House of the Dragon' Episode 5

After seeking information from Ser Criston Cole (Fabian Frankel), who immediately confesses to his affair with Rhaenyra, Alicent clearly takes a new approach to ...

After confessing his "sin" to Alicent and revealing that Rhaenyra shed her status as a "maiden" before marriage, Ser Criston kind of just broods on the sidelines for the rest of the episode... With finely drawn characters, excellent performances, and plenty more Targaryen history to explore, "House of the Dragon" seems poised to impress audiences week after week until its first season draws to a close. Weddings really never went well on "Game of Thrones," and clearly, "House of the Dragon" is continuing this tradition. Viserys wants the wedding to be grand and over-the-top in celebration of his daughter, and at first, it is, despite interruptions from a smirking Daemon and a clearly angry Alicent. By the time of Rhaenyra's wedding, Viserys seems like he's in pretty dire straits, and the episode ends with his collapse just after Rhaenyra and Laenor are officially married. Though he's initially reluctant to get involved with Rhaenyra — a Targaryen princess, the declared heir to the throne, and a person he's sworn to protect — Ser Criston Cole clearly falls hard and fast for the blonde beauty. Viserys spends basically the entire run time of "We Light the Way" with a nasty cough, appearing weak and unsteady, and at a certain point, he ends up Corlys and his wife Rhaenys (Eve Best), Viserys' cousin who also has a claim to the throne but is known as "The Queen Who Never Was," are happy about this prospective match, but are concerned that their Velaryon line won't live on despite the patriarchal system where children bear the names of their fathers. With Rhaenyra in need of a husband, Viserys proposes that his daughter, ostensibly the future Queen of the Seven Kingdoms, marry Corlys' son Laenor (Theo Nate). [Last week](https://www.looper.com/1000507/house-of-the-dragon-season-1-episode-4-recap/), Daemon's (Matt Smith) wildly chaotic nature led him into the underbelly of King's Landing, into a [very awkwardly intimate entanglement](https://www.looper.com/1004278/house-of-the-dragons-milly-alcock-has-a-surprising-take-on-that-intimate-scene-with-her-uncle/) with his niece Rhaenyra, and into a situation where he experienced, uh, some performance issues that stopped that tryst dead in its tracks. [contraceptive tea](https://www.looper.com/1004408/viserys-stance-on-reproductive-rights-has-house-of-the-dragon-fans-all-saying-the-same-thing/) on the orders of her father Viserys. Let's break down every important thing that happens in the fifth episode of "House of the Dragon."

Yup, Laena Velaryon is 100% trying to get with the newly single Daemon. Sure, he still has eyes for Rhaenyra, but the princess is marrying Laenor. But both ...

In House of the Dragon Episode 5 that all changes as she carefully times her arrival to the wedding party for maximum impact. Going forward, Alicent and Aegon’s supporters in the court will be known as the Greens. You’ll note that Alicent specially seeks out her father’s older brother at the party and he assures her he has her back. As Larys Strong (Matthew Needham) explains to his brother, House Hightower changes the color of the lighthouse lamp at Oldtown to green as a signal to their bannerman that they are being called to war. Maester Orwyle is most definitely a key figure during the events of the Dance of the Dragons, but he’s not technically supposed to be bouncing around King’s Landing at this time. But both Laena and Daemon are single and it seems they had a little bit of a mingle at the party. Well, spoilers, but the next woman Daemon is going to marry is none other than Laena Velaryon. Laena makes sexy eye contact with Daemon and a moment later he joins her on the dance floor. That means the tiny twelve year old girl the court was trying to set up with Viserys is now a teenager. [House of the Dragon](https://decider.com/show/house-of-the-dragon/) Episode 5 “We Light the Way” ends with Princess Rhaenyra’s ( [Milly Alcock](https://decider.com/tag/milly-alcock/)) muted marriage to Ser Laenor Velaryon ( [Theo Nate](https://decider.com/tag/theo-nate/)). The other dragon is red, but doesn’t have the long, lanky body of Caraxes. House of the Dragon stealthily introduced another dragon this week.

With his first wife out of the picture, who will become Prince Daemon Targaryen's second spouse? The answer might surprise you.

In Episodes 1 and 2 of House of the Dragon, little Laena Velaryon (Nova Foueillis-Mosé) is the cause of significant tension among House Targaryen and House Velaryon, as the 12-year-old was presented as a potential match to the king upon the death of Queen Aemma Arryn (Sian Brooke). Surrounded by the bloodshed and chaos that breaks out as a result of a grotesque fight between [Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel)](https://www.inverse.com/entertainment/house-of-the-dragon-criston-cole-dornish-family-tree) and Joffrey Lonmouth (Solly McLeod), Daemon appears to only have eyes for one young woman, and this time it isn’t his niece. When Daemon and Laena meet, she’s 23 and betrothed to a spoiled son of the Sealord of Braavos. This will probably happen in Episode 6, when the show’s risky time jump of over a decade occurs. In The Rogue Prince and [The Princess and the Queen](https://www.inverse.com/culture/rhaenyra-alicent-queerbaiting-house-of-the-dragon), Rhea’s death is untimely, but natural. [grooming his niece](https://www.inverse.com/entertainment/house-of-the-dragon-episode-4-play-game-of-thrones) and almost “ [stealing her maidenhood](https://www.inverse.com/culture/house-of-the-dragon-episode-4-sex-scenes-game-of-thrones),” he’s invited to return to attend Rhaenyra and Laenor Velaryon’s wedding banquet. The Inverse Analysis — Considering House of the Dragon has stayed close to its prequel roots for the majority of its run, and that Nanna Blondell has been confirmed to portray an adult Laena Velaryon, we’re pretty certain we’ll see Daemon and Laena tie the knot. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire prequels](https://www.inverse.com/entertainment/winds-of-winter-game-of-thrones-book-update) — go against the source material. Later, Laena and Daemon’s twin daughters were betrothed to Rhaenyra’s two eldest sons. Rhea (Rachel Redford) catches him amid a tantrum he’s throwing over [King Viserys I Targaryen’s](https://www.inverse.com/entertainment/house-of-the-dragon-king-viserys-targaryen-death-explained-book-canon) (Paddy Considine) treatment of him and, within minutes of viewers meeting her, Daemon murders her. Laena and Daemon were a power couple, and their marriage was celebrated by nearly all of Westeros and Essos — except for King Viserys and his court, who considered it another sign of Daemon’s disrespect. [Lady Rhea Royce](https://www.inverse.com/entertainment/lady-rhea-who-is-daemon-targaryen-wife-house-of-the-dragon?utm_campaign=inverse&utm_content=1661415840&utm_medium=owned&utm_source=facebook), we hardly knew ye.

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.

The bride and doom of Valyria: (L-R) Matt Smith, Gavin Spokes, Emily Carey, Paddy Considine, Milly Alcock, Theo Nate, Steve Toussaint, Eve Best, ...

He says he'll be flying to the Eyrie, the seat of House Arryn in the Vale, and petitioning Lady Jeyne to give it to him. If the point of that is to show how people get ground up in the gears of the Targaryen Dynasty, box checked. On a show called House of the Dragon! In the Driftmark dunes, Laenor and his horseplay pal Ser Joffrey demonstrate how Joffrey got the nickname "Knight of Kisses." The hall of the Iron Throne has been turned into the welcome reception for the royal wedding. Corlys suggests that Laenor's "true nature" is just a phase, and that the realm will welcome Rhaenyra's succession, which is a real one-two punch of pure wrongness there, my guy. "It is the only thing I have to my f***ing name!" Back in the godswood at the Red Keep, Queen Alicent runs into the prodigiously creepy Larys Strong (son of Lord Lyonel, brother to Harwyn Strong, who's turned up a couple times on the show, and who's gonna be hopping a few rungs up the call sheet next week). says Laenor, which only serves to make us imagine the endless string of disappointed and frustrated geese that have had to put up with Laenor's yeomanlike ministrations. The show takes this as the first of several opportunities to direct our attention to the king's less-than-robust health (drink!). A coughing, wheezing king (drink!) is greeted by Corlys, who steps off the Driftwood Throne to bend the knee. This recap of House of the Dragon's fifth episode contains spoilers for ...

This blows up in their faces when Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) — who wants something more than being Rhaenyra's secret "whore" — causes a brawl at the couple's ...

At a celebration before the wedding, Joffrey Lonmouth (Solly McLeod), Laenor's lover, exposed the Rhaenyra's plan to keep Criston as her secret whore. At this point, audiences are quick to pick up on the behaviors that several members of the Targaryen family routinely engage in. This blows up in their faces when Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) — who wants something more than being Rhaenyra's secret "whore" — causes a brawl at the couple's 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.

In We Light the Way, it's time for Rhaenyra Targaryen to finally say "I do."

"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. "I've always feared the day you'd have to marry a woman, and now it comes," the chap says. Daemon calls it a tragic accident, but Ser Royce accuses Daemon of being the culprit. Queen Alicent is watching the commotion from the balcony of her chambers. "Ser Laenor is a good and decent man, but you did not choose him. Viserys and the new Hand of the King exchange concerned glances. "The time is coming, Alicent. "The king will die. 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. With a backdrop of pouring rain, as with all good farewells, she tells her father she regrets the king's decision to expel him. 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.

Viserys discovered about Rhaenyra slipping out of the palace with Daemon to some sketchy areas in the previous episode. Indignant by his daughter's small ...

The views expressed here are that of the respective authors/ entities and do not represent the views of Economic Times (ET). Thanks to the time difference, the episode will be released on September 19 (Monday) in some regions. [House of Targaryen](/topic/house-of-targaryen)with this decision. But her request to her father was for the removal of [Otto](/topic/otto)Hightower from the council. [Rhaenyra](/topic/rhaenyra)sneaking out of the palace with Daemon to some not-so-respectable places. [House of the Dragon](/topic/house-of-the-dragon)show is eventually teasing the much-anticipated dispute between Fire and Blood after introducing several influential houses in Westeros.