In the “House of the Dragon” recap, Princess Rhaenyra prepares to do her duty by marrying Ser Laenor Velaryon but not before secrets are revealed…
By Damon Martin — Editor/Lead Writer
Marriages in Westeros should come with a warning sign because rarely do they start or end very well.
The latest episode of “House of the Dragon” reminds longtime fans of “Game of Thrones” exactly how deadly a union can become, especially when you’re combining two powerful houses together when neither person involved seems all that interested in actually getting married.
The tradition of marrying for power rather than love dates back thousands of years — both in reality and fantasy — but for the purposes of the “Game of Thrones” universe, it’s a duty that’s helped start or finish wars while love rarely plays a part in any of these decisions.
As a brief reminder, Robb Stark was promised to marry one of Lord Walder Frey’s daughters in exchange for passing through his kingdom while adding the Frey army to his own battle-ready group marching south on King’s Landing. When Robb decided that he was in love with a common woman named Talisa, that effectively ended the War of the Five Kings because he backed out of his proposed marriage with Walder Frey’s daughter.
As a result, Walder Frey turned on Robb Stark by teaming with Tywin Lannister in orchestrating the Red Wedding.
When it comes to marriages of duty rather than love, that’s really the most time honored tradition in the Seven Kingdoms. In a quest to extend his family’s power, Tywin Lannister wanted his daughter Cersei to marry Prince Rhaegar Targaryen, who was the heir to the Iron Throne under his father, “The Mad King” Aerys II Targaryen. When that union was rejected by the king, Tywin never gave up the idea of putting his family into a more powerful position, which is why he decided to then back Robert Baratheon in his quest to overthrow the Targaryen dynasty.
After Robert killed Rhaegar and took the Iron Throne for himself, Tywin then insisted on marrying his daughter Cersei to the new king. We all know how that turned out.
Still, it just serves a larger point that marriages in Westeros are meant to maintain and extend power or at least form bonds between families that in turn create allies for any potential war. That’s why King Viserys finally grew tired of allowing his daughter and heir, Prince Rhaenyra, from choosing her own mate and decided to marry her to Ser Laenor Velaryon — the eldest son of Lord Corlys Velaryon, who could honestly be seen as the second most powerful man in Westeros thanks to his navy, a vast fortune and a Valyrian bloodline that also includes several dragon riders in his family.
Lord Corlys wanted to marry his daughter, Lady Laena to the king after the death of his wife, but Viserys chose Lady Alicent Hightower instead. Now years later after the King and Lord Corlys were estranged, a new bond is being forged that will bring these two great houses back together again but not before a little bit of bloodshed.
With that said, let’s get to our latest recap for “House of the Dragon” for the episode titled “We Light the Way”…
A Union of Two Great Houses
The episode actually begins with a trip to the Vale of Arryn where Rhea Royce — the Lady of Runestone — was going for a hunt. Rhea Royce has been mentioned several times during the course of the series but it’s usually by her not so kind nickname “The Bronze Bitch” — referencing the bronze breast plate worn by members of House Royce — which was bestowed upon her by Daemon Targaryen — her wayward husband.
Daemon and Rhea were matched together by Queen Alysanne Targaryen — the wife of King Jaehaerys I Targaryen — and the union should have brought a pair of fine houses together in a marriage. Instead, the couple never liked each other very much and the always adventurous Daemon had little desire to hang out in a place as dull as Runestone, which is why he rarely visited there much less took the time to actually consummate his marriage with Rhea.
But after Daemon was once again tossed out of King’s Landing by his brother upon rumors that he had sullied his niece Rhaenyra and taken away her maidenhood, he finally decided it was time to return to be reunited with his wife.
Of course, Daemon wasn’t exactly greeted warmly and he didn’t return the favor as Rhea taunted him about why he decided to come back to the Vale of Arryn after all these years away. Rather than engage with his wife, Daemon took the opportunity to spook Rhea’s horse, which then fell backwards and tossed her to the ground. Rhea was smashed into the rocks, likely paralyzed from the fall but her continued taunts ended with Daemon bashing her head in with a rock to finish the job the horse started.
From there we are taken to a Targaryen ship bound for Driftmark — the home of House Velaryon — where the King plans to reveal his hopes to marry Rhaenyra to Ser Laenor. Along the way, the King is not only sea sick but it appears he’s been afflicted with another illness as well with his health beginning to fail him one day at a time.
It’s there we learn that King Viserys has made Lyonel Strong his new Hand of the King.
Lyonel Strong was previously the Master of Law in the King’s small council and likely the person who offered him the best advice throughout the series. It was Lyonell who suggested that the King should marry Lady Laena Velaryon in order to appease her father and marry into a union with arguably the most powerful family in the Seven Kingdoms not named Targaryen.
Obviously, the King had other ideas when he married Alicent Hightower.
Last week saw Lyonel once again offer his wisdom when suggesting that King Viserys put an end to a petty game of suitors vying for his daughter’s hand in marriage and instead return to bond he wanted years earlier, except this time he said Princess Rhaenyra should marry Ser Laenor Velaryon.
Unlike past instances where the King ignored the advice, this time he took it.
When arriving at High Tide — one of the castles on Driftmark — Lyonel Strong is none too happy to see that there hasn’t been a grand arrival staged for the King’s visit. Instead, they are greeted by Lady Laena, who tells them that her father is tired from his most recent journey at sea and he’s waiting for the King inside the hall.
Rather than act offended, King Viserys puts away with all the pomp and circumstance so he can meet with Lord Corlys and offer him the proposal of marriage between their children.
Inside the hall, King Viserys is reunited with his cousin, Princess Rhaenys, along with Lord Corlys, who brings with him the sad news that Lady Rhea Royce has died in a hunting accident. Of course there’s some subtle snark thrown in for good measure while mentioning that Rhea Royce was an experienced rider and hunter yet such a tragedy ended her life — in other words hinting that she was likely a victim of foul play.
But King Viserys isn’t interested in Rhea Royce or his brother — his only topic of conversation after such a long journey to Driftmark involves the marriage between his daughter Rhaenyra and Ser Laenor Velaryon.
Lord Corlys appears happy to accept but he is curious to know how the line of succession will work once Rhaenyra is married to his son. In Westerosi tradition, the children would take on the last time of their father, which means Rhaenyra’s sons or daughters with Laenor would all be Velaryons rather than Targaryens.
King Viserys offers a compromise to ensure the Targaryen bloodline continues to rule the Seven Kingdoms — all of Rhaenyra’s children by Laenor will take the Velaryon name except for the eldest son or daughter, who will eventually succeed their mother to become the King or Queen. That child will bear the name Targaryen.
Lord Corlys is satisfied with that offer and with that, the two great houses — and the only blood remaining from Old Valyria — have joined together in a union for the ages.
But how do Rhaenyra and Laenor feel about this marriage?
Well, the two of them share a walk along the beaches in Driftmark while talking about this proposed union between them. It doesn’t take Rhaenyra long to reveal she knows that Ser Laenor is gay and likely has no interest in what’s between her legs much less putting a child in her belly.
So Rhaenyra offers a compromise of her own — she and Laenor will wed as demanded by their parents and the two of them will do their duty by producing offspring, which gives her heirs in the line of succession. Outside of that, Rhaenyra will be able to carry on her own extramarital affairs and Ser Laenor will do the same with whatever man he sees fit.
It turns out Laenor already has a paramour of his own — Ser Joffrey Lonmouth, who is nicknamed the Knight of Kisses. It seems Laenor and Joffrey have been carrying on for quite some time and they have no wish to break this union even when one of them gets married to the next Queen of Seven Kingdoms. While Laenor sees this marriage as the ultimate inconvenience, Joffrey reminds him about the power that comes along with being the king consort — and as king he’ll be able to have a sworn protector by his side.
That means Joffrey will be able to come to court with Laenor and serve by his side even if they can’t actually be together outside of a private affair. The conversation with Rhaenyra earlier also lets Laenor know that his soon-to-be wife has a paramour of her own as well but he’s not sure who it might be.
On the ship back to King’s Landing, Rhaenyra reunites with that man — Ser Criston Cole, who took her maidenhood in the last episode when they fell into each other’s arms before going to bed together. Criston was already conflicted considering he’s a member of the Kingsguard, which means he took a vow of chastity when accepting his role as the sworn protector of the princess.
Criston broke that vow by having sex with Rhaenyra but worse, he’s falling in love with her and he knows they can’t be together so long as she’s marrying Laenor before eventually sitting on the Iron Throne once her father passes away.
Rather than give up the woman he adores, Criston asks Rhaenyra to leave with him — they’ll catch a boat bound for Essos and live out the rest of their days having adventures together in a marriage built on love rather than duty. He knows the burden that falls on Rhaenyra as the next in the line of succession but to make matters even worse, she’s expected to become the first woman to ever sit on the Iron Throne and that comes with all sorts of problems.
What Rhaenyra wanted was to marry Laenor and continue her affair with Ser Criston, who would be her sworn protector, but she never expected a proposal. She tells Criston that as much as she likes the idea of leaving with him, hers is a duty that can’t be forsaken.
Obviously, Rhaenyra has already been told about the prophecy passed down from Aegon the Conqueror about the Prince that was Promised and the Song of Ice and Fire. She takes that quite seriously, especially with her father convinced that this war to end all wars could happen sooner rather than later.
So Rhaenyra passes on Ser Criston’s offer to leave with him and the knight is devastated as he turns away from the woman he loves while also passing on the honor of becoming the man she shares a bed with whenever her husband isn’t around. Remember, Ser Criston is lowborn without any titles to his name so becoming a member of the Kingsguard was just about the greatest honor he could imagine yet he broke those vows by sleeping with Rhaenyra.
Criston hoped to restore his honor by marrying Rhaenyra but now that he’s been rejected, he has no interest in just becoming her dirty little secret on the side. Little does he know, that secret will soon be exposed.
The Queen’s Discretion
Back in King’s Landing, Queen Alicent Hightower is distressed after learning that her father Otto Hightower has been dismissed as Hand of the King and he’s set to return to Oldtown. Otto was stripped of his title as Hand of the King after King Viserys decided to take his daughter’s word that she never fornicated with her uncle Daemon as it was rumored.
It was Otto who passed along that bit of news after he learned it from a child, who also served as one of his spies in King’s Landing. Otto felt it was prudent to let the King know that his daughter had been sullied — but he was also particularly keen on making Daemon look bad because truth be told, they hate each other.
Instead, King Viserys sided with his daughter and fired Otto as Hand of the King.
Alicent attempts to reason with her father while telling him that Rhaenyra swore she hadn’t been intimate with anybody but she never imagined showing trust in her friend would somehow lead the King to remove him as Hand.
Otto embraces his daughter while reminding her that she’s got a greater duty than can possibly be imagined because she’s raising the future King of Westeros. No matter how many times King Viserys bestows his line of succession on Rhaenyra as the first woman queen, Otto is smart enough to know that there are dozens of powerful factions around the Seven Kingdoms who would rather watch it all burn to the ground before letting a woman ascend the Iron Throne.
It’s exactly what Rhaenys told Lord Corlys back on Driftmark as he allowed the news that his son would be marrying Princess Rhaenyra begin to overwhelm him with excitement. Rhaenys was the next in the line of succession and by all rights, she should have been made queen but that’s not how things worked out.
Instead the Lords of Westeros overwhelmingly voted in favor of her cousin Viserys becoming king, which is why Rhaenys knows the fight to actually put Rhaenyra on the Iron Throne will almost undoubtedly end in bloodshed. It’s the same thing Otto tells his daughter while asking her to do everything possible to get her son Aegon ready to rule because it’s only a matter of time before it happens.
As she walks through the gardens on the way back to the Red Keep, Queen Alicent runs into Larys Strong — better known as Larys Clubfoot — who talks to her about Rhaenyra and that ugly rumor that floated around about her. Actually, Larys is much craftier than that because instead he mentions that he hopes the princess is healthy as she prepares to marry Ser Laenor Velaryon.
You see, Larys knows that Grand Maester Mellos personally prepared a special tea for the princess on the same night those accusations were made about having sex with someone out of wedlock. In other words, Larys knows that the Grand Maester put together a tea that would eliminate any potential pregnancy that Rhaenyra could carry after her tryst.
More importantly, Larys has placed a seed of doubt in Alicent’s head about Rhaenyra and the vow she swore when speaking about the night she allegedly lost her virginity.
Now Alicent can’t help but wonder if her friend and stepdaughter actually duped her, which in turn led to her father being dismissed from the King’s council.
To find out more information, Queen Alicent calls on Ser Criston Cole to meet with her privately to question him about the princess’ activity on the night in question. Alicent is actually hoping that Ser Criston might be able to tell her if there were any men coming or going from Rhaenyra’s chamber but she doesn’t expect to learn what she hears next.
Thinking that the queen knows he’s the one who had sex with Rhaenyra, Criston comes clean and reveals that he took her maidenhood in a night of passion they spent together. As a result, Criston knows he’s broken his vow and sullied the white cloak he wears as a member of the Kingsguard so he requests that the queen just offer him a quick death rather than torture.
But Ser Criston has no idea that Queen Alicent wasn’t even talking about him but she now knows that Rhaenyra lied to her. The queen dismisses him without further punishment because she’s got much more important issues to tend to now.
As for the King, who collapsed after returning from Driftmark, he’s receiving treatment from Grand Maester Mellos, which includes more leeches to suck the poison blood from his body. Maester Orwyle, who will become an important character to know for the future, suggests a different type of remedy but his idea is quickly shot down in favor of the leeches.
After the maesters exit, Viserys talks to Lyonel Strong about how people will remember him as King. He fought no great wars and never truly accomplished any great deeds as King but Westeros has continued to thrive in peace, much like it did for so many years under his grandfather, King Jaehaerys.
That’s why Lyonel reminds him it’s probably more important to be remembered as the King who kept his kingdom alive rather than the monarch who burned his enemies to the ground. Once again, Lyonel remains the voice of reason even as King Viserys questions himself about the future and the legacy he’ll eventually leave behind.
A Royal Wedding
Days later, King Viserys holds a massive gathering at the Red Keep for a feast that will kick off seven days of celebration ending with Princess Rhaenyra marrying Ser Laenor Velaryon.
All of the great lords from across Westeros attend the festivities including Jason Lannister, who is still bothered that he didn’t get to marry Rhaenyra himself. Just before Hobart Hightower — the Lord of House Hightower and older brother to Otto Hightower — greets the king, he’s interrupted by Ser Gerold Royce, who has come to talk to his grace about the death of his cousin.
Ser Gerold obviously believes the same as Rhaenys that Rhea Royce didn’t just fall from her horse and die but he also has no proof that anyone else was involved.
The next introduction is the arrival of House Velaryon as Lord Corlys and Princess Rhaenys come to court along with their son, who will soon become the King consort alongside future Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen. The entire room rips up in applause as Rhaenyra and Laenor greet each other, which is exactly why this union was the perfect move for King Viserys to orchestrate.
The celebration continues until a hush falls over the entire crowd when Prince Daemon Targaryen arrives. He approaches the lead table where his brother nods to give him a chair as Daemon sits down to join his family on this most momentus occasion.
The only person missing now is Queen Alicent Hightower, who hasn’t arrived yet for the party.
Even with her absence, King Viserys begins to make his toast when the queen finally arrives and she’s dressed in a full green gown, which Larys Strong mentions to his brother Harwin is the color that House Hightower uses when declaring war.
It’s worth paying attention to that green color because it will serve as a major component in the story to come in future episodes and seasons.
Queen Alicent is noticeably distant from her husband and stepdaughter even when greeting them on the dais before eventually leaving them to meet with her uncle Hobart. Seeing his niece stand tall while wearing the family colors makes Hobart proud and he tells Alicent that he’ll stand behind her as she serves as queen. It’s a not so subtle nod that Hobart agrees with his brother Otto that there will be a fight to see who sits on the Iron Throne after Viserys’ death and he believes it should be his cousin Aegon rather than Rhaenyra.
As for Daemon, he’s soon interrupted by Ser Gerold Royce, who basically accuses him of having something to do with his cousin Rhea’s death. Before Daemon can really fire back, he tells Ser Gerold that he looks forward to the inheritance that will be granted to him now that Rhea is dead.
As her husband and because they sired no children together, Daemon stands to inherit everything that belonged to Rhea and she was set to rule over Runestone. In other words, Daemon plans to stake his claim to the ancestral home of House Royce with an upcoming trip planned to the Vale to meet with Lady Jeyne Arryn, who is related to Aemma Arryn, the former queen to King Viserys who died giving birth.
Lady Jeyne is the current Lord of the Eyrie and the Head of House Arryn and she will ultimately decide what lands and titles pass along to anybody after Rhea’s death.
Meanwhile, Rhaenyra and Laenor share a first dance together before becoming husband and wife. Soon the entire court joins them as everyone begins eating, laughing and dancing together.
Daemon joins them with a dance he shares with Lady Laena Velaryon, who has grown up quite beautiful and she quickly catches his attention.
As the dancing continues, Laenor eventually makes his way over to Joffrey as they talk about this upcoming union. It turns out that Joffrey has figured out the paramour who has caught Rhaenyra’s attention — it’s none other than Ser Criston Cole of the Kingsgard because he’s been staring at the princess with daggers all night long.
Joffrey believes this is a valuable piece of information because now he knows Rhaenyra’s secret just like she knows his. That’s why he approaches Ser Criston Cole to inform him that they both know a secret about the queen and king to be, which means they should probably be introduced properly.
It’s clear Criston wants nothing to do with whatever scheming Joffrey has in mind but more importantly, someone else has figured out his secret that he’s betrayed his vows as a member of the Kingsguard.
The festivities then take a decided turn for the strange when Daemon leaves his dance partner in Lady Laena and instead turns his attention to Rhaenyra instead. They share a dance but mostly speak to each other in High Valyrian where he scoffs at this marriage being cobbled together with Laenor.
Rhaenyra challenges her uncle to just take her back to Dragonstone and marry her himself if he’s so determined to keep her away from other men. The two continues to get closer and closer as King Viserys stares down at his daughter and brother just inches away from kissing in front of a room full with hundreds of dignitaries there to celebrate Rhaenyra’s marriage to Laenor Velaryon.
The tight embrace is soon interrupted by chaos as the entire room starts to shift and move due to some kind of fight breaking out.
King Viserys can’t clap eyes on his daughter, who has disappeared into a sea of people.
It turns out the disruption was between Ser Criston Cole and Ser Joffrey Lonmouth, although it’s not much of a fight. Criston Cole is savagely beating Joffrey and he even manages to toss Laenor to the side when he attempts to intervene.
Despite Joffrey’s best attempts to fight back, Criston is bigger, stronger and more skilled as he just smashes the face of the man Laenor clearly loves very much. As the chaos continues, Rhaenyra is also knocked to the ground, which prompts Lyonel Strong to call on his son to venture into the crowd to retrieve her.
Lyonel’s son is Harwin Strong — better known as Harwin Breakbones, the most powerful knight in the Seven Kingdoms. Harwin has made sporadic appearances in the show, particularly last week when he bumped into the princess when she was out for her night of debauchery with Daemon.
Harwin is the eldest son of Lyonel Strong, who is now Hand of the King, and they rule over Harrenhal, the half-burned kingdom that is believed to be cursed. It’s worth keeping an eye on Harwin because he’ll be a very important character to know starting with next week’s episode.
For now, Harwin jumps into the crowd and quickly dispatches anybody and everybody standing in his way until he gets to Rhaenyra, tosses her over his shoulder and carries her out of harms’ way.
As for Joffrey, he’s absolutely destroyed and his face turned into mush by Criston Cole, who murders the knight for even suggesting that his secret might get out. After the fight ends, Criston is stunned at what he just did while Laenor is horrified at the sight of Joffrey laying there dead.
Laenor bursts out in tears while holding Joffrey’s hand as Criston retreats out of the Red Keep.
Outside by a weirwood tree, Criston has removed his armor and he’s holding the dagger that Joffrey attempted to use against him in their fight. Criston has broken his vows but more importantly, he just viciously murdered another knight, which means his days are already numbered.
As he prepares to plunge the dagger into his own belly, Criston is interrupted by Queen Alicent.
Back inside the Red Keep, King Viserys has done away with all the plans for a grand gathering to celebrate his daughter’s wedding. Instead with Joffrey’s blood still pooling on the floor, King Viserys watches Rhaenyra marry Laenor as the union between the Targaryens and the Velaryons is completed.
Seconds after the union is official, King Viserys collapses to the ground as his health continues to fail him.
The marriage between Rhaenyra and Laenor will also bring to an end this particular time period on the show with the younger versions of the characters going away and the older actors portraying them arriving in next week’s episode. The preview already gives you a look at them while also building on the continuing tension growing between Rhaenyra and Alicent as both sit on the small council to an aging King Viserys.
“House of the Dragon” will return with a new episode next Sunday night at 9 p.m. ET on HBO.
