Recap / House of the Dragon S1 E5: "We Light the Way"

"The time is coming, Alicent. Either you prepare Aegon to rule, or you cleave to Rhaenyra and pray for her mercy."

— Otto Hightower

The episode opens with Rhea Royce going for a ride outside Runestone in the Vale, only for her to encounter her estranged husband Daemon. He murders her by spooking her horse so that it falls on her and then bashing her head in with a rock.

Viserys (now increasingly ill) and Rhaenyra sail to the Velaryon castle of High Tide on Driftmark with the goal of securing the betrothal between Rhaenyra and Laenor. Lord Corlys is happy to see Laenor marry Rhaenyra, as it will put his grandchild on the Iron Throne. Princess Rhaenys is more reluctant as not only will they be making Laenor a target of everyone who doesn't want to see Rhaenyra inherit, Laenor's sexuality might make the marriage and succession unstable. For their part, Rhaenyra and Laenor agree to fulfill their marital duties but seek pleasure elsewhere — Laenor's is in his companion knight, Ser Joffrey Lonmouth. In private, Criston proposes that Rhaenyra run away with him. She turns him down, to his anguish — by sleeping with her and then not making an honest woman out of her, he's dishonored himself and the Kingsguard name.

Meanwhile in King's Landing, Alicent tearfully bids goodbye to Otto, who urges her to continue fighting for Aegon's place as Viserys's heir. In the godswood, she meets Larys Strong, who tells her of the abortifacient Grand Maester Mellos delivered to Rhaenyra. When the king and entourage return, she questions Criston about the night Daemon and Rhaenyra snuck out of King's Landing. Criston confesses that he and Rhaenyra had slept together, greatly upsetting Alicent. The extent of Viserys's increasing sickness is also revealed, with his entire left arm now decomposing. As he prepares for another round of leeching, Viserys confides in his new hand, Lyonel Strong, in that he fears he'll be remembered as a weak and unimpressive king.

Noble houses begin to arrive at the Red Keep for the royal wedding. Daemon arrives late and is given a seat at the high table. Viserys gets up to give a speech about the Valyrian houses joining — only to be interrupted by Alicent, who enters the room in a gown in the green of Oldtown's war banners. The attendees comment on the slight against the king.

After their first dance, Laenor and Rhaenyra are joined on the dance floor by the other attendees. Hobert Hightower congratulates his niece on her statement. Gerold Royce accuses Daemon of killing his cousin Rhea; Daemon parries with the fact that he stands to gain Rhea's inheritance as her husband. The accusation does not go unnoticed by Viserys. Daemon dances with Laena Velaryon while Joffrey converses with Criston over their shared situation. Daemon and Rhaenyra dance and Rhaenyra taunts him about her upcoming marriage. Suddenly, a fight breaks out — Criston brutally beats Joffrey to death, to the attendees' horror and Laenor's sorrow. Rhaenyra is nearly lost in the melee, but Harwin Strong wades in and brings her out.

In the aftermath, Laenor and Rhaenyra are hastily wed and Viserys collapses. Criston attempts to kill himself but is interrupted by Alicent.

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Tropes in this episode:

• Adaptational Context Change: In the book, Mushroom writes that Laena is "almost as pretty as her brother." Here, Daemon uses the line to compliment her instead.
  Daemon: Has anybody ever told you you're nearly as pretty as your brother?
  Laena: Well, you flatter me, my Prince.
• Adaptational Sympathy: In the book we never meet Rhea Royce. Here we do, and she seems great. She's cut from the same cloth as other fan-favorite tomboy ladies from the series like Arya Stark or Lyanna Mormont. It always seemed like Daemon was probably an Unreliable Expositor about her, but this confirms it. The creators note in the behind-the-scenes for the episode that they decided to show her as someone who wasn't as Daemon described and just didn't like Daemon.
• Adaptational Villainy:
  • While in the book, Daemon wasn't exactly broken up over his wife's death, there's no evidence he personally killed her. And given the narrative was no stranger to offering darker alternative theories for a number of deaths (some involving Daemon, no less), it likely would've been mentioned if anyone at the time suspected he was involved.
  • In the book, Criston kills Joffrey in a tourney, which is bad, but—as established in episode 1—such things have been known to happen during tourneys, and the perpetrators are not typically penalized. There's room for Plausible Deniability. Criston killing Joffrey in the middle of a wedding feast apropos of nothing is much worse.
• Adapted Out: In the books, as is standard in the Seven Kingdoms for a royal wedding celebration, the event goes on for seven days before culminating in the actual wedding and includes a tourney. During the tourney, Ser Harwin Strong rides as Rhaenyra's champion and Ser Joffrey Lonmouth as Laenor's, while Criston Cole carries Queen Alicent's favor. Here, the tournaments and other festivities are cut after Criston kills Joffrey at the banquet.
• All Girls Want Bad Boys: Lady Laena Velaryon flirts with Daemon, the rogue prince. Although she says that he sounds like a Knight in Shining Armor on paper, it's clear that she's being sardonic, and when he says he only seems so because she doesn't know him yet, she responds that she'd like to know him better.
  Laena: A Targaryen prince, a dashing knight, and a dragon rider. You appear to be every young maiden's dream.
• Almost Kiss: Daemon is moments away from kissing the bride in the middle of a hall full of people at her wedding feast, but is interrupted by a surging crowd and a murder.
• Ambiguous Situation: Clare Kilner, the episode's director, stated in a behind the scenes video that it's intentionally unclear whether Daemon went to Runestone fully intent on killing Rhea or if it was a decision made on a whim after she insulted his impotence.
• Answer Cut: Joffrey and Laenor's conversation ends with the line: "She has a paramour of her own. I wonder who it is." The next scene is of Rhaenyra and Criston. Downplayed because the audience already knows who Rhaenyra's paramour is.
• As You Know: The significance of the Queen's clothing is embedded in this way inside a question.
  Larys: The beacon on the Hightower, do you know what color it glows when Oldtown calls its banners to war?
  Harwin: Green.
• Badass Bystander: You'd be forgiven for having no idea who Harwin Strong is before he's suddenly called upon to perform a Foe-Tossing Charge through the marriage melee and singlehandedly rescue Rhaenyra.
• The Beard: Rhaenyra agrees to enter an Arranged Marriage with Laenor to conceal his homosexuality and secret relationship with Ser Joffrey Lonmouth. Although she describes it in thinly-veiled euphemisms, it's clear that it would be an open marriage for both of them.
• Be Careful What You Wish For:
  Viserys: There is a part of me wishes I'd been tested. I often think that in the crucible, I may have been forged a different man.
  Lyonel: Many that are tested only wish to have been spared it.
• Bestiality Is Depraved: Rhea asks Daemon if he's come to consummate with her or the sheep, referencing a comment he once made that the sheep around Runestone were prettier than she was.
• Big Entrance: Rhaenyra and Laenor's wedding feast has many.
  • The Velaryons walk in as a family, projecting strength and unity, making it clear to everyone that Rhaenyra has found a powerful ally in her new in-laws.
  • Daemon strolls in with all his usual swagger, and the unclear question of whether or not he was actually invited. He doesn't have a seat laid out, but Viserys—forced to choose between welcoming his brother or having a spat in front of the entire realm—has a chair added to the end of the table for him.
  • Alicent times her entrance to interrupt Viserys's speech at just the right moment. Because she is the Queen, she implicitly commands the attention of everyone in the room, who all rise in respect. People in attendance note that not only did she successfully undermine her husband by interrupting his speech, but her green gown (the color of Oldtown's war banners) adds fuel to the fire. Alicent's own family congratulates her on making such a powerful statement.
• Bludgeoned to Death: Joffrey Lonmouth ends up killed by Criston when the latter brutally and repeatedly punches his head (with metal gauntlets on), to the point it becomes an unrecognizable bloody mess.
• Broken Pedestal:
  • When Rhaenyra rejects his proposal, Criston is hurt. The real kicker for him, though, seems to be realizing that Rhaenyra is basically oblivious to how much she asked of him by taking him as a lover. He broke his vows for her, and his vows mean a lot to him given that he's lowborn and being in the Kingsguard is an almost unimaginable Rags to Riches opportunity. Then there's the dangers of being caught: torture, gelding, and execution are all on the table for him. Either Rhaenyra never considered what would happen to him if caught, or she simply didn't care.
  • Rhaenyra becomes this to Alicent after Larys intimates and Criston confirms that she lied to her about remaining a virgin, especially after Alicent had staunchly defended her against the accusations and her father had been dismissed for bringing them to Viserys.
• Bury Your Gays: Joffrey Lonmouth, Laenor's lover, is murdered by a raging Ser Criston. This sparked considerable debate online as to whether it constitutes the full trope of "bury your gays", as Criston kills Joffrey in the book as well, and it's the kind of story where characters are frequently killed in general.
• Cain and Abel: Discussed. According to Otto Hightower, while his grandson Aegon lives, Rhaenyra's claim to the throne can never be completely secure, and therefore when she takes the throne, she must have him killed. He warns Alicent that this is the inherent danger of her son's position and why her choices are to either prepare him to rule or gamble her son's life on Rhaenyra's mercy.
  Otto: If Rhaenyra succeeds [Viserys], war will follow, do you understand? The realm will not accept her. And to secure her claim, she'll have to put your children to the sword. She'll have no choice. You know it. You're no fool, and yet you choose not to see it. The time is coming, Alicent. Either you prepare Aegon to rule, or you cleave to Rhaenyra and pray for her mercy.
• Complaining About Rescues They Don't Like: Rhaenyra shouts at Ser Harwin to let go of her as he carries her away to safety.
• Cruel and Unusual Death: Criston immediately confesses to Alicent that he had sex with Rhaenyra, both breaking his vow of chastity and defiling the crown princess. He knows that a heinous execution probably awaits him. ^{From the books...}The last Kingsguard who broke his vow of chastity was indeed gelded and tortured. About forty years prior, Ser Lucamore Strong was found to have not only violated his vow of chastity, but bigamously married three separate women at the same time and collectively fathered 16 children with them. He was gelded and sent to the Wall. He throws himself upon Alicent's mercy by asking for a clean death instead. Criston fully expects her to react by ordering the guards to warm up the gelding tongs, so he's stunned when she doesn't just spare him the torture with a quick death but simply lets him go.
  Criston: I deserve no consideration. [beat] But if — as a clement Queen — you are inclined to pity, I would ask only this: that rather than gelding me and having me tortured, you would sentence me mercifully to death.
• Dances and Balls: As director Clare Kilner discusses in the behind-the-scenes videos for this episode, we've never seen "Dance" as an art form in this franchise before; there aren't any formal balls for aristocrats held during the main A Song of Ice & Fire novels so there aren't any in Game of Thrones, and while several royal balls are mentioned in Fire & Blood, a book isn't a visual medium, so they aren't described in any detail. The production team had to put a lot of thought into developing a ballroom dance style for Westeros essentially from scratch, and had to redesign the first version they made because it was too "contemporary".
• Deadly Nosebleed: During the fatal brawl at the wedding feast Viserys—who has been in poor health the entire episode—suddenly feels too unwell to do anything about it. His nose then starts bleeding. He collapses shortly afterwards.
• Death Wail: After Ser Joffrey Lonmouth has been beaten to death by Ser Criston Cole, Laenor kneels by his body and releases a loud wail.
• Defiant to the End: Realizing Daemon intends to leave her to die, Rhea mocks him and orders him to finish her off.
• Defiled Forever: An unusual Gender-Inverted Trope. The trope deals with both dishonorable sex and rape, and Criston's situation uses both concepts. By modern standards, what Rhaenyra did to Criston is rape and he's distressed because rape is traumatic. By the standards of Westerosi society — and thus in Criston's own conceptualization — there's no concept of a woman raping a man. What happened is still considered an atrocious event that should never have occurred, but in this framework he's also to blame for it. In this framework, his distress is attributed to guilt and loss of honor. Within both understandings, a bad sexual experience will cost him his reputation, if not his life. He asks for an Honorable Marriage Proposal to fix things — a traditional solution for this trope — and when that gets shot down, he's Driven to Suicide.
• Didn't Think This Through: Joffrey correctly deduces that Ser Criston is Rhaenyra's secret lover and approaches him to talk about their mutual situation. While Joffrey could not have known that Criston is in the middle of a Despair Event Horizon and one push away from blowing up, there was really no need to walk up to a dude he didn't know and lead with something that included some Mutually Assured Destruction allusions.
• Dies Differently in Adaptation:
  • In the book, Joffrey is knocked into a coma by Criston in combat at the wedding tourney and dies six days later. Here, he's beaten to death at the pre-wedding welcome feast, and the tourney and the rest of the festivities are cancelled after this, with a quick wedding occurring shortly after the killing.
  • In the book, Rhea falls from her horse while hawking and spends a few days on the verge of death, finally dying after a brief Hope Spot where it seems like she might be starting to recover. Here, Daemon ambushes her on the road and scares her horse into throwing her off, breaking her legs, and then he caves her skull in with a rock.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: Rhaenyra and Laenor's dance moves involve a lot of spreading their arms out to either side and making stylized flapping motions, obviously meant to evoke dragons in flight. One might even call it a "dance of the dragons". Both dancers are dragonriders.
• Double Entendre: On the Black Comedy variety. When she falls from the horse, Rhea is paralyzed, and Daemon's preparing to leave her there to die of exposure. She accuses him of being unable to finish the job of killing her—but also being unable to finish in bed (as seen with Mysaria in episode 1).
  Rhea: I knew you couldn't finish!
• Double-Meaning Title: The episode's title happens to be the house words of House Hightower. At the same time, the episode essentially serves as a crossroad point for a number of characters, metaphorically "setting their paths" in the latter half of the season.
  • Primarily, the episode sees Alicent essentially recommitting herself to her birth house after realizing she would never be truly trusted by either her husband Viserys or her erstwhile friend and stepdaughter Rhaenyra. She also inadvertently becomes the new "guiding light" for Criston Cole, desperately seeking to restore his honor as Kingsguard after feeling sullied by his affair with Rhaenyra. The House Hightower contingent quite rightly sees her motivations and rallies to her unquestioningly.
    Hobert Hightower: I worried that given leave of your father's shadow, you would wither in King's Landing's sun. But you stood tall. Know that Oldtown stands with you.
  • Secondly, Rhaenyra and Laenor's mutual arrangement serves as a way for them to satisfy both their parents' political settlement, as well as keep their individual romantic ties. Unfortunately, this is hollowed out by Criston's spurning and Joffrey's death at the former's hand.
  • Daemon also chooses in this episode to further cement his roguish/villainous reputation by taking the road of Til Murder Do Us Part against his wife Rhea, as well as openly persist in pursuing Rhaenyra—the Vale or his brother the King's wrath be damned.
  • Most importantly, the episode is also the last featuring Milly Alcock as Rhaenyra and Emily Carey as Alicent—after "lighting the way" for their adult successors Emma D'Arcy and Olivia Cooke, respectively.
• Downer Ending: Alicent and Rhaenyra's friendship is finally over when Alicent learns the truth, Criston kills Joffrey in a rage before going to commit suicide before is stopped by Alicent. The episode ends on the somber note of Laenor and Rhaenyra reciting their empty marriage vows; Laenor still mourning the loss of his true love and Rhaenyra clearly feeling guilty for the events that transpired. Oh, and Viserys collapses during the ceremony.
• Dramatically Missing the Point: Rhaenyra offers Criston the chance to be her side-piece and simply promises to never tell anyone that he broke his Vow of Celibacy. Except Criston took his vow seriously, and even if no one else ever finds out, he will always know he broke it. To him, Rhaenyra's offer is an admission that she doesn't care about his soiled honor, or maybe even that she genuinely doesn't understand it.
• Elopement:
  • Ser Criston proposes to Rhaenyra that they run away to Essos together and get married. She turns it down because of her duty to her father and the Iron Throne and instead brings up that he can be her paramour while she is married to Laenor, which he does not take well as he saw marrying her as a way of recovering his honor after breaking his oath of celibacy as a Kingsguard.
  • During the dance at the welcome feast, Rhaenyra challenges Daemon that if he really still wants her, he could mow through the Kingsguard and take her away.
    Rhaenyra: So take me, then. Has this not been your purpose? I am not yet married. But the hours pass swiftly. You are surely armed. Cut through my father's Kingsguard. Take me to Dragonstone and make me your wife.
• Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: Rhea taunts Daemon about being disinherited for Rhaenyra by saying that he'd have to kill the princess to get it back. However, at that moment, she realizes that her husband is a Targaryen and that he could marry his niece instead, which leads her to realize that he's there to kill her. By the time she reaches for her bow, Daemon has already startled her horse to throw her off.
• Facial Horror: We get a brief look at what is left of Joffrey's face after Criston bashed it in.
• Flower Motifs: Larys Strong compares Alicent to the malvales, flowering plants from Braavos that should have difficulty blooming in King's Landing but are growing strong^note Those last two words, coincidentally, being the very words of the Hightowers' Reach overlords, House Tyrell, who we already watched as masters of courtly politics previously in Game of Thrones. True to form, Alicent takes a defiant stand later in the episode.
  Larys: An outsider among the natives. Malvales. A rare bloom. Indigenous to Braavos. By all rights, it shouldn't be thriving here.
  [later]
  Hobert: I worried that given leave of your father's shadow, you might wither in King's Landing's sun. But you stood tall.
• Foe-Tossing Charge: Harwin punches his way through the crowd in order to get to Rhaenyra and take her away to a safer position.
• Foil:
  • Criston and Joffrey. Both are knights having an affair with the nobles they're sworn to guard (Rhaenyra and Laenor respectively). But while Joffrey is all too happy to remain Laenor's side piece while he and Rhaenyra enter a mutually beneficial Marriage of Convenience, Criston is devastated and sees it as a besmirching of the Kingsguard. Joffrey says that Laenor will need a sworn protector, implying that he would join the Kingsguard to stay close to him while they continue their affair and not have to get married himself. One difference is that Criston and Rhaenyra could run away and be together somewhere else, and he's hurt by the Rejected Marriage Proposal. As homosexuals, Joffrey and Laenor couldn't openly be together anywhere, and so Joffrey is much more willing to accept the situation for lack of alternatives. When Joffrey attempts to talk to Criston about their shared situation, Criston violently murders him.
    Joffrey: [on the situation] This is better than we could've hoped for.
    Criston: [on the situation] So you want me to be your whore?
  • Daemon and Rhaenyra, in the way they deal with their arranged marriages. Daemon was miserable with Rhea Royce, and avoided the Vale and thus any attempt to communicate and make their marriage work at all costs, and over the years he grew to detest his wife so much he ended up assassinating her. On the other hand, after Rhaenyra is betrothed to Laenor, she immediately approaches him, establishes how they're clearly not each other's type, and proposes strategies on how to separate their official marriage from their respective private affairs.
  • Daemon and Criston both end up committing a murder, both even killing their victim in roughly the same way by bludgeoning their head, due to their relationship with Rhaenyra. However, Daemon's murder of Rhea Royce is cold and methodical with him killing her to free himself up for marrying Rhaenyra. By contrast, Criston's murder of Joffrey is a very passionate spur of the moment decision brought about by the intense guilt he has for sullying his honor by sleeping with her.
• Foreign Fanservice: Subtlety implied then subverted with Criston. Upon first meeting Criston, Alicent's first words are that he's Dornish. The rest of Westeros thinks of the Dornish as hot and sexually uninhibited. This may be part of why Rhaenyra expects Criston to have no hang-ups about their relationship. But while Criston may look Dornish or have Dornish blood, he earned his knighthood fighting against the Dornish incursion; it doesn't seem like he's culturally Dornish. As we find out in this episode, Criston's sexually fairly conservative, and is very much not on board with what Rhaenyra wants of him. He takes his Vow of Celibacy seriously. He's offended by Rhaenyra's offer to keep him as a paramour, saying she's treating him like her whore. He'd only feel comfortable continuing their sexual relationship if they were married.
• Gay Romantic Phase: Rhaenys is worried about betrothing her son Laenor to Rhaenyra in part because she knows he's gay. Her husband Corlys thinks Laenor will eventually outgrow it—or at least he wants to think so, because it would be convenient if true.
  Rhaenys: You know his true nature.
  Corlys: He's still young. He will outgrow it.
• Gone Horribly Wrong: Whatever the purpose of Joffrey approaching Ser Criston was (either starting a friendly rapport given their common predicament or a torpid veiled threat leveraging what he knows of Criston's situation), it spectacularly backfires, triggering Criston's deadly rage. As one secret boyfriend who's happy about this arrangement, he seemingly assumes all secret boyfriends would feel the same, when in fact Criston feels very slighted by the situation, making him extremely volatile about this topic.
• Gory Discretion Shot: We don't see Daemon kill Rhea, but Rhaenys reveals in a later scene that her body was found with its skull crushed.
• Go Through Me: Laenor attempts to get in Ser Criston's way and tackle him, but gets punched out by the latter and thrown away by another guest. Ultimately, Laenor was not able to prevent his lover's murder.
• Gray Rain of Depression: It is raining during the somber departure of Otto Hightower as he and his daughter part ways.
• Heir Club for Men: Viserys says they'll make this a permanently Defied Trope. It's not clear if this is a central priority of his, or something added because he knows it will appeal to Corlys and Rhaenys.
  Viserys: Rhaenyra is my heir. Upon my death, my throne and my titles will pass to her. She and Ser Laenor's firstborn child—regardless of gender—will inherit the Iron Throne from her.
• Heir-In-Law: Daemon plans to claim Runestone by virtue of his previous marriage to Rhea Royce, challenging her cousin to contest the claim when he petitions Lady Jeyne Arryn.
  Daemon: Lady Rhea and I had no heirs. As her husband, whatever she was due now passes to me. She stood to inherit all of Runestone, did she not? After my niece's wedding, I plan to fly to the Eyrie and petition Lady Jeyne myself. Perhaps I'll see you there, Ser Gerold.
• Helmets Are Hardly Heroic: During the prenuptial ceremony, Ser Criston is repeatedly singled out among the Kingsguard as the one who isn't wearing a helmet.
• Hitler Cam: Alicent is notably shown in-camera this way during Viserys's post-return collapse (where she notably doesn't run down from her balcony). Coupled with Emily Carey 's hardening countenance (a borderline Kubrick Stare), it helps presage her blooming disaffection with Viserys and Rhaenyra, which is about to be hammered home by Criston's confession.
• Hope Spot: The lords Targaryen and Velaryon have agreed on the terms of Rhaenyra and Laenor's marriage, effectively ending their differences. Meanwhile the betrothed couple has secretly made up their own terms on a discreet open marriage in an attempt to avoid an Awful Wedded Life. The only member of the arrangement that is not happy with it at all is Ser Criston, who turns the wedding into a tragedy when he kills Laenor's lover in a fit of rage.
• Hunting "Accident": The official explanation for Rhea Royce's death is that she fell off her horse while hunting and was crushed. Of course, since she was known to be an excellent hunter and horse rider, no one believes it. Rhea's cousin openly accuses Daemon at court, while Viserys doesn't even bother trying to defend his brother's honor in spite of the "slanderous" insult to House Targaryen that would demand a harsh response.
• I Am the Noun: When Ser Criston tries to convince Rhaenyra to put aside the duties imposed by the crown and elope with him, she rebuffs him and retorts "I am the Crown".
  Criston: A marriage for love, not for the crown.
  Rhaenyra: I am the crown, Ser Criston.
• I Need a Freaking Drink: As soon as he hears the murder accusation against Daemon, Lyonel immediately takes a large gulp from his goblet.
• Incompatible Orientation: Laenor is gay and in an arranged marriage to Rhaenyra. She gets around it by essentially proposing an open marriage: they will look like a united couple to the realm but seek their own pleasures privately.
• Incurable Cough of Death: One of the many signs that Viserys's health is careening downhill is that he's started to cough dramatically at inopportune moments. He also experiences frequent vertigo and at one point has a nosebleed. He collapses at the end of the episode.
• Informed Deformity: Up until this point Daemon implied that his wife was horribly unattractive, claiming the sheep of the Vale were prettier. When she shows up here played by the lovely Rachel Redford, many a viewer began to wonder just how pretty the sheep are in the Vale. Justified, as this is understood to be a way for Daemon to slander her, not an objective assessment of her looks.
• Inheritance Murder: Having murdered his wife Rhea Royce, Daemon plans to press his claim to her inheritance of Runestone with Jeyne Arryn, Lady Paramount of the Vale. Also Discussed when he japingly asks her cousin Gerold if he's about to confess to having done it (who was clearly close to Rhea and would never have done any such thing). While it may not have been his primary motive, having a castle of his own would also help Daemon out of his brother's shadow a bit and make him a more appealing marriage prospect for either Rhaenyra or Laena.
• Innocently Insensitive: Joffrey approaches Criston to talk about his affair with Rhaenyra, seeing it as a form of bonding with his fellow paramour. Unfortunately, Criston is in the midst of a full-on breakdown and realizing he's been found out causes him to beat Joffrey to death in a frenzy.
• Interrupted Suicide: Alicent intervenes right as Criston is about to commit Seppuku in the godswood after killing Ser Joffrey for mentioning his shame. Criston having his own death on the mind is foreshadowed earlier when he confesses to Alicent that he broke his vows with Rhaenyra, and fully expects the Queen to have him executed for it, asking only that his death be quick and merciful instead of going through gelding and torture.
• Jerkass Has a Point: Otto's warning to Alicent that if Rhaenyra takes the throne, her children will likely be murdered to secure her claim. While such an accusation may seem paranoid and out of character for Rhaenyra, she is currently being pursued by and carrying a torch for Daemon who — as shown in the opening scene — is very much the kind of person who is willing to commit murder for his own personal power. Moreover, the idea of a more brutal ally doing the child murder for a would-be regnant who doesn't have the stomach for it isn't a new one. There's a strong parallel to the murder of Elia and her children in the main series, of which Tywin says:
  Tywin: When I laid those bodies before the throne [...] Robert's relief was palpable. As stupid as he was, even he knew that Rhaegar's children had to die if his throne was ever to be secure. Yet he saw himself as a hero, and heroes do not kill children.
• Killed Offscreen: The last we see of Lady Rhea, she's lying on the ground as Daemon is approaching her with a large rock in his hand, and later Viserys receives news of her death while at High Tide.
• Kissing Cousins: Rhaenyra and Laenor are second cousins (i.e., Laenor's mother and Rhaenyra's father are first cousins). While this is distant enough to be unremarkable under most circumstances, in this instance it's part of an ongoing tradition of Targaryen-Velaryon intermarriage. Laenor checks all the boxes for Royal Inbreeding advantages: he has Valyrian blood, is a dragonrider, and he doesn't bring new ambitious in-laws into the family like Alicent did. However, he's also sufficiently distant that—unlike Daemon—he can function as Altar Diplomacy, bring with him the allegiance of House Velaryon, who are powerful in their own right and whose alliance isn't otherwise guaranteed. Rhaenyra acknowledges that marrying her gay cousin isn't that bad because they're already friends with some built-in trust, so the two of them can agree to seek pleasures elsewhere.
  Corlys: Do they seem... familiar?
  Rhaenys: They grew up together. Familiarity is not at issue.
• Know When to Fold 'Em: Rhaenys refuses to play the Passed-Over Inheritance card and discards it as an argument when Corlys wants to reclaim the crown for her via their son, pointing out she never lost something that she never had in the first place. The marriage between Laenor and Rhaenyra happens anyway.
• Mama Bear:
  • Rhaenys is very worried that she and Corlys are endangering Laenor by wedding him to Rhaenyra, both because his homosexuality is an issue if he's marrying a woman, and because Rhaenyra's claim will almost certainly result in a Succession Crisis and maybe marrying into an impending war isn't a great idea.
    Rhaenys: We are placing our son in danger.
  • Otto tries to invoke this in Alicent by pointing out that if Rhaenyra ascends the throne, her children will likely be killed, if not by her then by Daemon, to remove any challenge to her claim.
• Meaningful Look: The camera focuses on several characters as Laenor and Rhaenyra are presented to the lords.
  • Corlys can't quite hide his pleasure at the idea of the match.
  • Criston keeps looking away, upset, since he's despairing at the possibility of remaining Rhaenyra's paramour.
  • Joffrey, who is otherwise happy to remain Laenor's paramour, watches the first dance between Laenor and Rhaenyra closely. He then notices Criston's meaningful looks and deduces that he and Rhaenyra are having an affair.
  • Daemon lustfully gazes after Rhaenyra, but also starts making flirty eyes at Laena Velaryon, who reciprocates.
  • Rhaenyra herself can't help but stare after Daemon and Laena, indicating she hasn't gotten over her own attraction to her uncle.
• Mistaken Confession: Alicent summons Ser Criston to her chambers and because she's trying to be delicate about the matter, she doesn't use names. One Dialogue, Two Conversations ensues. She's talking about Rhaenyra's tryst with Daemon, but Criston thinks she's talking about Rhaenyra's tryst with him. The two conversations are united when Criston confesses that he broke his oath of celibacy with Rhaenyra at her urging, much to Alicent's surprise.
• Moment of Silence: After Joffrey dies, the audio cuts away.
• No-Holds-Barred Beatdown:
  • Implied to have occurred to Rhea Royce, as Daemon is last seen approaching her with a large rock in his hand, and her face is later described to have been crushed when her body was discovered.
  • Ser Criston flies into a rage and beats Laenor Velaryon's lover to death after he not-so-subtly hints that he knows about his relationship with Rhaenyra.
• Nom de Mom: Viserys and Corlys discuss this regarding the surnames of Rhaenyra and Laenor's future children. Going with Westerosi tradition, they will have the surname of their father, but upon ascension to the Iron Throne their firstborn will take the name Targaryen (the implication being that their secondborn will inherit Driftmark).
  Viserys: Upon their birth, Ser Laenor and Rhaenyra's children shall take their father's name, Velaryon, in keeping with our traditions. However, at such time when their firstborn ascends the Iron Throne, he or she will do so bearing the name Targaryen. Dragons will rule the Seven Kingdoms for the next hundred years, just as they did the last.
  Corlys: This is an equitable compromise.
• Open Secret: Played with. Throughout the episode, Criston has a growing sense that everyone knows he's with Rhaenyra. Alicent confronts him about it; Joffrey confronts him about it. Does everyone know? It's not true—Joffrey just has secret boyfriend radar, and Alicent was actually talking about Daemon. But to Criston it just looks that way and this adds to his pressure-cooker of guilt and fear until he eventually explodes.
• Operation: Jealousy: When Daemon shows up newly single for Rhaenyra's wedding, it's Implied that he's trying for Wedding Deadline. His flirting with Lady Laena is likewise implied to be an attempt to make Rhaenyra jealous. It certainly works.
• Over-the-Shoulder Carry: Harwin Strong tosses Rhaenyra over his shoulder so he can carry her out of the brawl.
• Passive-Aggressive Kombat: Between Jason Lannister and Rhaenyra. When he approaches her at the wedding table to offer his congratulations, he is clearly still sore about being passed over for her hand. She snipes that there's no better man for her or the realm than Laenor. Jason then notes Alicent's absence and makes a sexist joke about women being worthless in wartime while standing directly in front of the realm's female heir. Obviously registering the insult, Rhaenyra dismisses him by noting what a "pleasure" it always is to be in his company, her tone making it plain that it's anything but.
• Plot Parallel:
  • Otto and Rhaenys are coming at the situation from opposite ends, but they're saying the same thing: When Viserys dies, a Succession Crisis will ensue, and blood will be spilled. Knowing that, what can I do to set up my grandchildren most favorably?
  • This episode sees both Criston and Alicent feeling betrayed by and becoming disillusioned with Rhaenyra, their love for her curdling. In light of that Alicent scouts Criston as her new ally.
• Queer Establishing Moment: Laenor Velaryon is confirmed as gay after a scene with him alone with his lover Joffrey Lonmouth where they discuss his betrothal and how Rhaenyra's agreement with him to seek pleasure outside of martial duties works to their advantage.
• Rejected Marriage Proposal: Based on all the times Rhaenyra's been a Rebellious Princess, Criston proposes that they elope to Essos so that they can be together, and she can escape all the unwanted duties being forced on her. She turns him down, saying that the Iron Throne is too big a responsibility and that she wouldn't trade it for the infamy that would ensue if she ran away.
• Rule of Symbolism:
  • While Laenor and Rhaenyra are hastily wed following the brutal murder of Joffrey, the camera focuses on a rat feeding on Joffrey's still-fresh blood on the floor. This hammers home the theme of rottenness among the Westerosi nobility, and the bloodshed that follows as a result of their actions.
  • Viserys's condition by this point has now reached a point of no return, with numerous worsening cuts on his back as well as a rotting left arm. Fittingly, it's at the point in his reign where Alicent and Rhaenyra's relationship has been irreparably broken and a Succession Crisis is now on the horizon.
• Seppuku: After killing Joffrey Lonmouth in a rage-fueled frenzy, the thoroughly disgraced Ser Criston goes to the Red Keep's godswood and prepares to commit suicide with this method before Alicent stops him. While this is not within a Japanese cultural context and it's unclear if this is a thing in Westeros, all the details are here: a dishonored warrior who wishes to at least preserve some honor in death; garbed in white; his own blade positioned to be rammed into his stomach.
• Significant Name Shift: Alicent's first greeting to Rhaenyra after her entrance to the banquet is a very polite but flat "congratulations, stepdaughter", when she has previously made so many efforts to keep calling her by her name in the past episodes. It helps emphasize how she has irreversibly turned on Rhaenyra.
• Significant Wardrobe Shift: Alicent, whose wardrobe has largely been blues and reds, dons a strikingly green dress for the wedding. Larys Strong notes to his brother that at the Hightower, a green fire symbolizes war and calling the banners. War as in Alicent turning against Rhaenyra and calling the banners as in Alicent seeking new allies in her Hightower kin, Ser Criston, and Larys.
  Larys: The beacon on the Hightower, do you know what color it glows when Oldtown calls its banners to war?
  Harwin: Green.
• Small Role, Big Impact: Joffrey Lonmouth only lasts two episodes (he was present at the Velaryon war council in "Second of His Name" but had few lines), but his violent death at Criston Cole's hands drives the wedge between Rhaenyra, her former lover and Alicent ever deeper.
• Source Music: Most of the music in the second half of the episode is from the in-universe wedding musicians. The drum beat builds to a crescendo to match the mounting tension between the characters.
• Spared by the Adaptation: In the books, Ser Harrold Westerling had already passed away by the time of Rhaenyra and Laenor's wedding.^{From the books...}Therefore Ser Criston was Lord Commander of the Kingsguard at this point.
• Til Murder Do Us Part: Daemon hates Rhea, his wife. They live in a world where Divorce Requires Death. Daemon has tried twice now to take a second wife while his first wife still lives, calling it polygamy, but he's been told resoundingly that it's not an option. He kills her, freeing himself up to enter a more desirable marriage. He stages a Hunting "Accident" to kill her, but the story is repeated in disbelief because Rhea was a skilled rider and hunter. Rhea's cousin Gerold correctly accuses Daemon of murdering her.
• Took a Level in Badass: It comes across as Downplayed since—thanks to trailers and whatnot—we as viewers have had some idea from the beginning of what Alicent's growing into. But really, in the story up until this moment, she's been a complete Shrinking Violet. She's been her father's chess piece; Rhaenyra's defender; Viserys's wife—never a player in her own right. Her own family doesn't even really believe in her initially—Otto's worried how she'll fare when he leaves, and her uncle later says the same. But at the end of the episode, she comes into her own. She has her own agenda and her own allies for the first time ever.
  Hobert: I worried that given leave of your father's shadow, you might wither in King's Landing's sun. But you stood tall.
• Unusual Euphemism: Rhaenyra talks about her and Laenor's Incompatible Orientation by comparing it to how she personally prefers duck over goose. When Laenor later relays this conversation to his boyfriend Joffery, Joffery humorously asks if he's the duck or the goose in that analogy.
  Laenor: I hold nothing against you, cousin.
  Rhaenyra: No, I... Rather... Dare I say it is a matter of taste? I prefer roast duck to goose. I cannot say why.
  Laenor: It's not for a lack of trying. There are those who like goose very well.
  Rhaenyra: I find it a bit greasy for my taste.
• Vomit Indiscretion Shot: Viserys has a hard time handling the boat trip to Driftmark.
• Wedding Deadline: Implied with Daemon. After years of hating his Unwanted Spouse and wanting out of that marriage, it's only now that he finally decides to get himself widowed. Freshly single and eligible, he saunters into Rhaenyra's wedding celebrations, where a full week of events are scheduled before the actual wedding. A week would be plenty of time to cause mayhem and seduce Rhaenyra. However, it's cut short when Joffrey is killed, the celebrations canceled, and the wedding moved up to that night.
• Worst Wedding Ever: Viserys proudly announces seven days of feasting and tourneys before the wedding ceremony between Rhaenyra and Laenor will commence, but the first night is violently interrupted when Ser Criston Cole beats Ser Joffrey Lonmouth to death for making what he interprets as veiled threats regarding his affair with the Princess. Instead, the two are wedded in a quiet ceremony that same night, with only their parents in attendance, as a rat starts feeding on the pool of Joffrey's blood behind them.

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