When you play the Game of Thrones, you win, or you die... unless a third option happens to present itself!
Sunday's seventh episode of House of the Dragon, "Driftmark," laid the groundwork for the bloody civil war known as the Dance of Dragons, as tensions between Princess Rhaenyra and Queen Alicent escalated to dangerous levels.
The knives were out (literally), with Alicent's son Aemond losing an eye to young Lucerys Velaryon, and the Queen retaliating by slashing her former friend Rhaenyra's arm. The princess sees the writing on the wall, and proposes a marriage to her uncle Daemon in an effort to strengthen her position as heir to the throne.
There's just one problem: Rhaenyra is already married to Ser Laenor Velaryon.
This leads to a pretty major change to how things play out in George R.R. Martin's Fire and Blood, with Daemon killing an unfortunate randomer and using his body to fake Laenor's death. Earlier, we see the scheming Targaryen bribe Ser Qarl Correy to start a fight with his lover and to ensure there are witnesses around. When the guards are alerted, an unrecognizable body is pulled from the fire.
Though poor Corlys and Rhaenys believe they've lost another child, Laenor is alive and well, and we see him rowing out to sea with Correy at the end of the episode. This is a huge departure from the source material, as Laenor is definitively killed-off. The circumstances are left somewhat ambiguous, but it's heavily implied that Daemon paid Correy to do the deed.
So, why the twist? It could be because the showrunners didn't want to face the inevitable backlash that would have stemmed from killing-off yet another queer character, but whatever the reason, we are glad to see the honourable Laenor make it out in one piece.
Whether he will play any further part in the wars to come remains to be seen, but given the life expectancy in Westeros, we'd highly recommend staying put and enjoying himself while he still can!
Have you guys been enjoying House of the Dragon so far? Drop us a comment down below.