OK, deep breaths. What exactly did we just watch?
House of the Dragon episode 7 was one of those that alternates between slow burn tension — How many moody shots of people staring at each other can there be at one funeral? Plenty! — and extreme, explosive violence (RIP Aemond's left eye).
The ending fell into the latter category, and it all happened fast. So fast, in fact, that you may have been left scrambling to put the pieces together as the end credits rolled.
So what exactly did happen, and who was behind it? Let's recap.
What happens at the end of House of the Dragon episode 7?
After a funeral that was almost up there with your average Westerosi wedding in terms of drama, Princess Rhaenyra (Emma D'Arcy) is left feeling as though she needs to strengthen her position. Her relationship with Queen Alicent (Olivia Cooke) is worse than ever, and her poor old dad's looking closer and closer to death by the day. Rhaenyra knows that when King Viserys (Paddy Considine) is out of the picture, her claim to the Iron Throne will likely be threatened by Alicent's children.
The answer, of course, is obvious. Marry her uncle! Rhaenyra pitches this to creepy ol' Prince Daemon (Matt Smith) as they watch Viserys' ship sailing away, and he's clearly keen. But there is a problem: Rhaenyra already has a husband, Laenor Velaryon (John MacMillan). In order for them to marry, he needs to be dead.
The rest of their discussion is intercut with scenes that appear to show them carrying out a plan to have the poor guy killed. But is everything as it seems?
What happens to Laenor Velaryon?
The plan appears to be a simple one. We see Daemon, wearing his dark travelling cloak with the hood up in peak I'm-up-to-something-suspicious mode meeting Laenor's lover Ser Quarl Correy (Arty Froushan) and offering him payment for "a quick, painless death".
An unspecified time later Ser Quarl enters Lord Corlys Velaryon's (Steve Toussaint) home, waits for Laenor, and then loudly confronts him in front of the fireplace. At the same time we see Daemon cutting the throat of a staff member, presumably to aid Ser Quarl in his break in. Ser Quarl and Laenor then have a sword fight in front of a different staff member, and the next thing we know Lord Corlys and Princess Rhaenys Targaryen (Eve Best) are watching as a burned body — presumably that of their son — is pulled from the fireplace.
The final shots? Rhaenyra and Daemon getting married in front of their children just like they'd planned, while Ser Quarl flees to board a boat alongside none other than — twist! — Laenor, who's still alive after all.
How does Laenor survive?
Wait, hang on a minute. What? How is Laenor still alive? Did Ser Quarl double-cross Daemon and Rhaenyra after all so he could smuggle Laenor across the Narrow Sea with him?
Nope. The answer actually lies in the little details. When Daemon hires Ser Quarl, for instance, he tells him that there are places in Essos where you don't need a name to get by — just gold. He isn't hiring Ser Quarl to kill Laenor; he's paying him to be part of his and Rhaenyra's plan to fake Laenor's death so that a) he can marry Rhaenyra, and b) Laenor can live the life he wants with Ser Quarl across the Narrow Sea. It's a win-win situation for both couples.
The loud argument Ser Quarl has with Laenor in front of the staff member? All for show, to make him murdering Laenor seem believable. That guy Daemon kills in Driftmark? Probably the person that actually ends up in the fire.
See, Daemon and Rhaenyra are ruthless, but they're not so ruthless that they'd kill their own cousin — who Rhaenyra has shown warmth towards — when there's another way to get what they want. It was all part of the plan, and for a moment we were misdirected in the same way that Lord Corlys and Rhaenys were when that burned body was pulled from the fire.
As Rhaenyra says earlier in the episode, "The sea is an escape." In this case it's a literal escape for Laenor, and a metaphorical one for the heir to the Iron Throne and and her uncle husband.
New House of the Dragon episodes are available every Sunday on HBO and HBO Max.
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