House Of The Dragon “We Light The Way” Review
House Of The Dragon “We Light The Way” is the fifth episode from the first season of the House Of The Dragon TV show. Following the scandal caused by Rhaenyra last episode, she is forced into a marriage with Laenor Velaryon, eldest son of Corlys Velaryon. Whilst he’s gay and is open about it to Rhaenyra, she sees an opportunity and basically suggests that they happily marry but see other people as they see fit considering neither is what the other wants. Whilst they come to this understanding, Viserys plays politics with Corlys making sure any heirs produced by Rhaenyra will bear the Targaryen name. Meanwhile Alicent and her father have chat before he leaves and in my opinion this is where Alicent realises she’s got to become a player in the game instead of just watching and supporting as he points out that there’s nothing to stop Rhaenyra coming after Alicent’s children when she becomes queen and that they’ll be killed to ensure her success. Very smart words from Otto Hightower here, it’s likely not even true but it’s enough to give Alicent the motivation she needs to start working against Rhaenyra.
All of this comes to a head when she shows up at Rhaenyra’s pre-wedding celebration wearing all green, the colour that house Hightower burn their flame when they go to war. As with every wedding in Westeros it seems, this one goes about as well as the rest. Criston being teased by Joffrey Lonmouth, Laenor’s boyfriend, snaps amongst the dancers and smashes Joffrey’s head in. It’s not shown what finally makes him snap but it’s likely Joffrey took that one step too far.
Whilst Rhaenyra and Laenor take their vows, Criston goes to kill himself but is stopped by Alicent.
This episode was good besides the gaping plot hole, Viserys says that Rhaenyra will marry a week from the feast’s end but the wedding is shown minutes after Joffrey’s death. Maybe the characters changed their minds and figured it’s best to get it done as soon as possible considering what happened but it’s never addressed which makes me wonder why they kept Viserys telling everyone the itinerary in the first place. I’ll admit that the show runners have handled the time skips brilliantly so far but this episode was the first where it all felt very rushed.
