As it stands, Laenor’s escape leaves us with not only one of the most surprising book deviations in the Game of Thrones franchise to date, but also one of the happier endings this universe has ever put forth. Even then, given how things tend to shake out in Westeros, perhaps it’s best if Laenor stays away from the action altogether. But right now, that’s pure speculation, and saying much more gets us deep into spoilers. Specifically, two characters who play a role later in the story, Addam and Alyn, seem ripe for reinterpretation as a resurgent Laenor and Qarl. Right now, there isn’t a clear consensus path for how he could return to House of the Dragon, though are a few places in the story where one can imagine Laenor popping up. Laenor’s survival is an enormous swerve from Martin’s novel, leaving the door open for his return to the narrative at some point in the future. Rhaenyra balked at the proposal then, but she clearly never forgot it, employing the plan for Laenor instead. Back then, Criston wanted to run away with Rhaenyra, to live a life of romantic anonymity together forever. Ironically enough, it’s the strategy once suggested by Criston Cole ( Fabien Frankel), the man who killed Laenor’s beloved partner Joffrey Lonmouth 10 years earlier. That alone would be a very big swerve, an early suggestion of just how far Rhaenyra’s willing to go to strengthen her claim to the Iron Throne.īut the story winds down another road, in which Rhaenyra and Daemon (who fought alongside Laenor for three years in the Stepstones) help Laenor leave behind his life in Westeros for a life in Essos with Qarl at his side. The book-reader’s journey through the end of “Driftmark” is a turbulent one, as the show starts by suggesting Rhaenyra was the real mastermind behind Laenor’s death all along. The show’s version of Laenor’s death takes things in a very different direction, adding more twists than just the outcome. The Sea Snake and the Queen Who Never Was howl in agony over the body of their last remaining child, and the audience is left to rage at Rhaenyra and Daemon as the two murderers marry each other in a bloody beachside ceremony. When the witness returns with Laenor’s parents Corlys ( Steve Toussaint) and Rhaenys ( Eve Best) in tow, Qarl is gone, and Laenor’s body is roasting in a fire, charred beyond recognition. The witness flees the scene of the crime as Laenor and Qarl draw swords and fight each other, presumably to the death. Later, Qarl provokes Laenor in a quiet chamber of Driftmark, with only one boy around as a witness. Elsewhere, Daemon kills a man of House Velaryon, for nebulous reasons at the time. Daemon confronts Laenor’s lover Qarl Correy ( Arty Froushan) and offers him a great deal of wealth in order to do a job. In the final act of the episode, we see a flurry of events leading up to a Rhaenyra-ordered hit on Laenor. It’s Daemon who points this out to Rhaenyra - and it’s Rhaenyra who coldly agrees, indicating her willingness to murder her husband of 10 years, Laenor Velaryon. While he lives, Rhaenyra and Daemon cannot marry. There’s just one problem: Rhaenyra’s married to Laenor. ![]() To that end, Rhaenyra and Daemon consummate their relationship on the beaches of Driftmark, and later agree that it’s time to unite together as wife and husband to solidify their claim for the Iron Throne. Royals from far and wide gather to memorialize Laena Velaryon ( Nanna Blondell), with basically every major player on the show in attendance: King Viserys ( Paddy Considine), newly reappointed Hand of the King Otto Hightower ( Rhys Ifans), his daughter/Viserys’s queen, Alicent ( Olivia Cooke), the aforementioned Rhaenyra and Daemon, and all of the respective children. Here’s how it played out, and why it’s such a big deal to the book-reading faithful.ĭirected by Miguel Sapochnik and written by Kevin Lau, “Driftmark” centers on the location at the heart of the title: Driftmark, the royal seat of House Velaryon. Martin’s Fire and Blood who were most surprised by the way “Driftmark” closed out: Laenor Velaryon ( John MacMillan) faking his own death with an assist from his wife Rhaenyra ( Emma D’Arcy) and her new husband Daemon ( Matt Smith). ![]() In fact, it’s the fans who have read George R.R. Previously thought to not exist, House of the Dragon offered a third way to play the game in its seventh installment, “Driftmark,” delivering an episode-closing twist that surprised show-only viewers and book-readers alike. When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die-unless, as it turns out, there’s some middle ground after all.
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