House of the Dragon Episode 5 review: No happy weddings, ever!

There can never be happy weddings in the world of Game of Thrones. Take a look inside the events of House of the Dragon Season 1, Episode 5.

If we have learned anything in Game of Thrones, it’s that there will always be a death at a wedding. Sometimes, the deaths are those who say “I do,” but sometimes, the deaths are just linked to the bride and groom.

Before we get to the wedding, though, another death had to happen. We also see a change in Alicent Hightower as she realizes that she needs to protect her children if she is going to be happy. It’s not that she wants her son to have a crown, but she does want him to stay alive. Her father has finally made her see the truth.

The episode finally picks up in terms of storyline with the Targaryen civil war. This was also the last episode with our younger actors, and it’s a shame to lose them moving forward after these performances.

Deaths and wedding in House of the Dragon Episode 5

We start with heading out to the Vale, where we finally get to meet Lady Rhea Royce. She’s certainly not as ugly as Daemon kept making her out to be, but clearly, it’s the fact that she’s into horse riding and hunting than the usual things women are expected to like. She reminds me a lot of Meera Reed in Game of Thrones.

Sadly, we don’t meet her for long. Daemon manages to spook her horse enough for her to fall and presumably break her neck. She lives only long enough for Daemon to beat her head in with a rock. He doesn’t have a wife anymore.

Clearly, this is to leave himself open to be with Rhaenyra. His niece is the way into the crown, and at one point, Rhaenyra even calls him out on that. However, by the end of the episode, Rhaenyra has married Corlys’s son, Ser Laenor. It also looks like Lady Laena and Daemon may end up together based on conversations at the wedding feast.

Before the wedding feast, Otto is leaving. No longer the Hand of the King, he has no place in King’s Landing. He wants Alicent to ready Aegon to rule, though. This isn’t about getting his seat back at this point. He knows that Rhaenyra will have no choice but to kill Aegon and Alicent’s other children.

Alicent isn’t sure until she turns to Ser Criston to find out what happened the night Daemon returned. Alicent wants to know if Rhaenyra and Daemon were together, but Criston believes there’s a rumor about him and Rhaenyra. He confesses to this without waiting to hear who Alicent is actually talking about, and Alicent plays it so calmly. She didn’t expect this, and she’s not going to turn Criston in for breaking his vows.

Ser Criston is struggling with the fact that he broke his vows, though. He thinks marrying Rhaenyra and going off to live in Essos will make up for that, but why would Rhaenyra turn against her duty to Westeros for him? She makes it very clear that she doesn’t love Criston, and he just has to live with his actions.

He can’t live with breaking his vows, though. At the wedding feast, Criston beats Laenor’s male lover to death. Laenor is understandably distraught, and Rhaenyra is upset that this has happened. The two still marry, though. They need to combine their houses—and I love that Viserys made it very clear to Corlys that they will still be Targaryens. The dynasty will not end with Rhaenyra just because she’s a woman.

I am curious about where we will see Laenor and Rhaenyra in the next episode. This isn’t something Laenor will ever forget, especially since it seems Alicent—who wore green, the same color as the Hightower flame when calling banners—is willing to save Criston before he took his own life in the Godswood.

As a side note, the king is dying. It’s not clear what he’s suffering from since this isn’t in the book as far as I remember. How long does he have left before civil war breaks out?

What did you think of the wedding in House of the Dragon Episode 5? Share your thoughts on the series so far.

House of the Dragon airs Sundays on HBO and HBO Max.