This article contains spoilers for the House of the Dragon episode “We Light the Way.”
After weeks of watching Princess Rhaeynyra Targaryen and Queen Alicent Hightower’s deeply (and intentionally) sapphic-coded relationship deteriorate on House of the Dragon, HBO’s Game of Thrones prequel finally introduced its first canonically gay characters during Episode 5 (titled “We Light the Way”). Unfortunately, the “bury your gays” trope reared its ugly head shortly afterward.
The bulk of “We Light the Way" centers on Rhaenyra’s (Milly Alcock) betrothal to her cousin Laenor Velaryon (Theo Nate), which is honestly tame in the grand scheme of the Targaryens’ incest clownery. Although his character is hinted to be gay in the House of the Dragon’s source material, George R. R. Martin’s book Fire and Blood, the episode officially confirms it.
In an early scene, Rhaenyra and Laenor broker the terms of their arranged marriage, and Rhaenyra covertly acknowledges that her betrothed has no interest in fair maidens. Instead, she offers a compromise: After marrying for political reasons, “each of us dines as we see fit.”
In other words, their marriage will be merely symbolic. When all is said and done, Laenor can continue his relationship with his boyfriend, Ser Joffrey Lonmouth (Solly McLeod), while Rhaenyra can keep things going with her own lover, Ser Cristen Cole (Fabien Frankel).
While Laenor and Joffrey enjoy a brief but lovely makeout sesh outside House Velaryon’s walls, Laenor’s parents acknowledge his queerness while mulling over his impending marriage to Rhaenyra.
“You know his true nature,” his mother, Princess Rhaenys (Eve Best) says, to which his father, Lord Corlys (Steve Toussaint) insists, “He’s still young. He will outgrow it.” It’s not a phase, Corlys!
Of course, in true Game of Thrones fashion, a wedding can’t pass without some jaw-dropping bloodshed. During the welcome feast, Joffrey realizes that Criston is the secret lover who Rhaenyra alluded to in her conversation with Laenor. During the festivities, he approaches his fellow knight and lets slip that he’s aware of his relationship with the princess.
Already upset that Rhaenrya refused to shirk her royal duties and run away with him, an enraged Criston responds by beating Joffrey to death and nearly taking his own life afterward. How’s that for a “bury your gays” moment?
It’s worth acknowledging that although Criston also kills Joffrey in the original book, the circumstances are notably different: in Fire and Blood, Criston seriously injures Joffrey during a tournament held in honor of the wedding. He quietly succumbs to his injuries days later, with Laenor at his side. In contrast, House of the Dragon shows Criston beating Joffrey to a bloody pulp while Laenor screams for his partner.
This isn’t the first time that a Game of Thrones adaptation has unnecessarily upped the homophobia. In the original A Song of Ice and Fire books, gay character Loras Tyrell is seriously injured while storming Dragonstone during a battle, but ultimately survives. But in the Game of Thrones TV series, he’s jailed and tortured for being gay, all before getting blown up alongside his father and sister.
Hopefully, the remainder of House of the Dragon will handle Rhaenyra and Alicent’s (Emily Carey) complex, implicitly queer falling out better — and give Laenor and other Westeros gays better stories in the meantime.
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