess Rhaenyra’s wedding. The scenes in which Rhaenyra and Laenor come to an understanding are immensely satisfying – not only because Rhaenyra breaks down the complexities of human sexuality to preferring roast duck over goose – but because they feature two characters properly playing the game of thrones. Speaking of myths, the other disappointing aspect of “We Light the Way” is its treatment of Ser Criston Cole (Fabian Frankel) and how it clarifies the myth of his role in these historical events. That’s not to say the episode is a disaster, far from it really. “We Light the Way” puts events onscreen that were “offscreen” in Martin’s world and the way it chooses to depict them ends up putting its viewers’ imagination to waste. This marks our first trip to the Vale in quite some time within the Game of Thrones universe. That’s what makes House of the Dragon such a challenging proposition as an adaptation. That’s by design as the book is written as a historical document from the perspective of multiple conflicting sources.

The feast to open Rhaenyra's wedding to Laenor Velaryon almost avoids this ending. There's a string of near conflagrations between guests with inflamed tempers, ...

Two hundred years from now, Littlefinger will try the same trick — offing the lady of the house to take her might for himself. Rhaenyra has a new ally in the Velaryons, but betrayal may bind Alicent and Cristan in ways no one can foresee. The progression from tentative chats on the beaches of Driftmark to formal dancing in the Great Hall is so quick that some of the weight falls out. But hours later, Rhaenyra’s hair still tousled, the septon unites her in marriage with Laenor, who is certainly in a state of shock. This is all very grown up and reasonable, but as the frame of a marriage, woooo boy, what a bummer. First, a number of opportunities for trouble arose and then snuffed themselves out before the mid-banquet tussle. In a moment straight out of The Crown (complete with a castle that bears an uncanny resemblance to St. Dragging himself to Driftmark to ask for Laenor and Rhaenyra’s betrothal is beneath the dignity of a king. If Viserys’s weakness is to blame, that could explain his sudden urge to recast his legacy and usher in “a second age of dragons in Westeros.” For House of the Dragon’s first four episodes, Daemon was the biggest threat to the stability of Viserys’s reign. But now a pack of new menaces has arrived just in time to broaden the show’s reach. and usually a pool of guts on the floor.

This week's episode of House of the Dragon focuses on the nuptials of Rhaenyra Targaryen (Milly Alcock) and Laenor Velaryon (Theo Nate) – but the episode builds ...

Rhaenys and Corlys are now bound to Rhaenyra, and her wildcard Uncle Daemon is still irresistibly drawn to her but has romantic friction with Laena Velaryon (Savannah Steyn). Laenor is already in love with another, Joffrey Lonmouth (Solly McLeod), while Rhaenyra is in the midst of a fling with her Kingsguard protector Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel). It pushes Alicent to breaking point, especially after her father Otto blames his disgrace on Alicent believing Rhaenyra over him, then warns his daughter her children will never be safe with Rhaenyra on the throne. There's Corlys and Rhaenys watching Laenor and Joffrey, the heartbroken Ser Criston Cole, the outrageously audacious return of Matt Smith's Prince Daemon, and even Alicent Hightower (Emily Carey) walking with scorched-earth purpose into the middle of Viserys' speech. King Viserys (Paddy Considine), Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint), and the lively Rhaenys (Eve Best) have less romantic matters needing their attention. 'We Light the Way' starts with a shock death and Otto Hightower's (Rhys Ifans) abrupt exit from court, but slows considerably for the politics of Laenor and Rhaenyra's betrothal.

It's wedding time in Westeros on another talky episode of House Of The Dragon that further exposes the cracks in the Targaryen armor.

It’s been a talky episode to this point, with some good heart to hearts between Alicent and Otto (Rhys Ifans), for instance, and between Rhaenyra and Laenor. Her green gown should be a major moment – but House Of The Dragon has to tell us that instead of showing it because it hasn’t established any of the necessary background. But it’s a bad idea to tie the knot while rats nearby feed on the congealing blood of your husband’s recently deceased lover. It’s also not a super great sign if your own lover is considering seppuku at the same time, only to be stopped by your hostile stepmother. The week-long festivities planned for the royal wedding are derailed almost instantly when Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel), in all his heavy armor, gets into an altercation with the velvet-clad Joffrey Lonmouth (Solly McLeod), aka the Knight of Kisses, aka Laenor’s boyfriend. After that chat, when Alicent enters the engagement party in green, she’s supposed to be making a major statement of independence from the Targaryens. Alicent (Emily Carey) finally decides to strike back this week, infuriated that Rhaenyra lied to her (she didn’t exactly, but it’s a question of degree), and acts out against both husband and heir. The shadowy sets and general darkness of the show cause a few problems this week, and there’s one aspect of costuming that should be shocking and just… It’s worth noting that she’s egged on in that by Ser Larys Strong (Matthew Needham), who seems to be a little bit of a Littlefinger here. But you can’t keep a good(?) man down for long, and sure enough he’s back on his feet in no time, quietly murdering his wife to leave the way open to marry his niece. Driftmark makes for a pretty cool location: it’s a combination of St Michael’s Mount in Cornwall and dimly lit studio sets filled with the riches of the sea, brought back from the Sea Snake’s many voyages. Warning: The below contains full spoilers for Episode 5 of House Of The Dragon, which aired on HBO on Sept.

HBO's 'House of the Dragon' featured a royal wedding in Episode 5, which meant death. Here's what happened and who died.

Daemon moves in to dance with Laena Velaryon, and the two seem to flirt. (He walks with a cane, as all meddlers and power leaches do in literature for some ableist reason.) Larys asks the Queen if Rhaenyra is well, after he heard a rumor that the maester delivered her a potion the night after the Daemon incident. He tells her his sacking was her fault—because she believed Rhaenyra’s account of the night with Daemon, the King also believed Rhaenyra, making Otto’s claim appear as a rumor and a sly attempt to discredit Rhaenyra and bolster his grandson’s throne claim. (In the first episodes Corlys sat across from the King, almost in opposition; he is now allied with the crown). Now certain of her father’s wisdom—that the King will soon die and incite civil war—she meets with Cole, interrogating him about the Daemon incident. Otto tells Alicent that she will have to choose sides; the King is dying and Rhaenyra’s throne claim will cause war, putting Alicent's son and first-born male offspring of the King in danger. Later the two of them talk privately, agreeing that the King has come to them out of weakness, and they may have an upper hand in the arrangement. Rhaenyra laughs this off—she cannot leave the crown because she is the crown, she says—and tells Cole they can still see each other even if she marries Laenor. Laenor will continue to see his boyfriend and Rhaenyra will continue to see her Kingsguard, Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel). The belief that both of these courses are possible is later shown to be violently incorrect. House of the Dragon also features a royal hunt, where the aging and ailing From one healthy prince to one dying king, we go: King Viserys is seen depositing his lunch over the bow of his ship.

Rebecca Onion: Last week, Laura Miller and I considered, and then dismissed, the idea that Daemon Targaryen, the niece-seducer, might finally become the Worst ...

Ser Criston picks this fight with Joffrey Lonmouth because Lonmouth sidles up to Ser Criston during the engagement party and lets him know that he has clocked the secret romance between Ser Criston and Rhaenyra from a mile away. I hate to add insult to injury, because the guy lost so much this episode (his lover, his job, the intact nature of the skin on his knuckles), but Ser Criston: You are the Worst Person in Westeros! She is a princess: she already has the world’s best produce, and access to the world’s men if she so wishes. He seems to have convinced himself that the whole thing was so dramatic, and so bad, that it had to mean something, but he can’t have had that much knowledge of her actual personality, if he thought that. Meanwhile, Rhaenyra is caught in the crush, and the King’s Hand has to send in one of his own warriors to grab her out. Alicent is also dismayed when she finds out that Rhaenyra lied to her (due to Ser Criston’s loose lips) not only because of the betrayal, but also because Rhaenyra’s misdeeds led to the ousting of her father as the Hand to the King. But back to the Westerosi baddies (and not in the good way): I hate to say it, but I don’t think I can give it to Daemon this week either! He should not have, but talk about a setup: he is her sworn protector, who promised to be celibate, and then he threw that vow in the trash for her. In the course of this encounter, she figures out that he has an incentive to get rid of her so he can try to marry Rhaenyra, and the look that crosses her face when she realizes it is pretty well-done on Rachel Redford’s part—she gets scared. I might have given it to him last week, if I had been on duty for WPiW, but I don’t think what he did this week is as bad as last (though it was horrible). Lady Rhea harangues Daemon from horseback when she runs into him in a remote ravine, and she clearly has no respect for him and never wanted to be married to him in the first place. Lady Rhea Royce (Rachel Redford) has been estranged from Daemon from the start of the series, and he’s called her all kinds of mean things, but we only find out in this episode, when we see her riding a horse on her way to hunt some deer, that they haven’t even consummated their marriage.

It's finally time for Rhaenyra Targaryen to say I do. Meanwhile, Queen Alicent continues to deal with the fallout of Otto Hightower's dismissal.

"Ser Laenor is quite dear to me, as I know the princess is to you. Next up to congratulate the royals is a lord from House Royce. Daemon calls it a tragic accident, but Ser Royce accuses Daemon of being the culprit. "I've always feared the day you'd have to marry a woman, and now it comes," the chap says. Queen Alicent is watching the commotion from the balcony of her chambers. Strong keeps rambling sycophantically about being glad that Rhaenyra is well enough to sail to Driftmark, but the implication of his revelation was clearly grasped by the Queen. Viserys and the new Hand of the King exchange concerned glances. "The time is coming, Alicent. "The King will die. With a backdrop of pouring rain, as with all good farewells, she tells her father that she regrets the King's decision to expel him. We've heard a few references to Daemon Targaryen's wife – Rhea Royce, or "the bronze bitch" as Daemon calls her – but we've never actually met her. After being dismissed as Hand of the King in the final moments of episode 4, Otto Hightower is on the way out of King's Landing.

Milly Alcock, Fabien Frankel in 'House of the Dragon.' Ollie Upton/HBO. Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers about the fifth episode of “House ...

How that story unfolds could potentially offset or soften this latest turn of events in the eyes of those who would criticize it. When the event chaotically erupts in violence a short while later, Criston is on top of Joffrey, brutally pounding him to death during the melee. Still, introducing the relationship between Laenor and Joffrey only to dispatch the latter so quickly and horribly almost immediately prompted questions on Twitter on Sunday night about whether the “Bury Your Gays” trope applies here. Rhaenyra, meanwhile, had been dallying with a knight of her own, Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel). (The series plays on HBO, which, like CNN, is a unit of Warner Bros. Given that, the “Game of Thrones” prequel potentially waded into controversy with its most recent episode, subtitled “We Light the Way,” which again demonstrated, among other things, that in Westeros not much good ever happens at weddings.

“The beacon on the Hightower,” says Larys Strong (Matthew Needham), observing Alicent's ascent, speaking with his brother Breakbones (Ryan Corr). “Do you know ...

With that on his mind, Criston confesses to sleeping with Rhaenyra, despite never being asked that question, and asks only for a merciful death over a gelding. Where he stands, Rhaenys should be queen of Westeros, and he won’t rest until he gets the chance to right that wrong, consequences be damned. For their part, the cousins Rhaenyra and Laenor are able to make peace with the arrangement. Taking its name from the Hightower family’s house motto, “We Light the Way” closes the book on House of the Dragon’s first era, and begins its dark dance toward the bloody heart of the tale. It’s a taxing journey for the sickly king, but ultimately, a fruitful one. It’s a transformative moment not just for the young queen, long a pawn in the so-called game of thrones, but for the Game of Thrones prequel writ large.

The nuptials of Rhaenyra Targaryen (Milly Alcock) and Laenor Velaryon (Theo Nate) take a sharp, bloody turn.

It’s a shame because Laenor and Rhaenyra’s arrangement was as promising and progressive as things get in Westeros, even centuries later; she accepts his sexuality and he accepts her colorful history, and they agree to live and let live while performing the requisite duties of the crown and their houses. Indeed, one could argue that “House of the Dragon” shows its more primitive society’s values in this scene; Joffrey is barely wiped off the floor before the marriage proceeds and everyone acts like a knight didn’t commit murder while people were barely done with dinner. The events in “House of the Dragon” took place long before any of this, evidencing Westeros’ long history of savage marriage festivities. Martin’s “Fire & Blood](https://www.indiewire.com/2022/08/house-of-the-dragon-fire-and-blood-book-what-happens-1234749701/),” but almost all of them are between direct siblings. But the citizens of Westeros are no better; over the course of “Thrones” and now “Dragon,” it looks like weddings are the top chosen occasion for violent, vengeful murder. The young and decidedly not in love couple are barely even related, a victory in all seven kingdoms, but their nuptials were far from uneventful, and not in a good way.

2. Before her death, Rhea Royce gets in some wicked insults towards her estranged husband Daemon. Her quip about the Vale sheep being "prettier" is a reference ...

Let's dive into the interesting details and moments from this week's episode... What a HUGE episode it was — officially the mid-point of the season, with all the bubbling tensions culminating in what fans have dubbed the Green Wedding.

The conclusion of Mork & Mindy was confusing, to say the least. During the season finale, Mork (Robin Williams) is revealed as an alien, so he and Mindy (Pam ...

(You want House of the Dragon Easter eggs, we’ve got them.) Plus, there’s tons more over at [Game of Thrones](https://screencrush.com/tags/game-of-thrones/) is one of the many details we explore in our latest video on the series. We explore Daemon’s sexual issues, and how they relate to his overarching storyline, how Viserys’ puke is the perfect symbol for his role on this episode, the importance of Rhaenyra’s necklace, and why the Crabfeeder’s Mask is so key to what’s happening this week.