The seventh episode of House of the Dragon , directed by co-showrunner Miguel Sapochnik , is truly full of important events for the future of the series.
But one of these in particular “betrays” the book from which the series is based, “Fire and Blood”: we are talking about the plan to stage the death of Ser Laenor Velaryon , the prince consort played by John Macmillan .
In George RR Martin ‘s novel , Laenor just dies. In the episode, however, her death at the hands of the faithful Ser Qarl is a mise-en-scene devised by Rhaenyra and Daemon, who intend to get rid of Laenor in order to get married, without however eliminating Laenor himself, for whom the princess feels great. affection. Thus, Daemon approaches Ser Qarl with a proposal: paraphrasing, “In Pentos you can become noble even if you have no qualifications, just be rich. Take this money and do us a favor in return ”. Daemon speaks of a “quick death, in front of witnesses”, but this too is a red herring. The swift death is what Daemon reserves shortly after for an ordinary servant, who is later passed off as the charred corpse of Laenor.
In fact, Qarl confronts Laenor in the latter’s rooms, in front of a servant who, panicked, goes away to call the guards. During this time, the body of the dead servant is placed in the fireplace (perhaps already charred, who knows) and no one suspects anything.
In the episode’s finale, after the marriage between Rhaenyra and Daemon, we see Laenor, shaved to zero, going off in a boat with Ser Qarl. The two are headed for a ship which, evidently, will take them to Essos and to freedom from court obligations.
The fact that Laenor is not dead, however, may also mean that we will see him again someday. For those who question the union between Rhaenyra and Daemon, Laenor could represent a not bad weapon. Let the soap opera continue!