‘The House of the Dragon’: Laenor’s final destiny could be very different

Here are spoilers for the seventh episode of ‘The House of the Dragon’

Once again, ‘The House of the Dragon’ brings us the drama.

Laenor’s big breakout had a lot to do with Aegon getting beat up by his cousins ​​and nephews and Rhaenyra’s sexy moment with Uncle Daemon (Matt Smith). That said, he stood out for a number of reasons. Especially since it is an LGBTQ+ victory for the franchise, given its complicated past with gay love stories.

This week, we saw Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) help her husband fake his own death so he could run off into the sunset with his lover Qarl Correy (Arty Froushan).

It was not a completely selfless act, of course. The Queen-in-waiting wanted Laenor (John Macmillan) out of the way so she could secure his claim to the throne while she found a way to legitimately sleep with her uncle Daemon through holy matrimony.

Still, it was a victory for the underdog Velaryon who has understandably been a bit down since his lover Joffrey was punched in the face by Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) some 10 years ago.

Although this romantic ending seems to compensate to some extent for the treatment that the Game of Thrones universe has given its homosexual characters in the past (Renly Baratheon, Oberyn Martell, Joffrey Lonmouth…), we can’t help but feel that Laenor’s story it’s not quite over.

The books that inspired the TV series featured a different ending for our king consort, and that means the door is still open.

In George RR Martin’s ‘Fire and Blood’, Laenor and her lover do not stage a mock duel in which Driftmark’s heir ‘dies’. Instead, he is mortally wounded after an altercation with Qarl at a fair in Spicetown.

Although the details are sketchy, Martin’s “story” says that several witnesses attest that Qarl killed Laenor, and her death is attributed to a lovers’ quarrel. It is believed that Qarl became jealous of Laenor’s new friendship with another younger man, resulting in their swords being drawn.

However, there are those who whisper that it is Daemon’s fault, who hired Qarl to kill Laenor.

His motivations would be much clearer and would fit with what we have seen so far in ‘The House of the Dragon’. Taking Laenor out of the equation would have paved the way for his sweet, sweet niece’s love, as well as allowing Daemon to claim the place as king consort, something he has long sought.

This tragic end for Laenor may also come to pass on screen.

Although it seems that Laenor has made one last trap – a poor, crusty corpse now taking its place in a coffin at the bottom of Driftmark’s sea – no one is really safe. After all, this is a ‘Game of Thrones’ spinoff.

Right now, her story is wide open, leaving room for series directors Ryan Condal and Miguel Sapochnik to get creative in chronicling her path.

This could lead to them deciding to reintroduce his character later on but giving him the Ned Stark treatment, thus aligning his fate with his narrative in the books.

Although we prefer this departure from the script, we have learned never to expect a happy ending in the ‘Game of Thrones’ universe.